Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

The HfP chat thread – Monday 22nd February

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

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.

Category

General

Comments (359)

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

  • Anna says:
    22 Feb22 February 15:43

    Indoor hospitality from May 17th – get those bookings in before prices go up even further!

    • Andrew says:
      22 Feb22 February 16:00

      Is that the date for overnight stays starting too?

    • stevenhp1987 says:
      22 Feb22 February 16:04

      12th April for self-contained properties, e.g. a whole airbnb let or campsite.

      • Jody says:
        22 Feb22 February 16:21

        We’ve booked a lovely log cabin for 5 days the last week of April, so that’s great news for us.

      • Anna says:
        22 Feb22 February 16:28

        Yep – just booked my friend’s holiday cottage for the second week of the Easter holidays. I am literally giddy with excitement.

      • YC says:
        22 Feb22 February 16:37

        Sky news says 12th April – Hotels, hostels, Air BnBs and self-catering holiday accommodation will reopen, but only for household groups.

        Is this correct? i.e. household may be able to stay in a domestic hotel from this date

        • stevenhp1987 says:
          22 Feb22 February 16:47

          No… hotels/hostels are due to open from 17th May.

          Self-contained lets from 12th April, e.g. a whole building airbnb or a cabin.

          Just gone and booked a week away in the Leak District for Early May day bank holiday in a nice airbnb 🙂

    • Dr Lee says:
      22 Feb22 February 17:18

      But once the ‘stay at home’ order is lifted on the 29th March surely holidays abroad will be allowed as there is no other legislation preventing them (of course you’ll still need to quarentine on arrival back in the UK and undergo appropriate testing).

    • AnotherUser says:
      22 Feb22 February 17:24

      I’d coincidentally booked a hotel stay from May 17 – fingers crossed that works out 🙂

      • meta says:
        22 Feb22 February 21:23

        @Magic Mike you can book day rates, you won’t be breaking the law because you’re not staying overnight. You could also do mattress runs…

  • The Lord says:
    22 Feb22 February 15:52

    International travel 17 May (all being well). Here we go

    • Blindman says:
      22 Feb22 February 15:54

      But who will let us in?

      • The Lord says:
        22 Feb22 February 16:01

        Expect the list to be limited to those most tourist dependent. Spain, Portugal and Greece I would assume.

    • Andrew says:
      22 Feb22 February 16:05

      They will review on 12 April to allow “time for plan for the summer” so I’m not sure it will be as early as 17 May

    • Dr Lee says:
      22 Feb22 February 17:20

      But once the ‘stay at home’ order is lifted on the 29th March surely holidays abroad will be allowed as there is no other legislation preventing them (of course you’ll still need to quarantine on arrival back in the UK and undergo appropriate testing).

      • Lord Doncaster says:
        22 Feb22 February 17:44

        As long as you go somewhere that will let you in. Not many people under 60 will have had two doses of the vaccine by mid May?

        • Dr Lee says:
          22 Feb22 February 18:03

          Yes, of course, but my point stands, unless there is some new legislation or a statuatory instrument laid.

        • meta says:
          22 Feb22 February 18:24

          I am hoping to go back to my birth country for both doses in May if I don’t get it here before then. I’m just over 40 and no underlying health condition so very unlikely. They are offering it for all citizens whether resident in the country or not from May. I’ll also possibly get covid vaccination certificate/passport for free too.

  • Vit says:
    22 Feb22 February 16:17

    Speaking of international travel and if you are a fan of free miles and did get the 5,000 miles from A3 last time — log into your A3 account now and you should see “activate your 1,000 miles” gift on the middle right of your screen / page. That makes it 6,000 now if you’ve not (or cannot) transferred to ALL yet. 🙂

  • Andrew says:
    22 Feb22 February 16:21

    When is the May half term so I can avoid it?

  • Gavin says:
    22 Feb22 February 16:51

    Has anyone recently had a refund after filling in the online BA refund request form? How long did it take?

    • Anna says:
      22 Feb22 February 17:43

      Still waiting for my most recent one after 3 weeks.

      • Wally1976 says:
        22 Feb22 February 18:23

        Requested on 18th January for a flight on 17th February. Refund finally hit on 19th February.

    • Dom says:
      22 Feb22 February 22:31

      I filled it in last Sunday and got my Avios on Thursday, cash refund hit today (Monday).

  • Anon says:
    22 Feb22 February 17:09

    Still have to pay £210 for a covid test package upon return (for non-red list countries)
    or is this stupid rule scrapped?

    • Dr Lee says:
      22 Feb22 February 17:24

      I suspect that’s what will be the subject of review in April (amongst the other travel measures).

    • Mr. AC says:
      22 Feb22 February 17:51

      Yes, as of now. Just paid 2 days ago, arrival yesterday.

  • Si says:
    22 Feb22 February 17:47

    Afternoon Ladies and Gents,

    I have a Marriott booking that’s been made before I have the points in my account.

    When I get the points and have enough for the redemption in my account, do they automatically get subtracted from account and confirm booking or is there anything I need to do??

    • Harry T says:
      22 Feb22 February 19:15

      No, you need to enter the booking and click through the guide to debit the points. Or you can wait until Marriott does it automatically – I believe it’s 15 days before. I would do it yourself ASAP, in case points prices go up.

      • memesweeper says:
        22 Feb22 February 22:07

        +1 — don’t wait once you have the points

        I just confirmed one today 🙂

  • Hotelier says:
    22 Feb22 February 17:48

    Just got a notification on my phone from the nectar app to get a “Juicy Booster”, the free points from earlier on this week. I tapped to open the app and showed but when clicking to “activate” took me back to main screen.
    I already got the points when it originally came out and no new points where credited. Anyone has similar or is my phone playing up? I got my hopes up for a minute thinking this would be a recurrent (weekly?) promo.

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Learn more on our About page.

VAA

Latest comments

Latest Forum Posts

Get 30,000 points bonus with American Express Platinum

Amex Gold

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.3 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

Get 20,000 bonus points and your first year free with American Express Gold

Amex Gold