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The HfP chat thread – Saturday 13th February

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We have decided to run this daily chat thread on Head for Points during the coronavirus outbreak.

Historically, the daily ‘Bits’ articles were the de facto repository for random comments and questions.  With the news flow being lighter, we are running fewer ‘Bits’ articles.

The comments under this article are where you should post questions about travel and, indeed, anything else on your mind.  At this tricky time, and given that many of you are at home, we want the HfP community to have a place to chat.

Please only comment under the main articles on the site if your comment is directly related to the topic of the article.  This has long-term benefits as it keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

Old chat threads are hidden from the HfP home page.  If you want to look for something in an old thread, click here.  This brings up all the articles in our ‘General’ category which includes the chat threads.

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General

Comments (154)

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

  • DK says:
    13 Feb13 February 11:26

    Looking to buy a new iPhone. Any advise on maximising the points?

  • Clive says:
    13 Feb13 February 11:27

    Seems as though the missing 1000 points from the Tesco Virgin promo are posting

  • Sandra says:
    13 Feb13 February 11:41

    With both a significant birthday and anniversary coming up in 2022 and, assuming we are back to normal, I am thinking of a special train journey, possibly the orient express but I wondered if anyone had done a trip on it and if it lived up to expectations considering the cost? Or is there another train journey that people think is better?

    • Doug M says:
      13 Feb13 February 11:54

      Do you want rolling luxury or views from the train?
      I’ve done Barcelona to Milan and that was very nice, also the overnight from Cologne to Vienna. Both done best available class, and accommodation and service was good, but not luxury hotel standard. One of my most enjoyable journeys was from Zagreb to Klagenfurt, stunning views. The USA service through the Rockies is one I’ve only ever hear good stuff of.
      Look at the ‘choose a great train journey’ option on https://www.seat61.com/

      • Super Secret Stuff says:
        13 Feb13 February 12:32

        The rockies isn’t a luxury service but the views are priceless

      • ChrisC says:
        13 Feb13 February 13:19

        Does the “Rocky Mountaineer” still run through the Canadian Rockies? That’s the luxury train.

        The normal VIA Rail service whilst not luxury does offer a range of accommodations from coach seats to sleeper berths. I did this in 1991 and still have fond memories of it.

      • RussellH says:
        13 Feb13 February 16:22

        The California Zephyr [Chicago to Emoryville, a suburb of Oakland] is an amazing journey. No, it is definitely not “luxury”, but it is a journey that should be on anyone’s list.

        Two high mountain passes, the Rockies and then the High Sierras, which you can do sitting in the dome car.
        You also will meet interesting people – there are Americans who like neither flying nor driving. And though they did not interact with others, it is popular with young Amish on their “wild year”.
        Even the first 24 hours or so between Chicago and Denver is interesting – passing through endless flat farm land where you pass a house maybe once every 20 minutes.
        Hardly surprising that that degree of isolation can breed some strange world outlooks.

    • Clive says:
      13 Feb13 February 11:57

      Two that have interested me are the Orient Express journey from Bangkok to Singapore and the Blue Train in South Africa. Not tried either myself though but something to throw in to the pot.

      • Super Secret Stuff says:
        13 Feb13 February 12:30

        Both good options. The bonus of the blue train in SA is you can see parts of the country that are otherwise inaccessible

        • Reeferman says:
          13 Feb13 February 13:07

          An alternative to the Blue Train is Rovos Rail. I can’t compare the 2 as have only been on Rovos Rail (which was fantastic) – but worth checking out and comparing with Blue Train.

          • Colin MacKinnon says:
            13 Feb13 February 15:41

            And an even cheaper alternative, is the South African railways one – we took it last January. Good food, nice company, comfortable bed – and the same scenery.
            Have to say, the high Karoo gets a bit tedious, the journey should be the other way round with that bit at night!

    • Gavin says:
      13 Feb13 February 12:40

      Beijing – Moscow (via Mongolia) train is fantastic, although not luxurious. It depends what kind of journey you want to do. It’s expensive but far cheaper than Orient Express etc. You can splash the saved cash at nice accommodation for the stopovers en-route.

    • BuildBackBetter says:
      13 Feb13 February 13:15

      Palace on wheels. Ultra luxury, not great views, but you get to visit some majestic forts and the Taj

    • Super Secret Stuff says:
      13 Feb13 February 13:36

      Just had a thought, theres a luxury train in South America that has some amazing views. I think it’s called Belmond Andean Explorer.

    • Diydegsy says:
      13 Feb13 February 13:43

      Hi Sandra, we did exactly that for a significant birthday celebration but when we looked at it closer we realise the Venice orient express had no showers in the actual cabins I think apart from the grand cabins of which there were only 2 in total so we chose to do the Bangkok to Chang mai 4 day journey and have never regretted it. Showers in the cabins!! The service was fantastic as were all aspects of the trip, food and entertainment.Far better value in price for a longer stay on the train although we combined it with a trip we were already going on to Thailand but we will never forget it.

      • BP says:
        13 Feb13 February 14:07

        I done Bangkok to Chiang Mai, 2nd class sleeper on the normal Thai railways. I’ll never forget that. Noisy, rickety carriage with about 30 people on bunk beds and the Aircon broke so it was about 40 degrees.

        • Sandra says:
          13 Feb13 February 14:28

          I will look at the different suggestions. We were in Canada 2 years ago so we are keeping the Rockies train journey for another trip – my sister did it silver service and said it was good. The trans Siberian I would like to do at some point but again on a longer trip. Am going to look at the seat 61 link too. Thanks everyone, some good ideas.

          • AJA says:
            13 Feb13 February 15:14

            Take a look at the Luxury Travel Expert YouTube channel and search for “Rovos Rail” They did a trip report on the Pretoria to Cape Town version of the trip. My aunt and uncle were supposed to be travelling on it this week in the other direction but the trip was cancelled.

          • RussellH says:
            13 Feb13 February 16:25

            Channel 5 had a one hour programme on Rovos Rail last year. Might still be available online.

        • Super Secret Stuff says:
          13 Feb13 February 16:44

          I’ve done that, its very fun but by no means luxury. I’m guessing the 4 day version is a luxury version?

        • Denis says:
          13 Feb13 February 17:40

          +1

    • Colin MacKinnon says:
      13 Feb13 February 15:45

      In the Glasgow Herald today:

      https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19075691.scotland-rails-window-gazers-guide/

      You could do a lot worse than stay in Gleneagles – it has its own train station, of course, and/or the Glasshouse in Edinburgh (five mins walk to the back door of Waverley, and Kinloch Lodge on Skye if you did a round trip up the West Coast to Mallaig, over to Skye and then over to Kyle for the train to Inverness.

      As a tatser, there are private enthuisasts trains – steam hauled – that run in the summer with old-style First Class. They do food, but make up a fabulous hamper instead?

      • RussellH says:
        13 Feb13 February 16:27

        Do you have any experience of Gleneagles?

        I worked in Auchterarder for many years, and the local view tended to be that it was not that special…

        • Rob says:
          13 Feb13 February 17:21

          I’ve reviewed it on here, it is exceptional – possibly the best hotel outside London – following the refurb. The staff don’t operate at Four Seasons levels, admittedly, but sheer ludicrousness of the money thrown at the place makes up for it.

      • Sandra says:
        13 Feb13 February 17:19

        Thanks Colin, we’ve done the west coast to Mallaig a couple of times but not Kyle to Inverness. Kinloch Lodge would be nice so that’s an idea. The Bernina Express sounds good too @ Nick Booker, I saw some of the Swiss train journeys on something on TV quite recently and they look quite impressive.

    • Nick Booker says:
      13 Feb13 February 17:05

      We did the Bernina Express and stayed on route at the Muottas Muragl Hotel, it looks like its out of a Bond film on top of the Endgaine valley

      All I can say is the train ride and the Hotel were IMHO stunning

  • Roberto says:
    13 Feb13 February 13:06

    Anyone know the timeline/date of the Jp Morgan credit card that’s expected this year and what it might entail?
    Also chatter has gone very quiet regarding the Hilton card that was supposed to be happening?

  • Martin says:
    13 Feb13 February 16:41

    If Ba cancels your flight and move it to a different time, 6 hours later.
    Can I still cancel the flight nearer the time for a full refund or do I need to take refund now.
    Would rather wait in hope I can go..

    • NC says:
      13 Feb13 February 17:00

      I understand any flight change of more than 4 hours entitles you to a full refund under BA’s policy.

    • kitten says:
      13 Feb13 February 20:07

      You can wait.
      I’d suggest you wait till no less than 3 days or so before in case of difficult getting through on phone lines etc.

      Make sure you don’t click on anything online to say you accept the change. Just leave it and ignore all such requests and click on nothing while you’re making up your mind.

      Watch carefully in case you see anything that says you are deemed to have accepted if x action is not taken within a certain time. So far as I know BA isn’t trying this (on), and I doubt it could be legally enforced anyway, but might as well be wary while you’re thinking about your decision.

  • reds says:
    13 Feb13 February 17:00

    Applied for Sainsbury’s pet insurance on 22/1/21 and surprisingly got my 7,000 Nectar points today.

  • meta says:
    13 Feb13 February 19:02

    Just received an email from Eurostar that they are extending the cash vouchers till 30 December. This is book by date! This is great news. I might be able to use it on the South of France train then if they bring it back in 2022.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      13 Feb13 February 20:15

      Question is will Eurostar be around until then!

    • kitten says:
      13 Feb13 February 20:17

      It’s a pity trains are not obliged to give you a free transfer without still wanting fare difference when they cancel. Right now they can give you a voucher, or some you can enforce cash, but then they hike the fares up when they’ve forced you to rebook.

      I’ve been trying to book Eurostar but they’re down to 1 train per day that doesn’t connect to anything forcing extra hotel nights. Their fares have really hiked and all offers seem to have been removed. Then they’re still displaying they want £30/40 euros as well as fare difference if you need to change.

      I don’t think they’ve really adapted to circumstances and seem to have followed airlines to high base prices and remove all offers as they.figure any demand is inelastic. On an individual basisif forced to travel it just feels like price gouging.

      • meta says:
        13 Feb13 February 20:45

        @TG Loyalty There is always a risk, but that’s the case with FTVs and everything else at the moment.

        @kitten Agreed. I wanted to use it on Paris route this year, but times are not good for a weekend break without taking a day off. The Friday train is at 4:30pm, so need to take half day off work and the train back on Sunday is at 5pm meaning you need to leave around 3:30pm to catch the train.

  • Secret Squirrel says:
    13 Feb13 February 19:48

    I’ve just had my BA account locked under investigation for converting AVIOS to nectar points. I’ve done three conversions over two days. Just a warning in case anyone might want to book flights for the future. Usually accounts are locked for 10 x days.

    • kitten says:
      13 Feb13 February 20:19

      Is BA getting bad-tempered because transfers between Nectar and avios have literally not gone the way they hoped?

    • Jonathan says:
      13 Feb13 February 21:03

      3 transfers? Would I be correct in assuming they were to different Nectar accounts? I can see why this would ring a few alarm bells so not unreasonable of them to lock but presumably should be quickly resolved when you confirm it was you.

      • Secret Squirrel says:
        13 Feb13 February 21:08

        No, all to the same account.

        • Super Secret Stuff says:
          13 Feb13 February 21:34

          Why 3 and not just one big transfer?

          But I would suspect it is a warning sign that a lot of Avios to Nectar transfers will get your account blocked, probably as a self protection mechanism for BA to limit the amount of transfers out of Avios

          • Harrier25 says:
            13 Feb13 February 22:23

            So why do the tie up with Nectar if they don’t want you transferring too many points? That doesn’t sound right.

    • 747_Brat says:
      13 Feb13 February 22:55

      BA is taking the p!$$ now! Why did the partner with Nectar, if the want to block people from transferring to Nectar? 😡

      • TGLoyalty says:
        13 Feb13 February 23:00

        Because they didn’t imagine that people wouldn’t want to fly and would rather have food during a pandemic that’s effectively closed borders around the world 😂

        • Harrier25 says:
          13 Feb13 February 23:12

          If that’s the case then I think someone needs to go through the agreement that they signed and drag BA kicking and screaming back to court. This sounds like a breach of the agreement!

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