The HfP chat thread – Saturday 8th May

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Alan says:

8 May8 May 12:10

I have just booked Lisbon for the May bank holiday weekend with Easyjet £636!!!!!

Fortunately I had booked £45 flights, back when Easyjet were still showing availability on flights that were bound to be cancelled and was able to reschedule these.

Big thanks to Anna for tipping me off about this.

Also thanks to Easyjet for not trying to wheedle out of accepting the booking, 570 people were looking at the route when I booked.

Hotel availability/prices are still very good, 5* Eurostars Museum was a bargain 104Euro a night including breakfast
- Babyg says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:01
  
  clickbait “I have just booked Lisbon for the May bank holiday weekend with Easyjet £636!!!!!”…
  
  we have a number of banked flights with BA to Portugal too…. just working out when to cash them in… indeed a good travel hack
  - r* says:
    
    8 May8 May 18:59
    
    Are the flight still shown on your BA bookings page on the website? (assuming they were for dates which have past) Mine seem to have vanished.
    - Babyg says:
      
      8 May8 May 20:01
      
      any booking from the past that was cancelled has gone from my BA MMB too….
- Alex says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:05
  
  So… you didn’t book them for £636.
  
  Why the need to “show off”?
  - Alan says:
    
    8 May8 May 19:06
    
    What a weird reply.
    It was clear to anyone reading that I didn’t pay the cash price. I got a great deal because of information I picked up on this site and though it worth sharing.
- Harry T says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:32
  
  The real EasyJet hustle was booking flights you knew would be cancelled when they allowed you to change the inbound and outbound to any country for free, on any date.
- Anna says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:46
  
  Great result, Alan – and this kind of thing is a mainstay of HFP comments!
  - Alan says:
    
    8 May8 May 19:08
    
    Yes, and like you I have multiple flights stacked up for use when travel fully opens up.
    
    Thanks again for the tip.
- Richie says:
  
  8 May8 May 14:20
  
  I wouldn’t risk a trip on a high density 230+ seater easyJet A321.
  - Chris says:
    
    8 May8 May 16:03
    
    1 in 1,000 Brits currently have Covid.
    I’d guess that rate to be even lower amongst typical holidaymakers to Portugal based on age, ethnicity, risk nature and social class.
    Then add in masks, social distancing in the airport.
    - Rob says:
      
      8 May8 May 21:19
      
      23 in 100,000, so nearer 1 in 5,000.
  - Alan says:
    
    8 May8 May 19:24
    
    We will be fully vaccinated, everyone else on the plane will either be vaccinated or have a negative PCR test.
    
    This plus the low level of virus in circulation means the risk will be pretty near zero, certainly far lower than the risk my wife has being taking throughout the pandemic commuting by tube into her hospital for work.
    
    Unless you are prepared to put your life on hold indefinitely it’s time to start getting back to normal as the current very low level of risk could be with us for years.
- Travel Strong says:
  
  8 May8 May 14:59
  
  Where will you be jetting to on your Gulfstream instead?
  - Richie says:
    
    8 May8 May 15:36
    
    BACF E190 to Faro.
pauline says:

8 May8 May 12:31

I have booked a trip to Madeira in August in the ‘hope’ that Scotland follows England and that Madeira stays on the green list. I need to overnight at Heathrow with the flight to Funchal leaving at 7.30am – suggestions for the preferred airport hotel?
- Optimus Prime says:
  
  8 May8 May 12:51
  
  I’ve only done it once – Premier Inn T4. Quite happy with it, I’d do it again if needed.
- Eppleby Green says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:49
  
  Sofitel
  - Pauline says:
    
    8 May8 May 21:11
    
    The Sofitel would definitely be my preferred option but would prefer something cheaper as we will be there for only a few hours. What other options are there for easiest access? Thanks
    - Lady London says:
      
      8 May8 May 23:23
      
      Thistle if its T5 but not sure if the shuttle pods are running
Sam says:

8 May8 May 12:45

Hi all, I’m thinking of buying an item from Australia via Gumtree. Although the seller has good reviews and seems legit, the payment method is via PayPal so I won’t get s75 protection. Are there any workarounds this so I can pay by credit card. I have the Halifax clarity card so any FX fees won’t apply etc.

Related, I’ve been looking up any taxes that I need to pay on the item. Item is roughly around £150 – so believe will have to pay VAT but don’t know if there is anything else.

Thanks!
- Benilyn says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:07
  
  PayPal has some protection as long as you pay goods and services. Typically lean on buyers side but YMMV
- Jay says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:20
  
  Also need to factor in import duty (% based on category the product falls into), carrier surcharges and handling fees (c. £20)
Matty says:

8 May8 May 12:55

Hertz – the same vehicle (Nissan Qashqai) – is £93 from LGW and £130 from MAN for the same dates and times over a weekend. That’s almost 40% higher. Is it because the are fewer cars at Manchester?
- Peter K says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:24
  
  It’s supply and demand. They will charge what they think they can get
Tiger says:

8 May8 May 13:06

Disappointed to receive just £1500 credit limit with my new BAPP. I have £15k limit on my PRG, and was expecting a similar kind of limit. Please can someone help with the following:

(1) Is it possible to ask Amex to transfer part of the PRG limit to BAPP?

(2) If not, when is the earliest I can ask for a limit increase without coming across as a limit seeking maniac?

(3) I am actually thinking of cancelling PRG, but not sure now considering the new Deliveroo credits. If I do end up cancelling, is it possible to get the credit limit transferred from PRG to BAPP?
- Benilyn says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:08
  
  1- yes
- Jay says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:23
  
  Amex will look at its total liability across all cards so if one card has a high limit this isn’t a precedent that all cards will be high. Typically one card will have high limit to force it to front of wallet and others will have a token limit. Use the card and show you can pay back and request a higher limit in 90 days or ask for a credit limit split across the PRG and new card.
- Harry T says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:33
  
  They should be amenable to splitting the credit across the cards or transferring it over if you cancel. Guess they only want to lend you 16.5k total!
- Genghis says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:44
  
  1 and 3. Yes – I moved a multiple five figure limit to a new Amex and a few days later cancelled the old Amex from which the limit came. Did it on chat. Easy.
- MW says:
  
  8 May8 May 15:39
  
  2 – it’s usually 6 months, but you may be better off getting in touch with them as they don’t tend to run credit searches on existing customers (in my experience)
  - Kevin D says:
    
    9 May9 May 00:36
    
    I was offered a credit limit increase after 4 months. Give them a ring, the worst they can say is no. Then keep your account in good order and they’ll offer an increase in a few months, then again, likely a few months after that.
MCO says:

8 May8 May 13:08

Filed a EC261 claim against BA. Received acknowledgment of service reply from BA via the court that they intend to defend all of the claim. Is this normal?
- Sean says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:14
  
  depends what the claim is for.
  - MCO says:
    
    8 May8 May 16:13
    
    BA cancelled flight and won’t book me on dates that I want due to ticket validity.
- NC says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:16
  
  Yes, filing the acknowledgment of service is a no brainer for them as it gives them an extra 14 days to respond. So they always file this.
FM says:

8 May8 May 13:17

IC O2 question – have paid to upgrade a reward booking to a suite as traveling with 2 young kids (4 and 6yrs). Have provisionally booked a Nor1 upgrade to an Intercontinental suite for £56 – to include lounge access/breakfast. There’s no mention of whether this would include the kids – would it be fair to assume they would have access to breakfast and whatever variant of in room club access is available as we are all staying in the same room?
- Anna says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:41
  
  I would normally expect any amenities to be extended to the full number of people showing on your reservation unless it’s specified otherwise, however do check whether there are age restrictions on the IC O2 lounge as some don’t admit children.
  - Fm says:
    
    8 May8 May 15:41
    
    Thanks Anna
- Si says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:44
  
  I know this gets discussed a lot on here, but where do I find the offer of a cash upgrade on a rewards booking please?
  
  I have a few rewards stays booked (inc the IC 02) and have never found / been offered these options…
  - Genghis says:
    
    8 May8 May 13:54
    
    I contact hotels directly
    - mark says:
      
      8 May8 May 14:56
      
      Thanks for the update.
  - Anna says:
    
    8 May8 May 13:56
    
    If you’re going to get one, it will showing on the reservation details page, just below where it shows the room type you’ve booked. There is some sort of IT glitch on the system where you can make these offers appear (if they don’t already) by logging out and in again while on the same page, but it’s very hit and miss and not always offered. The IC is one of the best for these offers appearing, though, so you might be in luck. They are only guaranteed at check in though.
- Chrisasaurus says:
  
  8 May8 May 15:44
  
  Keep in mind it’s not guaranteed you’ll get the upgrade so if it is important speak to a human at the hotel
Anna says:

8 May8 May 13:43

Extending IC Ambassador for 2/6 months – it does say the Ambassador free night certificate won’t be extended but can anyone confirm this (or otherwise)? My current membership runs to Dec 1st but I’d really prefer to use the certificate between Xmas and New Year!
- Genghis says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:54
  
  Confirmed.
- David says:
  
  8 May8 May 13:56
  
  Thought you had used your certificate in Edinburgh?
  - Anna says:
    
    8 May8 May 13:58
    
    That was technically the OH’s certificate but I count all our points and free nights as mine!
    - Chris Heyes says:
      
      8 May8 May 15:13
      
      Anna I agree what is Partners is Partners, what is mine isn’t mine but Partners
      Partner told me that’s how it is
- TJ says:
  
  8 May8 May 15:49
  
  My membership was extended recently for 2 months as was the weekend free night voucher (they cancelled the old certificate and re-issued with new date). I didn’t really push then for a 6m extension as I already had a date in mind to use the new voucher. But, I did explicitly ask them to extend the voucher and not just the membership.
  - Anna says:
    
    8 May8 May 17:14
    
    Thanks TJ, I’ll email them and ask. 2 months would be plenty.