The HfP chat thread – Monday 19th April

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• bafan says:

  19 Apr19 April 02:13

  Has anyone flown with Sri Lankan Airlines? I’m looking at visiting but I can’t fly with the ME3 (I have a health reason that makes me inadmissible and I’d rather just not get into it). Options seem to be Singapore Airlines but that’s a far way of getting there, Sri Lankan or LOT (my short haul experiences with them are not great). I wonder why BA don’t do it.

  • Matt says:

    19 Apr19 April 07:22

    Flew DOH-CMB-MLE and return on them a few years ago, on their A330. Business seat was fairly standard, food was good if you like curry/spicy food and there was plenty of tea available. Only downside was 3 of the 4 planes had a strong smell of toilets for some reason.

  • Graham says:

    19 Apr19 April 07:38

    I done the Abu Dhabi to Jakarta tier point runs via Colombo in September 2019 on Sri Lankan. All on the A321. The seat wasn’t lie flat but I thought the product was really good in business.

    Food was great, lots of tea and some good choices on booze. All of the crew were lovely. I’d fly them again no problem. Movie selection was okay and they’re obviously not the pinnacle but if you find a decent fare I’d give it a punt. Book with credit card as always, they did refund during COVID but were overwhelmed and it took a long time.

  • Chris says:

    19 Apr19 April 09:38

    cannot remember where i flew them but i do remember the food was outstanding. One of the best airline meals i’ve ever had

    • Toppcat says:

      19 Apr19 April 10:27

      I flew LHR-CMB-MLE in economy with them about 6 years ago, and my recollection matches Chris above. Probably the best meal I have ever had on a plane. Definitely the best economy meal… I would have no hesitation about booking with them again if the price/routing worked for me.

  • Gavin says:

    19 Apr19 April 10:39

    Sri Lankan offer decent food and fairly charming service. Not top level, but better than you might expect. IFE was a bit limited. A330s were 2-4-2 in economy I think which is good for couples

    • Rhys says:

      19 Apr19 April 10:41

      2-4-2 is standard for A330 economy, which is nice.

  • Bob says:

    19 Apr19 April 12:43

    Have also flown LHR – CMB – MLE return with them, the seating was good provided you get the 2 at the window , generally a good service and the timings on the LHR-CMB routes are good too

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

    19 Apr19 April 14:32

    Flew them in economy a few years ago. Very positive experience – excellent food, good service, newish aircraft.

  • bafan says:

    19 Apr19 April 16:13

    Great responses – thank you everyone. I’ll go ahead and book with them then. Maybe time to use my stash of AAdvantage miles…

• illuminatus says:

  19 Apr19 April 02:20

  I’ve been trying to make use of Amex offer and subscribe to Telegraph, but every time I run into a ‘We couldn’t process your payment
  There’s an issue with your payment. Please try again or choose a different payment method’. I’ve tried using different browsers and even Amex cards to no avail – an authorisation went through a couple of times, but not the payment.

  Called Amex – they’re saying the issue is on Telegraph end. Any ideas?

  • mark2 says:

    19 Apr19 April 07:16

    I just renewed my subscription by phone and got a very good deal.

• Tarmohamed says:

  19 Apr19 April 03:11

  Can we expect a substantially better offer than the current virgin reward+ credit card to come in the next few months? I’m looking to get a points earning Visa/MasterCard – but we usually fly with the ME3 but if Virgin start going to KHI then we will probably switch.

  • Baji Nahid says:

    19 Apr19 April 04:29

    I cant ever see virgin going to KHI. There is very little to pick at KHI compared to other cities.

    • Tarmohamed says:

      19 Apr19 April 04:44

      If PIA can fill up their crappy planes, I’m sure VA will find a way, even if it means less frequencies. 2/3 flights a week.

  • Harry T says:

    19 Apr19 April 07:25

    Can’t see a visa or MasterCard with a better earnings rate being released any time soon.

• Jon says:

  19 Apr19 April 03:27

  May be of interest to other readers in Asia – seems you can now convert Qatar Qmiles to/from Grab points. 1:1 into Grab, 1200:100 into QR.

  I doubt I’ll be earning any flight redemptions at those rates 😉 but I have a few orphan QR miles so this might be a good use for them – probably worth a couple of taxi rides…

• Mark says:

  19 Apr19 April 05:34

  Would appreciate anyone help. I hold the personal platinum card. My son less than a year old has heart condition which needs operations every couple of years, but can live normal life. Is there any option to add a premium for the travel insurance in order for him to be covered?

  Any advice on how to get travel insurance for kids with Cardiac condition from birth?
  Many thanks in advance

  • kitten says:

    19 Apr19 April 11:22

    I have no idea if they do travel insurance. But for other types of hard-to-cover or unusual risk Hiscox used to be very recommended.

    • RussellH says:

      19 Apr19 April 12:04

      They indedd used to be highly recommended.
      And then they completely blew themselves up over their business interuption insurance.
      Being forced to pay out by the supreme court is not a good look.
      🙂

      • kitten says:

        19 Apr19 April 17:57

        Do you blame them for fighting it though?

  • GaryE says:

    19 Apr19 April 13:40

    Hi – I have a life long condition, which does not require medical treatment, but is controlled via a diet – and they would not cover me for any illness related to this. I found the cover only worthwhile if you are 100% healthy anything outside of that they will not cover for exceptions.

• mzb says:

  19 Apr19 April 07:21

  “Get 1 bonus Avios for every £2 spent anywhere, up to 1500 Avios” appeared today on my (free) BA Amex. Expires 19/07/2021.

• Ian M says:

  19 Apr19 April 07:21

  Hi all,

  Received an email from BA to inform me that my flight to Santiago has been cancelled. It was a First class booking made with Avios during the 50% discount Avios sale. If I chose to have a future travel voucher, will it allow me to book another F ticket to Santiago at a later date or will it only be worth half the avios needed due to that fact I made the booking during the sale?

  • Harry T says:

    19 Apr19 April 07:25

    It will be worth the amount of Avios and cash that you paid.

  • Matt says:

    19 Apr19 April 07:26

    It will only get you half of an F ticket. You should be able to reschedule the flight instead if it’s been cancelled.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    19 Apr19 April 07:27

    It’s only worth the Avios/cash you paid

    You need to get the actual flight rebooked to still fly F to Santiago. Try phoning YouFirst

    • Lady London says:

      19 Apr19 April 11:31

      If they’re not flying or no longer flying the route on the later date (or close to same date) you want to rebook to then they are responsible for other transport, even on other airline(s), to get you there.

      Highly likely a route that might come up if they have no direct flight is Iberia via Madrid.

      However ensure whatever you are rebooked onto is First Class and keep it clear that you are not voluntarily accepting a lower class if that’s all that’s available. In particular do not accept any sort of refund even partial if you’re forced to do all or part of the journey in a lower class.

      After the journey if you are forced to accept an involuntary downgrade you are entitled to receive 75% reimbursement whatever you paid for First, for whichever sector(s) you were downgraded on. See yesterday’s thread via clicking the blue link in the last paragraph of the article above.

  • Ian M says:

    19 Apr19 April 08:32

    Great, thanks everyone

• Vin says:

  19 Apr19 April 07:37

  Can an airline insist that you state your preference of options in advance of a cancelled flight ? LH flights to Germany for end of May rescheduled and been given 3 options – accept revised booking/take a voucher/full refund. Email states I need to select one option (before 30th April) to ‘avoid possible cancellation of your current booking’.
  This is the second reschedule of this flight (I accepted a previous change of the same booking in February). What are people’s thoughts on leaving it late to see what the travel corridors look like then – or do I risk losing the booking entirely ?

  • Super Secret Stuff says:

    19 Apr19 April 10:31

    Think the general consensus is no, they can’t force you into any specific route. You can pick whatever suits you, when you want. If they do cancel it and refund you without your permission you could attempt to always book another ticket and claim back

    • Vin says:

      19 Apr19 April 11:09

      Thanks @SuperSecretStuff and @Blair for your helpful comments 🙂

  • Blair says:

    19 Apr19 April 10:49

    I had same email a month ago on an award booking. I waited till the deadline to reply had passed and they cancelled my flight. But no sign of miles and payment for taxes being refunded to me. So I called up and asked about it and they were falling over themselves being helpful suggesting whatever alternative route I wanted. I just wanted the miles back so they sorted.

    • Blair says:

      19 Apr19 April 10:50

      I should add, the reservation still seemed to be semi-live/dormant on their end.

  • Lady London says:

    19 Apr19 April 11:35

    They have not provided your overriding right (by statute so overrides airline terms and incapacities) to rebook )(“reroute”) to a later date of your choosing.

    If it’s a Europe/UK-based airline or flight on any airline departing Europe/UK that option is there for you whether the airline mentions it or not.

    • Vin says:

      19 Apr19 April 16:34

      Thanks @LadyLondon – I might just wait this one out till closer to the departure date (and hope I don’t get into trouble :-D)

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