The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 13th January

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• JSlv says:

  13 Jan13 January 09:46

  If i hold a booking with BA for 72 hours, when I finally confirm the booking can FTV’s being applied at that time?

  • Anna says:

    13 Jan13 January 10:09

    Is that a flight or holiday booking? With a holiday booking you have to pay the deposit or however much first, then email BA holidays and they will then deduct the value of the FTV from whatever you’ve paid.

    • JSlv says:

      13 Jan13 January 10:15

      Thanks Anna. Booking is only flights.

      • Anna says:

        13 Jan13 January 10:48

        Is the voucher avios plus cash or just cash (and the flights)? If it’s the former I think you have to call to make the booking and have it applied at the time. I didn’t know you could hold flight bookings for 72 hours, is that a recent (covid) policy?
        I imagibe if it’s purely cash flights plus a purely cash voucher, you would pay for the flights then email BA to have the voucher amount deducted, if that’s how your voucher was sent. I’ve had 3 cash vouchers from cancelled BA holidays and have had these instructions each time.

        • ChrisC says:

          13 Jan13 January 11:07

          You’ve been able to hold flights – for a small fee – for several years.

          It’s an option when booking on the website.

          Fee is refundable if you complete the booking (by reducing the balance due) but lost if you don’t.

        • Nick says:

          13 Jan13 January 13:25

          Anna it’s never been the case that flight only bookings work that way, only Holidays. There’s no ‘pay and email’ for flight only ones.

        • Anna says:

          13 Jan13 January 13:51

          Nick I did this with avios flights earlier this year – booked with avios then redeemed the voucher from a BA holiday by email against the taxes/fees. I don’t see why it wouldn’t apply to a purely cash booking.

        • ChrisC says:

          13 Jan13 January 14:42

          You can use a BA hol FTV on a flight only booking

          You book and pay for the flight as normal and then email them and they will then refund you.

          From my BA Hol FTV email

          “you can use the voucher on a package or a fligh only booking …

          “you can make the booking online, send is the reference and we’ll apply it or you can book with a sales agent…. “

        • Jaime says:

          13 Jan13 January 18:52

          Thank you all for the replies. It is a flight only cash booking on hold for 72hrs, that I would like to apply the cash only FTV.
          Will ring them to complete the booking.

• Keely says:

  13 Jan13 January 09:56

  Morning all in people’s experience what’s the latest a flight is likely to be cancelled please? I have flights to Singapore on 21 Jan, trying to save myself the £100 fee if I cancel it myself . I know I have up to 24 hours before but I’m getting edgy -I’d never make a poker player lol. Thanks

  • TGLoyalty says:

    13 Jan13 January 10:21

    A few days before.

    No need to get twitchy. If it’s not cancelled by 18th you still have plenty of time to cancel.

    • Keely says:

      13 Jan13 January 10:32

      Thank you. I know you’re right!!

• Taylor says:

  13 Jan13 January 10:00

  Is there a reason there is a suspiciously large amongst of reward availability for miami in September? Is the route to be pulled it something?

  • Taylor says:

    13 Jan13 January 10:00

    *amount

  • Anna says:

    13 Jan13 January 10:12

    Where are you looking? SeatSpy and RFF are often wrong. However, BA has been releasing a lot of award seats recently (presumably to get all the cash from the taxes/fees) – we have 4 J seats booked for August. I’m not expert but I really doubt MIA would get pulled as a route.

  • Alex says:

    13 Jan13 January 10:24

    A lot of destinations have high reward availability at the moment – BA obviously control this and due to low demand they are opening up seats to try and drive any cash into their wallet. MIA is almost guaranteed to not be cancelled as a route. Will the flight actually go in September is a different question however

• mark says:

  13 Jan13 January 10:26

  Hi, I have one-way biz class suites booked from Tokyo-LHR in May, I booked these on the premise Japan would be open after the 1st lockdown last summer.
  I’m travelling out there via Shanghai in April and that flight with Virgin into Shanghai has been cancelled, if BA don’t cancel the flight even though Japan is closed will my only option be to ask for a voucher?
  Thank you

  • Optimus Prime says:

    13 Jan13 January 10:29

    Out of curiosity – is it sill Club Suites? Most flights got changed to a 787-9 with standard Club World…

    • Mark says:

      13 Jan13 January 13:37

      Bumped to a 787 on checking which makes it even more likely I cancel.
      Thanks for the heads up. 🙂

  • Anna says:

    13 Jan13 January 10:51

    Is it an avios booking (presumably a one way cash ticket would be super expensive)? If so you have the usual cancellation options.

    • Mark says:

      13 Jan13 January 13:38

      Hi Anna yeap it was Avios il see if I can get a voucher then
      Thank you

      • Anna says:

        13 Jan13 January 13:53

        You can cancel for £35 fee and get everything back.

• James says:

  13 Jan13 January 10:42

  Any way of paying a TV Licence with Amex? Thanks.

  • ian_h says:

    13 Jan13 January 10:46

    https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/pay-for-your-tv-licence/ways-to-pay/payment-card

    Get the payment card and visit a paypoint store that accepts Amex?

    Not an expert and not something I’ve done but looks possible.

    • Wally1976 says:

      13 Jan13 January 11:26

      Trying to remember but pretty sure I just take my license form into the Co-op and pay via PayPoint using Amex.

      • Kevin says:

        14 Jan14 January 00:05

        Works no problem – take bill to Co-op and pay via Paypoint. In NI, domestic rates can be paid this way too. (we don’t pay council tax over here)

• idontfly says:

  13 Jan13 January 11:25

  Thinking about moving my ISA to trading212, could I please ask someone for a referral code. Is the platform better than freetrade – recently their support team takes ages to respond. Thanks

  • Rhys says:

    13 Jan13 January 11:34

    Try mine – https://www.trading212.com/invite/GISlRsY8

    The last time I looked, Trading212 was cheaper than Freetrade and had more funds, stocks etc, which is why I switched. I’ve also just set up a ‘pie’ for my ISA which takes care of maintaining the balance of my portfolio when I invest more. Much easier now!

    • Ste Cox says:

      13 Jan13 January 12:03

      Damn, too slow again

      • YL says:

        13 Jan13 January 22:56

        I did use your code not long ago:-)

    • Idontfly says:

      13 Jan13 January 13:13

      Many thanks

      • Rhys says:

        13 Jan13 January 13:35

        Let me know what you get!

    • HuThUn says:

      13 Jan13 January 19:54

      I used your referral code. I chose the account to be denominated in USD (to avoid potential FX spread on US stocks?) and now looking to fund it in USD, says I can do it with a credit card/debit card up to $2k.

      Does this incur a cash advance fee? May just do it via Revolut to the Barclays bank account its suggesting.

      Potentially MS opportunity here?

      • Rhys says:

        13 Jan13 January 22:55

        You’re not the first one to try! The 2k limit pretty much put an end to it, plus some card issuers were getting wise to it. Thanks for using my link though!

  • Travel Strong says:

    13 Jan13 January 11:35

    green dot incoming! 😂

    • Andre says:

      13 Jan13 January 11:41

      Surely must have used up his allowance by now:)

    • DodgyDCF says:

      13 Jan13 January 12:42

      Hello

      • Sina says:

        13 Jan13 January 13:34

        Anyone knows how to get a referral code for my account?? Can’t figure it out?!

        • 747_Brat says:

          13 Jan13 January 13:46

          @Sina
          You will find the code under the ” Get Free Shares” section on the app or website

  • BS says:

    13 Jan13 January 13:37

    Everyone seems to be talking about trading212 – is it better than competitors etc?

    • Ste Cox says:

      13 Jan13 January 13:56

      Will tell you tomorrow when I can post my referral link 😛

    • Genghis says:

      13 Jan13 January 14:46

      +ves: No fees to maintain account and no trading fees. Fractional share trading
      -ves: Personally I don’t like the interface. No info on fund OCF / transaction costs. It’s too easy to trade: having a barrier to doing something means you’re more likely to “buy and hold” and therefore more likely to make money.
      They apparently use Interactive Brokers as their custodian. Like other brokers they operate an comingled omnibus account so investments are not actually in your name. Do you trust this company to maintain accurate records? Yes – they’re subject to CASS audit but nothing is infallible. Also note FSCS protection not necessarily applicable in the case of broker fraud.
      Something doesn’t sit right with me with this company. They need to make their money some how (yes – on the CFD side) so how long will it be free? Bait and switch? I wouldn’t trust with my life savings. Go iWeb (owned by LBG) for a fiver a trade.

      • Doug M says:

        13 Jan13 January 16:12

        +1. iWeb are very good. In terms of frequent trading, timing the market is always the most difficult thing. I’m with Genghis on buy and hold, which makes the £5 irrelevant.

• Wally1976 says:

  13 Jan13 January 11:27

  Quite often when trying to book Avios flights on BA.com (or the app for that matter) I see an error “Sorry there is a problem with booking this journey online. Try selecting other flights”. Anyone know what causes this or ways around it? Thanks

  • Anna says:

    13 Jan13 January 13:56

    Do you have a domestic connection? Sometimes one or other of the legs becomes unavailable during the booking process. Or there can be issues with partner airlines. Sometimes you might just have taken too long and BA’s IT doesn’t like it and makes you start again!

    • Wally1976 says:

      13 Jan13 January 15:54

      Thanks Anna but it’s just a straightforward BA return flight. In this case it was LON-CFU but I’ve had it on other routes (many times!). It’s not an issue of taking too much time either. Doesn’t really matter at the moment – only doing dummy bookings – but will be very annoying if I encounter it on a genuine booking.

• Princess says:

  13 Jan13 January 11:34

  Hi everybody, asking advice on a topic I haven’t been following recently, sorry if it has shared before.
  I have a work colleague living and working in the Uk. Her ex husband lives in US and he is unwell. Her son (23) is in the US too.
  She hasn’t be able to see her son since jan 2020.
  Her husband is now getting worse and she feel she needs to support her son in this difficult situation, but it seem impossible for her to get in the US.
  Anyone with experience on what can be done? She is going to get in touch with embassy, but I thought to ask here in case someone came across something similar

  • Jody says:

    13 Jan13 January 11:53

    I don’t know the ins and outs of what happened, but my Mum’s friend had a similar thing before Christmas. Her daughter has lived in the US for years, and she is suffering very badly with long covid and then had a TIA. My Mum’s friend managed to get a visa under compassionate grounds and was able to travel to the US before Christmas and spend a couple of weeks out there with her daughter.

    I’m sorry I can’t help with any more detail than that, but hopefully that means there is a chance of your work colleague being able to get out there.

    • Princess says:

      13 Jan13 January 11:56

      Thanks Jody any little hint is more than what I know! Thank you so much, I’ll share with her and let’s see!

  • Anuj says:

    13 Jan13 January 11:57

    I think the rules are now about to be changed so you need a negative test before entry. There was some confusion if this rule overrules the travel ban. Perhaps someone else can chime in with more knowledge.

    • ChrisC says:

      13 Jan13 January 14:50

      The enter with negative test rule isn’t due to come in until the 26th Jan.

      The forthcoming administration may very well have a different view on this issue (and others such as the travel ban) than the current administration has.

      I’d wait until next week for confirmation

  • ChrisC says:

    13 Jan13 January 14:53

    Calling the consular section of the US Embassy is the only way to get firm advice on what they will and won’t allow.

    They can issue dispensations but each case is individual.

    • Princess says:

      13 Jan13 January 16:02

      Thanks ChrisC and Anuj for extra advice.

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