The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 30th September

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• Harry T says:

  30 Sep30 September 14:44

  There’s some good value flights from Brussels and Luxembourg to Boston and other US destinations next year for around £800-950. Can book through BA holidays if you want Book with Confidence and just pay a deposit – just add a car or one night hotel. I’m using a one night hotel stay for my overnight in Brussels before we fly out. Cost around 1000 euros per person for August – around 80 euros more than buying the flights outright for our dates.

  Boston is a club suite route – the CS seat map is showing for both my flights.

  If you are happy putting down money now, BRU-BOS-LUX on AA.com comes out as £780 ish return.

  Brussels is also getting US pre clearance.

  • ChrisC says:

    30 Sep30 September 16:58

    I looked at LUX as someone mentioned it the other day but I couldn’t get it to work as part of a BA holiday for when I wanted to go it was pricing up as €8k euro and all the playing around couldn’t change that.

    I have added BRU and LUX on the list of possible start points.

    One thing that did put me off when I found a good deal was paying in € so geting a € voucher if I cancelled.

  • r* says:

    30 Sep30 September 17:20

    To only add one night hotel on a ba holidays booking, do you have to do it through the ‘complex’ itinerary booking or is there a more straightforward way?

• Harry T says:

  30 Sep30 September 16:12

  Interesting that they’ve dropped it recently from 40k to 35k.

• Anna says:

  30 Sep30 September 16:40

  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-54356413
  Some people losing their holidays due to the local Welsh lockdowns meaning they can’t travel to airports. Ryanair unsurprisingly refusing to be flexible!

  • TGLoyalty says:

    30 Sep30 September 16:58

    Can they really enforce keeping you in the country.

    I can understand restricting entry but I think the welsh stance on not allowing you to leave is crazy!

    • Anna says:

      30 Sep30 September 17:10

      It depends on how serious they are about enforcing it (the Welsh police seemed to be more on it than the English ones earlier in the year, with the road blocks and kicking people off the beaches) – however, if you landed back at Cardiff airport you may get rumbled if the authorities spot that you live in one of the restricted areas and shouldn’t have left in the first place!

    • Louie says:

      30 Sep30 September 23:22

      “Can they really enforce keeping you in the country” – here in Australia they do! We need a permit to leave the country and going back to the UK to visit elderly parents is highly unlikely to qualify.

  • Nick_C says:

    30 Sep30 September 17:33

    Ryanair are operating the flight. What do people expect?

    People need to claim on their travel insurance.

    • Freddy says:

      30 Sep30 September 18:22

      The CMA has outlined their position if you live in a Welsh lockdown area and cannot legally travel. Their view is that in those circumstances you are entitled to a refund. I have easyJet flights lined up at the end of the month, think they will be cancelled but if not I’ll issue a MCOL if they refuse to refund

      • TGLoyalty says:

        30 Sep30 September 18:25

        But unless it’s law they can’t be forced to and even when it is law they will try everything they can not to.

      • Jonathan says:

        30 Sep30 September 19:06

        Why should they refund you? That’s a travel insurance issue same as if you broke your leg the day before your flight. Too many people expecting airlines to pick up the pieces for an issue that’s not of their making or obligation to resolve recently when they’re already up financial s@@t creek.

        • Freddy says:

          30 Sep30 September 21:59

          Was going to give a lengthy reply but this should clarify (only applies to Welsh lockdown which prevents leaving the area)

          https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cma-to-investigate-concerns-about-cancellation-policies-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic/the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-consumer-contracts-cancellation-and-refunds#contracts-that-cannot-go-ahead-due-to-lockdown-laws

        • TGLoyalty says:

          30 Sep30 September 23:09

          And this is the bit that these companies will use to get away with it

          “This statement should not be regarded as a substitute for, or a definitive interpretation of, the law. Rather it sets out the CMA’s views as to how the law operates, to help consumers understand their rights and to help businesses treat their customers fairly. Ultimately only a court can decide how the law applies in each circumstance”

• Barbs says:

  30 Sep30 September 16:58

  So South Africa has finally announced their list of “high-risk” countries, and the UK is on it, so not allowed in. Question now being, does this include the Channel Islands, or not? I know this is probably a shot in the dark, but also wondering what the impact of this would be on BA flights there.

  • WaynedP says:

    30 Sep30 September 17:02

    Virgin too – I’m booked on the first VS flight out to JNB on 18 October. Guess I should expect a cancellation, much like the four times cancelled, five times re-booked BA flight now scheduled for December – sigh.

  • Anna says:

    30 Sep30 September 17:07

    I’m assuming you would have to pass through another country (if not England) to get to SA from the Channel Islands so it may depend on the situation at the departure point.

  • WaynedP says:

    30 Sep30 September 17:21

    I don’t see any “list of countries by classification” yet, Barbs – how are you getting that UK is on the high-risk list ?
    Just by virtue of the fact that number of infections and deaths is higher than SA reported cases ?
    Which in itself is a specious classification method because it deals with absolute numbers (rather than infection rates as a proportion of population), and it doesn’t properly allow for the differences in proportion of population tested.
    Unless they’ve published a list that I’ve missed, they are definitely going to have to clarify this announcement to include something more scientifically and statistically robust.

    • WaynedP says:

      30 Sep30 September 17:54

      Media reported list of high-risk (not allowed) countries at https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/international-travel-high-risk-countries/
      but I can’t find anything official on gov.za website yet.

      Will need to study this categorisation more closely.

      A few weeks ago, HfP comments included suggested credible websites for comparative Covid infection rates. I’d be grateful if someone would re-announce.

      Sorry, I should have made a note at the time, thanks.

      • WaynedP says:

        30 Sep30 September 17:59

        Got it, thanks.

        In 27 August article entitled Cuba removed and Switzerland, Jamaica and Czech Republic added to UK quarantine list

      • WaynedP says:

        30 Sep30 September 18:34

        This list can’t possibly be accurate.

        It permits travel from Belgium (with a 7-day infection rate of 103 per 100k population) but bans UK (with 64 per 100k) according to statista.com.

        Allows Denmark (62 per 100k) but bans Greece (20.5 per 100k).

        Something doesn’t add up

        • TGLoyalty says:

          30 Sep30 September 21:22

          I believe they also looked at the number of passengers they get from a country.

        • WaynedP says:

          30 Sep30 September 22:28

          @TGLOYALTY That’s very noble of you to ascribe such sophistication to what was released to the world’s media today.

          Truth is, the first page of high risk countries was omitted at the press briefing, explaining why countries like Brazil and Belgium weren’t classified as high risk, but UK was.

          Embarrassing enough, but still no sensible explanation for why Spain (7 day infection rate more than double the UK at 140 per 100k population) isn’t on the list.

          If number of tourists was considered, and classification favoured higher tourist volumes, I can’t believe that Spain delivers more tourists to SA than UK.

          And if classification favoured lower tourist volumes, I can’t believe that Czechia (which is on the no-fly high risk list as “Czech Republic” with similar 7-day infection rate to Spain) delivers more tourists to SA than Spain.

          Sadly it’s a plain and simple embarrassing shambles.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          30 Sep30 September 23:05

          I don’t disagree. No better or worse than the crap coming out of the British government’s either.

• MinR says:

  30 Sep30 September 17:03

  Is this the first time you’ve called to cancel since the start of lockdown? Or have you had other points offered before?

• Nathan says:

  30 Sep30 September 17:37

  I am currently without any AMEX cards as I cancelled my/wife’s cards in 2018/19, with the aim of restarting our churning cycle after 24 months.

  The first card we cancelled was my wife’s BA amex on 2/10/18, so from my calculations she will be eligible for sign up bonus again this week (I will wait until 3rd October until applying). With the new rules, what is the best way of maximising our sign up bonuses (24 month cycle for my BA amex is April 2021 and platinum card August 2021, while my wife’s 24 month cycle for Platinum is April 2021).

  Hope that makes sense.

  • Rob says:

    30 Sep30 September 18:19

    I would double-check the date with Amex first, because if you are 1 day out (on their calcs) you are stuffed for another 2 years.

    This is the article you want – https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2020/07/06/earn-178000-avios-from-amex-bonuses/

    • Nathan says:

      30 Sep30 September 19:07

      Thanks Rob. Had a quick look at article – I am assuming that would apply in scenario where all AMEX cards (for me and wife) were cancelled at around the same time, so 2 year cycle was similar for all cards. The problem I have is my 2 year cycles are not in sync – the 2 year cycle only resets for my wife’s BA card this month, while my BA amex and wife’s platinum 2 year cycle is not until April 2021. Would it be worth just applying for my wife’s BA amex first so I at least have an amex card for now (rather than waiting until April before I can apply for any of the others)?

      • Rob says:

        30 Sep30 September 20:01

        Does no harm – it means you’re ready to refer your wife in April.

• New Card says:

  30 Sep30 September 18:23

  I recall some comments a few months ago where people were able to get Tesco Clubcard vouchers refunded which had been used at Hotels.com for hotel bookings which were unable to be used because of Covid. Annoyingly I can’t find those comments now. Would anyone be able to please point me in the direction of how I might be able to get a refund? Many thanks.

  • Rui N. says:

    30 Sep30 September 18:49

    Contact them on whatsapp and explain the situation.

  • Andrew says:

    30 Sep30 September 22:22

    Just been through this process myself. You can only get refunds on booking made prior to March. You need to cancel via hotels.com website (not via chat) then wait 30 days from the end date of your stay. Replacement vouchers should arrive by this date but probably won’t. At the point start chasing Tesco (not hotels.com) – they will chase hotels.com for you. Replacement vouchers have Dec 2022 expiry date for stays up to Dec 2023.

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