The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 22nd December

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We have decided to run this daily chat thread on Head for Points during the coronavirus outbreak.

Historically, the daily ‘Bits’ articles were the de facto repository for random comments and questions. With the news flow being lighter, we are running fewer ‘Bits’ articles.

The comments under this article are where you should post questions about travel and, indeed, anything else on your mind. At this tricky time, and given that many of you are at home, we want the HfP community to have a place to chat.

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Category

General

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

pauline says:

22 Dec22 December 08:36

Sorry if this is a really basic question but how can you tell if a booking has been ticketed?
- Anna says:
  
  22 Dec22 December 09:07
  
  If it’s a BA booking you will have numbers starting 125 next to each passenger on your confirmation email.
  - Pauline says:
    
    22 Dec22 December 09:40
    
    Thank you. Are most bookings ticketed straight away? What would be the reason if it’s not?
    - ChrisC says:
      
      22 Dec22 December 10:08
      
      A simple booking is usually ticketted immediatly
      
      There can be delays if you have made a change and the ticket needs to be reissued such as a flight cancellation and rebooking
    - GaryC says:
      
      22 Dec22 December 10:10
      
      Not necessarily. Sometimes it is ticketed, but no confirmation email is sent. If you look on the BA app you should see a field for ticket number, and be able to check if it’s blank. If some manual intervention is required then you might get the booking ref (PNR) and ticketing can happen later – essentially you end up in a backlog which BA work through. Reasons I’ve had for delays in ticketing are use of future travel vouchers or booking requiring multiple teams at BA to coordinate e.g. to release reward space for upgrades, confirm prices and take payment later.
      - Nick says:
        
        22 Dec22 December 11:07
        
        Most bookings made direct with BA are ticketed straight away. Most bookings made with a travel agent (except OTA) are NOT ticketed straight away. Agents will have a ticketing time limit, beyond which a booking is liable to be cancelled by the airline, but it tends to be fairly close to departure.
Mark says:

22 Dec22 December 09:10

Anyone know if the Virgin credit card app is down this morning?
Crnt seem to get past the 1st page and get an error message.
- Waddle says:
  
  22 Dec22 December 09:39
  
  Mine isn’t working either.
- Nick_C says:
  
  22 Dec22 December 12:05
  
  The website is working. Damn stupid of them to be getting rid of it.
The Savage Squirrel says:

22 Dec22 December 09:44

HfP incredibly slow this morning and often getting Cloudflare 502 page instead as page fails to load.
Does HfP/Cloudflare think that me and my squirrel army are launching a DDOS attack against it? :D.
- Craig says:
  
  22 Dec22 December 09:47
  
  Same for me.
- Peter K says:
  
  22 Dec22 December 10:00
  
  And me.
  - Rhys says:
    
    22 Dec22 December 10:07
    
    We’re getting it too. Really annoying as I try and get stuff done!
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      22 Dec22 December 10:36
      
      Seems to be better via Safari than Chrome.
      - Rhys says:
        
        22 Dec22 December 10:38
        
        It’s a server error not a browser error so that shouldn’t make a difference.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        22 Dec22 December 10:58
        
        I would have thought so perhaps it’s how you treat traffic from your Twitter links vs direct via browsers but I couldn’t access from chrome directly and could from Twitter (using safari).
        
        Whatever the reason i was seeing one not working and the other working at the exact same time.
      - TGLoyaly says:
        
        22 Dec22 December 23:02
        
        I’m seeing it again tonight.
        
        504 error chrome and fine on safari.
    - Optimus Prime says:
      
      22 Dec22 December 11:14
      
      Don’t feel bad. Virgin Credit Card app is bust too.
- mr_jetlag says:
  
  22 Dec22 December 10:21
  
  This will either be their hosting provider or CDN having DDOS issues.
  - Nick says:
    
    22 Dec22 December 11:08
    
    It’s Rhys’s updates crashing the server… warning flag of what’s coming 😂
fivebobbill says:

22 Dec22 December 09:45

I’m having major issues getting HFP to load this morning, it’s been hit and miss for the last 4 or 5 days, but today the site is failing altogether at times and just timing out. When it does load it’s taking forever.
Tried Chrome, IE, on 2 different laptops, all using Windows 10…
Greg says:

22 Dec22 December 10:03

Is the AMEX eligibility checker not working? I get an error all the time.
- Nick says:
  
  22 Dec22 December 11:10
  
  Try it though M@S@E.‘s credit club if it doesn’t work direct.
J says:

22 Dec22 December 11:00

Anyone in Gran Canaria or South Africa right now? How is it? Planning to escape in January – although intend to book last minute as I can see this new strain cancelling flights from mainland Europe too (I’m in Germany).
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  22 Dec22 December 11:25
  
  Will probably be more peaceful soon as brits are banned :p
- marcw says:
  
  22 Dec22 December 11:43
  
  The Canary Islands, except for Tenerife are doing quite well. I’m currently in La Palma and everything is pretty much normal, except everyone wears a mask. All other islands should be the same; in Tenerife there are more restrictions.
  - J says:
    
    22 Dec22 December 12:12
    
    Thanks marcw – and probably a safer option than South Africa. I seem to remember SA suspended international flights at the start of the pandemic… Although both are very tempting right now!
  - Anna says:
    
    22 Dec22 December 12:17
    
    Now you’ve gone and reminded me that Cumbre Vieja could erupt at any time and wipe us all out with a mega-tsunami, marcw. As if this year wasn’t enough like a disaster movie!
    - marcw says:
      
      22 Dec22 December 12:29
      
      I know! Technically it’s not an explosion but a massive landslide. It will happen, but no one really knows “when”.
- Jamie Collins says:
  
  22 Dec22 December 12:23
  
  I am in Tenerife right now. Masks have to be worn everywhere , even walking on the street, and the staff are not afraid to tell you that (unlike UK) Most shops, bars and restaurants are open, with social distancing and lots of sanitiser. Happier being here than in UK right now! We are due to fly home on 24th but want to extend until 31st. I called BA to change the flights and was told to wait until today as he expected the flight to be cancelled anyway and I wouldn’t then incur a change fee. No cancellation email as yet and flights are still bookable online UK to Spain, even for today/tomorrow.
  - Harry T says:
    
    22 Dec22 December 13:29
    
    It’s absolutely ludicrous that Tenerife require you to wear a mask outdoors, especially in contexts where you are distant from others. Made me glad about one aspect of the UK approach to covid, when I visited Tenerife.
  - Travel Strong says:
    
    22 Dec22 December 14:25
    
    Gibraltar issued the same nonesense rule yesterday. Wearing a mask outside when no one else is around is a pretty indefensible rule, and yet its happening all over the place. Hiking up the nature reserve paths? Mask. Alone on the beach? Mask. Idiotic bureaucrats run the show now.
    - Jack says:
      
      22 Dec22 December 15:10
      
      Government officials just wanting to look like they’re doing something. Typical.
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      22 Dec22 December 15:34
      
      Wearing masks outdoor is literally pointless.
      
      Like wearing your underpants on the outside of your trousers.
      
      It’s as about as useful as wearing a condom 24/7/365 and only removing to pee.
      
      Before anyone start attacking me because I’m calling other countries governments / advisors stupid just go some research on the chance of catching a virus in outdoor spaces.
      - Anna says:
        
        22 Dec22 December 17:09
        
        Just don’t cover you mouth and nose with a condom!
james says:

22 Dec22 December 11:37

Has anyone got the 5000 bonus points for an IHG stay using the Creation card yet? How long did it take to post?? I did one last month but nothing so far.
- Peggerz says:
  
  22 Dec22 December 11:59
  
  Me too.
  - Mark Peterborough says:
    
    23 Dec23 December 00:58
    
    I’m still waiting for mine from a stay in late November.
David Statham says:

22 Dec22 December 12:05

Does anyone have a view as to whether BA will start extending the dates of 2-4-1 vouchers that need to be used in the first 6 months of 2021 ?
- Rhys says:
  
  22 Dec22 December 12:09
  
  Will depend on what happens in 2021
- AJA says:
  
  22 Dec22 December 16:37
  
  I received an email from Amex on 14 December 2020 stating the following:
  
  Good news – we are extending the expiry date on your Companion Voucher again
  We’ve applied a six-month extension to the Companion Vouchers that you have in your British Airways Executive Club Account, which expire before the 31 March 2021. If you haven’t yet earned your Companion Voucher, but do so before 31 March 2021, it will automatically be extended and will now be valid for 30 months, so you’ll now have more chance to enjoy them.
  - Rhys says:
    
    22 Dec22 December 16:43
    
    This was announced in October: https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2020/10/13/british-airways-american-express-241-extended/
    - AJA says:
      
      22 Dec22 December 17:51
      
      It’s weird that Amex only wrote to me last week. Even stranger I don’t have a 2-4-1 expiring before 31 March 2021. I do hope to earn another 2-4-1 by 31 March though.
      
      But the point of posting was that it answers 3 months of the window mentioned in David’s post. So the real question is will Amex / BA extend vouchers that expire betwen 1 April and 30 June 2021? I think it’s a distinct possibility now that Tier 4 is looking likely to be expanded along with possibly a further lockdown in the new year.