The HfP chat thread – Thursday 3rd June

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Anna says:

3 Jun3 June 08:37

Data point – the £100 Amex rebate for the IHG offer posted 48 hours after check out.
TimM says:

3 Jun3 June 08:59

There was a reference to online chat with BA above. As getting through on the phone appears impossible at the moment (“Our Indian call centre is closed”, followed by ‘if you are not flying in the next four weeks, call back’ (I am), followed by ‘sorry, we are too busy call back later’ then cut off).

Is it possible to chat with BA bookings/BAEC online in the UK?
- KC says:
  
  3 Jun3 June 09:05
  
  Yeah I’ve used it multiple times to request and chase refunds before the online refund option was reintroduced. If you’d like to change the booking, you’ll need to call unfortunately.
  - TimM says:
    
    3 Jun3 June 09:39
    
    I cannot find it and another search just now revealed “British Airways (UK) does not offer customer support through live chat.” (https://gethuman.com/chat/British-Airways-UK).
    
    On BA’s site, all I can find is telephone no.s.
- Joseph Heenan says:
  
  3 Jun3 June 09:06
  
  I had a good experience changing a booking by sending a direct message to BA on Twitter, at a time when the phone lines were overloaded.
  - Pete M says:
    
    3 Jun3 June 09:49
    
    Not sure how urgent your issue is, but calling at 8am BST, just as the UK call centre opens, works every time for me with no wait.
    - TimM says:
      
      3 Jun3 June 10:05
      
      You may be a more privileged BAEC member. I tried at 6 a.m. this morning and had the same experience as described above, which was shortly after 8 a.m. yesterday. Thanks anyway.
    - Genghis says:
      
      3 Jun3 June 10:45
      
      I called twice on Tuesday. One at 4pm took 7 mins to speak to someone and one at 6.45pm took 3 mins.
  - TimM says:
    
    3 Jun3 June 09:50
    
    I have just tried messaging on Twitter. Thanks.
    - Sukes says:
      
      3 Jun3 June 10:35
      
      TimM I’m recycling info I learnt on this thread months ago…. Log into your BA website account. Then change the website country to a non UK one – I think it might have to be an EU one. If you now enter the help/ contacts menu a webchat will appear. I just tried this on iPhone using Safari & switching country from uk to Ireland & it worked for me.
      - TimM says:
        
        3 Jun3 June 11:20
        
        Sukes, excellent advice, noted!
        
        I managed to get a response via Twitter, albeit with initially a very slow response. What could be done, has been done.
FM says:

3 Jun3 June 09:07

Does anyone know how I might get an email address for the general manager at the IC Dublin? Have a reward stay with an expired voucher booked for 2 weeks before the restrictions end, going to ask if they might honour it later
- Anna says:
  
  3 Jun3 June 09:31
  
  There’s a link to their general email address on the hotel website, that might be your best bet to start with.
- Char Char says:
  
  3 Jun3 June 10:46
  
  I would ask them to move the date and not mention the voucher, can’t see why they wouldn’t get paid from it.
  - Anna says:
    
    3 Jun3 June 11:38
    
    They’ll be able to see that it’s a free night booking – don’t know about Dublin but other hotels tend to resist rebooking any kind of reward stay and tell you to go via IHG.
  - EwanG says:
    
    3 Jun3 June 11:50
    
    Potentially you can change the date yourself. Log into account, go into reservation and scroll down and select ‘Change Reservation’ then select your new dates and confirm the change.
    Failing that, contact the hotel.
Newbie says:

3 Jun3 June 09:42

A while go a few people mentioned here a mystery 6000 points bonus for upgrading to BAPP card. I am wondering how long after upgrading was the bonus applied.
- Benilyn says:
  
  3 Jun3 June 09:45
  
  It’s a mystery
  - Rob says:
    
    3 Jun3 June 09:51
    
    A mystery that has been going on for at least 5 years.
- Newbie says:
  
  3 Jun3 June 10:20
  
  I’ll be downgrading to the free card soon and I’m not sure how long I should wait for them to arrive
  - Adam says:
    
    3 Jun3 June 13:33
    
    I never got 6k avios for upgrading to BAPP, so it is a hit and miss
Laura says:

3 Jun3 June 09:52

Morning,

The heat is killing my ability to do any Maths.

Is 15,000 Avios worth 24,000 Nectar? And therefore £120 cash? Or have I calculated something wrong somewhere?
- Sean says:
  
  3 Jun3 June 09:58
  
  correct
  - Laura says:
    
    3 Jun3 June 10:01
    
    Thanks!
- Rob says:
  
  3 Jun3 June 10:16
  
  Correct.
- AJA says:
  
  3 Jun3 June 10:17
  
  Yes. The key figure to remember is 1.6 To go from Avios to Nectar you multiply by 1.6 and you divide to go in the other direction.
Luke F says:

3 Jun3 June 10:05

I got a new HSBC WE card last week. Put through a few transactions Tue / Wed last week, but points balance is still showing zero. Is this normal? How long does it take for points to appear on statement for spending?
- Jonathan says:
  
  3 Jun3 June 10:08
  
  Need to wait for statement date.
  - Jonathan says:
    
    3 Jun3 June 10:09
    
    It’s only Amex MR’s that appear as usable points when transaction posts I believe.
GS13 disciple says:

3 Jun3 June 10:30

I’m going to be applying soon for the Plat card given the 70,000 sign up bonus – the referral link is from a friend of a friend. Will Amex make a fuss about where the referral link comes from? I’ve seen people suggesting before to send an email to Hfp to get a referral link, don’t see how that would be different?
- Rob says:
  
  3 Jun3 June 12:42
  
  They don’t care.
Simon says:

3 Jun3 June 10:37

Economist 18,000 avios offer seems to be coming back tomorrow.
T&Cs on the checkout page state you need to join between June 4 – July 4 2021
https://subscription.economist.com/OA/partners/BritishAirwaysBN/Bonus
- Rhys says:
  
  3 Jun3 June 10:40
  
  We have an article ready to go 🙂
- Ryan says:
  
  3 Jun3 June 10:50
  
  Factor in £45 back from Amex and I make it (at most) £26 for the year…
  - Sneakster says:
    
    3 Jun3 June 11:03
    
    Unless you “live” in Canada
  - Laura says:
    
    3 Jun3 June 16:39
    
    Just a coincidence!
    
    Trying to figure out the best way to spend the avios my grandad earnt with his now-closed Lloyd’s account, bearing in mind he’s not been on a BA flight for at least 15 years.