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The HfP chat thread – Thursday 18th February

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Comments (384)

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  • Andy says:
    18 Feb18 February 09:23

    Singapore Airlines have just cancelled my connecting flights to and from Siem Reap in November. I got a really good deal so I don’t really want a refund. It seems they’ve cancelled the route. Should I just not do anything about it for now in case they reopen the route down the line? Ideally if I can’t go in November I’d rebook for Feb/March!

    • Charlieface says:
      18 Feb18 February 09:26

      You don’t have to rebook immediately.

      But you could also ask them to reroute you on any other available route with any airline

      • Anna says:
        18 Feb18 February 09:44

        EU261 doesn’t apply here, it will depend on Singapore Airlines Ts and Cs.

        • andy says:
          18 Feb18 February 10:09

          I could probably get a reroute on Singapore Airlines to Phnom Penh but not sure that would help me that much.

        • The real John says:
          18 Feb18 February 10:25

          If it’s on one ticket starting in the UK I believe it does apply, but not to the return starting in Cambodia.

    • BuildBackBetter says:
      18 Feb18 February 09:37

      Make sure you are happy to travel there outside winter. It’s quite humid and can get hot.

      • Andy says:
        18 Feb18 February 09:54

        Thanks yeah I have a friend who lives there and it’s ok now but come April will start to heat up. I’ll sit on it for now while I wait and see what develops. I guess i can get a refund at any point anyway

    • BJ says:
      18 Feb18 February 10:14

      You could try asking them to put you on Scoot, a cheap solution for them.

      • meta says:
        18 Feb18 February 12:06

        Scoot doesn’t fly to Cambodia. It must have been today as I was only looking yesterday at Siem Reap – Singapore. The only direct flight left seems to be Jetstar.

        • Lady London says:
          18 Feb18 February 13:15

          He can voluntarily settle for indirect on someone(s) else – if covered by EU261 due to being through-ticketed from Europe I would ask for this. they could also be asked to pay your ground or other transport costs instead to get you there if EU261 applies.

          I think I would call them now even if you are going to decide a bit later, if EU261 covers you and let them know your intention. expect them to resist rebooking you now even if you wanted to. As things can disappear off old bookings after a time also a good idea to get them to make a note on the PNR.

          • Track says:
            18 Feb18 February 16:01

            @LL Until last year at least, SQ was very decent with rebooking and attending to reservations.

            However, I would not call prematurely — a particular agent can note your call on reservation as sign of agreement! Basically when you call any airline, BE READY they annotate booking as they see fit “customer agreed” when no such thing was said or instructed in any way.

            Then it will unravel with a supervisor needing to listen to a call.

    • Lady London says:
      18 Feb18 February 13:08

      are you ticketed through to siem reap from the UK/Eur? if so then they are required by statute EU261 – which outranks their own procedures policies terms etc – to get you to Siem Reap at as close as reasonably possible to your original scheduling.

      • andy says:
        18 Feb18 February 13:25

        Yes we’re through ticketed all the way from the UK. It does seem that the usual suspects (Qatar, etc) aren;t flying there for now but would definitely push for a reroute if I can. Thanks for the help!

        • Tony says:
          18 Feb18 February 23:37

          If you have Accor status – the Sofitel ( if open ) is highly recommended – spent too short a time there – Agree October is a good month to visit – not too hot or wet

  • Toppcat says:
    18 Feb18 February 09:44

    HSBC Jade questions: I am currently HSBC Premier, but will (temporarily) trip over the £500k with HSBC threshold due to an inheritance and deposit for a property. Is it worth trying to get moved up to Jade? Are HSBC likely to downgrade me again quickly once that money goes out again? Do any of the benefits persist if I were to get downgraded (in the way that hotel status do if you cancel Amex Plat)? Thanks!

    • Sina says:
      18 Feb18 February 10:20

      If you have a relationship manager, it’s fairly easy, otherwise finding one who’s willing to setup Jade for you at the moment is a headache. But they will not easily downgrade you once you’ve Jade status.

      • Toppcat says:
        18 Feb18 February 10:53

        Thanks. Yes, I was worried about the admin point – I have been trying to set up a joint account with HSBC for what feels like forever…

        • Tariq says:
          18 Feb18 February 13:23

          If you find a way then I’d love to know how. My relationship manager tells me to ring telephone banking, telephone banking tell me to go to branch, and the website says that branches aren’t opening accounts right now!

          • Lady London says:
            18 Feb18 February 13:26

            At some point aren’t you just tempted to say “I’ll close the account then”?

      • Rob says:
        18 Feb18 February 11:15

        I should stress that I have found Jade totally useless and the only benefit is saving £195 per year for the WE credit card – although that is worth having of course.

        The call centre still refused to do a high value transfer from my account last month (to an account in my name at another bank which has been an existing payee for years) due to security issues and suggested I write to my branch. Somehow writing a letter to my branch asking them to move a pile of money to another bank account is safer than doing it via the phone and passing all phone security.

        The Jade debit card is fairly smart but doesn’t give you the social cred of a Black Amex because no-one knows what HSBC Jade is!

        • Geoff says:
          18 Feb18 February 11:42

          What does “social cred” mean in this context?

          (Serious question)

          • Rob says:
            18 Feb18 February 12:18

            Up to you, depends whether you believe waving a Black Amex around gets gets you more/better sex, better upgrades, better treatment etc 🙂

            You’re definitely not get any of those things with a HSBC Jade debit card.

          • BP says:
            18 Feb18 February 13:47

            It could get me more/better sex. It’s my wife’s name and she’d be pretty impressed if I got her a personalised card 😀

        • Andrew says:
          18 Feb18 February 11:50

          If you are a Jade client, surely the Relationship Manager should have jumped in a taxi to collect the letter from your door?

          Although also a bit baffled why you didn’t use online banking to do the transaction…

          • Rob says:
            18 Feb18 February 12:15

            Your idea of ‘high value transaction’ is clearly different to mine.

            HSBC online limit is £10k per day via mobile and, I think, £20k per day via desktop.

          • Hotelier says:
            18 Feb18 February 15:03

            As someone working in Luxury hospitality flashing a Centurion card means you have money to spend and will spend it, so you will definitely be well looked after and offered the best products but in price negotiations will go down way less than for someone with a platinum card who will usually try to get as much as they can from the card freebies and will tell you they are platinum over and over … way more price sensitive. This a general trend we usually see not set in stone, each person a world.

        • Toppcat says:
          18 Feb18 February 11:50

          Thanks Rob. That sounds seriously bonkers, but in line with my general experience of HSBC. Will probably end up moving to Barclays if they do ever launch their Avios-earning Premier account.

          Have you ever used their lending service? Curious whether it’s any better than the rates generally available for loans/mortgages? £195 refund is worth getting, as you say, but probably not worth going through a lot of hassle for if the other benefits aren’t worth much.

          • Rob says:
            18 Feb18 February 12:14

            No, never used it.

            Note that upgrading is not really ‘hassle’ except that they will try to get you in for a meeting to sell you some overpriced stuff you don’t need. After that they leave you alone.

          • Sina says:
            18 Feb18 February 12:23

            If you really want to get the Jade, tell them you’re looking to apply for a mortgage within 2 months or so 👌🏼 good luck!

        • Lady London says:
          18 Feb18 February 13:20

          where is that call centre Rob? I’m quite reluctant to open an account with HSBC due to them apparently fleeing all service in their branches for a few years now – although I was quite keen on switching to them.

          Since I’d most likely be getting the plebian level of customer service I am guessing that’s the call centre you mentioned?
          It does not bode well if an important lonstandjng customer with payees already in place such as yourself gets told this rubbish. Did you complain to your relationship manager?

        • Froggee says:
          18 Feb18 February 19:31

          From my experience with HSBC, you need to get a relationship manager who knows how it works and ask them before you do anything. Bonkers, I know! My relationship manager seems pretty useless but has at least accepted that he isn’t going to sell me anything so he leaves me alone. His assistant on the other hand is brilliant. She set up joint accounts for us easy peasy, and puts a note on our file before we attempt any high value transactions with telephone banking to avoid them getting blocked. She also flags the rare occasions they actually have competitive fixed deposits. I actually suspect she doesn’t like HSBC very much as she pointed out that with a joint account my wife also gets jade status on her personal account once they are “linked” and jade can be met by owning shares/ETFs which means you can get jade for the princely sum of £42 per annum which is the custody charge on Investdirect. You still need the account balance but HSBC don’t make any money from you.

    • Wollhouse says:
      18 Feb18 February 19:05

      If of use. I can recommend NatWest black. If you ever need them, I’ve found the relationship managers very responsive. Ditto moving money. I think online is £20k but a call sorts easily. C£200k last call. They offer good benefits. I get my cc fee credited back from holding my debit account. Together there’s Insurance, concierge (never actually used but includes discounts on theatre tickets ha ha- remember that??), dragon pass, and you can convert your rewards into Avios. I recently moved my home insurance from Hiscox. It is a chunky premium and they take Amex.

  • Keely says:
    18 Feb18 February 10:33

    Morning all …been doing the sums and considering diverting my non Amex spend to Virgin. Having never booked virgin redemptions, how easy / hard is it to find availability? I’m not subject to school holidays anymore (yay!!) so will be travelling off peak from Heathrow/Gatwick . Thanks

    • Blindman says:
      18 Feb18 February 10:55

      Depends on the Cabin Class TBHO.

      Economy are usually OK.

      PE and UC are a lottery TBHO.

      There is no guarantee of a set number of seats being released at a set date, just pot luck and whatever their “computer” thinks is needed at the time.

      Midweek travel is best for UC on tourist routes.

      I managed to get 9 x UC returns a few years back with good planning and booking seats as they came out.

      • Blindman says:
        18 Feb18 February 11:03

        However the best use of Virgin FF awards is with ANA or Air New Zealand I have found

        • Keely says:
          18 Feb18 February 11:38

          Thank you . Something else to research….I feel ‘slightly’ knowledgeable talking to my friends about avios. Then I come on here and i don’t know much at all..!

        • PJJ says:
          18 Feb18 February 15:05

          How easy is booking with their partner airline ?
          Is it also hit and miss ?

          • Rob says:
            18 Feb18 February 15:41

            There is a pinned thread in the Virgin forum on Flyertalk on booking ANA. It was OK but seems to be troublesome recently.

            AirNZ was rarely available from the UK but that’s not an issue now as they have pulled out. Apparently it is a lot better on other routes. I know a reader once went Virgin Atlantic to HK and then booked a separate ANZ redemption from HK to Auckland, for example.

      • Keely says:
        18 Feb18 February 11:37

        Thanks

    • memesweeper says:
      18 Feb18 February 20:34

      OK availability to the states and HK but terrible to the Caribbean (in normal times)

  • John says:
    18 Feb18 February 10:41

    Speculation on how much is safe to bend monthly to avoid being asked for docs?

    • stevenhp1987 says:
      18 Feb18 February 10:51

      £0 is safest

    • Wally1976 says:
      18 Feb18 February 11:01

      I’ve been doing about £3500 with no issues so far. Some on here will consider that chicken feed but I like to stay under the radar and my wife and I are (by the standards of this site) low earners with total earnings of around £50k between us.

      • Alex D says:
        18 Feb18 February 11:21

        Agree with Wally, keeping it low is best. My own rule of thumb has been 10-15% of annual earnings a month. This is then easy/easier to explain and equally gives a decent return. Also depends how much you care about said card – if you don’t mind losing it then go mad… if you care about the relationship with them such as Amex maybe go slower

    • Travel Strong says:
      18 Feb18 February 11:36

      Spire annual requirement divided by 12!

    • Jonathan says:
      18 Feb18 February 13:04

      Also worth noting that Bendy will look much more favourably on you if you’re using the card for day to day spend as well rather than a pure MS tool.

  • Optimus Prime says:
    18 Feb18 February 11:08

    Bonvoy points on sale with a bonus is live now

    • Optimus Prime says:
      18 Feb18 February 11:11

      BTW it says 40% bonus but once you log in it’s bumped up to 50%

    • Blair says:
      18 Feb18 February 13:33

      60% last summer. Still limited to 100,000 though. One can gift to another Bonvoy account though so families may want to exploit that angle.

  • ant says:
    18 Feb18 February 11:20

    Hi help appreciated re car hire South Africa 21 Nov. We are 5 adults & looking to rent a car from CT to Port Elizabeth. The best i can find is around £1000 for 8 days. Feels expensive to me but maybe that is typical of SA? any suggestions of best website to use?

    • marcw says:
      18 Feb18 February 11:45

      Car hire prices are very high since COVID-19 emerged. Care-rental companies have reduced massively their fleets, and pushed up prices.

    • Genghis says:
      18 Feb18 February 11:50

      SA usually v cheap. We normally pay £100-£150 for 10 days – 2 weeks.

      • ant says:
        18 Feb18 February 12:06

        Genghis what company do you tend to use?

        • Genghis says:
          18 Feb18 February 12:44

          Through Rental Cars (going through a portal) and then go for cheapest big name. Recently been with Europcar (pick up in Cape Town Central, drop off at George, one way fee applicable) and Keddy by Europcar (pick up and drop off CPT). No problems, despite a little scratch by me on the latter. I don’t go for anything flash, just big enough for what I need. For 5 adults, I’d want something with a bit of space.

    • Pierre says:
      18 Feb18 February 13:00

      I agree that that is very expensive. We go to SA every year and always rent a car. This past Dec we rented a BMW for less than £50/day, and as Genghis says, it is usually very doable to get a smaller car in the £10-20/day range.

    • WaynedP says:
      18 Feb18 February 17:08

      Try Avis using BA Exec Club status code in the AWD box (e.g. N744100 for entry level Blue status).

      That shows a 5 seater, “mini” people carrier like Toyota Avanza (Group O) for £329 (pay online now) or £362 (pay on pick-up), for 8 days in Nov but I’m assuming you are returning the car to same location (CPT) as pick-up. One-way rentals are usually more expensive.

      Avanza worked well for our family of 5 a few year ago, as long as you don’t go overboard with luggage.

  • Aston100 says:
    18 Feb18 February 11:20

    Not having hired a car in the UK for a long time, I was surprised to see a quote of about £600 for 15 nights car hire through Hertz, for July / August.
    Pickup and return to the same West Midlands branch.
    Compact (Vauxhall Astra sized) manual gearbox car.
    This is a prepayment price. Pay at Location was £100 more.
    Went up a fair bit when looking at medium sized cars.

    Is this normal for the time of year?
    Thanks.

    PS: I am sure I got some kind of Hertz 5 star benefit when hitting IHG Spire, but cannot recall how to access that, and if that gives me a better price or a free upgrade etc

    • Aston100 says:
      18 Feb18 February 11:25

      So I just remembered someone mentioning using Hertz Australia, so I gave that a go and the same car is available for about £400 (instead of £600). This is far more like it.
      Will I face any issues if going ahead and booking through the Australia site? – I didn’t login, so don’t know if it will redirect me or show me UK rates once I do login.

      Thanks.

      • Jonathan says:
        18 Feb18 February 13:15

        Changing country on Hertz is absolutely fine. Brazil & Australia often the best. I had a Mustang convertible for a week in Massachusetts for $220 via the Brazil site which was half what my friends paid for a Toyota Corolla from same branch on same dates via. Hertz U.K. site.

    • Optimus Prime says:
      18 Feb18 February 11:27

      Have you you tried a comparison site? I usually check rentalcars through Voldemort site – 8% right now.

      • Aston100 says:
        18 Feb18 February 11:34

        Don’t comparison sites often lead you to really dodgy car hire firms that may try to take the mickey when you return the vehicle?
        I was reading some horror stories about this.

        • idrive says:
          18 Feb18 February 12:12

          not only, they also work with reputable ones (avis, hertz etc)

        • Callum says:
          18 Feb18 February 13:12

          I’ve never had issues with the “dodgy” ones (Green motion is who I used most and they had an awful reputation at the time), but I wouldn’t use anyone without excess insurance anyway.

          • the_real_a says:
            18 Feb18 February 13:33

            Hiring from Green Motion is specifically banned from my rental excess insurance.

    • Richard says:
      18 Feb18 February 11:36

      I’ve been hiring cars a lot in the UK recently and I’d say that is quite expensive, compared to what it’s been like over the past year. Of course the past year hasn’t been typical, and maybe they are now pricing in an assumption that demand will be much higher because we’ll all be going on staycations in July.

      Still, I wouldn’t lock in that price just now. I don’t know about Hertz, but many companies have loosened up their cancellation policies during the pandemic. You should be able to find a cancellable option I think.

      Depending on your circumstances you may be able to get a much better rate by taking a “long-term” hire for 28 days. I’ve found that hiring for 28 days is usually cheaper than hiring for two weeks – I don’t mean cheaper per week – I mean it’s cheaper in absolute terms. But you HAVE to keep the car for 28 days and they will enforce this strictly, so it only works if you will be around to pick up and return it, and have somewhere you can park it while you’re not using it.

      All of the major companies have long-term hire programmes but I’ve been really happy with Europcar, which tends to be the cheapest, drops off and collects the car for free for a long-term hire, and has a decent points programme too.

      • Richard says:
        18 Feb18 February 11:54

        PS. Note that you won’t get the long-term rate just by entering dates 28 days apart in the normal booking form – you’ll need to find a page which specifically talks about long-term hire, which will either have a completely different booking route or will fill in a magic rate code for you.

        I was curious, so I tried it out – for a Corsa booked with Europcar in Edinburgh, starting on 15 July:

        14 days – £500
        28 days booked through the “normal” channel – £650
        28 days booked through the “long-term” channel – £370.

        Not a 100% apples-to-apples comparison because there’s a mileage limit on long-term hire, but still.

        • Aston100 says:
          18 Feb18 February 12:30

          Hello Richard and thanks for this.
          I had a look at Europcar monthly (28 days) car hire and they are charging £408 for a Corsa.
          The Astra from the Hertz example is £510 for a month.
          This is pretty decent I have to say.

          I note these prices apply when you select the standard insurance with £1100 excess!
          Since I still have my own insurance policy running (despite no longer having a car), am I right in assuming my own car insurance policy will supersede the one Europcar are providing?

          Thanks.

          • Richard says:
            18 Feb18 February 12:52

            Obviously check your own policy, but it’s very unlikely it will cover you. Even if you have cover to drive other cars there is almost certainly wording that excludes hire cars. There may also be wording which says the whole policy is invalid if you no longer have the car it originally covered. (I know this because I was in the same situation myself last spring!)

            If you aren’t happy with the excess, and you don’t have cover as a benefit of a credit card or anything similar, then you should take out a separate “excess reduction” policy from a third-party insurer. Mine cost about £60 for a year’s coverage, which is less than any car hire company would charge for a single week! Just Google “car hire excess insurance” and you’ll find loads of options.

            If you do with Europcar, then sign up with Privilege (their loyalty scheme) before you book. You won’t get anything from this one booking, but if by any chance you end up doing the same thing again within 2 years, then that’ll bump you up to the next tier in the scheme and you’ll get a free weekend rental when that happens.

            Also, in case it isn’t obvious, be sure to select the mileage option which is right for you because there are heavy charges if you go over it.

          • Louie says:
            18 Feb18 February 22:52

            If all goes to plan I am going to be back in the UK for 72 days before/over Christmas. I could leave the car with family at the end of that time – do you know if I would need to physically be present when they pick the car up at the end of the rental period?

          • Louie says:
            18 Feb18 February 22:56

            Also, I can’t see anything (this for Europcar) about what happens if you wish to cancel before picking up the car (I can’t be sure this trip will happen). Do you know if you can cancel for free?

        • Lady London says:
          18 Feb18 February 13:29

          Avis has been marketing this too and their rates seemed vaguely reasonable.

    • Andrew says:
      18 Feb18 February 11:57

      Have you tried booking for longer?

      I’m currently paying £380 a month for top spec Ford Focus from Thrifty (you have to organise your own acceptable fully comp insurance though).

      This is until my own car is finally built and delivered. Although, I’m honestly wondering if I should just do long term rents in the future. The insurance is no different to what I was paying on my own car before, I can replace the car every 3(?) months if I fancy something different too.

      • Aston100 says:
        18 Feb18 February 12:45

        Hi Andrew, Thrifty are coming up at £295 + VAT for a monthly hire on a Fiesta.
        Seems pretty decent to me.
        Is there anything I need to be mindful about, other than providing my own car insurance?

        • Andrew says:
          18 Feb18 February 13:25

          It has to be comprehensive and has to be an insurer that is prepared to share data with them.

          As I was due for renewal anyway, I just went through their recommended broker (Riviera) and took out an LV policy via them. There was nothing in it cost wise compared to my previous policy.

          All I would say is, allow plenty of time. I was really happy overall, but long term hires aren’t the slick “turn up and go” of a regular hire – especially at the moment when they aren’t holding the inventory. Obviously you are looking for July/August, so you can be organised

          • Lady London says:
            18 Feb18 February 13:31

            If you don’t do it well ahead I pretty sure they won’t be offering it in July/August. I think those offers gave nothing when you clicked in summer last year.

  • Paul says:
    18 Feb18 February 11:35

    Looking for some advice.
    I am in Barbados. I was due to fly back to London on 20 Feb but BA cancelled flight. Cabin was business. Original plan was to go back for schools reopening 22 Feb. Given extension of school closure to 8 mar now looking to go back mar 6. BA only have 1 flight a week now and it is full in business. Plenty of WTP availability still. I think I’m going to book a separate flight back with virgin on mar 6 as they have plenty business availability.

    My question is, do I have any grounds for compensation in any way? Or should I just take the refund of avios and small cash refund?

    Also, interestingly, I have spoken to 2 different BA reps about what flight I could book onto if I were to rebook. First one said can be any seat if in next 14 days. If after 14 days then would need avios availability. The second agent said any seat within a year. I asked why I am told different advice and the chap said it is down to the cancellation code. If CRN (covid cancellation) then you get a year regardless of avios availability. But he said there are some cancellation codes where they only need to book you onto a flight in next 14 days. Interesting.

    • Anna says:
      18 Feb18 February 12:31

      No compensation due but first BA reps was talking rubbish. BA cancelled the flight so you are entitled to re-routing, at no extra cost, in the same cabin, on another airline if necessary, on a date of your choosing! The reason for cancellation is irrelevant.

      • Anna says:
        18 Feb18 February 12:32

        So both reps talking rubbish, in fact.

        • Paul says:
          18 Feb18 February 13:06

          Great thanks for advice. Do you know what duty of care legislation this falls under? Id like to quote it and if they dont agree, which im guessing they wont i will pursue though legal process. Thanks again.

          Regards isolation, we have 5 days test to release. Kids back at school on 15th.

          • Lady London says:
            18 Feb18 February 14:04

            EU261 duty of care is what gives you what @Anna said.

            They cancelled your flight which is what brings all that @Anna said into play.

            Tell them the rerouting date that is convenient to you. Obviously you can be a bit flexible if you wish but I would give them their choice as follows (pleasantly, but keep a record of conversation who you spoke to (ask for this upfront it lets them know you mean business), date and time

            1. Travel on or acceptably near to your chosen date on BA in at least the class you booked. Of coursr you wont mind First if that’s all they can do (they cant charge for this btw)

            2. Travel back on any other airline in appropriate class. You dont have to accept indirect unless it would be really unreasonable not to. Any extra hotel nights and travel days (if extra due to indirect) are BA responsibility. You can mention any available flight such as Virgin. They will hate this and effectively abandon you sooner than do this I would say even though EU261 law is unambiguouus that they are required to provide this.

            3. If stalemate is reached then IMV they are illegally forcing you to buy your own replacement ticket and deliberately putting you through distress delay and misery as well as hopefully keeping more money in BA’s pocket for longer by openly flouting the law.

            Practically, reduce this stress, if you paid by UK credit card, by requesting card urgently under Section 75 to pay cost of replacement ticket. This you ate entitled to even if lots more expensive.

            If you paid by Amex Plat ask Amex under their card offering to replace the ticket. You shouldnt end up having to pay any extra for a replacement ticket – you can MCOL to get difference in price back even if chargecard can only get you chargeback.

            If you didnt pay by UK credit card and not by Amex Plat and you don’t have insurance (or other card insurance?) that covers it then you will have to buy a ticket and MCOL BA but case is open and shut. Duty of care also claimable plus 8% pa pro rata statutory interest.

            99. No one wants to come back from Barbados in Economy but if that was all BA offered you then you would be entitled to claim back well over 50% of your flight costs after the flight provided it was kept clear it was involuntary. I doubt you’d be interestef though. % is within EU261 text and on flyertalk

          • Lady London says:
            18 Feb18 February 14:35

            PS Do *not* accept any difference in avios cost (if paid by avios) or money back, in full or in part, from BA as that removes your rights to all this. (there’s discussion over partial but don’t take the risk)

            If you paid any seats with a voucher eg 241, all rights apply to all seats based on cost of first seat. If you paid avios MCOL would be awarding them back to you at BA’s standard selling rate of 1.6p per avios

          • Paul says:
            18 Feb18 February 15:09

            Thanks Anna and Lady London, great advice.
            Does it make any difference that there is another flight on the 20th that is available? It is to LHR not LGW as booked, and is 5 hours later. They can also put me on a flight on 27 feb or 28 feb. It is my choosing to extend the trip out here as lockdown was extended. So that is why mar 6 is now convenient for me. But that flight is full. See what i mean? so if went to MCOL then i wonder if they would argue in BA favour as they have plenty of options around the original date.

            Thanks again for the advice.

            PS, I couldn’t reply to Lady London post for some reason!

          • Lady London says:
            18 Feb18 February 17:36

            If they cancelled it’s *your* choice to take an alternative flight at reasonably close time, or to choose to refund, or to choose to reroute on a later date at “your* convenience.

            You can google EU 261 text I think it’s also on flyertalk.

            If you accept a change of airport to LHR on your chosen date it’s still BA’s responsibility to fund you back to LGW. They will try to say it’s all London so they don’t but they do have to fund. They will imagine you can do an arduous journey on public transport with luggage changing at least twice but with 5 of you I’d go for transport by vehicle. You wont get back.any extra parking time for your car.

            I would be candid with them and tell them that since they cancelled your original flight you now wish to reroute to your convenient later date as provided under EU261. I’d be a bit flexible around that later date but I’d insist on rerouting.

          • Paul says:
            18 Feb18 February 17:56

            thanks.
            i have taken the plunge and purchased £5k worth of 1 way virgin tickets. I will leave the cancelled return open for now. Will lodge a claim via MCOL. According to Article 8.1.c it does sound like an open and shut case. Will post the results in 6 months! Worse case, if I lose, I will call up in a few months and change to october date. £1k one way upper isn’t actually too bad for virgin.. thought it would be a lot more.

          • Lady London says:
            18 Feb18 February 18:30

            @Paul make sure you have good records of BA’s refusal to rebook you on your chosen date or very near and also make sure you gave them the chance to decline to provide you tickets on another airline.

            You need to be able to state you gave them the opportunity, with details, whether for s75, or MCOL.

            If you aren’t able to get full recovery of your costs via s75 or chargeback and ready to go to MCOL, then after your flight you need to request the cost of the replacement flights you had to purchase, from BA directly. Address a Letter Before Action to BA Legal after a verbal request. In other words give them an opportunity. If no progress after 8 weeks, or if you get a “No” final answer, then you can MCOL.

    • Tracey says:
      18 Feb18 February 12:38

      Under current rules you would need to isolate on arrival, so arriving back 2 days before school starts isn’t going to work.

      • whiskerxx says:
        18 Feb18 February 12:50

        I think the term being used has moved on from self isolate to quarantine.
        But restrictions include:
        “You cannot leave the premises where you’re in quarantine. You cannot go out to work or school.”

    • George says:
      18 Feb18 February 14:33

      I got two business trips cancelled by BA for mid Feb (they suspended flying for a month to my destination). I found flights in April for the same destination but was unable to rebook my original flights (it was offering a connecting flight only, not the direct one). Called them up, the agent said the selling class of the business ticket only allows rebookings to the same class and that particular day the direct flight had no such seats available. However as BA cancelled and not me, she was able to rebook me to the direct flight with no issues, even if it was a higher selling class.

      • Lady London says:
        18 Feb18 February 17:50

        Selling/booking/fare class is a subset of cabin class.

        If they cancelled your flight you only need same cabin class to be available.

        If it’s you that wants to rebook then they can make various restrictions according to selling/booking/fare class. These will be found in the fare class conditions of which you should have been notified when you booked your ticket. Something like a 6-character reference with the first letter often indicating cabin class indirectly as many fare classes can book into the same cabin class eg R,C,J (and others that vary by airline) all book into the Business cabin.

        Avios/ award/ points/ miles tickets are indicated by one of a set of selling/booking/fare classes that differ by airline. If the airline cancelled they are not allowed to insist on same booking / fare / selling class for your rerouted flight only cabin class if the flight falls under EU261 which it wod uf a UK or EU airline or if the journey departed from EU or UK on any airline.

        Obviously this throws up some other hints and opportunities.

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