The HfP chat thread – Monday 31st May

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Optimus Prime says:

31 May31 May 12:22

Have a flight departing from LHR T5 at 6:40am.

What’s the most convenient hotel? At the moment I’ve booked HGI T2 since Sofitel is being used as a quarantine hotel.

Can I check in my luggage the night before?
- roberto says:
  
  31 May31 May 13:26
  
  I have used the HGI at Hatton Cross, https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/lhrepgi-hilton-garden-inn-london-heathrow-airport/ its a stop away on the tube and a fair bit quicker than T2/T3 currently. The is a nice boozer with some old charm ( the green man I think ) about 5 mins walk away and a very nice vegan/veggie restaurant even closer if you’re that way inclined ( called super singhs ).
  
  The only downside is there is about 10 steps at the tube station if you have a heavy bag. Its a fair bit cheaper that on airport with only a 10 minute drawback. the hotel is nice enough with a bar/restaurant on site but as I mentioned above I normally ander round to the local pub where its half the price and they have some ale on draft.
  
  PS the Mash in the Green man was a little so-so for my liking but that probably a little too much information.
  - roberto says:
    
    31 May31 May 13:31
    
    Sorry and to add you can check in the night before any time between 17:00-22:00 the night before travel if you have an early flight the next day ( which you do )…
    - Optimus Prime says:
      
      31 May31 May 13:46
      
      Thanks Roberto, I’ll check it out!
- Rich says:
  
  31 May31 May 14:24
  
  HGI is fine, but the most convenient is Premier Inn T5. Bus stop outdoor and 5 min journey.
  
  With the walk to tube from the Hiltons at Hatton Cross or T2, you’re looking at 20-25 minutes minimum to check in
  - Doug M says:
    
    31 May31 May 14:44
    
    Agree with this. Short bus ride, real bus don’t get the silly price bus, and Prem Inn more than OK for one night.
- Yorkieflyer says:
  
  31 May31 May 18:27
  
  On this theme we have a Christmas Day flight out of T5, I’m previous years no tube or bus but inter terminal rail shuttle and limited Hoppa. I would go for one of the T4 hotels but not convinced they or T4 and hence the shuttle will be running then. Any thoughts? Thinking of T2 Hilton?
  - Nick says:
    
    31 May31 May 19:03
    
    The HEx terminal shuttle will be operating as usual between any open terminals. Yet to be seen if T4 will be open, but T5 and T2 are safe bets.
PK says:

31 May31 May 12:51

I had a RFS booking to Istanbul and later changed to Dubai and when the Dubai was cancelled asked for a refund I was underpaid by 240 pounds by BA.I have been chasing BA for the last month and all they have to say is Complex payment team ,Newcastle is looking into it with no timeline.

Is it better to raise with Amex platinum for a chargeback as It’s costing me nearly 60 pounds month to hold it . I am waiting for the refund to appear for me to cancel the card.Is S75 the best option?
- Harry T says:
  
  31 May31 May 13:13
  
  Can’t use section 75 on a charge card but you certainly can try a chargeback. In my experience, anything that goes to the complex payment team at BA takes weeks to months to resolve. You can try making a complaint through the formal form on the BA website.
- Lady London says:
  
  31 May31 May 13:29
  
  Can you raise a chargeback against an amount that has been partially repaid?
  
  If so then go for it.
  
  EU261/UK261 says cancelled flights must be refunded within 7 days. Send BA a note reminding them of this and state that due to their poor handling of this you hereby state a request to them to add statutory interest of 8% pa prp rata per day this amount due has remained unpaid from Day 8 of its non-payment until the remainder of the sum owed reaches your account. [The amount owed will be peanuts but what will really be onerous to them is having to calculate it.]
  
  If you were going to cancel the card anyway then do so as when the refund arrives the card company will transfer into your bank account.
- Paul says:
  
  31 May31 May 14:04
  
  Amex dispute every time. They frequently settle in 24 hours and let you get on with you life. The more detail you can provide the better. My success rate is 100%.
  
  P
  - Sukes says:
    
    31 May31 May 18:31
    
    Agreed – do Amex chargeback. You don’t get much space to explain your issue when you launch the chargeback online against the disputed transaction. Once initiated however go back into your Amex account on desktop & you will see the dispute launched against which you can now upload further information or documents. Do this & should make it an open & shut case for Amex to award in your favour.
- Rich says:
  
  31 May31 May 14:06
  
  You don’t need to keep the card open to wait for a refund. It will find its way to you via Amex even after you’ve closed your account. Or you can ask BA to pay you another way
  - Nick says:
    
    31 May31 May 14:59
    
    And you can also raise a chargeback/S75 after you’ve closed the account.
- Sam G says:
  
  31 May31 May 15:19
  
  Register on flyertalk and PM “BA Refund Helper” – super helpful at resolving these issues. But no need to keep the card open, Amex will put it on another card or send it to your bank account (they’ll post you a statement once you go in credit)
  - Pete M says:
    
    31 May31 May 18:44
    
    Is BA Refund Helper still around? I thought he left some time back?
    - Sam G says:
      
      31 May31 May 20:44
      
      Helped me last week !
HH says:

31 May31 May 13:33

Avios to Nectar transfer question – how long does it take in people’s experience? My mother had an orphan balance of Avios expiring this month, so I linked her BAEC to her Nectar card and called BA to transfer the points. I was told 10 working days to complete, by 26 May. The transaction still hasn’t processed, and her Avios are expiring imminently…
- Anttelli says:
  
  31 May31 May 14:24
  
  I called up on 12th May to transfer Avios to Nectar and called again on 27th May as the 10 working days had elapsed. They finally arrived on 29th May.
- Navara says:
  
  31 May31 May 16:32
  
  Transfer some Nectar points which is instant to extend the life of the Avios
Jason says:

31 May31 May 13:33

Hiya anyone else having problems uploading negative test on the BA app?
Thanks
Memesweeper says:

31 May31 May 13:37

Bit niche this, but had a surprising email from ANA telling me about a new route from Frankfurt to Osaka, starting next month, presumably available to book with Virgin points for anyone optimistic about future travel opening up.
- lumma says:
  
  31 May31 May 20:19
  
  Wouldn’t say that’s niche at all. I did ANA to Tokyo from Frankfurt as there was far better availability from there than Heathrow. Think taxes are around £150 cheaper too, so pays for your positioning flights too. Shame Frankfurt is a boring city though
- Andrew M says:
  
  31 May31 May 20:29
  
  Potentially interesting route especially for Kyoto, cherry blossoms etc. As a second tier route, it may not have the new first and business seats though.
John says:

31 May31 May 13:49

Just completed a weekend stay at the Hilton Bournemouth. Stayed in the “suite with the view” that I think Rob has reviewed previously. Great location for the hotel and nice to see the sun again… but the hotel itself seemed to be in a bit dire condition considering how old it is.
The curtains had all sorts of interesting stains, one of the floor to ceiling windows was only single glazed as one of the panes had been broken, and what looked like water damage on the interior wall. There were no toiletries in the room, either, and the room wasn’t cleaned the entire trip.
Not certain I’d go back… especially for what they’re charging!
- Paul says:
  
  31 May31 May 14:06
  
  Completely agree, not a great hotel! My room was filthy even in Covid restricted time and twice I asked for to be cleaned. Grumpy staff, breakfast chaotic and altogether underwhelming.
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    31 May31 May 15:22
    
    Pre Covid? Looks like Covid has meant we have lots of new untrained staff and/or over worked grumpy ones.
- SteveJ says:
  
  31 May31 May 14:50
  
  Anyone have a comparison to HI Bournemouth? Is that a better option? Or further down the coast, the HIX Poole?
  - Rob says:
    
    31 May31 May 18:18
    
    I’ve reviewed HI Bournemouth too if you search. Not a patch on how the Hilton was c 2018 and location is worse too.
- Tariq says:
  
  31 May31 May 17:26
  
  Oh dear, not a good omen. Got a £1300 5-day stay booked in August. Stayed at this hotel in 2019 and found it great, so hope they get it back on track.
- Lawro says:
  
  31 May31 May 23:40
  
  Just completed a weekend stay there tools and….also noticed the curtain stains! Other than that I thought the place did a job but not sure I’ll be rushing to return. Unimpressed with the breakfast booking….it was apparently ‘fully booked’ on the first day of our stay.
- @mkcol says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 05:58
  
  Rooms are being cleaned on request across the company.
Chris says:

31 May31 May 13:54

I’ve noticed a few people mention here and on FlyerTalk about price matching on Hilton’s Price Match Guarantee. What’s the typical places and tips to find these cheaper rates?

> If you find a lower qualified price* for the same accommodation and terms at any point before your reservation is made or up to 24 hours after making your reservation through one of the official Hilton booking channels**, we will honor the lower price AND take an additional 25% off the room rate for each night of your stay.
- Rob says:
  
  31 May31 May 14:38
  
  I’ve found it difficult as even if you actually manage to find a cheaper rate Hilton change the goal posts and say the room is slightly different etc.
  - Aston100 says:
    
    31 May31 May 19:10
    
    Sounds better than IHG best price guarantee. I have yet to hear of a success story with them.
    I’ve failed on three attempts. Always given some poor technicality for rejection.
    Complete waste of time.
- Ste Cox says:
  
  31 May31 May 14:58
  
  I managed to get one a couple of years ago in New York, it took a few emails to get it sorted though, ended up asking them what the criteria was that they were matching against as everything I could see matched – didn’t get a response to that but did get the email confirming the price match.
  - r* says:
    
    31 May31 May 15:24
    
    Ive only ever got it to work (twice) by going to twitter the emails always get rejected because one will have a cancellation time of 4pm while the other has a cancellation time of 5pm or some such nonsense.
- Igloo says:
  
  31 May31 May 17:27
  
  I got a nice price match at the Conrad Singapore on Grand Prix weekend in 2019. But the thing on the other website has to be exactly identical to what is on the Hilton website, no difference whatsoever. I did it over the telephone before booking anything (so not trying to claim anything back retrospectively). Comparatively I have never been able to successfully use the Marriott low price guarantee thing.
- Tracy says:
  
  1 Jun1 June 19:59
  
  Got a price match recentlyfor a cheap stay in New York for September. Found a mobile only offer on booking.com (I think) but the screenshot of the stay didn’t show the mobile only offer if that’s relevant. They didn’t even argue it, just discounted it and emailed me the new booking. Now got 5 nights booked at an HGI downtown for $380 all in. Just need US to allow me in in September….
the_real_a says:

31 May31 May 14:24

I fancy some new Milwaukee power tools for a summer of DIY – the cheapest place to buy them is ebay. Having transferred 50k avios to nectar, does anyone know if the eBay voucher needs to be spent in total in a single transaction or can I use a single voucher over several transactions? The website is very ambiguous.
- Peter K says:
  
  31 May31 May 19:22
  
  You need to link your eBay account to Nectar then you can change the points into a voucher or any number of vouchers (£2.50 value minimum I think, minimum item order to be used on £10). The good thing is, if you buy from several sellers and put the items into a basket, rather than pay each instantly, you can use one voucher to cover the full cost.
  
  E.g. if you had two items, one £12, the other £13. Put both in your basket and your can pay for it with one nectar voucher worth £25.
  - John says:
    
    1 Jun1 June 06:05
    
    You get change from nectar vouchers so no need to do that