The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 23rd February

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

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General

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aDifferentSimon says:

23 Feb23 February 09:00

So how many of us copied Matthew with a cheeky cheapy easyjet flight booking that’s now been cancelled? Thanks Matthew!
- Pablo says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 10:40
  
  I have a number of cheeky cheapy BA Gatwick flights for March that got cancelled and will be moving them to late summer.
- Jody says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 10:55
  
  Still quite a few flights to various places available to book throughout April. I thought they would have cancelled pretty much their whole schedule?
- Matthew says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 11:27
  
  Me again!! Tempted to do a third 😬
  - Jody says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 11:52
    
    Well, I’ve just gone for it, see what happens!
    - Matthew says:
      
      23 Feb23 February 12:39
      
      Fingers crossed 🤞
ChrisA says:

23 Feb23 February 09:01

I hadn’t realised this, but on reflection it makes sense: over the weekend I converted my free BA card to BAPP ahead of spending £10k. At this stage, a number of transactions were still pending. Those transaction have now been processed this morning, and at a rate of 1.5/£, which was a nice surprise.
- Genghis says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 09:50
  
  Yep. That’s how it works. But any refunds also come off at 1.5 avios / £, despite only earning 1 / £ in the first place.
  - ChrisA says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 10:44
    
    Good to know – thanks Genghis.
JohnT says:

23 Feb23 February 09:25

Virgin 1/2 points sale bookings, anyone tried moving a redemption booking to a new date? Terms say pay any excess over £350 for cash fares (Upper), but only says “same for points”?
- Blindman says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 09:40
  
  I enquired about this by SMS a few days ago.
  
  To change the flights-if there is availability in reward cabin-is free.
  You can do this twice.
  
  If your new flight is Before 31st May then there is no extra to pay in Points
  If flight after 31st May then you have to pay the extra in points
  
  https://flywith.virginatlantic.com/us/en/news/coronavirus/no-change-fees-policy.html
  - JohnT says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 12:40
    
    Thanks – so no equivalent of the £350 extra cost waiver for extra points then, shame! Still now have a Virgin CC voucher so can use that to help if needed.
BJ says:

23 Feb23 February 09:36

Wildly OT (if such is possible on chat). What are peoples thoughts on latest version of Chrome .181 on Android and .182 on other platforms I think? Despite using it for some time I’m finding it very frustrating, both in respect of tab management and moving back and forwards between pages. I also have some tab toolbar that keeps popping up from tbe bottom of the page that is very annoying. Not sure whether to stick with it until I get used to it or try something else.
- Rhys says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 09:56
  
  I’m always a big advocate for Firefox! Helps that it isn’t owned by an advertising conglomerate with dubious data practices…
  - BJ says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 10:17
    
    Thanks Rhys, that’s the one I was going to try and was hoping for some feedback.
  - Lord Doncaster says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 10:18
    
    Do you use Ask Jeeves as a search engine then, Rhys?
    - Rhys says:
      
      23 Feb23 February 10:27
      
      Life isn’t all or nothing. I’m happy to reduce my reliance on Google products and promote a more open internet by using Firefox. Plus I genuinely prefer how Firefox runs and it’s less of a memory hog than Chrome, so it’s a win win. Firefox (and its rendering engine) are one of the few things standing between Chrome and a complete browser monopoly – and I don’t think that would be healthy for the future of the internet!
      - Optimus Prime says:
        
        23 Feb23 February 11:24
        
        I like to try a few browsers too – Opera, FireFox, Brave
        
        I use DuckDuckGo as my main search engine
  - RussellH says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 11:02
    
    No question that FF is better than Chrome, IMO.
    I cannot stand the Chrome UI – in particular it is really difficult to find the top of the window in order to drag it out of the way – and that applies to Opera and Edge too these days.
    Sadly, FF has mucked about a lot with its UI too over the last 18 months or so, steadily making it harder and harder to use by making it much less configurable..
    Where possible I use Pale Moon – where I can design the UI pretty much as I want.
    The main problem with PM is that too many sites seem to use a broken browser sniffer that makes them think you are using an ancient version of FF. You can quite easily (and I do) spoof the User Agent string in these cases, which gets round 90% of the problems, but you may find yourself working with a fixed banner from the website warning about the dangers of using old browsers, even when you are running the update from the day before.
    - RussellH says:
      
      23 Feb23 February 11:04
      
      I forgot to reassure you Rhys, HfP works fine in PM
      😉
- marcw says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 10:10
  
  Opera. Won’t disappoint.
  - BJ says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 10:20
    
    Cheers Marcw, hadn’t even heard of that one so I’ll have a look at it too.
    - RussellH says:
      
      23 Feb23 February 11:03
      
      Opera has been around longer than Firefox, IIRC.
  - The real John says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 10:41
    
    Opera is chrome
    
    I use vivaldi (“the real Opera”) which is also chrome
- Mzungu says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 11:27
  
  I found it (Chrome) difficult initially, but I’m getting used to it. The one thing that has p1ssed me off is that it’s too easy to accidentally close a group of tabs when you try to tap on the thumbnail and hit the x in the top corner by mistake >:o(
  My Chrome indicates version 88.0.4324.152, so I’m not sure about the reference to .182 above?
- Harry T says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 12:50
  
  I’m a big fan of Opera on desktop (MacOS) and iPhone at the moment.
  - BJ says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 15:49
    
    Thanks everybody, glad I asked, a lot of useful things for me to explore 🙂
- AndyGWP says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 22:10
  
  Netscape Navigator FTW!!
Andy says:

23 Feb23 February 09:43

Is there anyway I can check the value of my two BA FTV travel vouchers without phoning up? ( I can;t locate the original booking emails)
- Michael C says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 09:47
  
  Almost sure there isn’t any other way, Andy! There wasn’t last month, when I had to do this. Surreal it’s not included in the BA email…
  - Andy says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 10:07
    
    A bit annoying! I’ve had so many FTVs that i’ve then used to rebook that i’m not quite sure which have been used and which haven’t! and then how much they are for..
- ChrisC says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 11:13
  
  Check your credit card statements.
  
  Then put the details in a spreadsheet or a note on your phone/tablet/laptop.
  
  I have mine recorded in the spreadsheet I use to keep track of my flights / avios / tier points.
Jonny says:

23 Feb23 February 09:43

Blue Palace is closer to Plaka (quiet fishing village) but further from Elounda (though would prob need a cab from either to Elounda). If booking on points Domes is prob best as all suites and breakfast included regardless. Sandy beach at Domes, stones at Blue Palace. Never actually been in the latter though…
- Jonny says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 09:44
  
  (this was in reply to a comment on the prev page, sorry!)
  - YC says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 10:17
    
    Thanks – Points are steep. Domes does seem better than BP but slightly more expensive
- Rob says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 10:59
  
  Sorry, meant Plaka, will amend.
Roberto says:

23 Feb23 February 09:45

Hi, I have optimistically booked LON – BDS return summer flights for my family with BA. I booked Club Europe using Avios and a 2×1 Amex voucher. Am I right in understanding that if I need to cancel (because of travel restrictions not easing by then for example, or I want to change the destination) I will be returned the voucher, the Avios and given a voucher for the taxes; without a service fee being deducted?
Many thanks.
- Sean says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 11:10
  
  No. 241, avios and cash will all be tied into the “voucher”.
  - Roberto says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 11:38
    
    Thank you – that works for me anyway.
  - Alex D says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 13:38
    
    If you opt for a refund because you don’t want to travel, then you will be given back your 241, avios and taxes, minus £35pp as a cancelation fee.Or you tie everything up in a FTV as stated above which could be of benefit if your 241 is close to expiry. If BA cancel this flight on you then you can do whatever you want really, cancel, get a FTV, re-book for any date etc.
MJL says:

23 Feb23 February 09:51

I had a LHR-JNB/CPT-LHR booked for December 2020 in Z class, using an Amex 2-4-1. Flight downgraded to JNB (Club) but stayed the same from CPT. Flew the first sector and then the CPT-LHR was cancelled by BA. Requested a refund: correct amount of Avios (100k) was refunded and a cash amount of £191.55. Would this be the correct cash amount? I was under the impression I would get around £400 back from the CPT-LHR in taxes.
- AJA says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 14:07
  
  I think it’s correct. I just did a search on ITA matrix and the Carrier-imposed surcharge (YQ) fee is £187.80 for a booking in R class on BA58 departing 15 December 2021 CPT – LHR . You are probably forgetting that APD is only payable for flights departing the UK.