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The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 19th May

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Comments (525)

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  • The cyclist says:
    19 May19 May 12:25

    Is it really worth all the effort? Wait 12 months before going abroad, instead help the UK economy recover and take a staycation, whilst supporting local businesses.

    • Harry T says:
      19 May19 May 12:41

      Why would I pay through the nose to spend time in substandard accommodation (outside of a handful of cities) and be surrounded by hordes of my fellow Brits? 😂 and paying for flights supports airlines who employ a large amount of UK based workers.

      • Steve says:
        19 May19 May 12:52

        Many destinations that will attract UK travellers you’ll be surrounded by hordes of unwashed Brit masses anyway.

        • Harry T says:
          19 May19 May 13:13

          I don’t stay like to stay in places that most British people can afford to pay for though.

      • Super Secret Stuff says:
        19 May19 May 12:56

        I got the Plymouth Derry Cross Premier Inn (brand new hotel) for £50 pn. There are good deals around you just have to look beyond the surface

        • meta says:
          19 May19 May 13:06

          Why would I even contemplate paying £50pn when I can pay not much more to stay in a luxury hotel outside UK?

          I mean I’ll visit Plymouth for a day or two, but for me that it’s not a proper holiday. Each to their own, I guess.

          • Super Secret Stuff says:
            19 May19 May 13:14

            Plus the covid tests, flights, transfers, insurance and baggage? Topped off with a lot of stress, agro and maybe a free dose of Covid? I’m keeping it simple this year and going to explore Devon and Cornwall with Plymouth as my “base”

            Dublin IC tempted me at 30k points a night but didn’t bother in the end

          • Optimus Prime says:
            19 May19 May 13:32

            Not much more than £50/night in a luxury hotel? In Europe?

      • David says:
        19 May19 May 13:54

        Totally get that – I’m not staying anywhere that isn’t nicer than my own house. I particularly don’t understand that towing a white box behind your car thing and then sharing toilet facilities with other people (shudder).

    • Anna says:
      19 May19 May 12:46

      Things might be worse in 12 months though, if variants appear which defeat the current crops of vaccines. Are we supposed to wait indefinitely?

      A lot more could be done to make travel safe, such as having a dedicated LHR terminal for flights from red countries. It’s not the fault of the travelling public that measures like this haven’t been adopted.

      • meta says:
        19 May19 May 12:48

        @Harry T I was just about to write the same. Plus the weather. Imagine paying £300 a night to look at the grey sky for a week.

        • Steve says:
          19 May19 May 12:54

          That’s why you book flexible rates on multiple dates and only go if the weather plays nicely.

          • Anna says:
            19 May19 May 12:57

            Multiple dates – what person with a normal job can do that?!

          • meta says:
            19 May19 May 13:02

            And bad weather can last for weeks on end…

          • Anna says:
            19 May19 May 13:09

            Indeed – the only time we can have a proper family holiday this year is 2 weeks in August which my OH has to book 12 months in advance. We’ll both be fully jabbed and we and the teenagers will be regularly tested and masked where required. Sitting in a B & B or caravan in the pouring rain is not an option. Do you realise that even a basic caravan is £1200 per week in August?!

        • Harry T says:
          19 May19 May 13:14

          @meta Amen!

          • Steve says:
            19 May19 May 13:55

            It really isn’t that hard @Anna. You’re off for two weeks, book multiple combinations of 7, 10 and 14 day stays within that period and yes, you’ll hope that one is when weather is good. Alternative of going abroad to find they’ve changed the traffic light before you get back is hardly worth the hassle. To each their own, that stress, coupled with tests, masks throughout the flight and border queues all sounds like a rubbish holiday to me.

          • James Pleasant says:
            19 May19 May 14:08

            if people have had the 2 jabs, what’s the big deal about travelling to amber/ green?

            they won’t catch anything or bring anything back to UK (except for a tiny %)

          • Anna says:
            19 May19 May 14:22

            @Steve, I don’t know which dimension of the U.K. you exist in! Last year it rained for the full 2 weeks we were off in July. No chance of getting the fresh air, sunshine & outdoor exercise we need.

          • Steve says:
            19 May19 May 15:02

            @James not everyone works from home. If the country you’re visiting flips into Amber or Green that is a serious issue for many.

      • Lady London says:
        19 May19 May 13:31

        The Home Secretary and head of Border Force should be personally sued for that and placed without protection in a Covid hospital ward without protection for two weeks alongside the CEO of Heathrow

        • meta says:
          19 May19 May 16:39

          @Steve flipping won’t happen as often now as it used to last year. The idea is that you also get longer warning so the country will be first place on watchlist. Then a week after or longer it might move. Then there are big reviews 28 June, 31 July and 31 October where they have to review all the data from travellers.

    • Simon says:
      19 May19 May 13:54

      “Staycation” is the grimmest travel related word in the book. Closely followed by “glamping”.

      • bafan says:
        19 May19 May 17:24

        @Simon Agreed. I’d put glamping first though. When I moved back to the UK and was job hunting I watched some (a lot) of ‘Four in a Bed’. Some of those “glamping experiences”…grim AF.

    • Rob says:
      19 May19 May 13:58

      Britain’s a bit crap though, isn’t it. Let’s be honest. Most of us managed to find something last year but have pretty much run out of ideas now.

      Some people are also unkeen to pay, for example, £185 per night for the HI Express in Bodmin (on a major road junction) in mid August, which is probably as cheap as you’ll find for somewhere with a valid fire certificate.

      The place in Cornwall we went to last year emailed me last week to say that they had a couple of single nights left over the Summer (no dates with 2 consecutive nights) should I want to pay almost £1000 and pop down for 1 night.

      Picking somewhere totally at random, the new Hotel Indigo is Venice is €164 for a random day in August.

      • Steve says:
        19 May19 May 14:02

        That’s because you all left it too late though isn’t it? New Snowdonia HGI was available as low as £105 pn in August, flexible. Now it’s almost double that.

        • Rob says:
          19 May19 May 14:21

          It’s now confirmed that the fully vaccinated can enter the EU by flashing their NHS app, no tests required, from 1st June. This means that as soon as countries get on the green list it’s an easy trip to organise, given that me and the Mrs will get 2nd jabs in 2 weeks. I’m happy to take the punt that other EU countries will be green listed before my kids finish in mid July.

        • meta says:
          19 May19 May 15:11

          But that’s still not cheap! I paid £90pn at IC Porto last year and I spent substaintaily less on F&B.

          I also spent less than £2k for 8 days in Domes Zeen in a pool villa in Crete including flights, rent a car, half-board, free mini bar, extra dinner at the most expensive restaurant in Chania thrown in, snacks throughout the day, free aperitifs with almost every meal as the staff just felt like treating us, welcome and departing gifts. Plus it was October and all but one afternoon it rained briefly. This is just one of many examples over the years. I haven’t yet to found that kind level of service for that kind of money in the UK.

          UK has great spots and I like to visit them for a day or weekend, but not for a week or two-week long holidays!

          • meta says:
            19 May19 May 15:11

            the above was for @Steve

          • meta says:
            19 May19 May 15:32

            What I meant to say about the weather it was really lovely, but one afternoon it rained briefly.

          • Steve says:
            19 May19 May 16:34

            IC Porto isn’t £90pn this year though, so not really a valid comparison.

          • meta says:
            19 May19 May 16:40

            @Steve it was a month or two ago!

          • Steve says:
            19 May19 May 17:14

            £90pn last year or a month or two ago? Can’t the both.

          • meta says:
            19 May19 May 17:25

            @Steve it was both last summer and I found the same price for this year too.

          • Steve says:
            19 May19 May 18:23

            @meta Got you, still not comparable to an Aug-21 price though either way.

          • meta says:
            19 May19 May 21:44

            @Steve I was talking about August last year and August this year. Absolutely comparable.

      • Jody says:
        19 May19 May 14:06

        I disagree, there are tons of beautiful places in Britain. What is crap is the weather, can never bank on decent weather here, and it does make it a bit of a wash out when it chucks it down all the time.

        We’ve currently got 3 of the UK staycation cruises booked, all on different cruise lines, and considering booking a week long one for the August bank holidays.

        Prices have come down on most of them, even more so if you have a blue light card. Decent ships – for example, the MSC Virtuosa and P&O Iona are both brand new and never had a passenger sail on them. Limited capacity of 1000 passengers up to 21st June.

        We leave on our first one in 9 days and can’t wait.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          19 May19 May 14:26

          Agree there are plenty of lovely places in the U.K. and If the weather was better I’m sure May would have been bumper business

          • Aston100 says:
            19 May19 May 14:52

            Indeed.
            There are many nice places in the UK, but the weather can make or break a domestic holiday.

          • Red Flyer says:
            19 May19 May 15:28

            No such thing as bad weather – just bad dressing for the prevailing conditions! 😂

      • Navara says:
        19 May19 May 15:17

        Bit of rain never hurt anyone. Just had a walk on the beach, a pint and lunch in the fresh air outside the pub. Now time to get in the hot tub.

        • Sandra says:
          19 May19 May 15:43

          Did hear something on the lunchtime news about some places (SW I think) now saying in their T & Cs that if people cancel they will still charge full cost of booking due to people booking multiple holidays then cancelling. Luckily we have several old friends in Devon & Cornwall who are always happy to see us, so accommodation for the cost of some groceries &/or a meal out is no problem & that’s where we’ll be headed at some point this summer for one holiday at least!

          • Sandra says:
            19 May19 May 15:54

            I might add they don’t ask for anything and neither would we, but we always feel it’s only polite to at least offer if someone is putting you up for more than a couple of nights, especially when you are saving the cost of over inflated accommodation!

          • Rob says:
            19 May19 May 16:03

            Bit late now, most people have already booked under old T&C. I think you can safely say a large proportion of existing bookings will fall away if France, Italy and Spain open before mid July, as is highly likely.

        • mvcvz says:
          19 May19 May 16:14

          Utter nonsense. Some of us are sick to the hilt of rain, cold and endless biting wind.

          • Sandra says:
            19 May19 May 16:51

            I think that probably applies to most of us mvcvz although tbh in the east where I live it’s not been that bad. I’m just not desperate enough yet to put up with all the faff that’s needed at the moment (or the uncertainty) to go overseas so will wait until later in the year (no children at school now) and see what happens. I go away for a break, not to have to think about testing or if things will change while I’m away.

          • Doug says:
            19 May19 May 17:12

            Not being a native british, I don’t think I can enjoy another holiday here this year, just been back from Scotland early May and it was snowing. I guess I need to pay toris tax and get those tests booked for getting back here after the amber hol

          • James Pleasant says:
            19 May19 May 18:31

            As it’s only £5 to fly virtually anywhere in Europe (not Portugal) with Ryanair this June, I’d have thought paying for some PCR tests would be worth it for the sun.

          • Yorkie Aid says:
            19 May19 May 20:03

            You can’t rely on the weather anywhere really. I once spent 10 days over xmas and NY in Cuba and it was torrential rain every day bar one. That really was miserable given how much it cost with BA Holidays!

          • Sandra says:
            19 May19 May 20:23

            Flown Ryanair once and wouldn’t fly with them again if they paid me to. Cost isn’t a factor, it’s the faffing around with tests & uncertainty I can’t be doing with – of course if summer is awful I might change my mind by August!

          • James Pleasant says:
            19 May19 May 20:47

            I just don’t get the Ryanair hate in 2021. Sure – they were a bit rip-offy in some ways previously (10 years ago?) and slightly devious in terms of CS.

            10 years later – 2021 – they are pretty much a ‘perfect’ low cost carrier – you get what you pay for – lowest cost operator on many routes – transparent about extra costs – transparent about EU261 after having been warned by CAA – lovely modern fleet of planes that never ditched so far I think.

          • meta says:
            19 May19 May 21:52

            @Yorkie Aid some destination are more prone to unfavourable weather and Britain is obviously one of them. Regarding Cuba, although December is dry season mostly, Dec-Feb is prone to week-long cold fronts. You were unlucky that it happened during your time there. However, rain in the tropics is nothing like rain in Britain…

  • Sam G says:
    19 May19 May 12:50

    Vaccine booking system accepting 35 year olds

  • Anna says:
    19 May19 May 13:01

    @LadyLondon – don’t know if you like Patricia Cornwell? The first two books in her “Captain Chase” series are currently free on Kindle Unlimited. Very much a departure from her earlier stuff but as usual well researched and full of references to developments in science and technology!

    • Lady London says:
      19 May19 May 13:36

      Ta Anna, not a vast PC fan so far though, currently holding off blowing Kindle Unlimited trial till I would have time to read or otherwise maximise it

      • Anna says:
        19 May19 May 14:17

        I know what you mean, I loved her 90s and early 2000s stuff then she went off the boil for a few years but seems to have got her writing mojo back a bit!

        • Polly says:
          19 May19 May 21:44

          Yes, loved her stuff, and the cookery book, amazing Italian recipes.. just started the new Jo Nesbo one, if anyone’s a fan… usually a great read.

    • Jody says:
      19 May19 May 13:53

      Oooh, thanks Anna. I read the first one for free a while ago. Might take a look at the second.

    • Louise K says:
      19 May19 May 15:50

      Oh, I will take a look. Massive fan of her earlier stuff too.

  • marcw says:
    19 May19 May 13:03

    JetBlue flights back on the website. £320 economy (Basic), £990 mint

    • marcw says:
      19 May19 May 13:04

      Return fares.

      • Sam G says:
        19 May19 May 13:05

        956 if you go out from Gatwick (earlier flight too!) v reasonable

        • marcw says:
          19 May19 May 13:09

          Indeed. Connections are priced very reasonable too. Florida £800 rtrn from LGW in mint (no idea whether NYC-Florida is mint product.

  • FatherOfFour says:
    19 May19 May 13:09

    JetBlue announcements today quite timely. I was looking at a points booking the other evening (no UK legs) Are there any TrueBlue points routes open to UK collectors? It doesn’t appear that MR points can be converted to TrueBlue programme and I am guessing that there is no easy way of a UK based citizen with no ties in US of getting a US Credit Card!

    • Rob says:
      19 May19 May 13:44

      Marriott is 6:1 into JetBlue.

      Give the £990 headline cash fare, you’d still be paying a fair chunk of that in taxes even on a miles ticket, so probably not worth it.

      • FatherOfFour says:
        19 May19 May 14:49

        Thanks. The ticket I was looking at was 90000 points + $56, or $960 cash. Looks like a pretty straightforward 1c per point valuation. I don’t know the “cost” of a Marriott point is, but will take a look.

        • FatherOfFour says:
          19 May19 May 15:10

          So having read your Marriott review Rob… MR to Marriott at 2:3 then Marriott to TrueBlue at 6:1 works out as MR 4:1 Trueblue? So, for my example flight above, 90k Jet Blue is going to cost me a staggering 280k MR. You are right, i’ll pass!

          What does look appealing about the JetBlue scheme is that there only needs to be a ticket available on the flight and you can pay with cash / points or either, with a slider to determine the ratio of cash or points.

  • Optimus Prime says:
    19 May19 May 13:22

    https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/portugal-beach-face-masks-fines-b1849520.html

    • Super Secret Stuff says:
      19 May19 May 13:26

      Good luck to all the sweaty tourists that are going to struggle to breathe. Not fun at all

      • Harry T says:
        19 May19 May 13:28

        Mandating mask use outside is not evidence based or easily enforceable. I always enjoy how it’s apparently impossible to spread covid if you’re on a sun lounger or beach towel though 😊

        • Pete M says:
          19 May19 May 14:21

          Hmm, I guess they may be getting tougher, but in my whole week in Portugal last week I didn’t wear a mask outside once and no one told me off for it. I’d say about 60-70% of people were wearing them, but I just assumed they were being extra careful…!

        • meta says:
          19 May19 May 15:25

          @Harry T +1 Also people forget these rules are only on crowded beaches and in crowded places. No one will mandate you to wear a mask on an empty or semi-empty beach or whilst swimming (yes, there were headlines like that last year!).

      • Anna says:
        19 May19 May 14:20

        That would definitely put me off going! I can foresee a lot of moaning in the media from people who didn’t bother to check this stuff before booking!

        • Super Secret Stuff says:
          19 May19 May 14:33

          It will be entertaining to read and watch. I mean anyone with half an ounce of sense should be able to tell that it won’t be like pre covid.

          • Anna says:
            19 May19 May 16:15

            Spain making noises to the effect that there won’t be mandated mask wearing outdoors – no doubt keen that everyone doesn’t book Portugal for July and August!

    • HBommie says:
      19 May19 May 17:13

      The Algarve is full of huge beaches. If you can’t socially distance you’re not trying hard enough.

  • whiskerxx says:
    19 May19 May 13:27

    apologies if i have missed it, but does anyone know why the vaccination QR code on the NHS app has an expiration date of 20th June? Appears to be a common thing, but I haven’t found a reliable source as to why or what happens next. Surely going to create a number of issues if it stays like that for long?

    • Craig says:
      19 May19 May 13:37

      The only thing we can think of is that it ties in with the next round of unlocking, hopefully!

      • meta says:
        19 May19 May 15:29

        Some say QR code is valid for a month or so. So it needs to be reissued after 20th June, but something more sinister might occur on 20th June. Let your imagination run wild on that one. 😂

    • kitten says:
      19 May19 May 13:38

      the app probably refreshes/reissues periodically

    • Chris Heyes says:
      19 May19 May 13:42

      whiskerxx Apparently 20th of June is when the world ends although some say it’s the 21st June
      I Heard a HFP say he got it, but another said was waiting for it, another said he missed it, Anna said she had a code for it,
      Whatever, it will come, it will go, and come round again next June, and June after for ever and ever aremen

  • Matty says:
    19 May19 May 13:51

    Didn’t get my paternity extension. Emailed BA last week and they’ve replied stating all EC members have had an extension this year, so I don’t get one.

    • John says:
      19 May19 May 20:29

      The best time to apply is in the 6 weeks after your membership year ends, but before your card expires.

      If you did get a covid extension then you could have waited until applying.

      For example, my membership year transition is November. I requalified for Gold during 2018-19 giving me status until 31 Dec 2020. This got covid extended to 31 Dec 2021. I’m unlikely to fly very much this year – so by 8 Nov 2021 I will fail to requalify.

      I will then apply for my paternity benefit. I expect to be extended to 31 Dec 2023 – as the way it works is they requalify you for the membership year when you apply, which will be 2021-2022 in my case (it’s like earning status in the first month possible – you’ve got it for 25 months).

      • Matty says:
        19 May19 May 21:12

        My year ended on 8 April. Card expires at the end of this month. Status currently through until May of 2022. I’d requalified for Gold by March 2020, so status would have been good through to May 2021 off my own efforts. Now extended to 2022 due to Covid. I suppose I have benefitted from a one-year extension due to Covid but, as things are (slowly) starting to open up during the next few months I will be flying less, which is why the parental extension would benefit me. Newborn is 6 months old at the beginning of July, so couldn’t leave it much later in the year and applied between membership year end and card expiry. Feel it’s pretty tight TBH.

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