The HfP chat thread – Friday 9th April

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• mart says:

  9 Apr9 April 13:46

  Hi all, apologies in advance for the lengthy post.

  I am having major issues with my 241 and 50% off booking to Sydney with BA. Any and all advice/help appreciated.

  I originally booked last October, for this May. Those flights were cancelled and I rebooked through BA up till ticket validity (new flights with Qatar). Those October flights were again cancelled.
  
When I queried to rebook, I was told my ticket validity was up to 30 December. I therefore booked new (Qatar) flights in December. One leg of these was then cancelled, and when I was trying to sort this new leg out, I was told that my ticket validity was actually October and I had been told December by mistake. I argued that I had been told December and it was agreed that they would honour this mistake and new flights ticketed in 3-5 days.

  I called today as no tickets received to be told they would not honour the Dec 20 flights with Qatar (As they “have no agreement with Qatar for these dates”), nor would they do so with BA as there is no Avios availability. I am livid (have made several arrangements for travel in Dec as multiple agents told me it would be OK). Agent I spoke to today useless.

  I *know* that I am entitled to fly in Dec ’20. Advice welcomed on how to approach this with BA? If I need to call again, I want to be sure I am fully prepared before doing so. Alternatively happy to email/write. I would prefer to travel with Qatar but BA wouldn’t be the end of the world. @Lady London I know you have given others/me advice on this topic before so your take would be welcomed. Thanks in advance.

  • Jonathan says:

    9 Apr9 April 13:51

    Give up on trying to negotiate with the CS reps, they are all reading from same 365 day script these days.

    Look at yesterday’s chat thread & there’s a fairly detailed description from me about how to proceed with letter before action then MCOL. This will get you a resolution far quicker than banging your head against a BA brick wall.

    • mart says:

      9 Apr9 April 14:43

      Thank you, this is helpful.

      Separate Q – in my situation where tickets are booked with 241 and 50% off (so a voucher/refund is not wanted), what happens if the flight is cancelled at the end of the ticket validity? Can I then force BA’s hand to let me travel later?

      • Jonathan says:

        9 Apr9 April 15:58

        As long as you don’t agree to a refund then you’re fine. I can’t remember off top of my head how long the ticket stays active for (ie. is able to be modified). 18 months is definitely fine though.

        You would have 6 year time limit to pursue BA through MCOL for cost of rerouting.

        • Lady London says:

          9 Apr9 April 17:17

          Hi mart,

          please see Jonathan’s and my reply which are together in yesterday’s same thread. If it’s not showing on Headforpoints front page still, click on the blue in the last paragraph of today’s article to see it.

          Procedure is exactly the same for you as your ticket flies out of the UK so any airline must obey EU261 which is staying within UK law still.

          Don’t put up with it give them only 14 days and file an mcol claim after Day 21 (meta’s later comment).

          The ticket you hold with travel agent (unticketed pending resolution) is likely to cost £5000-£6500 assuming you still book Qatar. BA is going to have to pay somebody else to get you from Asia to Oz as they don’t fly their own planes anymore so it might as well be QR. Their problems with no agreement or whatever are “not” your problem.

          Hasten to get their final answer – even verbal – and your notes together if the calls you made, time/day, ideally who you spoke to. Send your Notice before Action asap. Personally I’d give them a call the following day and say you’ve sent it and request them to pass it to Legal as you really will sue them in 14 days and you’d like to get it resolved to save them money and you, time.

          I say accelerate because there might be time to get your judgment before the flight.

          They are trying to bully you.
          Any lack of agreement with whoever or lacking system at BA is not your problem. Don’t put up with it and go for it. They should just be willing to reissue your ticket this is not a difficult thing.

          Let us know what happens

        • Lady London says:

          9 Apr9 April 17:22

          PS any increase in price for replacement ticket, they cannot ask you for. We had someone whose ticket back from Oz one way cost £5000. She didnt have to pay it as it was one of the very few options left after the airline cancelled her original flight.

  • Louie says:

    10 Apr10 April 12:01

    Unless you are an Australian citizen or have permanent residence, the likelihood of you getting let in this year are pretty much zero, so all this is probably theoretical.

• Keely says:

  9 Apr9 April 14:08

  Afternoon all any idea how I can get through to Brighton for Amex? Trying to find out when my husbands previous card was closed (was April
  2019 but wrote down exact date and now lost it ). Spoke to American CS but she advised last card closed 2013. Any suggestions please? Don’t want to lose bonus for a few days ! Thanks

  • Anna says:

    9 Apr9 April 14:12

    Chat should be able to give you the exact date. If you call they are likely to suss that you’re not your husband.

    • Anuj says:

      9 Apr9 April 14:15

      Chat does not work if your account no longer has any cards on it. This is why I was asking a few months ago whether Amex had an email for support

      • Anna says:

        9 Apr9 April 14:36

        I always leave a card attached to an account, even if it’s closed, for this exact reason. It’s made it a lot easier to deal with all the refunds coming in from travel cancellations as well!

        • Anuj says:

          9 Apr9 April 19:15

          Yep definitely learnt my lesson from that mistake !

      • Keely says:

        9 Apr9 April 15:16

        Ah ok…

    • Keely says:

      9 Apr9 April 15:15

      Thanks I’ll give that a go Anna

    • Aston100 says:

      9 Apr9 April 17:50

      “Gender is a social construct”

• Dan says:

  9 Apr9 April 14:38

  When booking BA reward seats, if I want to cancel is BA waiving the £35 cancellation fee right now or is it still being charged?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    9 Apr9 April 14:48

    Only being waved if it’s cancelled or if you take an FTV

  • Rob says:

    9 Apr9 April 15:01

    Still charged if you voluntarily cancel, unless you take a Future Travel Voucher (which locks up your cash and Avios in a voucher rather than returning it to you, and restricts how it can be used going forward).

• bafan says:

  9 Apr9 April 14:54

  You guys know stuff like this – a friend is currently working in Ireland as an accountant with a hedge fund and wants to relocate here (to the UK) but wants to continue working for his company until he can find another job. The job have told him that moving is fine but the tax liability is on him. Will he be subject to double taxation or does the treaty cover it? Does he have to declare it to HMRC or continue paying it in Ireland? I told him to contact HMRC but I thought I’d ask for any broad stroke advice you guys might have. Cheers.

  • Anna says:

    9 Apr9 April 15:04

    https://www.taxationweb.co.uk/tax-articles/general/tax-implications-of-moving-to-and-from-the-republic-of-ireland.html

    This might help. I know a couple who moved to Ireland and the husband commutes back to the UK weekly for work and it didn’t seem to affect his tax situation, but I’m not sure sure it works the same way the other way round!

  • Genghis says:

    9 Apr9 April 15:55

    I’m surprised the company are being so lax. Have they assessed whether a permanent establishment is being established in the UK?

    • bafan says:

      9 Apr9 April 17:33

      I think it’s COVID era allowances being made. They definitely have not done any of that. I’ve suggested maybe becoming a contractor or something but…I don’t know enough TBH.

      • Niall says:

        9 Apr9 April 22:07

        Hi Bafan,
        It is complicated and will be quite specific to your friend’s circumstances so it’s not really worth typing on here. I’ll send my details to Rob so perhaps he could pass them to you and I can give you some pointers.

• Anna says:

  9 Apr9 April 15:19

  Things are definitely moving in the right direction! My Plan B flights LGW-AGP have now been cancelled and moved to LHR. MMB is giving me the options to change or cancel (presumably without fees). Am I right in thinking I can wait until a lot nearer the time to make a decision, just in case Spain ends up on the Green list and my other options don’t?

  • Anna says:

    9 Apr9 April 15:26

    Though does that mean BA will hold the seats until I make a decision? Seems unlikely on a potentially busy summer route.

    • Keiths says:

      9 Apr9 April 15:50

      When I was originally informed of a change from LGW to LHR there was a request to confirm the change in MMB – however, there was no timescale so I assume you can leave it as long as possible.
      I have just found out that BA have moved all their short haul from LGW to LHR until Oct (was previously only to 30/6 which didn’t help as we were flying out on 26/6 and kids with partners on 3/7. Even more frustrating is the fact this was a celebration holiday arranged for last year, but carried over due to the pandemic)
      Anyway – I have decided to cancel as there are too many variables. Even if they are on the Green list you still have to faff around with 2 tests each.
      I am trying to take a pragmatic view that if my biggest gripe is a cancelled holiday during a pandemic then things aren’t too dire for me. The less logical side of me has uttered multiple expletives!!!!

• Saiz says:

  9 Apr9 April 15:38

  Called Gold Amex to see if they’d offer a retention bonus and he just didn’t budge. I’ve spent about £5k in 3 months and I wasn’t eligible. He was actually urging me to cancel it seemed! I only asked for retention offer when nothing was offered in the first place. Followed the advice here but for me, no joy. How do people get through to the Brighton office as I rang on their 0800 number and the automated system directed me to someone when I said I’d like to speak about my account. I’m just not good at this and I haven’t had any offers before.

  • Josh says:

    9 Apr9 April 15:44

    Hey,

    Maybe try again using the following approach (not sure how much this matters but it worked for me):

    Speak to Amex on live chat, say you wish to cancel. When asking why, state you aren’t using the benefits anymore

    They *should* say something like “would you be willing to call and speak to our colleagues to see what they have to say?”

    Then call the usual number and state the above and that live chat told you to call them before cancelling.

    They then will ask why you want to cancel, maybe try and convince you to keep your points but don’t budge, simply state that you aren’t using the benefits and have a competitor card that also generates points.

    They then should try give you a retention offer.

    • Saiz says:

      9 Apr9 April 16:18

      Thanks. Tried the chat and calling three times but just didn’t work. Card is 3 months old perhaps that’s why. Will weigh up my options and perhaps go ahead with cancelling.

      • bafan says:

        9 Apr9 April 17:35

        People do retention threats after 3 months?! I thought it was a given you did the year first…

      • Lady London says:

        9 Apr9 April 19:44

        Time matters. 3 months seems too short for me.

        It almost gives the impression your financial situation could be worsening or you could be becoming desperate (in non-HfP world).

        If you are lucky they might have thought you are gaming it.

  • Anna says:

    9 Apr9 April 15:58

    You’re supposed to take the hint and threaten to cancel the card …

  • TGLoyalty says:

    9 Apr9 April 16:06

    Did you actually say I want to cancel?

    • Saiz says:

      9 Apr9 April 16:20

      Yes, each time they wanted me to go ahead an cancel. The agent said he was trained in cancelling so he could talk me through if I wished to go ahead. Another time she was keen to transfer me to the cancellation team. I guess with shops opening on Monday, the retention offers are not being given as freely.

  • Dan says:

    9 Apr9 April 16:24

    Conversely, I phoned today after a failed attempt yesterday and got 10k – no strings attahced.

    A couple of points:
    – I mentioned that I spoke to one of their colleagues on live chat and it was them who suggested I call to ‘explore options’
    – Mention that the fee is either upcoming or (in my case) already billed and it makes you think about the value of the card
    – Mention the travel focussed nature of the card – Priority Pass, the multiplier on the card being travel focussed

    At which point, they will present you the options, the classic: move to the free card or cancel gold.

    Don’t actually answer their question, answer it with more of your questions (play dumb here) . I said what happens to the annual fee & if I were to change my mind after cancelling, I would have to re-apply again in a couple of months time when travel seems to open up – would it affect my credit rating etc.

    It was only then when the Brighton based CS rep, said :oh well, in that case I could maybe offer you 10k points which is equivalent to 3 months annual fee to keep the card and delay the decision.

    That’s how I played it – but very dependent on who you get. I called yesterday and was put through to someone who transferred me to the retentions team whereas today I got straight through to that team. I suspect due to the time of day, it was quieter so I got there direct.

    Hope this use case helps. My advice: HUACA

  • Harry T says:

    9 Apr9 April 16:43

    If they want to keep you as a customer and you ask for a retention offer, you will likely get one.

    • Saiz says:

      9 Apr9 April 16:50

      They kept mentioning the ‘infancy’ of the card so I guess I’m unlikely to get it as only been a Gold customer for 3 months. I just thought £5k in 3 months was a good spend for them to offer something, even if it was double points. Anyway, thank you all for the tips.

      • Dan says:

        9 Apr9 April 16:53

        I guess why are you looking to cancel if you’ve only had it for three months. I’m assuming this is your free year so you really aren’t losing anything?

        I mean, you knew the situation with travel 3 months ago when you took out the card….As you mentioned, I think from their POV, it sounds like you are chancing it rather than seriously thinking about cancelling/or considering the value of the card.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        9 Apr9 April 17:06

        Ah you have less bargaining power there.

        They wanted to keep my £140 fee and the spend. Spending £5k in 3 months doesn’t seem like you’re not making use of the card either tbh.

• Josh says:

  9 Apr9 April 15:45

  Has anyone done the math yet on whether it’s worth the 24k referral + 50k for plat card now at the expense of losing the ability to open a nectar card + the smaller plat welcome offers?

  I’m being lazy!

  • TGLoyalty says:

    9 Apr9 April 16:14

    24k+50k plus 12k for nectar referral, no bonus = 86k (could always apply for nectar while it’s 24k for plat referral and it’s 98k)

    Vs 12k+13k and 12+35k = 72k

    • meta says:

      9 Apr9 April 16:24

      Plus additional 5k for Plat supp.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        9 Apr9 April 17:06

        That’s there regardless.

• Imran says:

  9 Apr9 April 15:47

  O/T Pleasantly surprised to see Marriott Bonvoy on Mumbai Indians jersey today! 🙂

  • KP says:

    9 Apr9 April 19:54

    Its been there for a couple of seasons at least.

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