The HfP chat thread – Thursday 14th January

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• Den says:

  14 Jan14 January 09:32

  I have a 2 4 1 voucher running out in Feb 2022, just wondered if there is a view that vouchers may be extended again.

  • Rob says:

    14 Jan14 January 09:33

    Wouldn’t bet on it given that short haul travel should be returning by Easter 2021 and long haul by September.

    • Freddy says:

      14 Jan14 January 10:15

      Hopeful thinking, most of Europe will still be in intermittent lockdowns so don’t think they’ll be open for business

    • ChrisBCN says:

      14 Jan14 January 10:29

      I think you are many many months to optimistic on this. Vaccination does not mean you can travel. Maybe domestic will be possible, but you are not routinely travelling to Europe by Easter.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        14 Jan14 January 11:07

        Everything will depend on the countries own vaccination programme.

        I think Easter is ambitious but perhaps not summer. USA, Isreal, UAE for example will have vaccinated a significant number of their at risk.

        Obviously this is a global issue so everyone opening up wont be until 2022 on wards

• Joe says:

  14 Jan14 January 09:53

  Hi everyone, I cancelled a BA avios flight via the website form before Christmas. I have had the tax fees refunded to my card but I am still waiting on the Avios and the 241 voucher to be returned to my account. Is this is to be expected?
  Many thanks,
  Joe

  • Ben says:

    14 Jan14 January 10:56

    Hi Joe,
    Same happend with me – waited till the flight should have flown (26th dec) didnt hear anything so emailed them and all Avios and 241 returned the next day.

  • Pete M says:

    14 Jan14 January 11:02

    Same here – no Avios back yet, similar timescales. Raised a complaint – was told it’d be fixed. Still not fixed… Definitely not using the web form again!

• Rob says:

  14 Jan14 January 09:56

  I could be going mad but wasn’t 14th Jan the date they were going to announce the new Avios partnership with a supermarket?

  • Sprout says:

    14 Jan14 January 10:03

    Thought it was the 18th?

    • Rob says:

      14 Jan14 January 10:12

      No, 18th is the end of Tesco. I was told the announcement would be ‘soon afterwards’.

      • David Ward says:

        14 Jan14 January 12:47

        I tried to change my Tesco Points balance over to avios today. Pleased I tried as you need to change to ordinary vouchers first and told it takes 24 hours. So 18th might best be thought of as 17TH. David

      • Navara says:

        14 Jan14 January 15:38

        Just had a clear out of a few little used Clubcard accounts and found Double points coupons on 3 of them

• Olly says:

  14 Jan14 January 10:00

  I received Marriott Bonvoy Elite Platinum from their 90 day challenge during the last week in October. I did it for a specific trip, knowing the chances of successfully making the required stays to keep the status after 90 days to be the square foot of zero. Looking at my Bonvoy account last night though, I read a banner message that my status will be kept at Elite Platinum until February 2022. I’m looking to make a hotel booking for a period after the 90 days are up and wondering if, realistically, the status will revert back to gold on day 91 or remain in place till February 2022. Does anyone have any insight or knowledge on what is likely to happen?

  • Harry T says:

    14 Jan14 January 10:55

    Did you actually successfully complete the required stays within the 90 days ie did you complete the challenge?

  • s says:

    14 Jan14 January 11:11

    Sounds like Marriott might be granting Platinum even if you fail the challenge as a goodwill gesture. Makes me think I should push to try and get my 15 nights due before end of Feb and see what happens..

  • John says:

    14 Jan14 January 11:49

    Did you see this when logging in on your desktop?

    Where is the expiry shown for BY cards? I can’t find it.

    • Olly says:

      14 Jan14 January 13:43

      @John it was on the desktop site, a salmon coloured banner stating “You are Platinum EliteMEMBER SINCE 2014
      Thank you for your loyalty. Don’t forget, your 2019 Elite status was extended to February 2022 to give you more opportunity to enjoy your Elite benefits.” I couldn’t find any expiry date on the B onvoy app.
      @Harry I did 3 nights, it would be a moot point if I met the challenge.
      @s if you meet the challenge you should get the prize, my question is if anyone has the same or heard something on the boards about it. It may well be as you suggest, a goodwill gesture or a software glitch and the end of the 90 days reverts to pre-challenge Gold.

• WaynedP says:

  14 Jan14 January 10:04

  Norwegian ditches long-haul flights, plans to focus on simplified short haul service according to radio report.

  • Rhys says:

    14 Jan14 January 10:05

    Writing an article right now!

    • WayndP says:

      14 Jan14 January 10:14

      Good, because I couldn’t find anything else published on the web to verify.

      • Rob says:

        14 Jan14 January 10:24

        https://media.uk.norwegian.com/pressreleases/norwegian-to-focus-on-a-strong-european-network-3064682

      • jil says:

        14 Jan14 January 10:27

        FT article:
        https://www.ft.com/content/3278d456-ce41-4c03-aca0-a4e24f749d32

        • aDifferentSimon says:

          14 Jan14 January 16:57

          tip: googling the bit at the end of an FT url (“3278d456-ce41-4c03-aca0-a4e24f749d32” in this case) will always give open access as the first result

  • NvT1115 says:

    14 Jan14 January 14:08

    Could be an opportunity here for some relatively cheap 787 leases for those being returned by Norwegian. Time for BA to swap out some of the elder members of the 777-200ER fleet???

    • ChrisC says:

      14 Jan14 January 15:57

      BA won’t want the cost of refitting them let alone the lease costs at the moment.

    • Super Secret Stuff says:

      14 Jan14 January 16:14

      Amazon Air might buy them, although quite a change in strategy given there preference for the 767s.

      DHL, FedEx, UPS etc. might be takers just so they can keep up with the growth in mail traffic (although I don’t think it will continue post pandemic)

      • Super Secret Stuff says:

        14 Jan14 January 16:16

        Scrap that, just remembered that Being haven’t released a 787F or conversion process!

• Keely says:

  14 Jan14 January 10:28

  Data point- received an email to say my flight was cancelled at 20-18 last night, called them immediately, got through within 2 mins , email to confirm refund received at 20.39. Can’t fault that service!

  • WaynedP says:

    14 Jan14 January 10:53

    Airline ?

    • Keely says:

      14 Jan14 January 15:01

      BA!

• Mouse says:

  14 Jan14 January 10:41

  Given the bleak travel outlook, is it time to start speculating on whether/when/how BA will offer further status extensions? I’m surprised there hasn’t been much disucssion of this so far on here, as far as I have seen.

  • Rob says:

    14 Jan14 January 10:45

    I agree that the 25% cut in tier point requirements is starting to look too little, especially as long haul is likely to return more slowly than short haul.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      14 Jan14 January 11:09

      perhaps not for BA though, one way to cut spend in lounges etc

  • ChrisW says:

    14 Jan14 January 11:11

    A 12 month status extension is pointless if you haven’t travelled for 12 months!

• Dan says:

  14 Jan14 January 11:02

  I am trying to apply for the free IHG card but the result of the eligibility checker is that I am not eligible…

  Is there anyone who could suspect the reason? I meet their income requirements and have no issues with my credit file.

  Have they stopped taking applications? I couldn’t even apply just to find out as the eligibility checker precedes the application.

  Any ideas?

  • Pete M says:

    14 Jan14 January 11:04

    Same issue yesterday – seemed to be an issue with my address, as after playing around with the format, it went through fine.

    • ComeFlyWithMe says:

      14 Jan14 January 11:07

      Applied last night and worked instantly for me

    • Dan says:

      14 Jan14 January 11:15

      Cheers – will have a look at that. Want to get this card as with many CC pulling products, I suspect that this one may be close to go as well…

      • ComeFlyWithMe says:

        14 Jan14 January 11:28

        That was the same reason here… Missed out on the lufthansa debit card, so still trying to figure out the best visa/amex to couple with Curve metal for HMRC and if any limits apply from creation/etc that we should know abou. IHG vs Virgin Atlantic vs HSBC Premier seem to be the options.

        • Dan says:

          14 Jan14 January 11:32

          Exactly – with the state of the market, I can only see products being pulled rather than introduced.

          The Lufty one is only pulled until Summer 2021 so there’s hope. As for IHG premium, wish I had applied when it was available!

  • Tony says:

    14 Jan14 January 19:01

    Applied, passed the eligibility, got rejected, send e mail with rejection number, got card 10 days.

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