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The HfP chat thread – Friday 30th April

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We are running this daily chat thread on Head for Points during the coronavirus outbreak.

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General

Comments (259)

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

  • HeadingForNoPoints says:
    30 Apr30 April 10:54

    My supplementary card has just arrived (in my own name) however member since is “21”, is this standard for supplementary cards? my relationship with amex started in 2014

    • Genghis says:
      30 Apr30 April 10:55

      +1 for me with supp received earlier this week.

      • HeadingForNoPoints says:
        30 Apr30 April 10:59

        Can’t seem to add the card to my online account either

        • Lev441 says:
          30 Apr30 April 11:04

          Wait a couple of days and try again.. normally there’s a lag.

        • Genghis says:
          30 Apr30 April 11:10

          +1 Mine was v weird as if half added. I added it and it was showing on the app (though I wasn’t able to view PIN) but wasn’t showing at all on the website. In the end I added it to a separate account.

        • Aston100 says:
          30 Apr30 April 11:16

          This has happened on the last 2 supps.
          I managed to activate and add to my account 1 day and 2 days later.

  • Aston100 says:
    30 Apr30 April 11:02

    @memesweeper
    Regarding on.to electric car rental.
    What does your referral provide? is it £50 off the first rental?
    Also, do you need to pay the same delivery fee each time you rent?

    • Memesweeper says:
      30 Apr30 April 16:50

      I’m not sure what it provides!

      I’ve never returned the car so can’t comment on repeat delivery fees.

  • Waddle says:
    30 Apr30 April 11:09

    The Hampton by Hilton Torquay open to frontline and key workers on 20 April. I might have opportunity to stay in July. Wonder if there are any more recent reviews and/or non-render pictures floating around to get a sense of what it’s like.

  • Matthias Mahr says:
    30 Apr30 April 11:22

    Quick question on etiquette re seat reservation on BA ET for 2 pax.

    With my BAEC Silver I can reserve seats when the plane is wide open. I was surprised to find that I could split the 2 pax so that theoretically I can reserve say 8AC with an empty middle seat rather than 8AB

    I can’t see any downside to doing this because I will either get the empty middle seat, or find someone sat there who will surely be glad to move to either A or C if I ask them.

    But it does feel pretty selfish, so I wanted to ask you views. Does everyone do this? Or no one, and it’s ‘frowned upon’…?

    • Jonathan says:
      30 Apr30 April 11:37

      People do it. Chances of it staying empty in normal times as silver is low, especially near the front. The algorithm will fill empty seats at check in prioritising protecting empty seats next to GGL then Gold then Silver so you’re relying on lots of empty seats or no higher status passengers.

      If you value the empty middle then better to do it at the back. Be aware some people like middle & won’t move. I believe there’s someone on Flyertalk who actively choses middle & refuses to move if he sees that someone has been “gaming” the system!

      • Matthias says:
        30 Apr30 April 11:42

        Thanks Jonathan.

        Other than Flyertalkers trying to annoy “system gamers”, surely no one actively PREFERS a middle seat?!

      • BuildBackBetter says:
        30 Apr30 April 11:45

        Well, the algorithm would try to fill seats evenly across the rows as the weight has to be distributed across the length of the plane.

        • Jonathan says:
          30 Apr30 April 11:57

          Yes but when you’re talking about the empty middle seat in normal times that 80%. That’s irrelevant in weight calculations. Either you rely on being highest status passenger on plane so keep your block until it’s 100% full or you choose a location that no other status passenger would choose to occupy ie. at the back.

          Depends on route but a lot of high status passengers fly solo (& book late) so will happily nab 8B over 20 A/C.

          • Jonathan says:
            30 Apr30 April 11:59

            normal times that’s less than 5 seats per plane with load factor of 80+%.

            For some reason part of my reply was chopped

    • Jonathan says:
      30 Apr30 April 11:41

      As a follow up, be wary of putting yourself too close to front of ET cabin as silver. The front 2 economy rows are usually blocked for Golds. If CE fills up & the curtain shifts back (it will often do this in the 3 days pre flight) then you’ll get booted out in to whatever’s left. Better to pick row 10+ (especially if emergency exit) & then move forward if available at T-24 hours.

      • Matthias says:
        30 Apr30 April 11:47

        Thank you. Yes I’ve noticed that. In fact that whole ‘choose your seat in advance with status’ thing is often less valuable than claimed in ET, because a couple of extra rows of Economy open up at the front at T-24 checkin – which anyone can grab as soon as they get in early enough.

        But it’s a lovely insurance policy for ET and of course super valuable for long haul so I’m not complaining…

      • ChrisC says:
        30 Apr30 April 14:41

        The most number of passengers BA puts in Club Europe is 48 so that’s 12 rows.

        So row 13 and back means you are safe from ‘curtain roulette’

        Personally I don’t approve of these seat gamers as it makes it worse for other people who also might want to sit together.

        Plenty of tales of woe on the BA flyer talk board. Ditto with those expecting others to move so a couple can sit together – including those that just presume and plonk themselves down anyway.

    • Scott says:
      30 Apr30 April 12:05

      I’ve had a few times where as Gold or GGL, I’ve taken a seat nearer the back for space purposes and still had people next to me. Worse when there’s a single traveller in adjacent rows, or you can see empty seats towards the front.

      • Pete M says:
        30 Apr30 April 12:32

        I do this regularly when travelling with others. In normal times it probably works 1/5 times, during Covid it’s more like 3/5. Usual reaction is gratitude from the single person who has been offered the aisle seat, sometimes a knowing “sorry it didn’t work out for you this time, buddy” look when they know exactly what you were aiming for!

        • Sam G says:
          30 Apr30 April 12:38

          I’ve twice ended up swapping flights last minute and ending up between a couple who are very passively aggressive about letting me have the seat & not wanting to swap either, leaving me in the middle of them with a very frosty atmosphere the whole way home (luckily only AMS-LHR) . So if you’re going to give it a go then my advice is a) take seats nearer the back, if I have to take a middle I’ll take the furthest forward possible & b) be gracious and give up the aisle like Pete M if it doesn’t work out!

          • Matthias says:
            30 Apr30 April 13:27

            That’s a funny story. If the blocking plan doesn’t work out, I would certainly rather sit next to my wife but be in a middle seat, than stay in the aisle with a stranger in between!!

          • Aston100 says:
            30 Apr30 April 13:31

            Depends if the stranger is better eye candy than your partner.

          • AJA says:
            30 Apr30 April 13:54

            @ Sam I do hope you hogged both armrests? I once had a similar situation and turned to the husband in the window seat and offered to kiss him on the lips as a gesture of goodwill for upsetting their plans of sharing three seats (I am male) It was hilarious because for the entire flight thereafter he sat bolt upright and facing forward, and didn’t dare to look at me or converse with his wife in the aisle seat.

          • Sam G says:
            30 Apr30 April 14:41

            @AJA yes I did make sure to shuffle about in my bag and generally be quite annoying 🙂

            Of course this all used to be a lot more fun when Easyjet/Ryanair were free seating, amazing how many people suddenly became telegraph readers and had them wide open at boarding time and various other seat blocking techniques (all usually futile – when did anyone ever go on a Sunday night flight back from the latest 00s weekend break spot that wasn’t packed to the giles)

    • Scott says:
      30 Apr30 April 13:56

      Suppose there’s always the option of sitting on adjacent aisles? Still technically next to one another.

    • Lyn says:
      30 Apr30 April 22:29

      We always do this, simply because I much prefer window seats and my husband much prefers the aisle. Except for the rare occasions where there are only two seats, like the rear of the 747 when they were available.

      Occasionally we are lucky enough to have an empty middle seat (with One World Sapphire equivalent to BA Silver). But if not, we stay where we are and never ask anyone to move. We also try our best not to talk to each other across the person in the middle seat!

      The suggestions in the comments above about which seats to choose if you are hoping for an empty seat are well worth noting.

      • Lyn says:
        30 Apr30 April 22:38

        I should probably add that we have reasons other than just preference for always choosing the window and aisle.

        An ankle problem in my case and a need to get up several times to walk around during a long flight in my husband’s case.

  • Rob says:
    30 Apr30 April 11:28

    Yes, this is the usual Amex way.

  • MW says:
    30 Apr30 April 11:40

    Quick question, I got an Amex Bus. Plat card during the bonus period and added my wife as a supplementary Platinum card holder shortly after. How long does it take to get a 5000 bonus as it hasn’t posted?

    (She has activated her card and used it for a few transactions)

    • Charlie says:
      30 Apr30 April 11:47

      Very quickly, I had 5 supplementaries added for 5K points each, each one posted within a day off applying, well before the cards arrived.

    • Benilyn says:
      30 Apr30 April 13:54

      It’s a likely glitchy, I had to add 7 supps to get the 5 bonuses posted.

    • Jay says:
      30 Apr30 April 16:57

      Added 2 supps and no points showed, chatted online and told to wait 90 days before they could raise a case… Amex online chat is worse than shocking!!

  • jek says:
    30 Apr30 April 12:01

    Delta has removed DL10/DL11 (LHR-MSP) from booking systems for June but has not canceled it yet. How long does Delta usually take to cancel flights in this situation?

    I booked Delta One on the flights via Virgin points as soon as they became available. What are my rights when Delta finally cancels the flights?

    • ChrisC says:
      30 Apr30 April 14:49

      I’d look up alterntives now (later flight / reasonable reroute) so when they do actually cancel the flight you are ready to call VS with options.

      As there is an ex UK flight involved then EU/UK261 applies so right (your choice) of refund or rebooking.

  • mutley says:
    30 Apr30 April 12:23

    Quick question, is there a link to get the £150 Dell offer on the Amex Biz Plat?

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