The HfP chat thread – Friday 29th January

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• Amy says:

  29 Jan29 January 11:33

  How do you get back from UAE to the UK assuming you are a resident post February. Emirates do not do indirect flights to the UK

  • meta says:

    29 Jan29 January 11:42

    Obviously indirect routes via European hubs on separate tickets.

    • Andrew says:

      29 Jan29 January 12:02

      Or via Doha on Qatar Airways.

  • Super Secret Stuff says:

    29 Jan29 January 12:41

    Fly Dubai go to Turkey, spend 2 weeks in a luxury beach resort and then fly home. Will probably be cheaper and nicer that the fundamentally flawed hotel system

    • Amy says:

      29 Jan29 January 12:54

      Nice but had a quick look and EK dont offer DXB to IST to LHR flights online

      • Andrew says:

        29 Jan29 January 13:13

        Fly Dubai is a different airline to EK. And then you would fly BA or Turkish form IST back to UK.

        • Aston100 says:

          29 Jan29 January 14:22

          And you can get flights from Antalya and Dalaman to regional UK airports.

        • Super Secret Stuff says:

          29 Jan29 January 14:40

          Aston, problem is getting to Antalaya from Dubai!

          Unless you feel like braving there crazy driving, you can’t do Antalaya. It is lovely tho, went there summer 2019

      • Super Secret Stuff says:

        29 Jan29 January 14:45

        Amy, flying on EK would defeat the point of staying in a different country. Youd want a direct return flight, preferably outside of the EU to avoid politics.

        Therefore Turkey is a good option, same with montenegro depending on the weather. Budva and Tibet are meant to be lovely

        • Super Secret Stuff says:

          29 Jan29 January 14:46

          Meant to say Tivat, damn auto correct!

        • meta says:

          29 Jan29 January 15:00

          You can fly to Istanbul and then another domestic flight from Istanbul.

    • Amy says:

      29 Jan29 January 16:17

      Assuming Fly Dubai have rubbish aircrafts as compared to EK and you lose the luggage you would have on flex tickets, when coming back to the UK as you have to pay for extra luggage on top of other costs like hotels

      • meta says:

        29 Jan29 January 16:42

        There are also direct EK flights Dubai-Istanbul. Use Google Flights to search for your desired routes.

  • Martin Short says:

    29 Jan29 January 19:26

    I’ve flown on emirares to paris. Now in lounge awaiting my flight to LHR

• LewisB says:

  29 Jan29 January 11:37

  Morning all, I request a refund online from BA in mid-December for a 241 avios booking. I had my money back at the beginning of January but still no sign of the avios and 241 voucher. Has anyone experienced something similar? I’m trying to put off being on hold for an hour to the helpline.

  • Anna says:

    29 Jan29 January 11:40

    Waiting times haven’t been too bad recently, though that may have changed given developments over the last few days. BA also seems to respond to Twitter if you use that. I’m the other way round, got avios and 241s back but missing quite a lot of cash still!

    • meta says:

      29 Jan29 January 11:46

      Same here. I have received avios for a flight I cancelled on 4 January, but still not received cash. Up to now, it was always Avios immediately then 2-3 days later cash. I am going to wait next week before calling BA then take it from there.

      • Anna says:

        29 Jan29 January 11:56

        I’ve taken my lead from Ghengis and done a chart showing what’s cancelled, owed and received re cash, avios and vouchers (also which card to expect the refund to appear on, which is a whole other issue!)

  • Aston100 says:

    29 Jan29 January 11:53

    I got through, stated my case and got agreement to a refund, all within 7 minutes of picking up and then putting down the phone.
    I was shocked.

    • meta says:

      29 Jan29 January 12:01

      It’s not a problem BA agreeing to refund. It’s actually getting money/Avios back into your account if for some reason it’s not processed properly.

      • Anna says:

        29 Jan29 January 12:39

        +1. I have to credit easyJet here, not only have their refunds been timely, your account shows a timescale of where they are up to with processing your payment and when you can expect to receive it. With BA you have no idea whether someone’s dealing with it or it’s been lost in the ether!

• kitten says:

  29 Jan29 January 11:43

  via 10-14 days somewhere that is not a problem for uk entry. Turkey is a candidate.

  Rules can change en route for good or bad (eg purely political reasons) but that’s the risk you take. Depending when you come back even Spain or Greece might be available for this. Or UAE position or that of adjacent countries you could reach might change.

• VickyTM says:

  29 Jan29 January 12:03

  I topped up my Revolut card the other day to pay for a flight but used the wrong underlying card (Virgin) on Curve….
  I phoned Virgin almost immediately and asked them to stop the transaction which they said they couldn’t do and that I had to stop it with the merchant. Revolut also said that they couldn’t stop the transaction even though it was still showing as pending everywhere.
  Eventually I managed to get Curve to move the payment to my correct card, but in the process Virgin have charged a £60 cash advance fee. The transaction is now showing as refunded on the Virgin account but they are refusing to cancel the cash advance fee. I asked to speak with a supervisor, but they refused to speak to me.
  Any thoughts…? Do anyone have any experience of getting the fees refunded?
  Thanks.

  • BillTemp says:

    29 Jan29 January 12:29

    You didn’t state the amount of the transaction but I wondered if you tried the Curve “Go Back in Time” option in the app because, although the transaction was authorised, I think their automated process would have reversed the transaction before it posted at Virgin. The Curve manual intervention is possibly not so slick.
    Arguably, you could call Virgin back and claim the £60 back under “Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974” because you didn’t receive the goods for which the charge was made.
    If they still decline then tell them you that if they do not refund you will make a complaint at which point they incur costs to process your complaint and may choose to refund instead!!
    If they still don’t agree, I’d also contact MoneySavingExpert.

  • Genghis says:

    29 Jan29 January 12:43

    Try another CSA tomorrow at VM. You may just have to put it down to experience (and remove VM card from Revolut).

  • Dace says:

    29 Jan29 January 17:00

    Can you do this on any Curve or just the metal?

• gary says:

  29 Jan29 January 12:10

  I wonder if someone can help me with this query?
  Last year I managed to get 3 first class flight to SFO and back to LHR from San Diego. One was under a 241 voucher and the other a simple avios redemption. The flights are mid April and it is clear i won’t be able to go. At the moment the flights are still showing and i know the options should that remain the case.
  However if BA cancel is there a way that i can simply move the dates to new flights later in the year and manage to keep the 3 first class seats? I think i read this somewhere but i am getting quite confused by the changes and intricacies of it all!

  My thoughts are that with perseverance and luck i managed to bag 3 first class seats and that is unlikely in future it seems. But do i have any rights to force BA to honour them on a future date, or does it depend on the future date having avios availability? cheers

  • marcw says:

    29 Jan29 January 12:17

    If BA cancels the flights, you can move dates… independently of available Avios seat.

  • Anna says:

    29 Jan29 January 12:45

    You can request re-routing in F if BA cancels (even if it’s only 1 of the legs), at a date which suits you, and there doesn’t have to be award availability. However, if you cancel the trip yourself, you will get your avios, 241 and cash back (either as a refund or a FTV) and will effectively have to start from scratch with any new booking you make.
    I feel your pain – I managed to bag 3 F seats to Miami for Easter last year then of course that was all cancelled 2 weeks before we were due to fly!

    • gary says:

      29 Jan29 January 12:55

      Thanks I guess i just keep rolling it over then and look forward to the day when we can travel free again and in the knowledge i have a nice little trip ahead at the front of the plane!

      • kitten says:

        29 Jan29 January 15:09

        beware if BA’s solution is to offer you seats in Business instead and perhaps offer you the difference and any difference in cash back. Do not on any account accept a refund even partial

        the reason is that BA would owe you 75% cash/avios back for an involuntary downgrade from F to J. For each seat at the rate of the paid seat even if 241 used.

        As soon as you agree and accept a refund they can claim it’s voluntary and you agreed to it. So yes you can agree to change to Business but make it clear it’s not voluntary and dont accept any refund. On this particular downgrade the compo is many times the refund you would get.

        BA has removed First from a lot of routes but not so much from routes like SFO and JFK I believe. So they may be able to offer you First on a reroute (=rebook at no extra cost even if your ticket purchase was at a discount/with avios even the 50%/even with voucher/241) to SFO on a reroute date convenient to you. But watch carefully in case the above issue arises.

        If you do end up flying in Business for all or part then you claim after the flight keeping your boarding pass just in case. Airline should pay up at that point but any struggles MCOL or CEDR is cheap, relatively easy and wi get it all back.

• Tonyb says:

  29 Jan29 January 12:27

  I booked 3 seats in business rtn to Miami in August using a 2-4-1 and avios and paid the taxes. BA this week have charged me 3 x £264 on my credit card I haven’t had an email from them and have no idea what it’s for. There was no mention of additional costs when booking . I am unable to call them at the moment but hoped someone might have an idea what this is for or is it likely a mistake? Thanks

  • Anna says:

    29 Jan29 January 12:47

    It does sound odd – have you checked your original booking and credit card statement to see if you were indeed charged the full taxes/fees originally?

    • Tonyb says:

      29 Jan29 January 12:54

      Yes printed off last night and had a good look, at the same time I made another booking in my wife’s name using her 2-4-1 and avios for 2 people (family of 5 so first chance getting enough reward seats for business in school hols) and also paid on my Amex but haven’t had any extra charges on that so can’t work it out.

• Nicky says:

  29 Jan29 January 12:38

  Good news, they have caved when I pointed out the terms and conditions and the lack of definition in their letter. Unfortunately I am told by my Travel Agent that Crystal Cruises are horrendous for refunds: Will wait and see

  • kitten says:

    29 Jan29 January 15:14

    give it 8 weeks asking/chasing 3 times then go to card for chargeback. Dont give them any more time since they are clearly profrssional denyers/delayers.

    Section 75 only if credit card and if you want consequential losses such as higher cost of replacement cruise or wasted nonrefundable hotel nights covered.

    In general chargeback will be done quicker and sometimes more readily by credit card, than s75 as s75 is their own liability being called on

• Anuj says:

  29 Jan29 January 12:52

  To get the 241 voucher on the ba card is it judged by calendar year or by some date close to when I applied for the card?

  • Rob says:

    29 Jan29 January 12:57

    Latter.

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