The HfP chat thread – Friday 5th February

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• Colin MacKinnon says:

  5 Feb5 February 08:23

  Do people think there will even be anyone from the 30+ countries travelling to quarantine?

  Surely you would move your travel forward a week or so.
  Just give up on the journey.
  Or do an Irish via Dublin (I hear there are quite a few connecting passengers through there already!)

  • Dirkers says:

    5 Feb5 February 09:32

    Dublin are hoping to introduce the same measure simultaneously. That was on Radio Ulster this morning.

  • Anna says:

    5 Feb5 February 10:10

    You’re very possibly right – in which case does that mean the government will be on the hook for £55 million of empty hotel rooms?!

    • David S says:

      5 Feb5 February 10:47

      Hope the govt opens some Hotel Loyalty accounts 😁

      • kitten says:

        5 Feb5 February 18:39

        Er… someone in the government will have
        😉

• Anna says:

  5 Feb5 February 10:15

  So the hotel quarantine requirement ends on March 31st (all that kerfuffle for 6 weeks!!), which is also when the current Covid regulations expire. Coincidence?

  • The real John says:

    5 Feb5 February 10:20

    Who says it won’t get extended?

    • Andrew says:

      5 Feb5 February 10:42

      It will definitely be extended and hopefully will cover all countries, not just those on the red list.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        5 Feb5 February 11:06

        Yup lets cocoon ourselves in for years.

        Do Aus and NZ allow in 5,000 hauliers a day?

        • Rob says:

          5 Feb5 February 11:27

          Let’s look at this realistically. All over-50’s get vaccinated by May as promised this morning. 1 dose hits 70%-90% efficiency within 3 weeks. There is no evidence of any anyone who has died from covid after the vaccine was fully activated. Vulnerable under-50’s will be done by March, under 40’s are at statistically no risk of death (not zero, but near enough). This means that deaths should be zero, give or take, by the mid July at the very latest.

          Worth noting that the Telegraph says today that the quarantine scheme will only run to 31st March. Fundamentally it is just for show.

        • marcw says:

          5 Feb5 February 12:12

          Surely the point of quarantine is to reduce the likelihood of potentially new variants / strains that bypass vaccine immunity.

        • Rob says:

          5 Feb5 February 12:45

          Nope, we’ll be taking our chances there I think.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          5 Feb5 February 12:21

          it’s interesting as its pressure on the NHS that’s really driving the lockdowns and its that that needs to come down rather than deaths. However, the 9 Phase 1 groups are those most likely to end up in hospital by a wide margin.

        • Optimus Prime says:

          5 Feb5 February 12:56

          Regarding going on holidays, most countries won’t drop the PCR/quarantine requirements unless you’ve had both doses. And they’re saying you must’ve had the second within 6 months so for those going abroad in summer and winter that means 2 vaccinations per year. Today it’s free, next year will they ask for £150 per dose like the PCR mafia?

      • pigeon says:

        5 Feb5 February 11:13

        And when it covers France so the truck drivers can’t come in? What will we eat then?

        • Chris Heyes says:

          5 Feb5 February 11:42

          Fish lol

      • WaynedP says:

        5 Feb5 February 12:00

        Possibly, but I’m not so sure.

        If hotel quarantine reduces both airline and hotel revenues, or prolongs travel booking reluctance (which I suspect it will), and death and hospitalisation rates drop significantly (which I suspect will happen) then by end March the govt will be facing intense travel industry pressure to end mandatory quarantine without having the “save our NHS” argument to justify its continuation.

        • WaynedP says:

          5 Feb5 February 12:00

          That was a response for @Andrew

        • Ben says:

          5 Feb5 February 15:51

          Lets hope so @waynedP. Might be able to sweeze our rebooked cheap Virgin flights in before March 31st.

        • WaynedP says:

          5 Feb5 February 17:40

          Fingers crossed, although I’m mentally resigned to re-scheduling to after Easter when Virgin cancels, as I suspect will happen.

          I really hope you get to visit CPT and have a good holiday, but equally the variant strain over there is best avoided if at all possible, so perhaps a lengthy postponement is the better option.

      • Yorkieflyer says:

        5 Feb5 February 23:16

        Answer was to Andrew

  • BJ says:

    5 Feb5 February 13:48

    “This means that deaths should be zero, give or take, by the mid July at the very latest.”

    Happened last July … no vaccines then! Absent some incredibly disastrous mutations things are looking good.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      5 Feb5 February 14:03

      That was with significant restrictions on your life

      The point is low hospitalisations/ deaths with minor to no restrictions

• Chris says:

  5 Feb5 February 10:29

  Had flights booked in Avios sale to Dubai for this week cancelled. Tried to push them out to October half term but annoyingly it was 2 days beyond booking availability. Booked London connection in September and rest of itinerary in October, with no problems and no requirement for Avios availability.

  It’s a pretty awesome result….now to figure out what to do with my Easter Seoul flights….

  • Anna says:

    5 Feb5 February 10:43

    Glad you’ve managed to find alternative dates, though Yuff earlier seems to have moved to October half term, though maybe it’s a week earlier than yours?

• tom H says:

  5 Feb5 February 10:45

  Data point: Applied for marriott amex 3rd Feb, received card 4th Feb, received Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card bonus night credits 5th Feb.

  • babyg says:

    5 Feb5 February 10:53

    cards seem to be arriving less than 24hrs after applying, we had a similar experience with BA amex…

    • Harry T says:

      5 Feb5 February 11:08

      Same here.

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    5 Feb5 February 14:19

    Sign up bonus triggered on 6th and card cancelled on 7th? 😉

    • Rob says:

      5 Feb5 February 15:33

      That would be a mistake. Cancelling within 14 days means you’ve cancelled in the ‘cooling off period’. This nullifies the entire contract and could lead to your nights being pulled back.

• Nick Burch says:

  5 Feb5 February 10:56

  As my travel is well down, I think I may struggle to hit the 10k spend on my IHG premium card for the free night, before my year ends in early summer. Pondering a bit of MS to get over the line.

  If I’ve read the older comments properly…. Topping up an account with Ernie via Bendy should work to generate some spend. Is that fine with the IHG card backing a free Bendy, without incurring fees? Any rough limits on max amount to put through in a week, and how long to wait before withdrawing back from Ernie?

  • Jonathan says:

    5 Feb5 February 11:34

    A couple of grand won’t cause any issues. I’d start low with the IHG cards though & spread over a couple of weeks as their fraud systems seem to get triggered pretty promptly by repeated large payments to a new merchant.

    You can withdraw from Direct Saver 7 (?working) days after deposit & it’s usually 24 hours before funds back in your account so be careful with statement & payment dates.

  • Sam says:

    5 Feb5 February 11:36

    I have the legacy Curve and premium IHG and it works with no fees on monthly basis. Haven’t tried more frequently

• Alex D says:

  5 Feb5 February 11:01

  A question regarding BA cancellation/redemption. If BA cancel a redemption bookings, I am given to understand you don’t need avios availability when you re-book you can choose any dates you wish?

  I have also seen a number of comments about this only being -3 to +14 days from your booking dates, anything past that you need to find availability. Is their any truth in this?

  • Rob says:

    5 Feb5 February 11:29

    You can move to ANY date but only up to 365 days from your original booking date (ie the day you paid the taxes). No Avios seats needed. See Nuff’s comment earlier today about getting the jackpot of BA Club World to Dubai on prime October half term dates, with a Club World cabin that is already almost full.

    • Alex D says:

      5 Feb5 February 11:41

      Okay great thank you, I thought so! Wanted to check before i call BA today👌

    • Nadeshka says:

      5 Feb5 February 11:49

      I’ve seen some comments here from people who managed to get dates further than 365 days out from initial booking, is it actually set in stone? We’ve just had another cancellation of an Easter redemption sale fare and the what is now a 6 month restriction is no good for us, I’d like to move it to the same time next year but that’s more like 18months from original ticketing.

      • Rob says:

        5 Feb5 February 12:46

        It is physically impossible to move a ticket beyond 365 days. Going further requires full reticketing so an agent can’t just sneak it through.

        • Martin Short says:

          5 Feb5 February 13:49

          Maybe barking up the wrong tree but i booked BA with a 2-4-1 in Oct20 for Mar21, BA cancelled and I’ve moved it to Dec21. So that’s more than 355 from date of booking.

        • Rob says:

          5 Feb5 February 14:02

          Was there Avios availability for the dates you wanted? If so, clearly it can be done. The issue is what happens when there are no Avios seats.

        • Tony says:

          5 Feb5 February 16:31

          There’s clearly a bit of a disconnect here. I originally booked Oct last year for a flight in Mar as part of the 50% Avios redemption offer. BA cancelled and the agent advised that I could not rebook beyond 365 days (as expected). However, today I was able to rebook online for Nov. New ticket numbers have been generated. Not sure of the implications downstream, e.g. will BA subsequently seek the additional 50% in Avios.

        • Aliks says:

          5 Feb5 February 16:57

          I too booked in October 2020 for a flight to (EZE) Buenos Aires this month taking advantage of the 50% avios offer.

          BA suspended direct flights to EZE until November, so there was never any availability showing in MMB. However, there were avios redemptions available both ways in December – but MMB wouldnt let me book them. Neither would the BA agent let me book them without going through a voucher and repricing.

          It sounds like Tony got lucky . . .

  • Sean says:

    5 Feb5 February 11:44

    subject to there being any available seats.

    • kitten says:

      5 Feb5 February 18:50

      Aliks if BA cancelled your flight there is absolutely no way they were entitled to charge you any change fee and no way they could charge you any extra in avios nor cash for replacement seat sab

      • kitten says:

        5 Feb5 February 18:54

        Aliks l suggest you complain at being asked to give them more as this is illegal.

        The question of them rerouting beyond 1 year after ticket issue is entirely separate. Currently they are not handling it well as fhere is no reason they should not issue a new ticket when needed in order to provide a passenger their rights.

      • kitten says:

        5 Feb5 February 19:00

        PS Aliks that applies to your whole booking even if they only cancelled or significantly changed one flight on it

        • Aliks says:

          5 Feb5 February 19:49

          I agree, but it would definitely be a case for arbitration, and in the meantime I would have to buy the tickets I wanted and gamble on winning the arbitration.

          I have a CEDR case running at the moment against BA for a smaller amount of money, so I do push BA when the odds are on my side, but in the case we are discussing I thought it better to just cancel and get a full refund.

  • babyg says:

    5 Feb5 February 12:16

    it has to be a real cancellation, not a cabin change, my trip in First (LHR-DXB) was “cancelled” according to MMB, but it ended up only being an equipment swap, BA would only let me +/-3 days… but no more…..

    • kitten says:

      5 Feb5 February 18:56

      And you fell for it? I don’t mean to be rude, but…. really?

    • kitten says:

      5 Feb5 February 18:59

      To explain, a downgrade or if they are offloading you (which airlines do if they overbooked or if they want to sell your seat to someone else for more), both of these may come through looking like a re-confirmation or a cancellation

  • memesweeper says:

    5 Feb5 February 13:26

    Some agents are very unhelpful. Others are fantastic. HUACA may be easier than fighting with someone who doesn’t know the rules, doesn’t know how to work around the 12 month limit, or is simply disinclined to help.

    • kitten says:

      5 Feb5 February 19:07

      You are right memesweeper. Always be prepared to HUACA if you are not successful.

      Always remain pleasant whilst doing this if you can. The last thing you want is a nasty agent or an incompetent or not fully supported agent feeling under pressure retaliating by making an evil note on your PNR that subsequent agents will then see and be guided by. It does happen.

• Matthew says:

  5 Feb5 February 11:09

  Quick question. What have people done about large travel refunds to AMEX and sending the points balance into negative. I may have to get a refund for an easter trip and it will see me go -15,000 points. I’m not going to spend that in a while so is my only option to cancel? Just wondering if anyone has managed to get it ‘reset’ to 0 by Amex without the faff of cancelling and re-applying for a new card a few months later?

  • Super Secret Stuff says:

    5 Feb5 February 11:20

    Empty the balance now and cancel the card. When the refund comes, they’ll contact you and pay it into your bank account. A bit extreme but worth it as it will also deduct from any spending targets.

    Could apply for a new card that you’ll get a bonus on?

    • Harry T says:

      5 Feb5 February 11:45

      Agree with SSS

    • babyg says:

      5 Feb5 February 12:18

      Agreed – cancel the card, pro-tip: leave the cancelled card “visible” in your amex profile (app/website) – dont remove it. You will then be able to see when any refunds hit, once the refund hits use webchat to get the refund moved to an active card.

    • Anna says:

      5 Feb5 February 13:49

      You can still log into the card account even when you’ve cancelled the card and get the refund moved to your bank account via chat.

  • WaynedP says:

    5 Feb5 February 12:12

    When a travel agent told me that refund would take up to 5 months, I said that I may have cancelled my credit card (Amex) by then, which was a genuine consideration at the time.

    They had no problem taking my bank details and processing the refund directly to my bank account.

  • Matthew says:

    5 Feb5 February 14:14

    Ok great, thanks for the info and tips.

• YH says:

  5 Feb5 February 11:21

  BA have cancelled one of my 50% sale Avios flights. I’d like to move this later in the year. I know I can move to any date (within the 1 year ticket issue) without reward availability.

  But can I move from off-peak dates to peak dates?

  • memesweeper says:

    5 Feb5 February 13:27

    Yes, I’ve done this. See comment above, it’s not always easy.

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