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The HfP chat thread – Thursday 20th May

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Comments (399)

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

  • Anna says:
    20 May20 May 04:57

    Morning all,
    chelseafi posted last night about BA holidays informing her the price of an upcoming holiday was a mistake.
    This is from the ABTA website:
    https://www.abta.com/help-and-complaints/frequently-asked-questions/ive-been-told-price-bargain-holiday-i-booked-was
    It’s quite worrying there is so little protection for consumers here – what’s to stop any travel company profiteering from this, especially in the current climate?

    • TimM says:
      20 May20 May 05:46

      Around 15 years ago I booked a world cruise on Saga’s own website for my mother and her friends for around £6,000 each. The cheapest alternative, Cunard, was around £10,000 so it seemed a good price. The deposits were taken and I received the booking confirmations from Saga. Now I thought the word ‘confirmation’ had legal status. I doesn’t. Saga cancelled the bookings and refused to discuss it saying it was now a matter of a police enquiry! I consulted a lawyer specialising in consumer affairs and apparently anything booked over the internet can be cancelled if it is a mistake on the part of the seller.

    • Genghis says:
      20 May20 May 06:42

      IANAL. So if there’s a contract in place: an agreement, intention and consideration, then the company are bound to the terms, right? Check the terms with a tooth comb. But even then, given a travel co can cry “pricing error” and cancel but the consumer presumably can’t – “Oh I paid too much” – 6 months after booking without paying some kind of cancellation charge, would this be “unfair”? But how would they then get their holiday (or not?)?

      • Anna says:
        20 May20 May 06:56

        I’m slightly concerned that BA will now decide my BA holiday to MIA is a “mistake” as the flight prices have doubled since I booked!

    • TGLoyalty says:
      20 May20 May 07:44

      In these cases the first thing to do is to check when your contract with the tour operator comes into effect. This will be stated in the tour operator’s booking conditions but it is usually when the tour operator issues their confirmation invoice (not when you received it).

      If the contract hasn’t come into effect, then the tour operator simply returns any money paid and that’s the end of it.

      I actually think this is pretty bad advice. It doesn’t matter what their booking terms say. The law defines when a contract is made and hose statutory rights ares over ridden by T&C’s on a website etc. In fact they have to be fair and not just weighted in the operators favour.

      • Anna says:
        20 May20 May 08:33

        BA is clearly taking the ABTA line! This isn’t like a cancelled flight with EU261 protection though – if you rebooked at a higher price, what are the chances of a court compelling the tour operator to refund you?

        • Chelseafi says:
          20 May20 May 09:08

          Thank you Anna and others, they have offered me £500 compensation in the form of BA Hol credit, which I think I will accept, we can be very flexible with dates and this is just holiday for OH and me, not a more complex family one. I think in the current circumstances last minute holidays may be the best option this summer.

        • Lady London says:
          20 May20 May 15:48

          ABTA= holiday providers union.

          Same as BMA (British Medical Association) sounds very august but is actually the doctors’ union.

      • kitten says:
        20 May20 May 15:46

        well statute overrides contract. so terms and conditions can be overridden easily if a relevant statute is used.

        So far as I am aware ‘mistake’ pricing has to be obviously a mistake when purchased on and seller has to correct a lot sooner than 6 months.

        Holiday operators simply cannot be allowed by the law to operate unfairly and this particular case is representative of the abuse holiday industry providers will try to perpetrate if unfettered. So far as I’m aware most abusive practices with holidays have been outlawed for over 20 years now.

        I would fight them tooth and nail on this one for even trying this one.

    • Doug M says:
      20 May20 May 09:23

      This does seem shockingly one sided. I agree with regard to (un)fairness of this, but suspect it’s an expensive thing to test in court.

      • pauldb says:
        20 May20 May 10:16

        You could also try a credit card S75 claim. But I tried something similar with an OTA hotel booking once and got nowhere (had a “confirmation” from OTA but they couldn’t complete the booking and argued their terms meant the contract was formed only when I got a voucher).

      • TimM says:
        20 May20 May 10:44

        Consumer law in the UK is strong to the effect of any contract not individually negotiated, as in all with big companies, gives the advantage to the consumer. However, this is limited to refunding the amount of money spent, not in fulfilling the contract. A ‘genuine mistake’ on the part of the company is forgiven by law but it is not on the part of the consumer. As Doug M says, it is expensive to test any particular case.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          20 May20 May 13:10

          contra proferentem

          Suspect you could test this with an MCOL claim for the cost difference of a like for like replacement holiday.

          • Magic Mike says:
            20 May20 May 17:17

            If there is a one sided cancellation or repricing provision, it’s possibly contrary to the Consumer Rights Act 2015…

            Unfair term includes “A term which has the object or effect of giving the trader the discretion to decide the price payable under the contract after the consumer has become bound by it, where no price or method of determining the price is agreed when the consumer becomes bound.”

  • ee says:
    20 May20 May 05:11

    Also from last night, I posted that the Covid vaccine now seems to be bookable online at the official site down to age 34 (at least).

    To answer TGLoyalty’s question, my partner (who it worked for) was born in October 1986.

    • John says:
      20 May20 May 06:58

      My GP is inviting 27 year olds now

      • Anna says:
        20 May20 May 07:04

        Infuriatingly the NHS booking system requires you to cancel your 2nd jab appointment before attempting rebook for an earlier date. I called 119 to query this and they said they are getting instances where people are cancelling, finding no availability for a new appointment and then having to call back or go online every day to see if anything has opened up. I’m sure they could have tweaked the system to show if new appointments are available prior to cancelling the current one!

        • ChrisC says:
          20 May20 May 07:13

          I took a decision a couple of weeks ago not change my appointment for the 8th June simply for the reason of the possibility of losing it if I cancelled and rebooked and there wasn’t anything sooner.

          I’ve a trip booked* to start 15 days later giving me 14 clear days post vaccination so meeting most requirements for having had the 2 jabs etc.

          *all the usual about changed traffic lights etc applies. It doesn’t need spelling out every time someone says they are going away!

          • bafan says:
            20 May20 May 07:34

            Yeah the constant notifications on live tv saying “we followed all social distancing / COVID regulations”. Like yeah we hope you did do we need to be told all the time 🤦🏼‍♂️🥱.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          20 May20 May 07:46

          Anna just go to your local centre with your card and you’ll get your jab.

          • James Pleasant says:
            20 May20 May 07:58

            I went with a family member whilst they got their jab (they needed support) – and the vacc centre staff asked if I wanted to get mine as well while I was there. Though I had already been jabbed twice by then.

          • Louise K says:
            20 May20 May 08:24

            Did not work for us yesterday. I went with hubby on his first appt and got mine without one. I had appt yesterday and they wouldn’t give him his (AZ). Did manage to get him an appt for tomorrow.

          • Anna says:
            20 May20 May 08:29

            No – if you originally booked online you can only change your appointment that way, plus I have to go to a different town for my second jab. All the clinics etc are currently packed due to being in an Indian variant hotspot and everyone now deciding it’s a good idea to get vaccinated! And to complicate matters, all the new stocks of vaccine coming in seem to be Pfizer, and I had AZ!

          • Yorkieflyer says:
            20 May20 May 08:58

            I took mrs Yorkieflyer with me for my second jab yesterday at hub and asked nicely and they jabbed her second time, her second appointment was a few days later

          • TGLoyalty says:
            20 May20 May 09:11

            Is there a large vaccine hub nearby rather than small clinics.

            From all local reports they aren’t turning anyone past 8 weeks away “they will find a way to jab anyone who turns up” and they’re eligible.

        • Matty says:
          20 May20 May 08:12

          I kept cancelling and finding nothing sooner than my original second jab date, so rebooked the original second jab date. I did this several times. It never offered me anything sooner even when I selected numerous other locations in various parts of the country.

        • Reney says:
          20 May20 May 09:31

          Anna, had the system let you book again before cancelling. I can imagine all of you would remember to cancel. But I can imagine there would be many that forgets, and lots of appointment would go to waste. It would be just as frustrating and also vaccine could go to waste if people double booked. Of course there are ways to build IT system that don’t allow double booking…

          • Yorkieflyer says:
            20 May20 May 11:32

            Mrs Yorkieflyer was asked to cancel her 2nd jab appointment when we got home but the system had auto cancelled it, that or the Hub had, despite asking her

        • Tracey says:
          20 May20 May 09:45

          Guidelines to mass vac centres in England for AZ are to accept walk ins for anyone age 40+ for first vaccine and anyone 8 weeks since their first for second jabs. This applies wherever you had your first jab.

    • Sam G says:
      20 May20 May 07:02

      Yes, I’m 34 and I got booked in for Saturday

    • TGLoyalty says:
      20 May20 May 08:00

      Yup can see that’s official on the website now.

      Good for friends and family that haven’t had the cal yet.

  • Paul Pogba says:
    20 May20 May 05:59

    Does anyone know when e-rewards will be recruiting BA members again (or how often it happens)? I’m tempted to cancel my MileagePlus one and rejoin via BA but the link on previous HfP article is dead.

    • John says:
      20 May20 May 06:58

      Don’t know but I have 5 erewards accounts with different payout partners

      • Ed says:
        20 May20 May 07:26

        I think you’re better off trying to find one which pays out to Iberia as well. Better exchange rate. See if you’ve got / can find an Accor sign up link?

        • Paul Pogba says:
          20 May20 May 08:35

          I’ve been hiding from Iberia since I requested deletion in late 2018 after the Great Iberian Avios Bonus of June 2018. Has anyone that got the bonus, transferred out, deleted their account and re-signed up had any issues with a negative balance appearing?

      • Paul Pogba says:
        20 May20 May 08:56

        I got a e-rewards sign up offer from Aadvantage a while back, signed up and then had both accounts suspended for about six months until I closed one down. I’ve decided to play it straight since 😐

        • John says:
          20 May20 May 11:07

          Don’t give them your real name and address, use different devices and IP addresses (home broadband, mobile data +/- VPNs) 🙂

          Tbh I don’t do all the surveys any more as doing it 5 times gets boring very fast, only if I’m waiting for something etc

          • RussellH says:
            20 May20 May 12:53

            However, presumably your airline or hotel scheme memberships**are** in your real name, and AIUI, e-Rewards transfers do not work if the names do not match?

          • Louie says:
            20 May20 May 13:10

            @RussellH – you can change “your” name in the e-rewards personal info details as often as you want. So of course they match!

        • AJA says:
          20 May20 May 14:24

          I also got that invitation but used a completely different email address to the BA account. It’s great to prevent my miles from expiring. Have got away with it so far.

  • Bobri says:
    20 May20 May 07:02

    Have a PRG, the free year ends in about a month. 2k short of the 15k annual spend but will hit that. Worth calling and trying luck with retention offers? Any recent datapoints would be highly appreciated

    • Amy Carpenter says:
      20 May20 May 07:08

      I am in exactly same boat but hit the spend last week. Interested in what people are getting too. Especially as haven’t been able to use free lounge passes since I joined a year ago.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        20 May20 May 08:26

        I waited until the spend bonus and yearly fee hit to phone. Was given 20k points.

    • Super Secret Stuff says:
      20 May20 May 07:28

      Go for it, I was in a similar situation and they basically gave me the renewal bonus up front

    • Aston100 says:
      20 May20 May 09:21

      We were given 10k not to cancel. Despite having many months left to go and being nowhere near the 15k spend.
      So I reckon you’ll get at least 10k, if not the 20k many others seem to have reported.

    • James says:
      20 May20 May 12:42

      I called up before saying I wanted to cancel and the guy immediately offered 10k points. Just be ready to say that you’ll transfer all your points out to Avios as then it sounds more believable

  • Kevin C says:
    20 May20 May 07:44

    Amex offer. Spend £400 get £100 back at the Google devices store. Found on Gold Business card.

    • Craig says:
      20 May20 May 08:09

      Not on any of mine, thrilled to see Sweaty Betty has reappeared!

      • Super Secret Stuff says:
        20 May20 May 08:23

        +1 so happy 😭

        • Andrew says:
          20 May20 May 09:16

          I thought that too this morning!! And they must pay Amex extra to always be at the top of the list.

          • Super Secret Stuff says:
            20 May20 May 09:32

            Either that or someone at Amex lives in there leggings and wants extra discounts lol

            Not as weird as the Anne Summers offer though…

      • Doug M says:
        20 May20 May 09:31

        I save it just to remove it from the list, I think Amex really missing a trick by not having an ignore option. Rob has previously said the retailers dislike people saving and not using, yet the system is rigged to make you do that to remove the same old suspects from hiding new interesting offers you may want. If the Sweaty Betty’s of this world were more realistically priced to begin with then the endless offers would disappear.

        • Rob says:
          20 May20 May 10:07

          Interesting point. What I find weird is that new offers don’t appear at the top – when you have 70+ offers it takes a lot of dedication to scroll down the list.

          • Optimus Prime says:
            20 May20 May 10:13

            Yeah, it’s annoying. It’d also be helpful if they were categorised: Food, Travel, Technology, etc.

          • Craig says:
            20 May20 May 10:29

            We could do with an option to ‘hide’ certain offers, I’m loathed to save offers I won’t need or use except for Sweaty Betty that is which I’d had quite enough of.

          • Andrew says:
            20 May20 May 12:17

            It’s not just playing hunt the new offer on Amex though.

            BoS, 43 Offers
            Virgin Money, 39 offers
            MBNA, 15 offers
            Amex, 82 offers

            I had 41 BoS offers at 8am this morning, I’ve no idea which two were added since then.

          • RussellH says:
            20 May20 May 12:58

            I shall repeat my suggestion from a few days ago – an “unsave” option for when you save something by mistake and possibly deprive someone else of the chance to save.

            Not that I have done that with either Anne Summers or Sweaty Betty
            😉

          • Super Secret Stuff says:
            20 May20 May 14:29

            @Rob a “replace” button would be good, so if you don’t want an offer and have zero intention on ever using it (sweaty Betty), you can swap it for an actually useful offer that you don’t have or swap it for a few points etc.

          • Super Secret Stuff says:
            20 May20 May 14:30

            Oh and some kind of marker for the offers that you haven’t opened and read

          • AJA says:
            20 May20 May 17:25

            I get the impression that the offers are listed by how much the retailer has paid Amex to promote them.

            I think it would be helpful if the offers could also be listed or sorted by offer expiry date. It would also be good if they were further sorted alphabetically. Ideally we could choose how to sort them ourselves by having the choices in the “refine by” drop down box.

          • PaulW says:
            20 May20 May 17:26

            A hide away button for the 95% I’m never going to use like a Brighton season ticket

          • AJA says:
            20 May20 May 17:28

            @ Optimus Prime You already have that option though. If you click on the “Refine By” drop down you can choose to filer by All Categories or Shoppping, Membership, Services, Travel, Dining and Entertainment.

          • BuildBackBetter says:
            20 May20 May 19:49

            What I have observed is, the longer the card is held, the better the offers are. My ARCC is more than 2 years old and I get almost the same offers as my gold which is just 6 months old. I thought they’ll restrict the better offers to gold members.

      • Andrew says:
        20 May20 May 11:42

        Sweaty Betty offers available across multiple routes:-

        Airtime is 8% up to £99, 12% thereafter.
        BoS, 10%, max £30 back.
        MBNA, 10%, max £30 back.
        Virgin Money is 8% up to £99, 12% thereafter.
        PAW is 12% on Instore

        Can’t see me using it.

  • James Pleasant says:
    20 May20 May 07:49

    I see that the number of compliance checks (house visits) on travellers who have been to amber countries will be increased very substantially – maybe 10K checks/ day – with the police being called to issue fines for non-compliance.

    There are valid reasons for not being in, eg [You may also be allowed to leave your accommodation in exceptional circumstances. This includes needing to:
    get basic urgent necessities like food and medicines where you cannot arrange for these to be delivered
    travel to a COVID-19 testing site
    access critical public services including social services and services provided to victims (such as victims of crime)
    move to a different place for quarantine where you can no longer remain where you are.
    There may be other exceptional circumstances which permit you to leave your place of quarantine. You’ll need to consider carefully whether your circumstances are exceptional circumstances that require you to leave your place of quarantine. You could get advice from a medical or other professional to discuss your circumstances so that you can decide whether, for example, you have a health condition or a disability that would be seriously exacerbated if you were not able to leave the accommodation (and its outdoor areas) where you’re quarantining to take exercise.]

    Not suggesting that people cheat but there are a couple of easy excuses in there if you were going stir crazy. Plus I doubt very much if you went for a 2-miler at dawn to stay sane/ get exercise, that anybody would notice. Not that you’d meet anybody to infect.

    Last day of Ryanair £5 sale with virtually the whole of Europe (bar Portugal) available through June.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      20 May20 May 08:27

      I doubt very much anyone is doing dawn raids for this.

      Anyway 5 days inside is hardly a hardship.

      • James Pleasant says:
        20 May20 May 08:37

        I just did 10 days’ quarantine & it wasn’t so bad, though I had to get in some dawn escapes for exercise. It was only 9 days as they wrote the dates to include the arrival day as day 1 (not true for UK) – though my wife said upon reading the rules that the border force got it wrong, lucky break. We could have got out after 5 days as well but I just thought I’d rather have £200 of books.

        • John says:
          20 May20 May 09:47

          I hate to be all pedantic, but “dawn escapes” mean that actually you didn’t do quarantine at all. And yes, of course it’s not “so bad” if you’re willing to break the rules…

          • Yorkieflyer says:
            20 May20 May 09:52

            Probably deliberately coughed in the face of the milkman, sigh

          • James Pleasant says:
            20 May20 May 09:58

            It’s worth remembering why the rules are there: to prevent the spread of Covid-19/ bringing in dangerous variants (not that any exist).

            With 2 Pfizer jabs and going for walks at 5am when there’s nobody around to meet, I think I was presenting absolutely zero risk to anybody.

            I happen to think that UK applying the same home quarantine rules (for Amber returnees) to people who are fully vaccinated (vs those who are not) is pretty stupid and has an extremely weak scientific logic to it. Compare & contrast to the non-vaccinated returning from Portugal with no tests or quarantine needed – there is still plenty of Covid-19 in Portugal so the risk of them coming back infectious is at least genuine/ quite possible.

        • Patrick Cold says:
          20 May20 May 20:47

          Perceptive as well.

    • Simon says:
      20 May20 May 10:02

      Or just wait for them to call during the day….then go out for a big long dinner…. Then wait for them to call the next day while you are nursing your hangover……and repeat…..

    • Rich says:
      20 May20 May 12:37

      “Not suggesting that people cheat but there are a couple of easy excuses in there if you were going stir crazy”

      Given your wording in that post, your confession that you broke quarantine, your suggestion that people would get away with it, and your thinking that you know better about the merits of quarantine, I suggest that you are.

  • Graeme says:
    20 May20 May 07:52

    I’m flying to Glasgow next weekend in CE on RFS (not ideal, it just made most sense). The BA lounge in Glasgow is currently closed, despite there being no reason restrictions-wise for this – BA told me on Twitter that there’s no alternative lounge and they don’t offer vouchers or anything in lieu “due to the current situation we find ourselves in”. Is that right, or am I just feeling a little entitled? I assumed there’d be something.

    • Tim says:
      20 May20 May 09:26

      Pretty normal across most routes nowadays. A lot of UK lounges that have closed are potentially never re-opening. If you were on a LH flight you’d most likely be given some sort of airport voucher, but SH definitely not.

    • Ikaz says:
      20 May20 May 11:38

      I have been flying club from Gla for a few months, nothing offered when departing. I am hoping that the Upper deck lounge will reopen soon at least, should allow me to get a coffee before the flight (acess with Priority pass)

    • Graeme says:
      20 May20 May 21:03

      Thanks guys. They’ve claimed that the lounge is closed “on government advice”, which is obviously a lie and pretty irritating. Hope it opens up for you soon, Ikaz.

  • M says:
    20 May20 May 08:01

    Cannot login to Ernie this morning, anyone else having problems too?

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