The HfP chat thread – Monday 21st September

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

• Annabel says:

  21 Sep21 September 16:02

  Advice pls. If you booked a return cash flight ( much cheaper than one-ways ) with BA but only wanted to use inbound flight – would the inbound be Automatically cancelled if you never flew the outbound? Thanks so much.

  • Gavin says:

    21 Sep21 September 16:37

    Yes

  • Connor says:

    21 Sep21 September 23:37

    Try book the inbound as an outbound and if they price is still cheaper you could do it that way.

• Clive says:

  21 Sep21 September 16:08

  News has been out for a while but anyone travelling with an LH Group airline can rebook their ticket multiple times now.

• Ja says:

  21 Sep21 September 16:43

  Can anyone help with an Uber query. So I wanted a ride last week was going to cost £8. However there just weren’t any drivers around so I cancelled it. £8 has gone through my credit card (via Curve). My Uber account says I haven’t been charged. Will a credit get back to my account without having to raise a query? This was about 6 days ago.

• Will says:

  21 Sep21 September 16:55

  BA flight + Car….Book with Confidence?
  Seems the flight is not an issue if eg more of Greece gets added to quarantine lists, but the car hire doesn’t give the cancellation rules at all, yet BA wording online says the specific rules will apply for the car hire (which aren’t defined AFAIK)..anyone able to shed light on this? I am assuming BA will run the flights but I won’t want to quarantine on my return.

• TGLoyalty says:

  21 Sep21 September 17:01

  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54228889

  Wonder who was consulted on the changes then …

  • Andrew says:

    21 Sep21 September 18:17

    Absolutely – when Rob did the article last week we were all saying this is a change which is far bigger than just no tax-free shopping at LHR. Places like Harrods will really feel this. Just when we don’t need any more reasons for people not to visit the UK, the government comes up with a new one!

  • WaynedP says:

    21 Sep21 September 18:17

    The eye-watering amounts involved supporting the economy through Covid ( furlough schemes, soft loans, eat out to help out, regional arts councils support, etc etc) necessarily mean higher taxes across the board ( ending fuel levy freeze, reversing the intention to reduce corporation tax to 17% , etc etc)

    Wholesale decimation of historic tax breaks inevitable.

    The only surprise is that anyone would be surprised 😕

    • Andrew says:

      21 Sep21 September 18:31

      But the point here is that it will deter people coming to the U.K. for shopping – so 20% tax on nothing is still no revenue. And visitors can’t claim back the VAT on services like hotels and restaurants whilst here and of course the profit to businesses for the shopping is lost and in turn jobs. I don’t care at all about my ability to do tax free shopping at LHR and most of the time I was travelling within Europe so the treasury still got its 20%, paid for by the retailer – and that could in theory continue. My concern is about the impact on the retail and tourism economy, particularly in London which is already suffering the most because of Covid.

      • marcw says:

        21 Sep21 September 18:38

        Yep, that’s the case. Those people ain’t gonna stay at the Mandarin Oriental or the Ritz. They wills stay in Paris, Berlin, Madrid or Barcelona.

        • WaynedP says:

          21 Sep21 September 19:01

          I don’t disagree.

          Don’t claim that tax rate rises will be an entirely successful solution, and am well aware of studies showing that in some circumstances, tax rate reductions can increase overall tax collected.

          Just being realistic by noting to self to exodus tax rises (not falls or static) at every opportunity.

        • WaynedP says:

          21 Sep21 September 19:02

          *expect* not exodus

    • BJ says:

      21 Sep21 September 18:40

      Somebody must have voted for our inept blundering government…

      • WaynedP says:

        21 Sep21 September 18:57

        Actually, like a fair few people (I expect), I voted for my incumbent local MP, who is doing a good job of meeting my expectations of holding the govt to account, with integrity and principle.

        None of the party leaders inspired me, but I didn’t see why my effective local MP should suffer from being in a party led by one of them.

        • chabuddy geezy says:

          21 Sep21 September 19:14

          When tourists claim the VAT back they get a maximum of 14% back after admin fees etc. A more sensible option would have been to bring this in at a later point when businesses reliant on tourists have more time to recover from Covid. They could have gradually decreased the percentage of VAT you could reclaim over time as well.

        • Jerrry Butler says:

          21 Sep21 September 21:54

          I’m not inclined to be fair minded, my local MP is w@nker, not only he’s grossly fat, a tory, and slavishly supports everything that Boris does, and if that wasn’t enough and I couldn’t loathe him anymore I find out he’s a Luton town supporter.

  • Riccatti says:

    22 Sep22 September 05:34

    Also, on a tax refund one gets say 14% back, not 20%.

    Abolish 20% VAT, and put plain sales tax 8% — at least for Goods — no tax refunds needed, no VAT returns administration. On assumption, businesses don’t pay VAT so it doesn’t matter if rate is 20% or 8% — end consumer pays.

    The net difference 20% – 8% = 12% is your automatic saving which domestic consumers very much enjoy. Gives an incentive for EU people to visit too, no administration needed. Since this is only for Goods, the loss to the Exchequer will be compensated by increased sales and not that much effect.

• Terri says:

  21 Sep21 September 18:44

  Hi what are the rules around cancelling an avios flight to a destination that is no longer on the exemption list? Do I get all avios / taxes back? Is there any charge made?

  • Anna says:

    21 Sep21 September 19:29

    I would imagine it’s the usual £35 pp cancellation charge, unless BA cancels the flight first, or you opt for a FTV.

  • Andrew says:

    21 Sep21 September 19:46

    Usual rules apply, it’s not BA’s fault you’re unable or unwilling to travel to that destination. So unless they cancel the flight you need to pay £35 to get your Avios and money back or with no charge, take a future travel voucher or change destination with no charge, subject to Avios seats being available (any increase in Avios and cash will be due).

  • Rob says:

    21 Sep21 September 21:09

    If the flight is still going, you pay the normal £35 per person cancellation fee.

• cinereus says:

  21 Sep21 September 19:11

  STILL no dark theme? I often read at night but can’t do that any more with the blinding white theme forced on both email and web. I very much doubt your design agency would not have made a dark theme at the same time given it’s 2020.

  • Rahaney says:

    21 Sep21 September 20:30

    +1 for a dark theme!

• New Card says:

  21 Sep21 September 21:23

  VS website showing plenty of award availability to Antigua but no availability at all to Grenada. Is it not possible to book an award to Grenada?

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.