The HfP chat thread – Thursday 1st October

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• Andrew says:

  1 Oct1 October 09:36

  What a great idea – imagine the take-up if BA did this:
  https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/sg/plan-travel/discover-your-sia/restaurant-a380-at-changi/

  • Rhys says:

    1 Oct1 October 09:56

    I would call myself an avgeek but even I don’t see the appeal of this. It seems like a lot of hassle to ‘dine’ somewhere which isn’t conducive to conversation (as everyone is either in their own seat or sat in a row facing the seatbacks). There is a reason normal restaurants aren’t set up like aircraft interiors!

    Plus it calls into question the quality of the food. Presumably they are not using the onboard galleys, so they are cooking the food elsewhere…in a pop-up kitchen? That then needs to be carted into the aircraft?

    It all sounds a little ridiculous!

    • Andrew says:

      1 Oct1 October 10:07

      And yet I guarantee it would sell out in minutes. Novelty things like this are always hugely popular.

      And of course they would have power on the aircraft for the lighting and the AC, so no reason for the galley ovens not to be used to reheat the same food from the airline caterers.

      • Rhys says:

        1 Oct1 October 10:08

        Yes, it probably would, and there are definitely people who would take up the offer. I guess if you’ve never been on an A380 it could be quite interesting.

        Personally, I’d find the stock sales that Qantas has been doing recently much more interesting.

        • Nick_C says:

          1 Oct1 October 10:38

          I think people who haven’t discovered HfP and who have never sat in Business Class would go for it. There are a lot of them!

        • Rhys says:

          1 Oct1 October 10:39

          Fair point – but for most HfP readers I imagine it wouldn’t be particularly interesting!

        • Andrew says:

          1 Oct1 October 10:43

          Totally agree that the stock sales would also be very interesting and also sell out in minutes. I’m enjoying by BA 100 gin miniatures!

        • PJJ says:

          1 Oct1 October 21:39

          How about HfP chartering a 747 for a ‘final’ trip for nostalgia as a Christmas/NY Party ?

      • Jody says:

        1 Oct1 October 11:08

        Bit of a random question here in relation to galley ovens. I suspect the answer is no, but can they be used to heat up a ready meal? I’m gluten free, and also vegetarian. I am pretty certain that I won’t be able to eat any of the hot food onboard planes any more for long haul, as I think you can select either a gluten free meal, or a vegetarian meal, but not both.

        Was thinking of taking a nice pack up and maybe a couple of gluten free pot noodle type things which just need hot water (I presume this would be ok?) but then got to thinking if it would actually be possible to heat up a ready meal?

        I’m 100% sure our flights to Australia won’t go ahead in January, but if they did (or we can snag an avios for another time!) then it would be nice to know there would be a way of actually getting a hot meal.

        • Lady London says:

          1 Oct1 October 12:12

          I will take a bet there will be some rule that they are only allowed to heat their own airline meals in their ovens due to ‘hygiene’ reasons.

          If they gave us a microwave we could use to heat our own meals on board I would love it actually – but it would be mayhem, the aircraft would be stunk out, cabin crew would be forever cleaning up, and rubbish disposal would also have to be provided.

        • Anna says:

          1 Oct1 October 13:04

          I was thinking along the same lines, LL but casting my mind back I’m sure we managed to get baby food heated up at least once on a flight so they must have the capacity.

        • ChrisC says:

          1 Oct1 October 13:31

          Correct they are not supposed to heat up non airline food.

          These aren’t ordinary ovens and they won’t want a plastic container melting in one of them – that’s it it even fits into their tray system

          Baby food is a different matter which I think is done by putting the bottle in hot water rather than the oven

          Most airlines will generally give you hot water to make your own drink / cuppa soup etc

      • Spk says:

        1 Oct1 October 11:25

        In Asia, there is a craze to do unique things and share them on social media, which is why instagram is such a hit there. New restaurants are designed to make them insta-worthy.

    • Jonathan says:

      1 Oct1 October 11:04

      There’s quite an interesting documentary on Netflix about Singapore Airlines catering. They opened their own dedicated kitchen in Frankfurt to service the 2 daily A380 flights & it’s fascinating how much effort & manpower goes into feeding 1 plane load of people.

      Certainly shows the difference between real & pretend F as they send someone to the shops to buy strawberries for a last minute request & then rushing airside to handover as the doors were closing!

      Think the series is called Mega Food.

    • RussellH says:

      1 Oct1 October 11:27

      Quite right Rhys, I reckon.

      The contrast with train afficionados who enjoy dining on trains is not insignificant. On a train the table set up is usually comparable to a real restaurant, and you can have a conversation with the others at your table.

    • DB2020 says:

      1 Oct1 October 11:38

      Well Rhys, as a frequent flyer on several airlines including SQ, I beg to differ with your point of view (your dismissive comment also gives the impression that you are looking down your nose at people like me).

      The food on SQ, especially in Business and First, is of very high quality. Even in Economy and Premium Economy, their food is better than most other airlines.

      In contrast to the tone here, the frequent flyer blogs and community in Singapore are thrilled by this proposal and they expect that it will be sold out within a couple of hours after SQ makes booking details available.

      Having flown with them several times a year since 2008, during which time I have experienced some of the best Asian and Western cuisine on board, I would also jump on this offer if I were to be based in Singapore. Their catering is way better than the ME3, by a mile. As a frequent flyer, I have had some ghastly experiences with the food on the ME3.

      Dining on board a passenger aircraft has its own charm. Not all restaurants are great at delivering decent food and service, so I would not be driven by the need to face any fellow diners and instead I would go for the quality of the food and associated service.

      • Rhys says:

        1 Oct1 October 11:46

        I’m not saying that SQ food isn’t good.

        My point is that, if BA chose to do something like that here, I wouldn’t be interested. Is it worth:
        – the effort and time of getting to Heathrow, and potentially having to faff around going airside?
        – not being able to have a social meal, because airplane seats are fundamentally anti-social vs sitting around a table?
        – eating food that may or may not be as high quality as a real restaurant in central London? Let’s be frank, the chances of food being as good or better than the offering in London is likely to be fairly low, since there are so many excellent restaurants in London.

        And even IF the food is as good as the best dining in central London, would I really want to trek to Heathrow for the experience?!

        I can see this appealing to people who might not otherwise experience premium cabins, but otherwise it’s hard to compete with restaurants that are uniquely set up to provide dining experiences!

        • Andrew says:

          1 Oct1 October 12:03

          Rhys – you’re totally missing the point here. They aren’t trying to compete with a restaurant, for all the reasons you say, but in a world with not much going on at the moment this would make a break from the norm with a fun atmosphere and a “remember that time we went to dine in the A380 parked at LHR during the pandemic” story.

        • Spk says:

          1 Oct1 October 12:37

          Agreed. People are doing it purely for the novelty / Instagram / entertainment factor.
          Remember, 99% of Singaporean families live in flats, so imagine how bored they must be boxed inside their flats for 6 months.

        • memesweeper says:

          1 Oct1 October 13:59

          I think you’re forgetting how small Singapore is 🙂

        • Rhys says:

          1 Oct1 October 14:57

          Except that we aren’t in Singapore and the original comment was about BA!

• Rob says:

  1 Oct1 October 10:37

  Morning. IHG status does it end on the 31st December? Close to getting Spire but don’t want to do it this year f I can wait til next year and get two full years from it.

  • Anna says:

    1 Oct1 October 11:26

    Status goes on calendar year – but I’m not sure if IHG have extended the reduced points requirement for status earned after this year so it might depend on whether you can it it at the higher rate. I assume it resets to zero as well on Jan 1st, so you would need a heck of a spend to achieve Spire the same month.

    • ChrisC says:

      1 Oct1 October 12:30

      Year ends on 31st December.

      Counter resets on 1st January.

      It’s not clear if this years reduced requirements also apply to next year.

      Until confirmed I’d work on the old requirements applying (so for Spire 75 nights / 75k qualifying points)

      When you earn status you have it for the current year and then the next year

      Any exess nights over Plat – if you havn’t reached Spire – will roll over into 2021 giving you a head start

• Harry T says:

  1 Oct1 October 10:44

  So has anyone had their King Suite points bookings at Indigo Bath downgraded?

  • Anna says:

    1 Oct1 October 11:28

    My Superior King Vault is still showing, where the cash price was £400 pn. I paid 15k points plus £136 for 2 nights. The payment isn’t showing yet but someone said earlier that’s because it’s processed by points.com and not IHG. I have taken a screenshot though, as I will be arguing that this is a contract if they try and cancel it!

    • Anna says:

      1 Oct1 October 11:30

      Sorry, 15k points x2!

      • Jane says:

        1 Oct1 October 11:39

        mine is still showing, superior twin vault. as it’s a booking for 4 (2A + 2C) they can’t downgrade us as it’s the only room that I can see that will take 4.

  • Harry T says:

    1 Oct1 October 12:44

    My booking is still showing but I did miss a call from a Bath number yesterday 😂. I might email the hotel to clarify. It wasn’t actually the number listed for the hotel.

    • Anna says:

      1 Oct1 October 13:09

      If they’ve clicked that all the bookings were made by HFP readers, they may have just accepted that they could well be on a hiding to nothing (as we say in these parts) trying to get people to accept cancellations/downgrades without a fight!

      • Anna says:

        1 Oct1 October 13:11

        Also Harry T – might be better not to draw attention to it. The longer it goes unchanged, the more outraged you can be if they then try to tinker with your booking. 🤣

      • Lady London says:

        1 Oct1 October 13:12

        Given the recommending power of HfP and its readers I dont think the hotel would lose much by letting any mistake bookings stand.

        • Jonathan says:

          1 Oct1 October 13:33

          Depends how people have played it? I saw a few mentions yesterday of people booking multiple rooms with the mindset of it’s cancellable 24hours before. I feel uneasy with the thought of a hotel having its most profitable rooms tied up with the potential they’ll be handed back at a time when reselling is impossible.

          I get that they put them up & the T&C’s etc but remember this isn’t sticking it to the big man (IHG) as the hotel will be owned by a franchisee who may well only own this or a couple of other hotels (ie. an SME).

          There is also the concept of genuine error with pricing. I’d imagine a reasonable person might assume the price wasn’t right if a king suite was same price as a standard room so the hotel could downgrade/cancel legally.

        • Rob says:

          1 Oct1 October 14:18

          It’s not unknown for hotels to put suites up for redemptions. HI Camden Lock put its Penthouse Suites up for redemption for years (may still be doing so for all I know).

        • Anna says:

          1 Oct1 October 13:45

          Jonathan – I think I’ve acted fairly, I’ve made one booking and thoroughly intend to use it.i It looks fabulous and by coincidence we were watching a program about Roman Bath (or Aquae Sulis if you’re being pedantic) – the other night and saying, “Why have we never been there”. They also must know the risk they’re taking by offering refundable bookings!

        • High grade says:

          1 Oct1 October 20:49

          I agree that those booking multiple stays with the intention to decide later which to honour and cancel some last minute, is poor form. Removes availability for others who would actually use and ultimately if abused too much means groups are more likely to tighten up their booking policy affecting everyone. I know things crop up making cancellations inevitable on some occasions, but numerous bookings made with the intention to cancel most is a pretty selfish strategy IMO. A bit like buying 10 packs of bog roll when Covid kicked off

      • BP says:

        1 Oct1 October 13:37

        As a reference point: IC Samui tried to downgrade the 5 nights I booked on points in a Beachfront Pool Villa. IHG customer service told them they couldn’t do this – their mistake and they need to honour it. On arrival they wanted to charge me for the room. I called customer service the next day stating my previous case reference and the hotel quickly got in touch to say it was all a mistake and the stay is free on points.

        I also booked 2 separate stays in the IC Bangkok in a suite with lounge access on points and had no issue with it being honored.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          1 Oct1 October 16:04

          Exactly it’s done now if they try to downgrade I’ll be kicking up a massive stink.

          Anyway on a side note booked a night at the kimpton Edinburgh for 25k points (standard) and two nights using my Ambassador free night (king dulexe)

          I was automatically given the king for 3 night but asked about an upgrade and been given a very nice junior suite over looking the park.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    1 Oct1 October 16:01

    Still showing King Vault Suite NS here.

  • High grade says:

    1 Oct1 October 19:49

    Mine is still showing as a suite, booked for 2 nights in May. I have also screen shotted the booking confirmation in case they try and change it.

• Nick Newbury says:

  1 Oct1 October 11:02

  An HMRC question

  I have a tax bill to pay as i do every year. I have read various articles on here about the Metal Curve card, excuse my stupidity but odes using a Metal curve allow me to charge my tax bill to, for example, my BAPP card without paying fees/charges.
  Thanks in advance

  • Jonathan says:

    1 Oct1 October 11:07

    Won’t work to BAPP as Amex won’t do business with Curve. Mastercard & Visa are fine so Virgin or IHG Premium are the commonest options unless you have the legacy Hilton Barclaycard.

    • Nick Newbury says:

      1 Oct1 October 11:27

      Thanks Will this only be possible with Metal curve?

      • Jonathan says:

        1 Oct1 October 11:41

        Possible with non metal but you’ll pay 1.5% fee which negates the mile/point earning.

• Aston100 says:

  1 Oct1 October 11:03

  Can anyone kindly advise if I can ask to be flown to my longhaul destination via a different airline (from the same local airport), if the original flight is cancelled and the airline is no longer flying from my local airport? I can see they have a flight the next day via a partner airline, but this ruins my plans, hotel and other bookings.
  A full refund is an option, but I’d rather explore options.
  Thought I’d check here before phoning the airline, so I’m suitably armed.

  Thanks.

  • Jonathan says:

    1 Oct1 October 11:14

    You’re entitled to a reasonable reroute. It’s debatable exactly what this entails. How long is holiday – 1 day delay on weekend break more significant than 3 week holiday, if partner airline flight is eg. 12 rather than 36 hours later then probably fair, do you have further travel to connect at other end etc.

    Might have to go down small claims route so ensure you have good reasons for insisting on the 3rd party option rather than partner flight.

    • Axil23 says:

      1 Oct1 October 12:22

      I had Male-Colombo-Doha-Edinburgh. QR has cancelled Doha-Edinburgh and delayed the CMB-DOH so it now gives me 12hrs in Colombo and then 18hrs in Doha. I booked with AA miles and they are saying that’s all the award availability they can see but QR has a flight available from Male to Doha which would save me the 2 days transit. It has seats but not in award category. Can I take them to small claims court over this?

      • Lady London says:

        1 Oct1 October 13:02

        You are not covered by Ec261. Ask AA if they could make a special request to QR to open up a revenue seat for AA miles due to the inconvenience caused by QR’s rescheduling.

        LH was too lazy to bother when I got an award tik messed up due to similar reschedulings but asking AA could they send a message requesting to QR could be worth a shot.

        • Axil23 says:

          1 Oct1 October 23:34

          Thank you

  • Lady London says:

    1 Oct1 October 12:33

    Read the text of EC261 – google it – you have that full right if the only alternate flight on same airline is not reasonably close and if not same day normally that would be the case.

    Directly asking for it 90 %+ they will try to deny you that right. Keep record of all phone conversations, screenshots and emails on this. As the other poster says, even though it’s wrong you could have to arrange your own replacement flights if you have the ability to, and sue them to recover all costs, all duty of care plus 8% pa pro rata statutory interest until the money reaches your account, that you should also ask for.

    The above Eu261 only applies if Europe/UK airline, or any airline departing from UK/Europe.

    Before calling try to find your alternative solutions based first on your own point if view, and additionally the airline’s likely preference.

    They will prefer, in order:-
    – to force you to accept their flight following day (if eu261 applies they technically cant do that as delay too great), or combo of flights starting with a flight of their own even from somewhere else (as that means majority of ticket revenue remains theirs due first segment rule), or flights on an alliance partner, or flights in another partner, anybody else’s flights.

    As during any extra time/journeying later days you have the right to claim hotel, transport for hotel, 3 meals per day at full local rates plus comms expenses if covered by eu261, they may well prefer to refund you as they then dont have to fulfill that oblugation and less hassle for them. But then you have tgevrisk, hassle and delays of trying to actually get the promised refund. So I would make them transport me instead.

    So try to craft alternatives that go towards them as much as possible then you have a better chance.

    Good luck and please let us know the outcome.

    • Aston100 says:

      1 Oct1 October 14:50

      Thank you. I can’t imagine I’d have the willpower and perseverance to go through all that with the airline and may end up just taking the refund, and probably be chasing them for 3 months for it.
      By the way, I just rang them before reading your post. They said wait two days for some alternatives to be emailed to me.
      Will update in here again after that.

      It was Swiss by the way. The nearest alternative flight is almost 24 hours later, through Lufthy which puts me back by more than a day in SA, and will lead to a change of itinerary (and I can already see the desirable Safari camps are full and hotel prices in Cape Town have shot up). So I would much prefer to fly on my original dates, but no alternative Lufthy group airlines that day from my local airport. There are flights from London and elsewhere but I can’t get to them in time, nor do I want to travel that far and leave my car for 2 weeks etc.

• Spk says:

  1 Oct1 October 11:38

  Does Coop sell gift cards? Got the offer on 4 cards in our family, but not really sure I want to buy groceries.

  • mark2 says:

    1 Oct1 October 11:49

    some do; probably some don’t as there are many different co-op companies, store types etc.
    Time spent on reconnaissance is rarely wasted.

    • Anna says:

      1 Oct1 October 13:28

      mark2, if you ever get asked by a shop assistant, please be sure to tell them you are “browsing” and not carrying out reconnaissance 🤣.

  • K says:

    1 Oct1 October 12:09

    Just bought JL gift cards at my nearest store

    • Andrew says:

      1 Oct1 October 12:48

      Just bought amazon gift card at my local

  • Anna says:

    1 Oct1 October 13:26

    The food offerings are pretty decent these days and they do a lot of FairTrade stuff. I might use the offers for my Xmas chocolate purchases!

    • memesweeper says:

      1 Oct1 October 14:05

      +1

      and the alcohol is worth “reconnaissance ” too … Brockman’s gin for less than any other supermarket recently.

• Axil23 says:

  1 Oct1 October 11:41

  I haven’t kept up to date on the BA cancellation policy. Have I understood this right?

  – I have a flight in December which I might not need to fly. If I cancel now I can get my points back or take a voucher right? So if I need to rebook and take a voucher my 2-4-1 is extended to summer 22? But in this case I need avios seats to be available? My current 2-4-1 expires June 21.

  – If they cancel I can rebook to any other day and don’t need avios seats to be available?

  • AJA says:

    1 Oct1 October 12:53

    When did you book the flight?

    Booked before 3rd March? You can change your flight, or request a voucher, if you are travelling by 31st October 2020

    Booked on or after 3rd March? You can change your flight, or request a voucher, if you are travelling by 30th August 2021

    If you cancel your ticket now you will pay £35 per passenger cancellation fee but get companion voucher and Avios back immediately.

    If you are eligible for FTV you will need Avios reward availability to redeem it in the future. This requires you to phone up to redeem and it will have to be for the same passengers as currently booked.

    If BA cancels you can rebook to any available seat on the same route but only within ticket validity which is 1 year from issue so depends when your ticket was issued.

    • Axil23 says:

      1 Oct1 October 15:04

      Thank you.

    • David H says:

      1 Oct1 October 15:36

      Can you change your flight without incurring the usual £35pp change fee? Has that been waived for the booking/departure date combinations quoted ? I have a similar decision to make. Also is the expiry date of all FTV’s still end April 22 or later (as you mention summer 2022)?

      • AJA says:

        1 Oct1 October 22:54

        I believe change fees are waived if it is within book with confidence policy. Not sure if you booked before 3 March whether you can change for free.

      • AJA says:

        1 Oct1 October 22:56

        Oh and missed the FTV expiry. Pity no edit function to amend my post. FTV expiry ie travel to be completed by end Apr 2022.

• RobL says:

  1 Oct1 October 12:11

  Has anyone managed to get a retention offer for renewing Amex Plat recently?

  • Rob says:

    1 Oct1 October 12:40

    35k reported yesterday, 40k over the last couple of weeks.

  • Harry T says:

    1 Oct1 October 12:47

    40k for me a couple of weeks back.

    • RobL says:

      1 Oct1 October 13:43

      Just tried. No luck, they pointed out I had been given some points in May. Will try again at the weekend.

      • MinR says:

        1 Oct1 October 14:12

        When’s your renewal due?

        • RobL says:

          1 Oct1 October 21:05

          28 Oct

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