The HfP chat thread – Sunday 17th January

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• Lashious says:

  17 Jan17 January 11:59

  Anyone got experience with amex and section 75? My flights were cancelled by Mexican interjet last march. I tried chargeback and amex looked at it at 7 (yes 7 times!!!) times and every time closed the dispute without sending me any correspondence, despite me showing I didn’t want the auto-generated voucher for travel that interjet applied to the booking when they cancelled my flights. I’ve given up with Anex disputes and now asked for a Section 75. Please Rob or Rhys, can you just call amex and tell them they’ve been diabolical and get me my £343 pounds back. Its driving me potty!

  • kitten says:

    17 Jan17 January 12:04

    Amex credit card only not charge.

    if credit next threaten them with a referral to the Finance Ombudsman

    • kitten says:

      17 Jan17 January 12:13

      do by phone, make sure you confirm by message or email that you keep a copy of. 8 weeks unresolved do the referral

  • Anna says:

    17 Jan17 January 14:09

    Lashious, I keep posting this! You can claim a refund through the US Department of Transport if the airline is refusing to comply. There is a very simple online form to fill in. My refund in similar circs took about 6 weeks.

    • lashious says:

      17 Jan17 January 14:21

      oh wow, I haven’t seen that at all on a thread, I will do this, it’s driving me mental right now. Thanks so much Anna

      • DeB20 says:

        17 Jan17 January 14:57

        Interjet is a Mexican airline, not a US airline. So you might not get a resolution unless you bought the ticket in the USA or with a US-issued card.

        • DeB20 says:

          17 Jan17 January 14:58

          *Resolution through the DOT.

        • Anna says:

          17 Jan17 January 15:03

          It shouldn’t matter as long as the flight was leaving or arriving in the US. I had cancelled flights booked in the UK with my UK Amex with Cayman Airways flying MIA-GCM. Cayman Airways refused a refund but the DOT made them pay up without a quibble.

  • Charlieface says:

    17 Jan17 January 16:24

    Make an official complaint, SEPARATE from the S75 claim, saying they messed you around and didn’t respond to chargeback requests. Ask for separate compo for this. If they refuse either this or S75 go to the ombudsman

  • Diydegsy says:

    17 Jan17 January 19:41

    I had exactly the same thing happen to me with Interjet and still haven’t received a refund and the same run around from Amex even axa travel insurer refused to pay out as Interjet had offered a voucher for use another time up to a year although I stated I wouldn’t be going back to Mexico. My flights though were from Mexico City to Los Cabos so not USA as Anna stated for a result.

• Mo says:

  17 Jan17 January 12:13

  I’ve stayed in one of the Hilton Garden Inn’s, at the time the smaller one without the pool was cheaper so I booked there, but you are allowed to go into the other one to use the pool (very nice rooftop pool with a bar too)

  Hotel has nice views and in my experience really good service, especially at breakfast. Was only gold at the time but was treated well. Rooms are nice but of course the hotel is a little basic compared to a higher end hotel.

  In terms of status changing, I don’t know how quickly it works with a status match but recently I did a 15 night stay which got me to diamond and my status changed the day after I checked out I believe. So maybe you should book 9 night for the challenge, and then another night at the other HGI to be sure you are upgraded to diamond status in time for your stay at the hilton.

  • Rob says:

    17 Jan17 January 13:03

    Hilton KL used to be seen as the one the jewels in the Hilton crown, good enough to be a Conrad. I have stayed there and its good, especially as its opposite the railway station from the airport. Whether it is still as good as it used to be is a different question.

• RookieTraveller says:

  17 Jan17 January 12:46

  Do folks here usually run into issues combining 3 airlines/schemes in one trip? Fly one airline, credit to a different scheme, use lounge access from a third? Flew Cathay, credited to BA, and had Qatar gold for lounge access. Crediting to BA put BA no. on the boarding pass. Was told couldn’t use Qatar lounge card unless Qatar number on ticket – but didn’t want to credit there. All One World so seemed fine to me, but could easily be wrong.

  • Rob says:

    17 Jan17 January 13:01

    The ticketing system allows for two FF numbers on a booking – one for collecting and one for benefits. The problem is that virtually no-one knows how to do this (it requires manual adjustment, you can’t do it online).

    It really depends on the airlines involved and often who is on the lounge desk. If necessary you can get the number changed and then, if there is a ticket desk in the lounge, change it back, but this is clearly a massive faff.

    When Amex Plat gave away Cathay Gold for a couple of years (= BA Silver, so lounge) this was a big issue among HfP readers.

    • Andrew says:

      17 Jan17 January 13:11

      With the CX card I used to leave it in the booking to get seat selection and lounge access etc and then at the gate ask the agent to change it which they did without issue. Did this on a number of occasions, albeit several years ago of course.

    • RookieTraveller says:

      17 Jan17 January 13:15

      Thanks Rob. In the end I valued the miles more than the 1 hour lounge time, so kept the BA no. on the ticket. Was ready to be turned away from the lounge but fortunately they let me in anyway. As you say, figured it might go down to who was on the lounge desk.

    • Mike says:

      17 Jan17 January 14:16

      FQTV and FQTS is not supported by every carrier.

      • ChrisC says:

        17 Jan17 January 14:34

        And some don’t allow you to gain benefits from their programme if you are crediting the flights to another.

        AA is particularly hot on this.

• david says:

  17 Jan17 January 12:50

  Is it usual that BAEC staff have never heard of the multiple carrier redemption table – just booked AMS-DPS SYD-MAN and it was really hard work !

  • Alex says:

    17 Jan17 January 13:29

    Never done it but from what I’ve read here, it is always very hard as most agents have never done it

  • Alex says:

    17 Jan17 January 13:30

    Also forgot to ask – Which carries did you choose and what was the avios&taxes cost?

    • David says:

      17 Jan17 January 13:47

      Qatar on the way out and Cathay on the return -400000 Avios for 2 and they are still calculating the tax but I think about £570.

      • tom1 says:

        17 Jan17 January 16:18

        what’s the mileage on that? I couldn’t seem to get to Sydney or Melbourne under the 20k bracket. Or are you making separate reservations DPS-SYD?

        • david says:

          17 Jan17 January 16:39

          couldn’t find DPS-SYD in business and it meant 80k more avios so a Jet Star one way is £350 – more than covered by the tax saving ex EU and AMS is better now LBA-LHR has gone.

• Eric says:

  17 Jan17 January 13:01

  Just called to cancel my BAPP and downgrade to the free version. Was offered 1 extra Avios previously, tried to ask if there are any retention offers but nope…

  Anyone knows if I still get the 1 extra Avios on the free card (I’m still within the 3 months)

  • Lee says:

    17 Jan17 January 13:41

    Yes

• The uncivil servant says:

  17 Jan17 January 13:13

  Are there any 80/160 tier point options available at the present time?

  • ChrisC says:

    17 Jan17 January 14:39

    Rob wrote an article about 80/160 routes last year so have a look for it.

    But they may not be practical at the moment.

• Cup says:

  17 Jan17 January 13:20

  Had a flight booked on BA paid with points that were cancelled.

  How long do I have to decide either to refund or accept the new flight which is the following day?

  • Darren says:

    17 Jan17 January 15:34

    Please bear in mind that you have the option to change the flight date to suit you if it’s an involuntary change.
    Try MMB if it’s a direct flight or call if there’s a connection.

    • Cup says:

      17 Jan17 January 15:47

      Do you know if the flexible date change within 1 year of ticket issuing where a cash seat is available is still valid?

      There was article about it and the BA web page for travel agents doesn’t mention about it anymore.

      • Darren says:

        17 Jan17 January 17:20

        See page three for a similar conversation

• Russel says:

  17 Jan17 January 14:21

  Is there a free way to transfer IHG points between spouses?
  Is there a charge?

  • memesweeper says:

    17 Jan17 January 15:02

    not AFAIK, but the spouse can book a room for their partner

  • ChrisC says:

    17 Jan17 January 16:24

    Yes there is a charge.

    Can’t remember what it is but it’s listed on the IHG website

  • Rob says:

    17 Jan17 January 16:26

    $5 per 1000.

    Upside is that I think they still count for status with the person who receives them, but the person who gives them loses status points. Don’t quote me on that though.

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