The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 8th December

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• pointsarb says:

  8 Dec8 December 13:37

  Hi all,

  Best IHG or Marriott hotel with a great pool and Spa and located anywhere in England is…..??

  Looking to book on points for a relaxing break over Xmas/NY for our family of 4 including 2 kids under 9 .

  All suggestions gratefully received 🙂

  Thank you!

  • Stanley says:

    8 Dec8 December 13:38

    The Langley

    • TGLoyalty says:

      8 Dec8 December 14:14

      Probably the best but pool is closed until atleast 15th so worth keeping in mind as timing can always slip etc.

      IC O2 isn’t bad in my experience and F&B choices nearby.

  • Aston100 says:

    8 Dec8 December 13:49

    Holiday Inn Express Dartford. What it doesn’t have in the way of a pool or spa, it more than makes up for with a view of a naturist and her bush.
    Make sure you ask for a room at the back of the hotel, towards the Dartford Tunnel end.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      8 Dec8 December 16:08

      You Should really put the binoculars away.

      • Lady London says:

        8 Dec8 December 16:13

        🙂 both

  • Harry T says:

    8 Dec8 December 15:39

    Marriott Park Lane has a decent indoor pool for a central London hotel. Haven’t tried their spa treatments. Don’t think I they have a sauna.

    The Langley spa is very very good.

  • pointsarb says:

    9 Dec9 December 08:53

    Thanks for the suggestions folks 🙂

• Clive says:

  8 Dec8 December 14:01

  Hi all,

  Anyone with an idea how to bypass Virgin’s CC monthly points eligible spend, which is capped at the credit limit?

  Any ideas welcome!
  Thank You!

  • Lev441 says:

    8 Dec8 December 14:25

    Get a credit limit increase!

    • Clive says:

      8 Dec8 December 14:39

      Thanks… got my limit increased this month already! Still far too low.

      • Lev441 says:

        8 Dec8 December 20:47

        I hear that. That’s why I cancelled my card back in July – just not worth the card fee with a £3,500 credit limit with any increases declined!

  • Andrew says:

    8 Dec8 December 15:01

    Have you tried bringing your statement date forward?

    (Regularly)

• Ron says:

  8 Dec8 December 14:29

  BA flight to SFO on A380, how much to reserve window pair seats on the upper deck? To be more precise, 52A&B. Thanks.

  • Doug M says:

    8 Dec8 December 14:48

    It’s dynamic so no one can tell you. I wouldn’t count on flying anywhere on a A380, or indeed any particular aircraft.

    • Andrew says:

      8 Dec8 December 15:34

      Indeed. Had A380 booked for Singapore in April just got bumped down to 777 (non-club suite).

      • Ron says:

        8 Dec8 December 17:04

        Our return flight from SEA swap from CS 777 to 787-9.

    • Ron says:

      8 Dec8 December 17:03

      Ah, I do recall it being dynamic, but just want to check. Thank you. I’m hoping the A380 will stick for the summer months, especially they have reduced flights to SJC.

      • Andrew says:

        8 Dec8 December 17:41

        Very very unlikely to be honest

        • Ron says:

          8 Dec8 December 19:42

          That’s what I thought, but I’ve heard different thing that BA may bring some of the A380s back soon than expected.

        • Doug M says:

          8 Dec8 December 21:51

          There have been A380s at LHR recently, but maintenance related according to FT. Not sure there’s any expectation of them going back into service at present. Interested in what you’ve heard differently to that.

        • Ron says:

          8 Dec8 December 23:08

          Yes, I saw that in FT too, but that’s not what I was referring to. Unfortunately, I can’t disclose any more, but Im hopeful they will be flying again. Fingers crossed!

      • Lady London says:

        8 Dec8 December 18:15

        If there’s not some kind of subsidy they are tied to.I would expect them to drop SJC.

        • Ron says:

          8 Dec8 December 23:13

          Not sure if you remember our conversation yesterday, but I have rang today and swap us to the SFO flight on the original date, as BA changed our inbound flight from SEA as well and swap a CS 777 to 787, I’m not keen on the new seats allocation, but can’t change them unless I accept the new flights. I think if we do end up not going, we will just have to lose my partners seat allocation fee! Never mind…

• AJA says:

  8 Dec8 December 14:36

  Update to my claim for missing Avios from my Samsung purchase via the BA shopping portal I received an email today saying “Thank you for shopping on 24 November 2020. Your Avios will be with you within 5 days.” Happy about that 🙂

• Ed says:

  8 Dec8 December 15:19

  Can someone help please? Ba have cancelled my flight next July to NYC and changed my flight time (2-4-1 avios booking). If I accept the change and later decide against travel will I still be covered by book with confidence? Thanks

  • memesweeper says:

    8 Dec8 December 15:56

    You can still get a FTV if that’s what you mean.

  • Charlieface says:

    8 Dec8 December 16:15

    Better idea: don’t accept the change yet. It’s not obligatory until you reach the date

  • Lady London says:

    8 Dec8 December 16:21

    if your flight number changed then its a cancellation and you have a right to a full refund of your whole booking now (even flights that werent moved or changed).

    If you take FTV voucher no they will *never* let you change your mind and get a refund aftrr that. Even if BA had tweaked their website resulting in many people who clicked a button for refund ending up with a voucher, for example.

    Best to call them and ask for a refund now if your flight numbet is different meaning your booked flight was cancelled.

  • Lady London says:

    8 Dec8 December 16:26

    PS if you bookef in the 50% sale and 2-4-1 then obviously replacement flights would cost a lot more if you took a refund. So if you do still want to travel follow @Charlieface’s advice.

    If you booked under Book With Confidence guarantee then you can take an FTV up till checkin closes But in case of delays or difficulties getting through I’d phone them 2 days before or early on day 1 day before

    • Lady London says:

      8 Dec8 December 16:34

      sorry was @Doug M whose comment I meant

  • Ed says:

    8 Dec8 December 22:56

    Thanks all

• Tom says:

  8 Dec8 December 15:24

  Amex Gordon Ramsey cash-back

  Some of you, including myself, received two cash back offers for Gordon Ramsey restaurants (both on the same card, one ending on the 31/12 and the second one on the 30/01). I have noticed that some readers mentioned this and wondered whether both deals are triggered at once or not.

  I can confirm that both cash back deals are triggered at once – I’ve spent £150 in a GR restaurant on Saturday & received 2x £20 cash back on Monday.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    8 Dec8 December 15:54

    They always stack 🙂

• yorkieflyer says:

  8 Dec8 December 15:35

  Manchester BA cityflyer sunshine flights for July are being cancelled

• meta says:

  8 Dec8 December 15:44

  Update on my BA MCOL claim for cancelled flight from Porto where they refused to reroute me on a TAP Portugal flight. BA wants to settle now in full. They could have avoided easily 3x the cost of the original tickets if they just agreed to put me on that flight.

  • Doug M says:

    8 Dec8 December 15:51

    You fail to factor into this in all the people that either don’t know their rights, or just can’t be bothered.

  • Tical says:

    8 Dec8 December 16:13

    Good result! What was the timeline? I have exchanged docs to go to the small claims route and it seems like now I have 28 days to provide “evidence” to the court. At which point did you get the settlement offer?

    • Charlieface says:

      8 Dec8 December 16:17

      Make sure to claim court costs, loss of earnings for hearings, and interest

  • Lady London says:

    8 Dec8 December 16:33

    not surprised. plus they already gave you your cash back.

    BA’s cost for lawyer/legal time go up a lot if something gets to court. So they wear people down as @memesweeper says and mostly get away with not providing passenger rights Then if someone files a claim they settle last minute. They’ve bern playing “who blinks first’ abusing the innocence of most passengers.

    Well done @meta and thanks for letting us know.

    • meta says:

      8 Dec8 December 16:38

      @Tical
      Timeline
      – 1 month to try to resolve with BA first incl. letter before claim deadline (gave them only 8 days as we already had substantial communication)
      – no response from BA to letter before claim, submitted claim on day 9
      – nearly 2 months to get BA to actually respond something following claim (they were granted 2 extensions of 14 days expiring this Friday)

      Why do you need to provide evidence to court? Court specifically said not to send any evidence unless they ask you! You just need to just list them and have them ready in case it goes to hearing.

      @Charlieface of course, this is all included in BA’s offer. There is usually no hearing in small claims and actually for MCOL there is very rarely “a hearing”, it’s all done by the judge based on evidence.

      @Doug M You’re right. BA wouldn’t be trying on if people were bothered. At least HfP readers should.

    • meta says:

      8 Dec8 December 16:41

      @Lady London absolutely! Interesting to note, it was an internal offer from Customers Dispute Resolution team. Something tells me they are not involving lawyers as they used to. Money’s short?😂

  • AJA says:

    8 Dec8 December 16:54

    Well done for perservering – that is the right result if far too long winded. I know BA does this to preserve cash but it loses credibility and damages their reputation. I am pleased for you and thanks for sharing. It just shows you have to stand up for your rights.

    • Lady London says:

      8 Dec8 December 17:15

      It shows that as law operated in the UK doesnt allow much in the way of punitive damages, everyone that’s forced to make a claim that BA is clearly responsible to pay but denying, should ensure they put every last cent possible on their claim.

      Otherwise BA gets away with paying only what they should have paid upfront willingly anyway, only much later earning money on your money meanwhile and with much less certainty of having to pay anything if they abuse the lack of knowledge of passengers.

      So everything @Charlieface mentions onto your claim, plus remember you are not obliged to take the cheapest option for the costs they force you to incur just something reasonable for the location and time you have.available.

      Lastly I gather it’s also possible to request a preparation time order so especially if BA has wasted hours of your time due to their refusal to provide your clear rights then as this would have displaced more profitable activity I would consider adding that as well.

      • meta says:

        8 Dec8 December 17:49

        Yes, I also claimed postage for sending letter before claim and 2h of my time for dealing with the claim. I tried to be reasonable with preparation costs, but I needed to be compensated extra for my time.

    • meta says:

      8 Dec8 December 17:16

      It would have been a month less, but courts are currently granting extensions due to covid and BA is taking full advantage even in clear cut cases like mine.

  • Harry T says:

    8 Dec8 December 20:00

    @meta
    Really pleased for you, thanks for sharing the update. I’m just sorry you had to go through such a frustrating process to receive the appropriate resolution.

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