The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 23rd February

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

• Rob says:

  23 Feb23 February 14:38

  Trying to book a hotel using Rocketmiles and it just keeps giving me various error messages when finalising the booking. Latest one is that it cannot access my account details.

  Are there any known issues with booking?

  • Mart says:

    23 Feb23 February 18:28

    I’m getting the same last 2 days?

• Jody says:

  23 Feb23 February 15:28

  Top marks to easyJet, in my haste to book a flight I let autofill do the surname, and it got it wrong (we both went double barreled when we got married and it missed out part of the surname on my husband’s name). Couldn’t change it online as more than 3 letters needed changing, so I phoned up. Got through pretty quickly (another surprise given loads of flights were cancelled last night) and luckily they changed it for free for me. Phew!

• Stephen says:

  23 Feb23 February 16:08

  Unfortunately, Barclaycard does not appear to be crediting all spend to Hilton Honors anymore. Points hit my Hilton account for last months statement and there is a large difference – anyone else found the same or any pattern?

  • mark2 says:

    23 Feb23 February 16:24

    Wife’s statement dated 15 Jan posted in full (4180 points) although all paying off credit cards.

    • Anna says:

      23 Feb23 February 17:14

      +1 – but there was some sort of glitch before Xmas when it was taking a while for people’s points to post, might be happening again.

    • RussellH says:

      23 Feb23 February 20:34

      I got ~200 more points than I expected. I had a chargeback credited to the a/c and I assumed that they would deduct points for that, but they did not.
      🙂

  • AJA says:

    23 Feb23 February 17:15

    That’s odd. I just checked and my most recent statement from 4 days ago has yet to credit to my Hilton Honors account but all of the points from previous statements have credited without deduction. The monthly Barclaycard statement has a summary of the points that are due to post. Does that not match with what has posted in your Hilton account?

  • sloth says:

    23 Feb23 February 17:30

    my points from the feb statement (4 days ago) have correctly posted to my HH a/c

  • Genghis says:

    23 Feb23 February 17:51

    Points over 100k post later if that’s what you’re saying? There was talk of some MCCs not now earning points but I’ve no experience. All fine for me.

    • KBuffett says:

      23 Feb23 February 19:21

      What’s the best way to use Hilton? Bendy Ernie?

      • Ash says:

        23 Feb23 February 22:45

        Yes. This will work just fine with curve

    • Stephen says:

      23 Feb23 February 20:31

      Thanks Genghis, that would explain it, 89,300 posted but missing the extra 100,000.

      Business-related spend, so not too concerned that Barclaycard won’t allow the points. Strange they capped it at 89,300 and left off the extra 100,000

      In your experience how long does it usually take for the points to post?

      • Genghis says:

        23 Feb23 February 20:49

        Just before month end.

        • Stephen says:

          23 Feb23 February 21:16

          Thanks

  • Crafty says:

    23 Feb23 February 19:50

    I looked for this after dire warnings but couldn’t find any issue on my account, in which materially all my spend is of the type that might have been controlled for.

• Dave says:

  23 Feb23 February 16:08

  Any idea how long it takes for an Amex retention offer bonus to post? Got offered 50k on my Plat yesterday which i accepted but it’s still not posted.

  • Stephen says:

    23 Feb23 February 16:13

    Mine took 3 days to appear

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    23 Feb23 February 19:51

    50k wow!

  • The Original Nick. says:

    23 Feb23 February 21:05

    Mine took 3 days. But not 50k.

• NC says:

  23 Feb23 February 16:41

  I’d be grateful for some advice from HfP’s EU261 experts…

  BA have cancelled our flight home from the Maldives. They’ve offered either a flight home 2 days earlier or a flight 3 days later than originally planned. The former doesn’t appeal as we’d lose 2 days of our trip and have already paid for the hotel for those nights – so presumably we’d be out of pocket. If we accept the flight home 3 days later am I right in thinking BA need to reimburse us for the additional hotel nights under their duty of care obligation? Staying in the same hotel (Rangali) that would be rather pricey…

  (… and before anyone accuses us of breaching lockdown by travelling, we’ve been out of the UK since November.)

  • Anna says:

    23 Feb23 February 17:16

    Have you been in the Maldives all that time?!! Putting aside my envy, I’m pretty sure BA owe you duty of care under these circs, which includes accommodation and food. As you say, you can’t just move down the road to a cheap B & B!

  • AJA says:

    23 Feb23 February 17:24

    BA is definitely on the hook under duty of care for the extra nights hotel accomodation and also paying for food and drink although not alcohol. Generally BA will pay up to £200 per night for the hotel. You should ask the hotel if it offers a special airline rate to BA. You could ask BA if they will pay for you to stay in the current hotel. Get a separate invoice for the extra nights. Otherwise look for a cheaper hotel nearer to the airport and move there on the alloted day. Or agree with BA for them to pay £200 a day and you pay the difference out of your own pocket if you’d rather not move.

    • Anna says:

      23 Feb23 February 17:43

      I’d be asking them to find a suitable hotel in that case, and arrange the transfer from Rangali which is supposed to cost an arm and a leg!

      • Blenz101 says:

        23 Feb23 February 17:52

        Indeed. Plenty of options on Male for under £200.

        BA will likely want to pick the hotel in any event the quality of which will usually vary based on the cabin you are due to fly in.

      • John says:

        23 Feb23 February 19:07

        Not sure why BA should arrange the full transfer as OP would have had to get off rangali themselves

        • Anna says:

          23 Feb23 February 20:25

          Sounds like OP had already paid the holiday costs though, so would presumably be on the hook for a second transfer unless the resort agreed to move it.

      • Lady London says:

        24 Feb24 February 00:43

        if you switch hotel they owe you transport to and from as well.

        make sure you keep evidence to back up anything they agree they have been reported sometimes to deny promises when claimed

        if they want you to switch hotel and if you even agree don’t lift finger make them arrange it. personally I’d want them to pay hotel directly as well and would ask for an advance towards meals. They know what Maldives costs if they cancel flights.

    • Chris Heyes says:

      23 Feb23 February 21:37

      AJA If they are already in that Hotel BA as duty of care “in that Hotel”
      otherwise BA could insist anybody stranded through BA’s fault could have to stop in the cheapest flee-pit (and that’s not the case)
      It’s not there fault and up to BA to find a solution they are happy with
      I’m glad you said generally pay £200 a night because i can tell you we was stopping in a £500 a night Hotel when we had to have a extra day/night and BA footed the bill (on return) in full with receipt took 28 days though

      • AJA says:

        23 Feb23 February 22:15

        Chris, Unfortunately duty of care does not automatically entitle you to continue to stay in an expensive hotel just because you were staying there when BA cancels your flight. Equally there is nothing in the regulations that says there is a minimum or a maximum BA should pay. We know from others that generally BA are happy to pay around £200 per night which is why I gave that advice but it is not definite that BA will not pay more. In addition there is also an expectation that passengers should be reasonable and not try to take advantage of BA eg by moving to a 5 star hotel when they’ve been staying at a 3 star hotel. But BA will also take into account that you are staying in a 5 star Hotel and not automatically expect you to move to a 3 star hotel but that is not to say they won’t ask you to move to a lower standard hotel. Generally it helps to be compliant rather than arrogant or combative and BA are likely to be more amenable if you ask nicely.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      23 Feb23 February 22:25

      Absolutely wouldn’t be moving to a lesser hotel

      BA will usually pay up to £200 no questions asked but will pay more if you can prove you were staying in a higher cost establishment or if all other options were higher cost (assuming you were t already staying somewhere)

  • Alex says:

    23 Feb23 February 17:38

    Duty of care does apply, they tend to cap at £200 a night, however because you can’t just move in the Maldives, they will pay more if needed. As suggested, ask the hotel to charge it separately so it’s easier to give to BA to pay. They might be difficult about it, but know you’re in the right so don’t give in!

    • ChrisC says:

      23 Feb23 February 17:52

      BA may not like paying out more than £200 a night but there is no cap on DoC in the regulation.

      It’s perfectly reasonable to remain in the same hotel – especially somewhere where there isn’t much choice available.

      When it comes to reimbursing just push back if they try an insist on their £200 with a reminder of the wording of the regulation. If not, BA legal will give in when you make it clear you’ll be off to MCOL.

      • Blenz101 says:

        23 Feb23 February 18:32

        Why wouldn’t it be reasonable to give BA the choice? If I get delayed at Heathrow and they pick a Holiday Inn the DoC doesn’t entitle me to the Sofitel.

        I doubt there is a travel insurance fallback either given the length of time outside of the country.

        • ChrisC says:

          23 Feb23 February 19:19

          It is supposed to be on the airline to book DoC accomodation because they can often get rooms for cheaper rates.

          But more often than not they don’t and leave it to the passenger which then makes it incumbent on BA to fully reimburse.

        • Yuff says:

          23 Feb23 February 19:26

          I did exactly that and they said no, and I never pursued it with a MCOL claim.
          I could have stayed in the Hilton T5 on points but Sofitel in a suite, fir 4 of us, was more convenient

        • TGLoyalty says:

          23 Feb23 February 22:30

          Completely different. If you’re staying at Sofitel before your flight was cancelled and you couldn’t be rerouted for 3 days then you could continue staying at Sofitel.

          If you get bumped at Heathrow and book a hotel just for that night then the £200 rule would be adequate.

  • Ryan says:

    23 Feb23 February 17:48

    I had this in December last year. Our flight home from Barbados was cancelled, they could only move us to a flight 1 week later. I paid for the hotel when I was there, as soon as I got home BA agreed to pay their duty of care which was up to £200 per day for a couple. £1400 was back in my bank account within about 10 days, very impressed with the service and the extra week in Barbados BA paid for me!

    • meta says:

      23 Feb23 February 17:53

      Somebody reported here before that BA paid for Rangali when they cancelled.

      • Mike P says:

        23 Feb23 February 19:24

        Isn’t the issue that you are not allowed to change resorts in the Maldives currently? Surely BA would therefore have to pick up the cost of remaining where you are.

        • meta says:

          23 Feb23 February 20:32

          You can switch between maximum of two properties.

  • KBuffett says:

    23 Feb23 February 19:38

    Interestingly, I think if you had booked with BA holidays, you would have had excellent treatment and resolution.

  • babyg says:

    23 Feb23 February 20:44

    BA will fly you on QATAR… my cancelled LHR-MLE were rebooked on QATAR…

    • meta says:

      23 Feb23 February 21:59

      When is your flight? My end of March flight has been cancelled, but I am doubtful BA will rebook me for later in the year. Especially since it was booked in 50% off sale. I also don’t want to go in the middle of the wet season, so only option would be November onwards…

      • meta says:

        23 Feb23 February 22:04

        Btw. It seems BA has removed the option from changing Avios flights via MMB for later unless there is reward availability. I couldn’t move to any other date online like I did for other flights in January.

    • Lady London says:

      24 Feb24 February 00:49

      might be a better idea to request a reroute same day, check if QR is flying?

      • Polly says:

        24 Feb24 February 17:56

        Flat out refusing to put an avios 241 sale flight J onto QR for us, anyway. Good luck to them trying…we were really hoping for QR. But instead they offer a destination within 300 miles or a voucher/refund…

  • Tracey says:

    23 Feb23 February 23:03

    BA should pay up for you to stay where you are. The extra transfers involved should mean that forcing you to move is unreasonable, particularly as Malé has far more covid cases than the resorts. There is also the issue of an extra covid test before flying home if you have been in Malé, though that may now be surpassed by UK requirements.

• LST says:

  23 Feb23 February 20:16

  Are there any banks where you can transfer credit card points to hotel groups? I have HSBC WE and have a load of points that will expire in the next six months, that will end up going into Avios. I would much prefer a hotel transfer partner (as this is better for us as a family with young kids) and just wondered if there are any banks that offer this or possibly plan to offer it?
  LST

  • Anna says:

    23 Feb23 February 20:27

    You can use avios to book hotels, not sure how great the value is though.

    • LST says:

      23 Feb23 February 21:06

      Thanks for the reply Anna. Think you can get 0.5/Avios via BA holidays, but was hoping for something meatier. Greedy me!

  • Roberto says:

    23 Feb23 February 21:14

    Do Hsbc world elite points expire? I thought as long as you use the card they don’t?

    • LST says:

      23 Feb23 February 21:20

      Expire after 3 years 🙁

  • Benilyn says:

    23 Feb23 February 22:35

    Same I’m looking to spend on hotels as I have excess Avios. Given how easy it is to earn via HSBC. Might just make hotel bookings with Avios… 😕

    • Ashish says:

      23 Feb23 February 22:47

      What is the best way to earn these?

• Yorkieflyer says:

  23 Feb23 February 22:12

  After the discussion the other day about Accor I was wondering about point expiry policy with other hotel chains, Hilton in particular which generally is 12 months

  • AJA says:

    23 Feb23 February 22:28

    Yes Hilton points expire after 12 months of inactivity which is why I am so pleased I have the Hilton Barclaycard.

    • Harry T says:

      23 Feb23 February 22:58

      I wish I had a Hilton barclaycard! Got into the game too late. Anyway, I assume it’s fairly easy to keep Hilton points alive with a MR or VS point transfer? I think they’ve frozen expiration for a bit anyway, due to covid.

      • AJA says:

        23 Feb23 February 23:57

        Yes they did freeze expiry but i think only as far as 31 Dec 2020 (haven’t paid that much attention because I have the Barclaycard) so if you haven’t had any activity in the last 12 months you could be at risk of losing points but as you say they are an Amex MR partner, minimum 200 MR points transfer to 400 Hilton points then in 50 MR increments.

• Mackan2017 says:

  23 Feb23 February 22:32

  This ‘hack’ is extremely popular at the moment……in case they actually do read this I won’t name the airline (a flag carrier) but I’ve booked 2 European returns with them from Heathrow at their cheapest Business Class fare (price difference over £200) for later this year, on flights which are being cancelled every day at the moment. The flights are at Godawful times of the day and I’m hoping that I’m rebooked on their more expensive middle-of-the-day flights. It’s happened to others I know but I must admit that it’s a bit of a gamble for September and October, because who knows what can happen between now and then……

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