The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 13th January

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• Ross Parker says:

  13 Jan13 January 11:39

  This BA charity auction may be of interest to some here: https://portal.bid-ingroup.com/WebBidInApp/DE2727CA-0148-411A-B544-5F30CD60AFBB/auction

  • Rhys says:

    13 Jan13 January 11:40

    I’ve just written the article for tomorrow!

  • Alex says:

    13 Jan13 January 11:50

    Well they aren’t going for cheap that’s for sure! Already over £2.5K for a suitcase

  • BS says:

    13 Jan13 January 13:35

    Would you really want to give a £2.5k suitcase to BA for checkin for them to lose?

• 747_Brat says:

  13 Jan13 January 12:03

  Does any card issuer (other than Amex) offer “Refer a Friend” scheme? I always thought BCard offered one, but when I went to my account to refer a colleague, I couldn’t find it. Has it stopped?

• rams1981 says:

  13 Jan13 January 12:16

  Singapore Airlines – apologies if this is obvious – how do you redeem their miles on partners like the good deals to Middle East? Do you need to call?

  • Matthew says:

    13 Jan13 January 12:53

    Yep

    • Louie says:

      13 Jan13 January 13:03

      You can do pretty much everything using online chat with Singapore, which I use most of the time because I sometimes struggle to understand their staff’s accents. They will put flights on hold and then ring you for credit card details.

      • rams1981 says:

        13 Jan13 January 13:53

        thanks all. Will transfer sone more HSBC points. Only opened Krisflyer account yesterday, and transfer overnight with 15% bonus.

  • kitten says:

    13 Jan13 January 13:06

    I researched award availability on SQ by checking UA website for saver award availability before calling. It seemed to work but no idea if it still does

    • BuildBackBetter says:

      13 Jan13 January 13:28

      On SQ metal? They don’t release many seats to partners, especially premium cabins. That’s why Krisflyer is best to check availability and redeem on SQ metal. For tickets on other star airlines, United and Aeroplan are good.

      • kitten says:

        13 Jan13 January 15:31

        for F i agree, does not appear on places like UA. Y no problem, also found J but not much of it and not all the time

    • rams1981 says:

      13 Jan13 January 13:54

      I used to do that with BMI Mastercard miles, takes me back to the good old days 🙂

      • kitten says:

        13 Jan13 January 15:32

        matrix is actually the best but Google has practically made it a eunuch since buying it

• Sprout says:

  13 Jan13 January 12:23

  Does anybody have any experience of booking a stay at IHG (probably intercontinental) on points and subsequently paying for a food “package” afterwards eg all inclusive?
  If I find something I would obviously contact the specific hotel directly but I was just wondering if it was doable as a concept. thx

  • Anna says:

    13 Jan13 January 13:48

    You can do it if the hotel offers such packages, which is usually stated on their website. The Holiday Inn Maldives (seriously!) offers this, I don’t think you are as likely to see it at the higher end properties though.

    • Rob says:

      13 Jan13 January 14:23

      We reviewed HI Maldives this year if you do a search.

• andyp says:

  13 Jan13 January 12:54

  Due to illness I missed being able to stay up late to book my return flight for my 2 4 1 next December. I’m flying out to HKG but i was unable to book the return before the seat had gone.

  So currently i have a one way ticket for two in CW to HKG but no flight back. There is (or was when i check) availability for BKK to the UK on my date. Would i be able to book that flight online and phone up and get it linked to my companion voucher? i know i can do that if it’s in and out of HKG but wasn’t sure if it also works for BKK, Its the swme number of miles which might mean i can?

  • Rhys says:

    13 Jan13 January 12:55

    Yes, you can book open jaw redemptions even if they are priced differently

    • andyp says:

      13 Jan13 January 12:57

      Great thanks Rhys!

  • Genghis says:

    13 Jan13 January 13:07

    Yes – that’ll be fine.
    They will give you the avios refund but you will have two PNRs (and then 2 x 2 x £35 = £140 cancellation fees – pertinent in the current environment) but they won’t true up / down the cash element. Make sure they don’t charge you a service fee since open jaws cannot be booked online.

• Tony says:

  13 Jan13 January 12:59

  Someone on here was asking yesterday about fees on transfer to a Spanish Bank. I have the solution.

  We had the 18€ hit, but messaged bank and it was reversed as it was a SEPA transfer : Info here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Euro_Payments_Area

  Our backup method is to have a friendly neighbor with a pre paid debit card and take money out of the bank locally. Not ideal, but cheaper than an 18€ hit and can be used in emergencies.

  We have to transfer about 1k€ pm to Spain for local bills and the account has to have about 1k€ input to keep it “free” of charges.

  YMMV but it works for us. Used Caxton FX for the transfer. Slight hit on rates, but that’s expected. No other charges from Caxton, and now Spanish Bank is aware that we know what SEPA is looks like there are no incoming charges. Will know more next time.

  Cant work out method of getting any points/ Avios through this route though. Spanish bank has a large surplus of funds that we wish to spend when we are there …. but not looking likely till September at this rate. ( and forget the tea bags they are banned I was told ) so taking “empty” car when we go, and seeing what Carrefour in France and River Center in Andorra has on the “foreign” shelves 🙁

  • kitten says:

    13 Jan13 January 13:10

    why not see if you can the Iberia credit card. At least 2 times per year there is some very tssty stuff for cardholders. IIRC petrol and supermarket aldo earn – it’s all on the website somewhere.

  • Mike says:

    13 Jan13 January 15:01

    I forgot that SEPA continued after Brexit. More Cake & Eat It for the Remainers.

  • Lol says:

    13 Jan13 January 17:40

    Thanks Tony, I raised it yesterday and am looking around based on the advice from several people as regards Revolut, Starling, Transferwise, and the one I’ve used up to now for my transfers, Monese. I’ll ask Banco Sabadell to refund the charge, as you suggest. I’ve never understood how international bank transfers work but the SEPA article link you gave and what I’ve read recently about international bank account numbers (IBAN) all starts to make sense (hopefully!).

• Rob says:

  13 Jan13 January 13:22

  A quick search has found me some laughable prices in Bangkok for November 2021. The IC is £50 per night.

  Is this based on the prediction that tourism likely won’t have resumed/won’t be practical properly by then?

  • Aston100 says:

    13 Jan13 January 14:51

    Yeah I just saw that too.
    Crazy prices indeed.

    If staying in a suite, with club intercontinental access, is there any need to add breakfast to the price? Breakfast seems to be cheap enough, but no point if you already get a reasonable breakfast in the club lounge.

    • BP says:

      13 Jan13 January 15:02

      Club @ IC BKK has a cooked to order menu with a small buffet too. It’s a good breakfast. The main breakfast is excellent. I especially like the Indian breads and veg curries for breakfast!

      • Aston100 says:

        13 Jan13 January 15:32

        Thanks BP.
        Perhaps I’ll do what Genghis suggested elsewhere and book my stay as a bunch of sequential one night stays, and then add breakfast on a couple of those nights for comparison purposes.

      • Aston100 says:

        13 Jan13 January 15:34

        BTW, I note the cheapest suite (corner suite) doesn’t mention club access/benefits, but the rest do.
        Is it safe to presume that if I book this cheapest suite, I’d get a complimentary upgrade of some kind that would get me into the club lounge?
        I’d probably be Spire Ambassador at the time.

        • BP says:

          13 Jan13 January 16:47

          The last time I looked they had split out the inventory. You could book a corner suite with or without club access. I previously got the corner suite with club for 35k points when they made it available by mistake.

• BrotherBear says:

  13 Jan13 January 13:22

  Sure it’s been discussed on here recently and I’ve missed it.

  What are peoples thoughts on the BA Data Breach claim and joining a class action. Have seen this advertised on TV recently.

  Have a healthy Avios balance but surely whether or not you claimed for the data breach would have no impact on them attempting to potentially close down your Avios account.

  Thanks in advance.

  • sloth says:

    13 Jan13 January 14:07

    I dont think they could touch your Avios as such but there is nothing to stop them preventing you from flying with them again…they are a private company and if you participate in action against them they certainly dont have to carry you anymore…

  • Phil says:

    13 Jan13 January 15:49

    BA could summarily close your Avios account. Not sure why they would but it’s an unregulated service.

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    13 Jan13 January 20:16

    They can include a line in their settlement that you don’t have any other claims against them including any avios.

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