The HfP chat thread – Monday 15th February

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

• Venturelog says:

  15 Feb15 February 12:22

  BA upgrade – can you upgrade from economy to Business with cash on long haul? Or a combination of cash to PE and then Avios to Business (assuming availability)?
  Thank you

  • AJA says:

    15 Feb15 February 12:38

    You cannot upgrade directly from economy to business on long haul. You can only upgrade to the next cabin. Also you can only pay for a one-cabin upgrade although it is possible, though extremely unlikely, to then get a further upgrade by the airline.

    A possible way around it currently would be to cancel the economy ticket for a FTV and then use the FTV to buy a seat in WTP and then use Avios to upgrade from there to CW.

    • Lady London says:

      15 Feb15 February 14:23

      +1

    • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

      15 Feb15 February 14:27

      You certainly used to be able to do a multi-cabin airport upgrade.

      • ChrisC says:

        15 Feb15 February 15:18

        Different rules at the airport where they would be trying to get cash from passengers instead of upgrading someone for free.

        Plus no guarantee they would be offering upgrades anyway.

• Travel Strong says:

  15 Feb15 February 12:33

  Any tricks to getting Wizz Air APD refunded?

  I was a no show for a few flights in 2020.
  Easyjet refund APD no questions asked. Wizz say No.
  Wizz say that they have a cancellation fee of £75, and therefore nothing to pay (as APD is less at £26)
  I did not cancel, but that falls on deaf ears.

  • Charlieface says:

    15 Feb15 February 14:09

    Send a Letter Before Action?

    And if they canceled and not you, why just the APD, why not claim the whole ticket?

  • Lady London says:

    15 Feb15 February 14:28

    Easyjet does not refund government tax for a no-show unless you ask. Legally an airline has to refund the tax(ie true taxes) element if you don’t fly. Wizz is wrong.

    MCOL it but first advise them of this and mention it will cost them more as they will have to pay your court fees as well.

    • ken says:

      15 Feb15 February 16:11

      “Legally an airline has to refund the tax(ie true taxes) element if you don’t fly.”

      Not sure if this is actually true & Ryanair & BA charge an administration fee that negates short haul claims

      • Lady London says:

        15 Feb15 February 22:01

        I dont believe they can inpose an admin fee on a government tax refund they’re obliged to make.

        • Travel Strong says:

          15 Feb15 February 23:04

          @Lady London. Many of them do exactly that for sure.

    • Travel Strong says:

      15 Feb15 February 18:31

      They can indeed charge an admin fee, but Wizz air does not have such a fee in their t+c’s – just a cancellation fee e.g. for cancelling less that 14 days out. They are applying a cancellation fee to a no-show without such a reference existing in their t+c’s and in doing so not returning the APD.

      It’s only £26 in this instance, but the principal may be important to others with greater sums at risk.

• Anna says:

  15 Feb15 February 12:39

  Has anyone stayed anywhere nice recently (pool would be ideal but not essential) which is open for permitted travel? We may be called upon to provide a respite break in April but will need to find somewhere which is open if general hospitality is still closed. This is permitted under the current regulations, incidentally!

  • Tariq says:

    15 Feb15 February 13:24

    Unfortunately pools and other fitness facilities are closed, in hotels that are otherwise open under the ‘gyms and leisure facilities must close’ restriction.

    A rough location might be useful to identify a property that’s open in the area?

    • Anna says:

      15 Feb15 February 13:32

      I’ve just spoken to one hotel where the pool is still open … (but not the gym, so they must have found a way to get round that).

      Probably Midlands area so there are plenty of opportunities to get out and about while close to a decent road network. Not much point going to, say, London, as we’d then be stuck in the city with possibly nothing open.

      So far I’ve found the Indigo and CP in Stratford Upon Avon are open, and the CP and Voco Solihull.

      • Aston100 says:

        15 Feb15 February 13:55

        Was gonna say, the St John’s Solihull has a pool and is located fairly nicely for transportation and access to motorways.
        No idea what the place is like since IHG took it over, but I feel you’ve already stayed here in the past?

      • Zoe says:

        15 Feb15 February 14:16

        So you would be taking the (for instance) child away to a hotel with you in order for their parent(s) to get a respite break? I know tone can be difficult to be read so for clarity I am trying to understand the issue not be harsh.
        We have great nephews who live with their grandparents and in normal times we would have them stay with us for half terms and part of the summer to give the grandparents a rest (boys of 4 & 6)

        • Anna says:

          15 Feb15 February 15:36

          Something similar, it’s not something I would normally discuss on a forum like this one but in this instance readers’ advice might be helpful. I’m not sure why there would be any reason to be harsh – this has been legislated for specifically because it’s been recognised that there are people with complex needs who are suffering particularly badly in lockdown.

  • Navara says:

    15 Feb15 February 16:03

    @ Anna. Would you need a letter from a doctor to clarify respite was needed?

    • TGLoyalty says:

      15 Feb15 February 17:46

      I 100% doubt you would.

      They will take your word on medical exemptions.

• Venturelog says:

  15 Feb15 February 12:57

  Thanks AJA
  It’s a return journey where the return leg needs to be upgraded.
  Is it possible to take the 1st leg, cancel the ticket for the return, turn into FTV and use it against a new ticket?

  • AJA says:

    15 Feb15 February 13:09

    I am not sure but I think it is possible to take the outbound and then cancel the inbound for a FTV but I am not sure what value you would receive since it is not simply half the fare as that is not how airfares are constructed.

    If you have yet to fly I would suggest you cancel the entire booking now in exchange for a FTV and then book a new ticket outbound in WT and inbound in WTP, apply the FTV to the cost and then upgrade the inbound using Avios.

    • ChrisC says:

      15 Feb15 February 15:27

      There is a section on the BA COVID website pages on what they are able to do in terms of refunds / vouchers if you cancel a return leg after the outbound has been flown.

      And indeed it isn’t half the total fare.

      They look at each fare element to calculate those refunds (APD only applies ex UK for example so that immediately skews the figures) and the base fare and surcharges may be more for one leg than another

• eligold says:

  15 Feb15 February 13:40

  I’ve had all my payments using curve to pay my Virgin credit card bill fail since virgin has gone app only.
  The money temporarily leaves the account i’m using to pay and the app blames the fail on the other bank. after a while the money reappears at the payment bank. clearly a problem on Virgin’s end!

  Has anyone else had issues?

  • Amar says:

    15 Feb15 February 15:10

    Yes! I’ve been having the same issue with beardy–>bendy–>Ernie

    Transaction gets approved on bendy. Ernie says declined. Then after a day or two i can see two offsetting transactions on beardy. Ernie and bendy are both saying it’s not their issue. Been going on for over a month.

    • eligold says:

      15 Feb15 February 18:52

      Thanks

  • DarrenS says:

    15 Feb15 February 19:24

    Working fine for me so far. this using metal.

    • eligold says:

      16 Feb16 February 11:45

      using metal too. not working!

• Guernsey Globetrotter says:

  15 Feb15 February 13:49

  Did anybody take up the unofficial offer posted here a while ago to earn cheap Marriott elite qualifying nights @A$80 (c. £45) per ‘virtual’ night? If so, how did you get on? With the currently running double elite nights and points promo it could offer a decent value way to get Platinum Elite or better status.

• Reney says:

  15 Feb15 February 14:25

  ok thanks for confirming.

• John says:

  15 Feb15 February 15:10

  Did I read in some past comment that there is expected to be a good buy Marriott points offer in near future?

  • Rob says:

    15 Feb15 February 15:48

    There is going to be an offer VERY soon, it is not as good as some we saw last year.

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