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The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 16th June

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We are running this daily chat thread on Head for Points during the coronavirus outbreak.

Historically, the daily ‘Bits’ articles were the de facto repository for random comments and questions.  With the news flow being lighter, we are running fewer ‘Bits’ articles.

The comments under this article are where you should post questions about travel and, indeed, anything else on your mind.  At this tricky time, and given that many of you are at home, we want the HfP community to have a place to chat.

Please only comment under the main articles on the site if your comment is directly related to the topic of the article.  This has long-term benefits as it keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

Old chat threads are hidden from the HfP home page.  If you want to look for something in an old thread, click here.  This brings up all the articles in our ‘General’ category which includes the chat threads.

Category

General

Comments (435)

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

  • The cyclist says:
    16 Jun16 June 14:30

    about 3-5 days

  • Ant says:
    16 Jun16 June 14:33

    I am struggling to find the article of the best amex sign on strategy for a couple who never had any Amex cards. Can anyone point me the right direction?

  • MW says:
    16 Jun16 June 14:33

    Quick Q re Business Plat 100K Welcome bonus.

    Just noticed I have received 40K bonus credited 2 days ago. I seem to remember from posts here that I should wait till I hit 10k spend and raise with CS, is that still the case? I have until 6 Jul to make 10K spend and intend to do so by the end of June.

    • Connor says:
      16 Jun16 June 15:01

      Yes, gave me it straight away when I phoned after hitting 10k.

      • MW says:
        16 Jun16 June 15:14

        Good to know, thanks. I also haven’t received the 5K bonus for an additional cardholder, will mention it at the same time (when I raised it previously they referred to their 90 day bs)

    • trader363 says:
      16 Jun16 June 17:37

      Tip: be sure to call up for it, not via Chat. I’ve practically begged them for the additional 60k five separate occasions on Chat and they haven’t added it on.

      Separately . . . Its the Mrs’ account so it’s also hard to get her to call Amex for anything too! . . .

      • MW says:
        16 Jun16 June 22:40

        Thanks for the tip. I usually use chat, so will make a point of calling!

  • Dan says:
    16 Jun16 June 14:35

    I had BA flights to Malta that have been cancelled and refunded quickly through the online form. However, I booked car hire for the trip through BA Holidays (Budget) at a later date and on a separate booking reference. I can’t see any way to cancel this online, all phone options result in being told to try again later before hanging up. It was only £79 so I was happy to take a voucher but the email came back saying I wasn’t eligible. Is car hire outside book with confidence? Have I missed a trick by not having it on the same booking as the flight? I’ve emailed customer.relations at BA holidays but I expect I’ll be given excuses and a runaround. Paid on Amex – request chargeback?

    • ChrisC says:
      16 Jun16 June 14:51

      What date was the car hire for?

      • ChrisC says:
        16 Jun16 June 14:53

        Not sure chargeback would work as preseumably the car hire firm is willing and able to provide you with a car and it’s your choice not to collect it.

    • Anna says:
      16 Jun16 June 14:56

      If you go to the Covid questions/info page on the BA website there should be an option to request a voucher by putting in the booking reference and customer name. It’s not very obvious but it works for bookings via BA Holidays. I have done this a couple of times recently and received the vouchers within minutes.

    • Adder says:
      16 Jun16 June 16:51

      I imagine it depends on your booking t&cs. For me, I could log into http://www.carhire-ba.com using the booking reference and email, and there was an option to cancel.

  • GJB says:
    16 Jun16 June 14:58

    I’m trying to get a refund from Virgin for a flight they cancelled, I’ve just given up after 40 minutes on hold. Same experience last sunday.

    Does anyone have any experience in being able to get a refund from them? I’d also like to explore what ‘offers’ they might give me to change my refund for a voucher instead. Is this an option?

    • Travel Strong says:
      16 Jun16 June 15:20

      There’s been some good offers mentioned on here in exchange for not taking a refund for *cash* bookings. But all my own experience is on points bookings.

      Whatsapp team has been very helpful with everyone, whether cash or points – so I would give them a message instead.

      • GJB says:
        16 Jun16 June 15:24

        As my cancelled flight is over 7 days away they wont talk to me on whatsapp, the bot keeps sending me to a rebooking link. I don’t want to rebook, I either want a refund of a bonus to exchange to a voucher.

        • Clive says:
          16 Jun16 June 18:04

          Skype and call the US number worked for me

        • Magic Mike says:
          16 Jun16 June 20:51

          Lie to the bot and say the flight is within 7 days. That will get you through to a human.

    • Reney says:
      16 Jun16 June 16:11

      I had a miles booking that they cancelled. Very easy getting a refund on the phone. I could have got a voucher but there didn’t appear to be financial benefits to taking a voucher. I might be missing something.

  • dragonfly says:
    16 Jun16 June 15:19

    Anyone lives in Tower Hamlets may be interested in this: On Saturday 19 June, all Tower Hamlets residents over the age of 18 are invited to book an appointment at a vaccination event at the London Stadium (West Ham) in the Olympic Park, Stratford, London, E20 2ST. The clinic is only for first Covid-19 vaccine appointments and will run from 10am to 8pm.

    • Tracey says:
      16 Jun16 June 20:16

      Watford had a similar offer today. These are cropping up in areas of low take up and areas of high covid. Twitter seems a good place to watch.

  • dragonfly says:
    16 Jun16 June 15:21

    Just went to a private GP clinic locally for PCR tests – cost £390 for two, and got rebate £5 from Amex small shop.

    • Rhys says:
      16 Jun16 June 15:25

      That’s an insane price!

      • bill says:
        16 Jun16 June 15:46

        Should be £30

      • dragonfly says:
        16 Jun16 June 19:16

        Well, I got your point – but we are flying to AU (and we all know how “easy” it is to fly to AU!) so cannot afford to mess things up like wait times for results. We got the negative results back within 4 hours – test done by Randox. It was insane prices, I know.

    • Lady London says:
      16 Jun16 June 16:00

      is this a wind-up?

      was there Champagne with that?

    • kitten says:
      16 Jun16 June 16:01

      You live in Knightsbridge or Belgravia, right ?

    • MQ says:
      16 Jun16 June 16:04

      why would you pay 390 if you can get it for 1/4 of the price?

    • Sam G says:
      16 Jun16 June 16:10

      wow! I’ve seen a similar silly price in a pharmacy near me but wasn’t sure why anyone would pay it (unless they were on expenses & an urgent trip!)

    • TGLoyalty says:
      16 Jun16 June 18:41

      Expresstest walk/drive in for £80 each didn’t seem worth it?

      • Lady London says:
        16 Jun16 June 18:53

        I think the above set of comments was what’s known as the “HfP Round of Applause” 🙂

        • dragonfly says:
          16 Jun16 June 19:21

          Well, I was not offended. Hubby wanted to do things with the least hassle and would pay for the service he needed at minimal fuss. The clinic was 5 mins walk from where we live.

          • meta says:
            16 Jun16 June 19:39

            Could have used 26 different Amex cards to get £130 discount. 😂

  • George K says:
    16 Jun16 June 16:15

    Hey everyone, quick question. Does anyone know whether it’s possible to do test to release on day five without having pre-booked it, or declared it on the PLF?

    • TGLoyalty says:
      16 Jun16 June 16:49

      Yes. You can also submit and new PLF if any other circumstances change.

      • George K says:
        16 Jun16 June 17:11

        Thanks – I might do that to save my sanity from being hounded…

        Any tips on the cheapest provider? Boots at £85 looks OK. I would have gone with Expresstest again but they seem to have nixed their walk-ins and have only drive through at the airports for TTR…

        • thehornets says:
          16 Jun16 June 18:43

          Very happy with Boots… Test was at 230pm, the sample was couriered to Nottingham and the result was emailed to me at 3am the following morning.

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