The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 13th October

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• James says:

  13 Oct13 October 08:52

  Anyone heard any updates regarding BA’s catering “service” and when it might return to normal?

  • Rob says:

    13 Oct13 October 09:05

    No

    • James says:

      13 Oct13 October 09:12

      Hi Rob,

      I posted a reply on the Marriott post about an amazing deal I got through Amex FHR but it doesn’t seem to have been verified, any reason why?

      • Rob says:

        13 Oct13 October 09:51

        I will track it down!

  • Mawalt says:

    13 Oct13 October 11:25

    There was a discussion about this on FT – some claim to have “heard” of mid- or late-October restart.

    I will believe it when I see it, and with AC’s departure, hopefully sooner rather than later!

    • ChrisC says:

      13 Oct13 October 16:38

      If I read the same thread the info came from a normally very reliable source of all things BA and the implementation date was set for 25th October when the winter timetable starts.

      Somehow I don’t think catering will be top of the new chaps agenda and even if it is changes won’t happen overnight. The catering company will need advance notice for example to increase staff numbers and restart their supply chain.

  • Nick says:

    13 Oct13 October 16:13

    BA is skimping here by trying to blame it on Covid.
    VS and ME3 serve full meals, on a single tray!

• BJ says:

  13 Oct13 October 09:22

  Feeling sort of restless here these days and was thinking when this mess all settles we might just celebrate with only my second and my partners first RTW trip. That got me thinking about some old HfP articles and I thought I might highlight them here for the benefit of newer readers, those who may have missed them, or those like me who might enjoy reliving them:

  https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2015/04/26/how-rick-used-his-avios-for-a-round-the-world-trip-before-the-devaluation/

  • BJ says:

    13 Oct13 October 09:23

    And here:

    https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2016/03/11/avios-round-the-world-trip/

  • LewisB says:

    13 Oct13 October 09:43

    Avios use for multi-carrier Reward Flights is my plan when the time comes. Hoping for mid-2022. Around the world, if I can get it.

    • BJ says:

      13 Oct13 October 09:57

      Good luck with it. My last RTW was entirely northern hemisphere so I think next time I will try to achieve full circle within the southern hemisphere but it will be challenging all on miles.

      • Rhys says:

        13 Oct13 October 10:10

        LATAM is still an Avios spending partner!

        • BJ says:

          13 Oct13 October 10:34

          Thanks Rhys, didn’t realise that. I figure southern route would work as it would allow me to aim for our winter 2021/22.

        • Rhys says:

          13 Oct13 October 10:41

          Should just about be doable with LATAM and Qantas meeting in Joburg!

  • meta says:

    13 Oct13 October 10:32

    @BJ yes we were discussing this last week when somebody mentioned they were gifted 1 million avios! I would love to do RTW on Avios one day.

    • BJ says:

      13 Oct13 October 10:37

      Still a few hours to book part of it in on the cheap if you want to chance next June.

      • meta says:

        13 Oct13 October 12:11

        Sadly tied up with other bookings and it needs the whole world to be fully open. I am sure this is not the last sale either. They’ll need late 2021 and 2022 and nobody will be booking these come June if things don’t improve.

        • meta says:

          13 Oct13 October 12:12

          *bookings

• JM says:

  13 Oct13 October 09:27

  Booked CW to Dubai in December using the 50% off Avios promotion… had an email from BA promoting option of upgrading to First…
  – Assuming this will still benefit from the 50% if I do it today?
  – if there is no first for my current flight, but there is for flight later in the day, would I have to pay £35 each to change?

  Expected this route would be Club Suite but has been changed to CW from end of Oct so considering First instead

  • Harry T says:

    13 Oct13 October 09:39

    You may have been targeted for a proactive online upgrade using cash, so check your account for that.

    If there’s F on a later flight, they may let you change for free, although they are within their rights to charge you £35 each to upgrade anyway (although I haven’t been charged any change fees recently on various changes and upgrades).

  • Harry T says:

    13 Oct13 October 09:40

    Various reports on flyertalk that UUA should be eligible for half price Avios, but you may need to try a couple of agents. Check what it should be in advance, as they recently tried to charge me double the normal Avios to upgrade (probably an IT error) when I called.

    • BJ says:

      13 Oct13 October 09:52

      UUA is not so flexible though, not bad but no as good as a normal redemption in this respect.

• Crafty says:

  13 Oct13 October 09:49

  Revolut from Creation failing. Never had this problem before, but been the case all morning. Anyone else?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    13 Oct13 October 09:57

    How much are you trying?

    Just did £300 no problem.

  • BJ says:

    13 Oct13 October 10:02

    OT: thanks for tip on DT Penang the other day, there was a good chance I might otherwise have gone ahead and booked it sometime without even bothering to research it.

    • Aston100 says:

      13 Oct13 October 10:40

      What was the tip? I am considering that place for summer 2021 if the Edison Georgetown isn’t available through Mr & Mrs Smith / IHG points by then.

      • BJ says:

        13 Oct13 October 10:45

        Crafty reported it was bit on the remote side. Probably fine if you like quiet and have a hire car.

        • Aston100 says:

          13 Oct13 October 11:07

          I do and I will!
          Still hoping for The Edison on IHG points, but the Doubletree looked like a cheap alternative (different type of experience I suppose but both are suitable).
          Thanks.

        • Nick says:

          13 Oct13 October 11:08

          The DT Penang is a lovely hotel and I had a great stay there. Free (and excellent) afternoon tea for Golds or above. Slightly remote but walkable to the local town with beach and food stalls, and there’s a hotel shuttle into Georgetown once a day (or a regular bus literally outside the door if your schedules don’t align). I’d stay again.

        • venturelog says:

          13 Oct13 October 11:36

          I stayed there earlier this year, albeit for only 2 nights as had to change plans due to Covid. It’s an ok place. The staff were nice. You do need a taxi or Grab to get to & from Georgetown. Time it to avoid the school holidays as its a big draw for families which meant breakfast was a mess. Expectations should be managed. Can’t compare it to the Edison.

      • Crafty says:

        13 Oct13 October 14:24

        If you want to do stuff in Georgetown, which I would recommend, I wouldn’t stay at the Doubletree. There are loads of hotels in Georgetown itself.

    • Crafty says:

      13 Oct13 October 14:23

      No problem. We almost did the same, were about to commit to 3 nights, but were glad we checked it out first! It is in a very odd location.

    • Polly says:

      13 Oct13 October 18:40

      Just transferred our Edison booking for next month to Nov 21, will look at DT also for a few days, if we ever get there. Took a chance and booked avios 241 in F/J for Feb to KUL again, but not hopeful..really missing Asia. Can’t get the OH on a plane anywhere!

• Secret Squirrel says:

  13 Oct13 October 10:05

  Anyone getting problems with world pay today?

• Keith says:

  13 Oct13 October 10:09

  Data Point

  Called to cancel my Gold Card, was offered 5000 MRP for a £1000 spend.

  • Super Secret Stuff says:

    13 Oct13 October 10:35

    3 months to do it? A lot of people are getting that

  • BS says:

    13 Oct13 October 12:41

    Just called to try. No offer bar being offered to pay my annual fee monthly.

    • Super Secret Stuff says:

      13 Oct13 October 16:18

      Try again and ask about a cancellation period or something. They will shove all the benefits down your throat before they offer anything substantial but just say you know it all or this doesn’t change the fact it isn’t currently valuable to me etc.

• Colin MacKinnon says:

  13 Oct13 October 10:40

  Rebooked our 241 to San Diego over New Year to get half-price avios deal. You First really helpful.

  Then used the saved Avios to book F to Denver on November 1st. Pretty sure that won’t go ahead and agent confirmed that if BA cancel then we have an open F ticket for Denver valid until end of September 2021.

  (and the option to cancel and get another FTV)

• Jan M says:

  13 Oct13 October 10:58

  Managed to finally get through on the Avios phone number. Booked a business class return flight to Kuala Lumpur for next June. They originally quoted the normal number of Avios, but when I mentioned the BA Avios sale they changed it to the sale price without any difficulty. Saved me 45,000 Avios. 🙂

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