The HfP chat thread – Monday 12th April

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• Clive says:

  12 Apr12 April 10:03

  Virgin flight cancelled over the weekend (50% off points deal). CS totally unhelpful rescheduling to later in the year. Told me it could be moved to 6 May……thanks !!

  • Babyg says:

    12 Apr12 April 10:25

    lots of stuff on flyertalk about this type of situation… basically virgin need to rebook your flight(s) – to either another carrier or dates that suit you if they cancel.. but checkout flyertalk.

    • Clive says:

      12 Apr12 April 10:28

      I have thanks but VS currently no budging

      • Babyg says:

        12 Apr12 April 11:29

        flyertalk is better for this – but in short Virgin are legally required to rebook you on a flight of YOUR convivence… I only say flyertalk as this has been discussed many time here…

    • Lady London says:

      12 Apr12 April 11:47

      Answered on here around last Friday/Saturday (Virgin) and 2 days earlier (BA, but same rules apply) in detail mainly by @Jonathan. Look for his post followed by mine and meta a few later.

      Don’t waste time talking to them I am sure Virgin are aware they are implementing a completely illegal policy. They will lose but this kind if behaviour makes us think Virgin has assessed they have nothing to lose ( as would be the case if they were expecting to go bust).

      If the worst happens if you paid by UK credit card you can get a replacement ticket via Section 75 request to your card as card is jointly liable.

      I would get their confirmation that this is their final answer asap and follow the steps Jonathan outlined as quickly as possible. I suppose if your purchase was eligible for s.75 you could do that in tandem once you get your “final answer” from Virgin.

      Chargeback – avaikable on most cards – would get you what you paid back but s75 would pay replacement cost.

  • Reney says:

    12 Apr12 April 10:47

    Clive, did VS email you to tell you it has been cancelled? Asking because I have a flight for the 3 May, booking reference still suggests it is on, but on the website you can’t purchase a seat on that flight anymore.

    • Kay says:

      12 Apr12 April 10:57

      Having same issue, can someone advise?

    • Clive says:

      12 Apr12 April 12:00

      No they did not I noticed the cancellation in the App. Current HKG cancellations are up to 28/4 as I am aware

    • Lady London says:

      12 Apr12 April 12:10

      Reports on here particularluly about Virgin that they seem to be taking advantage of the fact that prevailing Covid circumstances mean £600 compensation for longhaul cancelled flight, if done less than 14 days ahead is not currently claimable as Covid is ‘exceptional circumstances’.

      So Virgin’s tactic is people are able to know 99% that their flight’s been cancelled, weeks ahead, because seats are not being sold on it. But Virgin’s not communicating the cancellation. Presumably so as to retain more money from people that cancel themselves, or from fees people pay for changes so long as Virgin didn’t tell anyone Virgin has cancelled the flight.

      So stare them out, don”t blink, prepare your backup plan and costs if your currently-not-being-sold flight somehow isn’t cancelled (est. 1%) and wait till they cancel 10-3 days ahead uf that’s what they do.

      When they cancel no compo currently but you still have all your rerouting rights, full refund rights, and duty of care rights.

  • Kay says:

    12 Apr12 April 10:57

    Where was your destination?

    • Reney says:

      12 Apr12 April 13:40

      HKG, sounds like Clive was too.

      I don’t have to travel, so will be happy just to get full refund of points and cash but will be very happy if they are willing to move. Not sure worth the hassle of what others have advice – which all sounds sensible by the way.

  • David says:

    12 Apr12 April 11:24

    Did you get offered a future travel voucher and upgrade vouchers ?

    • Clive says:

      12 Apr12 April 17:32

      No David they did not offer anything. Do you have a link on this?

  • Clive says:

    12 Apr12 April 19:02

    Just an update. My discussion over the weekend was with the Social Media Team however today I called Reservations and spoke to a lovely, helpful CS Agent. She said no problem to move my flight to when I wanted as long as there was reward availability. I am now booked in December. It has gone of to ticketing so hopefully no problems.

    • Lady London says:

      12 Apr12 April 21:22

      if the airline cancelled your original flight there does *not* have to be award seat availability on the date you want to move to. Any seat being sold in your same cabin you have a right to be booked into free of charge. This is statutory right under EU261 so overrides anything an airline says refusing it.

• James says:

  12 Apr12 April 10:34

  Just got off the phone to Amex and I think they are either planning some changes to Platinum or are going to really push for upgrades

  I called up asking to cancel (for the 24 months) so that I could get the sign up bonus for the Plat and they said to keep an eye out as they ‘will be wanting to encourage spending and upgrading very shortly as everything reopens’.

  Not sure if anyone else has had similar experiences? (Also got 10k points for just sticking with them)

  • Hotelier says:

    12 Apr12 April 10:40

    Which card do you have @James?

    • James says:

      12 Apr12 April 10:42

      Gold Charge, so hoping for a straight upgrade – not sure about the Gold Credit

      • Hotelier says:

        12 Apr12 April 10:52

        Thanks @James. I would love an upgrade bonus from Gold credit to Platinum. Waiting for June to finish 1st year and get the 10k bonus to post then will try to upgrade (as for anything offered now will need to give up on the 10k MR) or cancel if nothing offered.
        Called after 6 months to cancel and was given 10k for £2.5k spend but briefly mentioned I would be interested in upgrading to Platinum although I thought it was only possible from charge card or green but Brighton agent said there is offers some time to upgrade from Gold Card so let’s see.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          12 Apr12 April 10:54

          You can’t upgrade a gold credit to a platinum charge.

  • Symon says:

    12 Apr12 April 13:25

    That’s interesting, as they pulled the upgrade link a while back. Can currently only upgrade by calling.

    • James says:

      13 Apr13 April 12:29

      Yeah, waiting for them to post a bonus so that I get something for upgrading

  • Kay says:

    12 Apr12 April 16:15

    Maybe your getting ripped off, Platinum cardholder using minimum benefits. Cancel now

• Kay says:

  12 Apr12 April 10:56

  Can someone recommend an Umbrella company, which provides good perks (e.g. money off discount cards) Like MainPay and Xexec

  • TGLoyalty says:

    12 Apr12 April 10:59

    I’m quite happy with Reward gateway but no longer supports payment via Amex 🙁

    • Kay says:

      12 Apr12 April 12:14

      But what Umbrella offers access to Reward Gateway?
      Amex was never accepted for MainPay or Xexec either.

  • memesweeper says:

    12 Apr12 April 13:47

    If you use an umbrella you can (and some would say should) join IPSE. IPSE offer Perkbox access. If you want a referral code for reduced first year membership, ask here.

    • Kay says:

      12 Apr12 April 15:11

      Referral code please

      • memesweeper says:

        12 Apr12 April 16:23

        https://www.ipse.co.uk/joinme/1050143/

• Kay says:

  12 Apr12 April 10:58

  How does this antibody certificate work? How long must you prove you had Covid in order to be given this ‘pass’? Reports suggest this is the alt to having a vaccine passport

  • Rob says:

    12 Apr12 April 11:29

    You can pay for an antibody test in the same way that you can pay for a standard PCR test – they tend to be £60ish. I assume you would be able to submit the results to a covid app and it would remain valid for a certain number of months.

  • PK says:

    12 Apr12 April 12:11

    How much is the FPN for breaking quarentine?

    • Kay says:

      12 Apr12 April 12:36

      Well only 6 people paid the £10k fine for hosting parties… despite hundreds being issued FPN

      • Roger W says:

        12 Apr12 April 13:23

        And your moral and social responsibility too!

• Michael C says:

  12 Apr12 April 11:23

  Re. UK tests on arrival: Spanish pal just used Covid Smart Limited. It’s now 5 days since his day 8 test. Just had an email saying “Sorry, still don’t have result”. NHS say he can’t leave home till he does…

  • Rhys says:

    12 Apr12 April 11:47

    Welcome to the chaos of the government’s private travel testing policy 🙂

    • Michael C says:

      12 Apr12 April 11:51

      Incredible’ .- also means he’ll miss his jab by a matter of hours.
      And these are the govt-approved “best” companies!

      • Pete M says:

        12 Apr12 April 12:01

        I would strongly suggest he goes and has his jab – absolutely nothing will happen to him. Unless, of course, he’s worried he could have Covid? In which case probably a bad idea!

      • TGLoyalty says:

        12 Apr12 April 13:13

        I would just go.

        They are having a laugh it’s unreasonable for it to take 5 days

        • kitten says:

          12 Apr12 April 21:23

          sounds like they’ve lost the sample 🙂

      • Paula says:

        12 Apr12 April 18:09

        I thought you could leave quarantine for medical reasons including a Covid vaccine?

    • kitten says:

      12 Apr12 April 12:17

      Needs a judicial review.

      If the government is restricting me to a specific provider list and if they don’t compel the provider to deliver at the required time with compensation and/or additional expenses liability (eg hotel) at least, then the government has been negligent, guilty of maladministration, whatever, and should be liable.

• Pete M says:

  12 Apr12 April 11:31

  So I was thinking about a fair, safe and affordable way to manage testing returning from ‘green’ countries.

  Government allows you to order antigen tests for free before going on holiday for your party (system is already there for ordering 7 free ones in England). You do them before flying back and upload a picture of your test with its unique code to the PLF portal. Can it be gamed, sure, but so can most things.

  Whilst filling out the PLF you also book an NHS Track & Trace PCR test to come through the post – there is loads of spare testing capacity. Pay £50 per adult, £25 per child over, say, 6. So a family of 4 wouldn’t pay more than £150/200, which is arguably affordable. Results easily linked back to your PLF profile. Keeps the new labs busy and pays for some of the overheads. Of course ideally it’d be an antigen test on return as well, although I suppose that wouldn’t catch the variants.

  One can dream… eh?

  • Anuj says:

    12 Apr12 April 11:37

    That would require the gov to prevent their mates making vast profits over testing holiday goers. So off the idea is dead in the water

    • Rhys says:

      12 Apr12 April 11:45

      John Walton has just written a great article looking at the government’s policy and the shitshow of private testing providers which echoes the discussions I was having last week: https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2021/04/09/fairness-travel-uks-for-profit-travel-testing-conundrum/

      Fundamentally, it seems bonkers that travel testing can’t be administered at lower cost, more efficiently and better than the current hodge-podge of testing providers (some of whom are bunk!) and offer those to travellers at cost

      • Pete M says:

        12 Apr12 April 11:59

        Yup, totally! I guess the other issue is that there’s little public pressure at the moment to do anything differently. A lot of people want the borders shut “fully”, without thinking of the consequence or that it would also mean no holidays for them. I imagine once summer holidays season kicks in, we may see a bit more movement?

      • BuildBackBetter says:

        12 Apr12 April 13:53

        Am sure reducing the cost for rich travellers is on the top of the list for the government.

        • Pete M says:

          12 Apr12 April 14:14

          My point is exactly the opposite, BuildBackBetter. I imagine most people on this website will make it work as it is, the vast majority of this country won’t/can’t.

        • Rhys says:

          12 Apr12 April 14:24

          This disproportionately affects people of lower income, not higher income!

          ABTA has just published a report that finds that the cost of a PCR test in the UK is, on average, DOUBLE that of our European neighbours.

          And as I pointed out last week, the Government is currently paying furlough for many airline and hospitality staff. It’s totally plausible that offering free tests would actually save the government money by keeping tourism companies in business.

    • Kay says:

      12 Apr12 April 12:37

      +1

• Jonathan says:

  12 Apr12 April 11:41

  Hello everyone

  I’m due to stay in Marrakech for 3 nights at the start of October (hopefully I won’t have to cancel the holiday altogether), I remember seeing the post about what to do in the Medina region of the city. Does anyone have any good hotel recommendations for there at all ?
  I nearly always use Hotels.com for my hotel bookings, so I’m not limiting my hotel options to a handful of places, I’m open to looking at just about anywhere.

  Also my flight into Marrakech was originally booked to fly out of LGW, a couple of days ago I got emailed to be told that this flight got cancelled and the flight was moved to LHR. The flight number is still the same, but does anyone know when I must accept the changes ? Since my flight has been cancelled and rebooked, I’m legally entitled to a refund if whatever reason I can’t do the holiday, but I think that accepting the change means that you wave your legal right to a refund if the change is accepted ?

  Thank you to anyone who’s got some help

  • Aston100 says:

    12 Apr12 April 12:02

    Jonathan, see my reply on the next page.

  • AJA says:

    12 Apr12 April 12:11

    Can’t help on the hotel recommendations as I’ve never been. As for the flight yes you are correct the flight change to LHR allows you to cancel for a full refund. If that is what you are holding out for simply don’t accept the change, BA won’t cancel your reservation and you won’t lose the seats. That said have you checked what the price of a new booking is? You might benefit from cancelling and then rebooking in the current BA sale and might even grab a great BA Holidays deal which allows you to just pay a deposit and the balance 3 weeks before.

    • Jonathan says:

      12 Apr12 April 18:57

      The price I paid for the ticket was very good at the time, I doubt the cost has gone down by a noticeable amount, I’m glad that it’s now essentially a flexible ticket, without free date changes

  • Kay says:

    12 Apr12 April 12:13

    I dont think Morocco is accepting foreign visitors, unless that has been changed for October?

    • Jonathan says:

      12 Apr12 April 18:58

      I hope things will change when I’m due to travel !

  • Will_ says:

    12 Apr12 April 12:56

    I’m booked for Marrakech towards the end of the year too (fingers crossed). Anyone know if Club Europe gets you into the fast track arrivals queue? It’s been 5 years since I’ve last been and I seem to remember arrivals\departures being utter chaos

    • Jonathan says:

      12 Apr12 April 19:01

      I don’t know what to expect with RAK, I’ve had particularly bad experiences with EZE, I’ve been there two times, and both time excessive queues what to get through passport control

      • Rob says:

        12 Apr12 April 19:26

        https://fasttrack-marrakech.com/

  • YC says:

    12 Apr12 April 14:01

    While the riad experience is a nice local experience. Staying at the four seasons (10min drive) provides a break from the hustle and bustle. Very reasonable price for a four seasons (but more than a riad ofcourse)

    • Rob says:

      12 Apr12 April 14:59

      Potentially worth doing both if you stay longer – there are some amazing properties outside but arguably you are missing out not spending a bit of time in the centre.

      • YC says:

        12 Apr12 April 15:28

        Yeah I’ve seen reviews and they look like amazing properties. But 4S is near enough to explore the centre as much as you would like. La Mamounia and Royal Mansour are also very close to the city and worth a peak for a drink or spa

        • Jonathan says:

          12 Apr12 April 19:02

          I’ll have at these, thanks

• will says:

  12 Apr12 April 11:47

  Same situation here, awaiting advice.

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