The HfP chat thread – Thursday 11th February

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• Harry T says:

  11 Feb11 February 10:20

  I have an offer for receiving 500 Nectar points when I first fuel up at Esso using their app… I have the same offer twice, in fact! Does anyone know if this will stack and I will receive 1000 points?

  Also worth mentioning that there is an offer for receiving 1000 points when spending £5 at ebay which would seem to combine with the 6x Nectar points offer at ebay.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    11 Feb11 February 10:36

    Terms say 6x on only on base earnings so it suggests it won’t give you 6x your bonus

  • Chris Heyes says:

    11 Feb11 February 10:41

    Harry T OOOooo shame I’m banned from ebay or was (it was many many years ago)
    maybe they have forgiven me (or forgotten me) lol

    • Lady London says:

      11 Feb11 February 15:47

      What did you do on ebay Chris H?

      • Chris Heyes says:

        11 Feb11 February 20:12

        Lady London haha you want the story lol
        Wasn’t anything illegal (well not in this country)
        When i was dealing in Antiques (high value)
        I would put in Auction houses with a reserve on, then 2/3 of us would bid up to the reserve, not illegal in this country (the auction houses knew we was doing it)
        We then started doing it on “ebay” lower value antiques around £300/£600ish lol
        We never went above the reserve (that would be illegal)
        What it meant the items got noticed, lots of bids one after another, some people are attracted by lots of bids
        We would always stop on the reserve lol
        Someone always couldn’t resist joining in “BINGO” nice profit lol
        But apparently it’s illegal in America after a while it was noticed a lot of bids only up to reserve (probably an IT bot)
        They obviously couldn’t do anything because its legal here
        But we all got banned permanently lol
        We made a killing while it lasted though

        • Lady London says:

          12 Feb12 February 04:00

          Ahem. Dodgy. Kind of a ring. Might be illegal in UK now. I dont think they’ll have you back if they recognise you.

          Sounds like your son is poacher turned gamekeeper – learned the tricks at home 🙂

        • Chris Heyes says:

          12 Feb12 February 07:38

          Lady London, a ring is when buyers agree to only one of them bids for a item
          After agreeing what each of them would go up to, spoils shared out’
          This was the opposite of that
          Still legal in this country as far as i know, when i was banned from ebay carried on using Auctions (but i can tell you they frowned on us)
          One well known Auction house even informed their clients we was in attendence (the cheek lol)
          like the ref to son lol lol

        • Mo says:

          12 Feb12 February 12:21

          https://www.inbrief.co.uk/consumer-law/shill-bidding/

          Seems as if what you did was illegal, as shill bidding is ” when someone bids on an item to artificially increase its price, desirability, or search standing.”

          Doesn’t seem to matter regarding the reserve price.

        • Chris Heyes says:

          12 Feb12 February 14:40

          Mo yes illegal in the US But wasn’t in the UK as long as you didn’t go above the reserve price (I Did write “Not Illegal” in UK (ebay is American) so would be illegal outside UK
          Shill bidding ebay term not UK Law

        • Chris Heyes says:

          12 Feb12 February 14:51

          Mo Shill came into law in UK only in around 2007 (from US)
          because of people like me, bending the rules lol
          Your talking about 2000 or earlier in my case i’m 73 now started dealing well over 23 years ago (well more like 33 years ago if I’m honest) part-time basis at first

  • AJA says:

    11 Feb11 February 14:37

    No Nectar does not do stacking on offers – you will only receive the bonus on the first product or attempt. As for Esso fuel I find that they are usually up to 5p per litre more expensive than Sainsbury’s own stations or indeed Tesco. Also check which fuel the offer is on. I received the offer but it was for the premium fuel which I don’t bother with as the price of the standard fuel usually saves more than the 500 bonus points are worth.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      11 Feb11 February 15:32

      if you do like and have a use for premium fuel (performance car) Tesco sell premium for a decent price.

• Super Secret Stuff says:

  11 Feb11 February 10:34

  Easyjet bags Norwegian air Gatwick slots

  https://simpleflying.com/easyjet-slots-fleet-ownership/

  • Brighton Belle says:

    11 Feb11 February 13:51

    Please don’t put Easyjet and bags in the same sentence.. I’m still trying to figure out how to travel with just hand luggage for 4 day trips without paying their new higher £40 bag fees which now makes the flight prices look expensive and no LGW competition to Nice. Their new bag pricing policy looks terminal.

    • Lady London says:

      11 Feb11 February 15:48

      cabin size bag can still be checked as hands free

      • Brighton Belle says:

        11 Feb11 February 16:06

        Nope: It’s an under-seat rucksack sized bag now which is seriously limiting with tech stuff and clothes to take.

        EZY-Now: Everyone can take one small cabin bag per person on board (maximum size 45 x 36 x 20cm, including any handles or wheels), which must fit under the seat in front of you.

        If you want the regular cabin bag in the storage bins it about £20 each way for this or other upfront options with the bigger bag included.

        Maximum size 56 x 45 x 25 cm (including any handles or wheels)

        • Super Secret Stuff says:

          11 Feb11 February 16:50

          The actual enforcement of this, I suspect, will be relaxed. A few years ago I looked into there AGM and investor relations stuff, they’ve made relaxed enforcement of baggage policy part of there USP for quite a few years.

          I wouldnt worry providing you don’t take the piss. It is however, the end of me taking a back pack, small suitcase and holdall as cabin baggage for free

        • Lady London says:

          11 Feb11 February 17:06

          did you look at changing seat to more expensive one that gives you more? btw am pretty sure new policy only applied new bookings

    • Colin MacKinnon says:

      11 Feb11 February 20:34

      CabinMax do a bag for about eight quid which goes “under the seat”. I added it to a suitcase order (to get free postage) and it is OK for what it is. Got more than 10kgs of stuff in it!
      I could survive for a few days on what goes in it.

      • Nick says:

        11 Feb11 February 20:46

        @SSS but this isn’t ‘a few years ago’… it’s the NEW ‘we’re screwed cos covid’ baggage policy they’ve just introduced, i.e. deliberately (and openly) making more ancillary revenue to cover their losses. For this reason I suspect it’ll be VERY heavily enforced (flybe-style).

• Louie says:

  11 Feb11 February 10:41

  I’m trying to work out hotels.com’s current policy regarding expiry of award nights and “stamps”. According to their website:

  “Stamps and reward nights expiry.
  We want to offer you the flexibility to make the most of your collected stamps and unused reward nights. So, if you have stamps and nights expiring from 1st April 2020, we’ll extend the expiry date until 30th June 2021. Please note, your account may still show the old expiry date for now.”

  but then they say

  “We’ve given you a head start!
  We’ve automatically carried over all of your stamps from your last membership year to count towards your future progress. You’ll see the stamps you’ve already collected and those that have been carried over reflected in your account. Please note that these stamps will count towards your membership progress only, and not reinstated towards your reward nights.”

  What does that last sentence mean?

  • Rob says:

    11 Feb11 February 10:56

    It implies to me that they will count towards status but not towards a free night (which is what you’d expect, since status nights accrue over a year whilst you can earn a free night over many years if you choose).

    • Dance-Ace-Base says:

      11 Feb11 February 11:50

      Stamps previously collected towards a free night will continue to count towards a free night (with stamps and nights expiring 30th June), but you won’t gain any _extra_ stamps towards a free night due to this carrying over.

      As status is fairly useless all that really matters is that stamps and free nights won’t start expiring until 30th June, and expiry is easily avoided by booking a $2 pre-paid dorm room in Thailand or somewhere.

• John says:

  11 Feb11 February 10:51

  Advice please.
  Have first class reward flights booked for May – at moment these particular flights are cancelled fir earlier dates.
  I booked in October 20 BUT my 241 expires in June 21.
  If the flights are cancelled I understand I could taken the travel voucher but that would require avios availability. If I wanted a straight rebook, would I be limited to the 241 expiry date?
  Thanks for any advice in advance

  • Anna says:

    11 Feb11 February 11:33

    If BA has cancelled your flights you are entitled to re-routing and it doesn’t matter when you 241 expires. BA’s policy is only to re-book you within 12 months of the original booking date (i.e. last October), but people have reported getting round this. If you have no domestic connections you should be able to re-book online if BA does cancel your flights.

    • John says:

      11 Feb11 February 11:48

      Thanks.
      Good to know.

      • Michael C says:

        11 Feb11 February 12:14

        John, my 2-4-1 Avios flights were just cancelled. I was able to rebook online for any date 12 months from now (not from ticket issue date) BUT there had to be Avios availability.
        If it ends up getting converted into a voucher, your 2-4-1 is extended too.

    • Ben says:

      11 Feb11 February 11:50

      Sadly by booking during the sale the latest I can get BA to rebook us is this October…I don’t think Thailand will be “open” by then. Also do I need to make my decision before the original flight departure date or can I do this afterwards?

      • AJA says:

        11 Feb11 February 14:41

        You can do it after the original flight departure but make a note of the booking ref as it will disappear from your account and you won’t see it in MMB. Also bear in mind the longer you leave it the less time you have which makes it more difficult.

• Craig says:

  11 Feb11 February 10:52

  Unsurprisingly, BA just cancelled our Seychelles flights for Easter. Never mind. Perhaps will be allowed to travel by Easter 2022.

• Ben says:

  11 Feb11 February 11:23

  Hello everybody, I hope you’re all safe and well. I find myself in a quandary. I have had my (family of four) flights to Thailand cancelled this March, no surprises here. I purchased these flights during the half price avios sale…using avios points and 2x241vouchers. One of which expires this November. My question is do I accept the voucher, wrapping all points and 241’s up until April ‘21 (or is it 2022 now?) or do I get my cash back? I really don’t know what to do. Flights were business but were bought in the half price sale. I would love to do this trip with the same seat class at some point and need to know the best course of action. Apologies if this sort of question gets asked a million times! Thanks in advance.

  • Anna says:

    11 Feb11 February 11:35

    Join the club! Best option is undoubtedly to get BA to re-book you at a later date as you won’t need avios availability and will keep the 50% of avios price, but you may not have the flexibility for that.
    FTVs are now valid until April 2023, but you’ll only get back the avios you paid, and you will need award availability for a future booking.

    • Ben says:

      11 Feb11 February 12:00

      Sadly by booking during the sale the latest I can get BA to rebook us is this October…I don’t think Thailand will be “open” by then. Also do I need to make my decision before the original flight departure date or can I do this afterwards?

      • Nick says:

        11 Feb11 February 12:05

        If the first flight in the booking is cancelled you can wait until you know what you want to do. If the first is still operating then call before it to avoid being a no-show (you could wait, but it will make your life more difficult).

        If you’re sure Oct will still be closed you could always rebook now for October, and when it gets cancelled again move it to a future date then.

      • Anna says:

        11 Feb11 February 12:22

        Have you tried re-booking online? People have reported getting round the 12 month booking rule by doing that.

        • S879 says:

          11 Feb11 February 13:22

          Is that true for people who booked in the 50% sale and used 2for1?

      • Charlieface says:

        11 Feb11 February 12:39

        Why is that the latest?

        If they are messing you around with the 1 year validity thing, have it out with the supervisor. they can and should override it.

        • Michael C says:

          11 Feb11 February 14:17

          @S879. I was simply able to rebook online as the calendar showed for the next 12 months (from now). I moved Easter flights to N Year (booked with 2-4-1/50% off last October). The one condition was that there had to be Avios flights available to make use of the “more than 12 months” option.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        11 Feb11 February 12:40

        I’d rebook for a later date and if they don’t open it’ll be cancelled so then insist on another rebooking they can’t hold you to 12 months.

        The 12 months of booking is a BA “policy” and there’s no stipulation within EC261

        • Ben says:

          11 Feb11 February 12:50

          One of my 241 vouchers (that is part of the booking) expires in November this year though. So I’m not sure if I could rebook the flights any later unless they do an extension on the 241. (This 241 has already been extended by six months)

        • TGLoyalty says:

          11 Feb11 February 13:42

          If they are cancelled then ofcourse you can. 2-4-1 validity doesn’t come into consideration.

          You can also still cancel the flights for an FTV at any point which will extend the voucher out to April 2023.

          What you could be left with is a decision to make if closer to the October trip it doesn’t look appealing and they decide they are about to end the FTV scheme.

        • Ben says:

          11 Feb11 February 14:47

          Thanks for your help tag loyalty…I’m on the phone to Ba now and they are saying that my ticket expires on October the 7th and I can’t book later than that. If I book that date and it gets cancelled they have to offer me a full refund and nothing else. I’ve tried rebooking online but can find no availability at all on any dates..What should I say?

        • TGLoyalty says:

          11 Feb11 February 15:33

          It’s clearly nonsense as EC261 applies
          again and they would have to rebook and clearly can reissue a ticket.

          However, what if it isn’t cancelled is a October 7th flight any good to you?

  • Mr. AC says:

    11 Feb11 February 14:51

    Thailand is already “open” if you’re willing to spend the first 14 days in quarantine: https://asq.locanation.com/ They have official quarantine packages in designated hotels.
    I’m pretty sure Thailand will also be quite early in accepting vaccination certificates etc.

    • Lady London says:

      11 Feb11 February 15:53

      as BJ will say, Thailand changes rules at 15mins notice though so beware

• Nick says:

  11 Feb11 February 11:33

  Anyone else still waiting for NatWest switch credit? Deadline for them to pay is tomorrow… I’m on tenterhooks as to whether they actually will or whether it’ll require a complaint. Almost hoping for the latter in case it’s a windfall 😂

  • Harry T says:

    11 Feb11 February 12:37

    Did you get a text to confirm they would pay you the switching cash?

    • Lee says:

      11 Feb11 February 13:25

      Got text and still waiting

  • paulm says:

    11 Feb11 February 12:46

    Mine arrived today

  • johnny_c-l says:

    11 Feb11 February 12:50

    I’m still waiting too, and not had a text to confirm it either.

    Hoping it arrives tomorrow then I can go ahead and switch this one to Virgin before their wine offer ends this week.

    • johnny_c-l says:

      11 Feb11 February 14:18

      And an hour later the 125GBP has arrived now!

  • Harry T says:

    11 Feb11 February 16:25

    Got my switching money this afternoon!

• Jane says:

  11 Feb11 February 11:44

  BA collect in store seems to have ended – I only just noticed that I am not getting any points for in-store spending and it seems to have been ages ago! The new collect on card seems to have very few options or did I miss something ?

  • Andrew says:

    11 Feb11 February 14:23

    The interesting ones like Waitrose ended in 2019 from memory.

    In-between, you’ve missed out on PAW, Airtime and Virgin in-store offers.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      11 Feb11 February 15:34

      Wasn’t Waitrose always Virgin?

      I think cafe Nero was the only interesting BA one.

      • Jane says:

        11 Feb11 February 16:26

        must be using the plot – it’s all a bit hazy !

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