The HfP chat thread – Thursday 13th May

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• mark2 says:

  13 May13 May 09:04

  I wonder whether the Platinum car hire benefits would cover this https://www.morgan-motor.com/morgan-driving-tours/?

• Frankie says:

  13 May13 May 09:08

  Hello. I have an avios flight to Phoenix booked for 9th June which was cancelled a few weeks ago. The return is from Vegas on 26th June which is not yet cancelled. Do I need to contact BA to instruct them what I want to happen with the Phoenix flight before the 9th June? What happens if I just leave it for now and do nothing and 9th June passes? I DO want to reschedule both flights to September but I don’t know dates yet and I believe the call centres are very busy currently with the India centre closed. Thanks in advance.

  • Memesweeper says:

    13 May13 May 13:40

    You need to contact them before the 26th.

• N says:

  13 May13 May 09:10

  Eid Mubarak to all!

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    13 May13 May 11:11

    Selamat Hari Raya!

  • Anna says:

    13 May13 May 11:53

    Eid Mubarak, we have some very elaborate confectionary gifts from the neighbours to enjoy!

  • Ammar says:

    13 May13 May 13:23

    Eid Mubaruk. Hope everyone is enjoying the food, family and catching up on sleep! Also, just wanted to say Thank you to all those that posted replies to my query re Tenerife Hotels and care hire.

• Peter says:

  13 May13 May 09:10

  I’m travelling to Mexico on Monday and the country has no requirement to provide any COVID test results for entry. Understandably I’m concerned about arriving at Heathrow to find BA requesting any test results that I don’t need. Can anyone reassure me that you don’t require proof of a negative test to simply fly to a country that doesn’t require it on entry? I’ve done the research and this doesn’t seem to be the case but I can’t help having nagging doubts…

  • Diydegsy says:

    13 May13 May 09:59

    Hi Peter please let us know what you find as we will be heading out on the 17th June. What tests did you book for returning?

    • Peter says:

      15 May15 May 06:44

      Will do! Haven’t booked the day 2 and day 8 tests yet. Just the 72 hour test before flying back, through Qured on the BA website link.

  • Pablo says:

    13 May13 May 10:14

    According to IATA travel centre test is not required. https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/world.php
    Published 22.04.2021
    A completed “Cuestionario de identificacion de factores de riesgo en viajeros” must be presented to immigration upon arrival. The form can be found at https://vuelaseguro.com/home

    • Peter says:

      15 May15 May 06:44

      Thanks Pablo

• JohnT says:

  13 May13 May 09:14

  Unhelpful response to my complaint “The DragonPass memberships received through Red by Dufry programme has now concluded.  Your membership was valid for 12 months period since the registration date.  We therefore cannot extend your membership and validity of your visit as it is now expired, unfortunately.” Now seeing what they say about refunds!

  • Washborne says:

    13 May13 May 16:01

    I assume I will get a similar response in due course given I had the same holding email as you.

    Will also have to go down the refund route as well then.

    I seem to remember a promise when booking visits onto the card that any unused visits would be refunded but maybe someone here can confirm that when the offer was made back in the day.

• PinPerl says:

  13 May13 May 09:22

  URGENT!!!!!!
  My mum is stuck in Tel aviv, she had a BA flight to London this afternoon but they’ve cancelled it.
  Can I book her onto any flight an BA will have to pay the fare??
  I’d appreciate any help…..Thanks

  • Harry T says:

    13 May13 May 09:26

    She should ring BA first and ask to be rerouted. If they refuse to reroute her, then you could book another flight and claim either under section 75 on a credit card or try MCOL, I believe. I’m sure more erudite commenters with relevant experience will weigh in.

    • PinPerl says:

      13 May13 May 09:28

      Thanks Harry, BA have refused to help……

      • meta says:

        13 May13 May 09:37

        Just make sure you have a recording of the call with BA refusing or some sort of written proof.

        • PinPerl says:

          13 May13 May 09:46

          they only want to reroute on BA not on a different airline

        • Lady London says:

          13 May13 May 10:07

          If you’re rich and she needs to get back today (as booked) then buy a ticket on another airline that can get her home today. You’ll then have to MCOL it which is not onerous, after she gets back.

          Although EU261 does give this right it wil help show reasonable if reason for still needing to get home on day booked is shared.

          Got a gut feeling El Al might be difficult to sort at short notice? due security and other routes likely to be indirect? so more stressful and possibly getting home a day later anyway.

          If she can, why not get BA to take her asap and make it clear to them this will be subject to full claim of duty of care parts of EU261 ie hotel and transport to&from, all meals, comms (eg hotel internet).

        • Lady London says:

          13 May13 May 10:17

          PS Look on Expertflyer or other source, ideally within 48 hours for the officially filed reason for cancellation.

          Got a feeling it could well be light loads, mechanical, unavailability of incoming aircraft. Any of which would get you the separate compensation amount.

          Call BA and, in the course of asking for what you want, note carefully what they say and don’t comment or question it. Then verify with sources above.

          As @Genghis was wondering a day or two ago there will come a time when airlines keep trotting out Covid as an excuse thus using the exceptional circs part of Eu261 to exempt themselves from paying compo, but a case was reported here recently when an airline tried this but there was no specific worsening in anything Covid when a flight was cancelled at less than 14 days notice and so the airline had to pay compensation, as well as duty of care stuff (duty of care they are always responsible for)

        • r* says:

          13 May13 May 11:14

          @Lady London Where are the official reasons for cancellations found? Is that only on paid expertflyer accounts? Do you know of anywhere else that may have that info?

        • Lady London says:

          13 May13 May 12:27

          I only know Expertflyer however of course there are other official sources people here might know. You could ask nicely on Flyertalk if someone would look it up for you. Needs to be done within 48 hrs if Expertflyer IIRC.

          Also make sure to ask them – ideally in Israel – as their agent or ground agent might make a slip and tell you the real reason. (Sometimes airlines change the reason later in the course of being pursued for compo.)

        • Rantallion says:

          13 May13 May 13:38

          BBC is reporting that BA has suspended flights to/from Israel due to the current situation there.

        • Memesweeper says:

          13 May13 May 13:43

          The airport has had one emergency closure due to the deteriorating situation. Likely the reason for BA not wishing to fly. Ask for a re-route as others have advised. Duty of care if staying put also still applies.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    13 May13 May 13:38

    I don’t know exactly why she needs to get back so urgently but would it not make sense to get back after Monday?

    • Memesweeper says:

      13 May13 May 13:44

      She might just want to *leave* urgently.

• James says:

  13 May13 May 09:24

  I seem to have ended up with two offers for Browns Fashion, with both 15% and 10% back. Anyone had experience with this before? Will I get both back (I’m hopeful but skeptical) or just the 15%?

  • Harry T says:

    13 May13 May 09:27

    On Amex? On the same card? They should stack.

    • James says:

      13 May13 May 09:40

      Ooh amazing thanks, yeah I have no idea how I managed to do it, but works out great for me

• Fm says:

  13 May13 May 09:27

  Received my first Virgin cc statement today. Credit limit is only £1400, though spend was £2400. For some reason I’ve received 2100 points, I thought these were limited to the credit limit per month – does paying off once you hit your limit and recycling generate more points?

  • NC says:

    13 May13 May 09:48

    That is the miles corresponding to your monthly credit limit. The earning rate is 1.5 per £1 (assuming you have the paid version of the card). So it makes sense that you earned 1400 x 1.5 = 2100 points.

    • Fm says:

      13 May13 May 10:03

      Ah, thanks- forgot it was 1.5x for the premium version of the card!

    • ChasP says:

      13 May13 May 10:24

      wow £1400 limit and thought my £3500 was mean They doubled it after 9 months though

      • Jonathan says:

        13 May13 May 12:02

        Regulars on HfP comments generally know how stingy Virgin Atlantic credit card limits are, I’ve got £2100 on the premium card, before that it was just £500 on the free card. I’ve got 2x Amex cards with limits over double Virgin Atlantic credit card’s highest limit

  • Jonathan says:

    13 May13 May 10:26

    At least you know not to use it for spending more than your credit limit per statement month, because even if you pay off what you’ve charged when you’re nearing your limit, you don’t get any additional benefits for spending on the card, minus of course getting the voucher a bit sooner, but with international travel the way things currently are, it’s probably better to get the voucher near your card’s anniversary date

  • Mr. AC says:

    13 May13 May 10:29

    After some months of regular spend, call and ask if you can overpay the card to make a large purchase (e.g. a cruise for the whole family works well – at least I can make that realistic sounding, unlike tickets in First somewhere which I could never buy with a straight face…). They say no, then ask them to raise your credit limit.

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