The HfP chat thread – Monday 19th April

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• mart says:

  19 Apr19 April 09:51

  anyone else doing the american airlines 40th Anniversary Celebration daily sweepstakes ,ive ‘won’ over 20k miles on two accounts.Just hope they post to Non US citizens?

  • Blair says:

    19 Apr19 April 10:54

    Yes, historically AA is my OW program of choice because of miniscule charges ex-DUB on Qatar, Etihad and AA. My winnings have been pretty disappointing thus far. But every little helps.

    • Louie says:

      19 Apr19 April 11:01

      0 / 96 spins over two accounts. I’m going for 100! I haven’t come across anyone else who hasn’t won multiple times. My love for AAdvantage is not strong at the moment.

      • Pete M says:

        19 Apr19 April 11:11

        40 points so far! 🙂

        • mart says:

          19 Apr19 April 11:28

          first couple of days won nothing spinning at teatime ,then found luck spinning with my morning cuppa 6am ish ,worked for me anyway
          got multiple other wins preferred seat and cabin upgrades ,whether i will be able to use them is another matter

      • AJA says:

        19 Apr19 April 14:23

        I am not participating (maybe I should) but I understand that once you hit spin you have to then press again to stop the globe spinning. Maybe that’s why you’re not getting anything?

        • Simon says:

          20 Apr20 April 06:54

          It will stop eventually, AJA, if you don’t hit stop. I’ve won more doing it that way, strangely.

  • BigSi says:

    19 Apr19 April 13:49

    Also playing the game on 2 accounts, got 4k once, a few x 400 and lots of 40 mile spins plus some other tat. Hope they post.

    • Liz says:

      19 Apr19 April 22:38

      I’ve had a few 400 and several 40! Keep hoping for something bigger!

• BSI1978 says:

  19 Apr19 April 09:53

  Re yesterday’s Sheraton bookings, the first payment/charge has just gone through….!

  • meta says:

    19 Apr19 April 09:57

    It’s pending for me too.

  • Tracy says:

    19 Apr19 April 09:59

    Me too, just now. If it were to be cancelled by the hotel, how long before they would inform me? I’m tempted to book flights from London after the stay. I’m from Scotland so don’t want to have to fly from London if the room gets cancelled…..

    • BSI1978 says:

      19 Apr19 April 10:09

      Difficult to know for sure, picking up on some of yesterday’s comments, I’d love this to be a kosher re-opening offer they are running but as a few wrote, price for the suite’s on certain dates seems too good to be true so presumably a mistake the hotel will realise at some point. Whether that’s picked up shortly as the payments are processed or nearer the time is anyone’s guess, albeit you’d obviously prefer the former to save booking travel…..

      • Tracy says:

        19 Apr19 April 10:15

        Yes, I’d definitely like to know sooner rather than later. Might just book the travel anyways and have a backup points hotel booking just in case. 🤞

  • Toppcat says:

    19 Apr19 April 10:06

    Yup – my payment has just been taken too. Promising!

    • Blair says:

      19 Apr19 April 10:56

      I stayed there on and off this past autumn and it was like The Shining. I’d eat breakfast alone in the lobby and only once saw a fellow guest on my floor. There was one anomaly of a weekend in December when the lobby was full but otherwise I was upgraded to massive multi-room suites each time. I suspect they might just be bereft of future bookings so better to raise what they can selling the otherwise empty suites

      • BSI1978 says:

        19 Apr19 April 13:55

        Possibly a reasonable argument for any imminent bookings as things open up, but not sure that will apply to some of the Q4/winter bookings some wrote about yesterday.

        Will be interesting to see though! 🤞🏾

  • Harry T says:

    19 Apr19 April 13:42

    Yes, I’ve been charged for the two nights I booked in June. I was planning to be in London then anyway, and have several alternatives, including HJH rate at Sheraton itself. Let’s see if they get round to cancelling these error rates. I suspect anyone with decent status can make a fuss anyway and maybe end up in the same suite 😂

  • APB says:

    19 Apr19 April 15:13

    Yes – my charge is pending too. I have to say that I don’t know the relevant ins and outs of the law but it seems to me there’s a stronger case for making the booking stick if the payment has been taken.

• WaynedP says:

  19 Apr19 April 09:55

  Mildly interesting email offer received this morning from IHG: “Up to 80% bonus on IHG points purchase”

  On follow-up, I “unlocked” 70% bonus with following T&Cs :

  Offer available for purchases made between 12:00 AM ET 1 April 2021 and 11:59 PM ET 3 May 2021 inclusive. Members will receive 70% Bonus when they purchase a minimum of 3,000 points per transaction basis in order to qualify for the bonus. Members may purchase a maximum of 150,000 points per calendar year.

  Don’t travel often enough to warrant chasing points in too many hotel loyalty programmes, so have thrown my lot in with Marriott and only have 500 IHG points from an Opentable offer some years back.

  But in Southampton, IHG (HI) potentially looking better than Marriott (Moxy) for Park, Stay & Cruise package for our MSC cruise in June (STH-Portland-Liverpool-Greenock-Belfast-STH) so might be tempted to bite.

  Any pearls of wisdom from the regular HfP sages ?

  • Rob says:

    19 Apr19 April 09:57

    IHG offers numerous 100% bonuses in the average year so I wouldn’t buy speculatively. It is obviously worth it if you are looking at making cash bookings and buying points is better value.

    • WaynedP says:

      19 Apr19 April 10:40

      Thanks, Rob, that’s what I thought.

      Currently one night stay pre-cruise is £110 or 17,000 points or £57.39 + 7,000 points. The maths shows a modest 9% saving on buying points for first option, and better 23% saving on the second.

      But I suspect there may be more mileage to be gained from phoning them up and discussing what they can do to secure my cash booking for an 8 night Park & 1 night stay package. OH is keen to avoid the train journey from Waterloo to STH that we usually do for STH sailings.

  • Njb says:

    20 Apr20 April 08:06

    I stayed at the HI Southampton recently in Executive room overlooking terminal/sea- it was clean is about all I can say! Battered and bruised by thousands of overnight cruise guests it has seen better days.
    Moxy is across the road and not stayed there but looks newer.

• C says:

  19 Apr19 April 10:02

  When a flight is cancelled on a BA holiday booking do they have any flexibility with changing the starting point of the flights or is it just a refund? Thanks all

  • ChrisC says:

    19 Apr19 April 10:14

    Depends on what the change in departure airport that you want is to be honest.

    And it’s not just a refund you can have.

    You can also request a rebooking to alternative dates.

• jek says:

  19 Apr19 April 10:02

  Question about Amex referral strategy: I have not had any Amex card for 24 month, my wife holds the free BA as her only card. What would be better? (A) She refers me to Nectar to start the referral cycle, or (B) she upgrades to BAPP before referring me to Nectar?

  • Guernsey Globetrotter says:

    19 Apr19 April 11:35

    That will partly depend on what referral bonus she will get in scenarios (A) or (B) – my BAPP is currently showing a 12k avios referral bonus (normally 9k) but not sure how much she’ll get if she refers from the BA free card – you’ll have to weigh up the cost of upgrade, whether you’ll keep the BAPP after she refers you (the longer validity of the BAPP 2-4-1 is a significant benefit) or downgrade again etc.

• Bill says:

  19 Apr19 April 10:16

  Ettyl Limited acquires Stobart Air and Carlisle Lake District Airport

  Following Esken Limited’s announcement to the London Stock Exchange earlier today, Isle of Man-based Ettyl Limited (“Ettyl”) confirms it has signed agreements for its acquisition of Stobart Air and Carlisle Lake District Airport from Esken Limited, the aviation and energy infrastructure group, subject to bank consent

  Stobart Air will continue to operate the existing Aer Lingus Regional franchise that is currently contracted to run through to December 2022 – subject to change of control consent

  The intention is to retain all staff currently employed by Stobart Air and Carlisle Lake District Airport

  Further announcements regarding Ettyl’s development plans for Stobart Air and Carlisle Lake District Airport will be made over the coming weeks and months

  Commenting on the acquisition, Jason Scales, Managing Director, Ettyl Limited

  ‘We are delighted to have signed agreements for these acquisitions. In the immediate term it will be very much business as usual in respect of both Stobart Air and Carlisle Lake District Airport’s operations and our deal ensures that the great teams within those businesses are retaine

  We will be making further announcements over the coming weeks and months regarding our plans. Ettyl sees significant opportunities for increased regional connectivity as economies recover from the impacts caused by the pandemic and return to stability across the UK and Ireland.

• Jody says:

  19 Apr19 April 10:17

  I very rarely venture onto FT, but after reading through their BA cancellation advice thread yesterday I thought I’d ask about my situation (will put below). On here, people seem to be very keen to suggest that if BA don’t agree to move your flights to a date of your choice, even if it’s outside the one year validity of the ticket, then you should take them to CEDR/MCOL and you’re likely to win. On FT the advice was much more negative and seemed to be that I’d be very unlikely to win. Is that just FT in general?

  Like many others, I’ve just had notification that the flights I booked in October for this June to Seattle have been cancelled (and BA have auto given me alternative flights on the same day which I don’t want). Booked in the 50% off sale plus used a 2 for 1. Flights were specifically booked to get to a cruise leaving from Seattle, but all Alaskan cruises have been cancelled for this year, so have rebooked for next year and would like to move the flights to match. Can’t see if I can in MMB as flights won’t be available until beginning of May for outbound, and mid May for inbound (so not too long to wait).

  Obviously once the flights are available I will try phoning, and do the old hang up and try again trick a few times. However, if unlucky with this, is it worth taking it further or not in people’s opinions?

  • Rob says:

    19 Apr19 April 10:19

    The rules say that BA must move you to a flight that is “convenient” for you. This is not defined. I define “convenient” as allowing you to refuse a Friday flight, because you need to work, and insisting you are rebooked on a Saturday. You may think that “convenient” means you want to travel in September instead of June. It is up the arbitrator to decide what “convenient” means, in their view.

    • meta says:

      19 Apr19 April 10:39

      @Rob Whilst convenient is not defined the legislation is clear that it is “at passenger’s convenience” not airlines’ or any other person’s.
      So passengers interpretation is the only valid one.

      There is only one caveat and that is “subject to availability”. So BA would have to take all comparable seats off sale.

      So if you want to travel at peak Christmas period you have the right if there are seats available. It has been tested in courts gazillion times and it will be ruled as such for as long the legislation is in place in such form.

      • Jonathan says:

        19 Apr19 April 14:15

        Got any transcripts for those cases especially any in a higher court that can set precedent?

        I think BA are being deliberately obstructive & ignoring their obligations in many cases but in a case like this it’s arguable.

        At passengers convenience is not clearly defined. I would say the fact the legislation does not state at a date of the passengers choosing introduces an element of doubt regardless of the intention of whoever wrote the legislation.

        Where there is doubt & no precedent then it’s up to the judge on the day to decide.

        He may well say the offer of a different flight on the same day or full refund is perfectly reasonable way of making you whole again.

        I certainly wouldn’t be ballsy enough to shell out £10k on a First return to Barbados over Xmas when my original Tuesday-Tuesday booking in October was cancelled and rely on MCOL to get it back. You might be lucky or the judge might decide you’re taking the proverbial. It’s definitely not a slam dunk.

    • sp says:

      19 Apr19 April 10:44

      Rob
      I am in a similar situation where my BA CW flight to EWR in June has been cancelled. This was booked with 50% AVIOS discount and they are offering flights to and from JFK instead. I told that that this would additional Uber ride of aprox.$150 each way .
      I asked for alternate dates to/From EWR and was informed that all the flights in June have been suspended for the month. So I asked to fly in July and I was told that as it is outside the 14 days from the original flight I can not do that.
      I do not really want to loose this discount so what are the options?

      • meta says:

        19 Apr19 April 10:51

        Just fly from/to JFK, keep receipts for Uber and submit a claim afterwards. Make sure to tell BA when you move the flights that you’ll be claiming for transport costs. If they refuse to pay, then take them to MCOL/CEDR.

      • Rob says:

        19 Apr19 April 11:33

        If you seriously believe that BA will buy you a ticket on another airline to Newark then you are crazy. If you seriously believe that you can buy a cash ticket on another airline to Newark and take BA to court for the money, I think you are equally crazy.

        At best, you can take BA to MCOL to reclaim the $150 AFTER you have spent it. You would win that.

        • sp says:

          19 Apr19 April 11:40

          I appreciate that BA would not book me an alternative flight on another airline but I asked to be rebooked in July as they are operating EWR in July but that was refused because apparently the BA T&C only allows me to move move the flight within a time frame of 15 days from the date of the cancelled. I am willing to fly from 3rd July onwards

        • Track says:

          19 Apr19 April 13:19

          I think solution is HUACA several times. Or find “a considerate” supervisor who will allow what is most sensible here: travel one month later.

          End of the day, it was BA commercial decision to suspend flights to EWR for a month (no cargo?). They have a contractual obligation and are failing to deliver.

  • ChrisC says:

    19 Apr19 April 10:42

    To be honest I think the advice on FT is realistic rather than negative. There ar

    Sometimes I find the responses on here at times “rebook and sue BA and you will win” to be over confident and not recognise issues such as a lot of people don’t have the financial resources to book another flight then wait for CEDR or MCOL to process the case and for a refund to eventually be paid.

    • ChrisC says:

      19 Apr19 April 10:48

      Gah finger slipped.

      There are a small number of posters on the BA FT board that I rate highly when they give their advice – corporate wage slave and and karfa in particular – and if they say someone is unlikely to win then I would take their advice with some confidence. Equally if they believe you have a good case they will tell you.

      • A says:

        19 Apr19 April 10:53

        Agreed with this – CWS is a very good barometer of likelihood of success. He should sell his advice!

    • meta says:

      19 Apr19 April 10:48

      They are not over confident. I sued BA and won.

      • meta says:

        19 Apr19 April 10:48

        And there is also S75 if you don’t want to go down the MCOL/CEDR route.

        • Jody says:

          19 Apr19 April 11:00

          Problem is that card has long been cancelled. Think it was my old BA Premium card I paid for the original taxes with (and that has been cancelled over 2 years as I’ve just got another one!).

          I can’t even remember where the original flights were to when we originally booked using the 2 for 1 – somewhere in American I think. It was then clear that wouldn’t happen, so I changed them at the time there was all the availability to Australia. Then it was clear that wouldn’t happen, so changed them again (got the FTV back then booked straight away) when the 50% off sale came up.

          I’m perfectly prepared to take the time to go down the CEDR/MCOL route (although have never done anything like that before) if required, although in an ideal world I’ll phone BA next month and they’ll just be happy to move them……..!

      • ChrisC says:

        19 Apr19 April 10:50

        I did say sometimes not every time.

    • Lady London says:

      19 Apr19 April 11:02

      this is why unfortunately, understanding this, I try to mention if BA forces you to rebook yourself then you can book a fare type that in the traditional pre-online way, can be held by travel agent in reservations system and does not need to be ticketed (ie generally not paid for till ticketed) till shortly before the flight date giving time to resolve.

      Unfortunately these tickets tend to be rack rate so much more expensive. But it lets negotiations continue or a claim be opened on mcol or even cdr meanwhile.

      Passenger would normally have to pay a nonrecoverable, typically small, booking fee or deposit. This is to be includef in passenger’s request/mcol/cedr as a cost BA or whichever airline forced you to, just like the small MCOL fee which is also to be included in the passenger claim.

      Of course no one would ever dream BA is fully aware passengers may not have the free cash to book a replacement booking as well while negotiations are going on or pending cedr or mcol judgment so could be potentially taking advantage of this in order to impose a solution on the passenger that is considerably less than the passenger is entitled to.

  • Charlieface says:

    19 Apr19 April 14:28

    Re Section 75: it doesn’t matter if the card is cancelled, you can still claim.

    But the FTV refund may have broken up the link, it’s going to be a hard ask.

• BuildBackBetter says:

  19 Apr19 April 10:18

  Krisflyer news:
  1) All miles validity extended to April 2022 and beyond
  2) First class seems to be back in availability from June

  • Sam G says:

    19 Apr19 April 10:26

    A380 (Suites) still out of action though and no F facilities at Changi due to refurb so I’d save your miles for next year (which you now can due to the extension 🙂

    • meta says:

      19 Apr19 April 10:41

      F is available from April actually and some flights are on A380.

      • meta says:

        19 Apr19 April 10:42

        That is April 2022.

        • Sam G says:

          19 Apr19 April 17:56

          SQ schedule past June currently is fiction, they publish their normal schedule and then adjust it (slash it) every month. Well placed rumours suggests they won’t be back until 2023, I think they need Singapore + Aus entry rules/traffic to be back to normal or near as before it’s justified

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