The HfP chat thread – Thursday 13th May

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Anna says:

13 May13 May 14:24

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/thousands-of-brits-could-be-turned-away-from-portugal-even-after-may-17-due-to-eu-ban/ar-BB1gGiS9?ocid=msedgntp

Fingers crossed they sort this out soon, I get the impression a lot of people have booked Portugal for next week onwards!
- Princess says:
  
  13 May13 May 14:56
  
  Thanks Anna! I was just looking for info as Portugal was discussing it today. It is so unclear this new “all European country” same approach. I have flight for 1st of June…let’s see!
  - The Lord says:
    
    13 May13 May 15:02
    
    I don’t understand it. On Monday you’ll be able to go to Greece but not Portugal? Why can’t Portugal decide to allow non-EU visitors but Greece can?
    - marcw says:
      
      13 May13 May 15:19
      
      Portugal is a sovereign country and they will decide how and when. They may decide to carry on baning all non-EU non-essential visitors (like they are now), or they will allow XYZ visitors.
      Greece (also a sovereign country) has decided to open up to XYZ visitors.
      - James says:
        
        13 May13 May 17:17
        
        It’s almost as if EU countries are able to control their own borders. Who’d have thought.
- bafan says:
  
  13 May13 May 15:51
  
  Yikes…the 17th is pretty close.
  - meta says:
    
    13 May13 May 17:24
    
    Don’t think anyone is entering Portugal before 1 June when digital green certificates will be launched.
- Navara says:
  
  13 May13 May 17:54
  
  Postponed mine till September.. Off to Cornwall tomorrow instead.
GJS says:

13 May13 May 14:25

Hi folks – do the bonuses for buying Hilton points come along fairly regularly? Don’t normally follow the hotel updates on here, but just found something interesting to do with my wife’s stash of HH in the UK this summer and we’re 35,000 short of the fifth night free. Thanks!
- Anna says:
  
  13 May13 May 15:05
  
  I think one might have just finished but they do come along every few months.
  - Rob says:
    
    13 May13 May 15:19
    
    There is one in the pipeline ….
    - Louise K says:
      
      13 May13 May 16:28
      
      Rob, thanks for your help the other day.
      
      They couldn’t sort me out on Tuesday but they are going to up the limit on my account so I can buy next time, which will be soon they said!
- Alex says:
  
  13 May13 May 15:27
  
  it’s like a DFS sale, the spring sale finishes and the summer sale starts. It’s never ending really
  - GJS says:
    
    13 May13 May 18:18
    
    Thanks everyone. Will hold off for a little bit.
rams1981 says:

13 May13 May 14:29

Travel related – kind of. HS2 – any links people are aware of to read on this to understand impact of the line on residential areas where the train tunnels will go under? Whilst it’s mean to be 50m under ground are there any risks?
- Andrew says:
  
  13 May13 May 15:42
  
  What kind of risks?
  
  London’s riddled with tunnels.
  - Rob says:
    
    13 May13 May 15:53
    
    I used to live on a street where the District and Circle Lines passed within 2m of our basement. Not a problem. Obviously the house rumbled whenever a train went by but that was reflected in what we paid, and you didn’t notice it after a few weeks.
    
    InterCon in Paris has the same issue.
    
    You might, however, want to read up on the town of Kiruna in Swedish Lapland which we visited a couple of years ago. The whole town is being moved, house by house, building by building, by a mile because the current town is collapsing into the ground after 100 years of mining.
    - rams1981 says:
      
      13 May13 May 16:17
      
      thanks Rob. Will take a look. It’s amazing how much of London it cuts through and impacts.
    - Paul Pogba says:
      
      13 May13 May 18:51
      
      Something similar happened to Bath, the Combe Down Stone Mine that sat beneath the city started undermining the structures above, The solution was pumping it full of foamed concrete.
  - rams1981 says:
    
    13 May13 May 16:16
    
    movement at ground level and structural issues. And then there’s noise disturbance.
- John says:
  
  13 May13 May 16:56
  
  You may find this article interesting:
  
  https://www.londonreconnections.com/2020/covenants-easements-wayleaves-the-hidden-urban-interfaces-which-shape-london-part-1/
  
  https://www.londonreconnections.com/2021/covenants-easements-wayleaves-transport-asset-interface-register-part-2/
- Mouse says:
  
  13 May13 May 17:33
  
  Main risk is triggering an epidemic of nimbyism
  - Gruntfuttock says:
    
    13 May13 May 17:51
    
    Or WIGWAM ism, Where It Goes Won’t Affect Me 😁
- Paul Pogba says:
  
  13 May13 May 18:48
  
  The primary risk is during tunnelling, all impacted structures will be monitored extensively during the period. There will be some residual settlement for around a year after and HS2 will be responsible for any work that needs to be undertaken if damage does occur. At 50m through chalk you’ll be unlucky to know they’re there.
  
  I’ve worked on projects tunnelling 5m below a basement in an Edwardian terrace, they knew about it 🙂
@mkcol says:

13 May13 May 14:29

Can’t get logged into IHG on the website using Chrome browser but the app is fine.
Is this a common fault?
- Peter K says:
  
  13 May13 May 15:27
  
  Ihg IT very flakey, so yes.
- Alan S says:
  
  14 May14 May 19:39
  
  Something odd is going on with it. I have the same issue and can’t sort it.
Aliks says:

13 May13 May 15:48

Sigh, another Covid cancellation problem – this time with HYATT

BA just announced they are pruning their flights to Punta Cana in June/July and cancelled our outbound flight. Instead they propose to move us to a flight 2 days later. Its a 241 redemption, but inside an hour on the phone, they managed to rebook outbound and return flights even though there was no Avios availability on our dates. So far so good.

Unfortunately, Hyatt are not so helpful. We had 4 nights booked in January at an excellent rate, and need to slide that booking back a couple of days. Obviously rates have shot up in the intervening 3 months but to add to the problem, the Hyatt chat line say that any change to the existing 4 nights booking will reprice it completely.

Even if I just need to cancel the first 2 nights, Hyatt say they will cancel the entire booking. Is this correct?
- Steve says:
  
  13 May13 May 16:45
  
  By the book that is correct. Suggest calling the hotel direct as they may be more flexible, rather than headoffice which is who you’re getting on chat.
- Zoe says:
  
  13 May13 May 16:49
  
  Hi. Can you send a link to this announcement? My 3 June flights to punta cana were cancelled on Monday so they changed to 1 June and paid for extra 2 nights in the Hotel so we came back on original flights we booked. Today they cancelled both flights again so we moved from 1 June returning 17 June to going out on 1 July back on 15 July. I am not sure I can cope with another cancellation. But very worried they may not have finished cutting out July flights.
  - Aliks says:
    
    13 May13 May 17:34
    
    Sorry it wasn’t an announcement, they just sent me the email telling me of the cancellation and rebooking.
    
    I went onto BA site and matrix.itasoftware.com to check which days BA were flying in Jun / Jul – its pretty sparse. I guess this reflects the likelihood that Dominican Republic will still be in the Amber zone as their vaccination program unlikely to be past 25% first jabs before mid July. Still, on the upside, no Covid test required before setting off from the UK.
    - Zoe says:
      
      13 May13 May 18:12
      
      Ahh thanks.
      I thought we had to get a test to leave UK irrespective of their entry requirements. Is good to know that is wrong!
      - Aliks says:
        
        13 May13 May 19:17
        
        Just to be absolutely clear: The BA agent told me that BA does not have its own Covid test policies – they go by the Foreign Office website. The FO page for Dominican Republic states clearly that there is a temperature test and a random testing regime at immigration.
        
        That seems clear enough, but I will be monitoring the situation and double checking before our flights!!
Pete M says:

13 May13 May 15:56

If anyone’s interested in what Lisbon is like at the moment: flew in from a Schengen country yesterday (with an EU passport). TAP checked PCR tests and locator forms at check-in. On landing they were checked again by border police in the baggage hall. All very cursory. Lisbon airport was as busy as I’ve seen an airport in a while. Intercontinental is very quiet, from the breakfast list maybe 50 rooms taken. Upgraded to a junior suite after grumbling that the original upgrade wasn’t really an upgrade (I am IC Ambassador). Breakfast buffet being offered in the Club Lounge (which is hence not being used as such) and served by a member of staff behind some plexiglass and further meals cooked to order. Pretty much everything is open, everyone is delighted to have tourists back but the city still feels pretty quiet. Indoor dining is allowed, masks are mandatory indoors.
- Memesweeper says:
  
  13 May13 May 16:43
  
  Thanks Pete… hope to be there later in 21
- Nelson says:
  
  14 May14 May 00:03
  
  Thanks Pete. Has anybody asked you for reason to travel? Have they refused entry to anyone you seen around? Hope to get there on Monday 🙂
  - Pete M says:
    
    14 May14 May 08:42
    
    No Nelson, not that I could see. But remember I was coming from Europe, with a European passport, so would have been harder to chuck me out! Hope you have an easy journey!
Dave says:

13 May13 May 16:01

May have missed the answer for this before but had BA flights paid for with an eVoucher/future travel voucher. Flight has now been cancelled so can I get a cash refund or is it only a voucher?
- kitten says:
  
  13 May13 May 16:06
  
  cash if you want
Benilyn says:

13 May13 May 16:03

MLE – LHR cancelled today for late May
- Joe says:
  
  13 May13 May 17:45
  
  And for late June also Fri/Sun flights.
  - Mart says:
    
    18 May18 May 11:25
    
    Completely depressing cancelled 4 times now,fully vaccinated what risk am i, or is it because I’m not American and Americans wouldn’t stand for it!