The HfP chat thread – Saturday 26th June

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• Yuff says:

  26 Jun26 June 05:03

  Merkel, and Macron, throwing their toys out of the pram because Southern Europe won’t back their orders to ban Brits from travelling.
  Lol that’s a vote winner for Germans wanting to holiday in Southern Europe…………
  See how that goes down Angela……….

  • TimM says:

    26 Jun26 June 05:15

    They both have an agenda of distracting EU citizens from the failure to secure vaccines as well as the UK did. The ‘sausage war’ is yet another example of this.

    An approach which was not politically-led would involve looking at the Covid hotspots around the EU and closing borders with them – but they can’t, the EU must remain borderless. Hence they to try to ban their traditional, but well-vaccinated, bogeyman – the UK. It is pathetic.

    • Andy says:

      26 Jun26 June 08:28

      Our cases are spiralling out of control though so no surprise no one is letting us in. Ignoring the EU for a second there aren’t many other countries lining up to let us in. Is that also a distraction technique?

      • Aaron C says:

        26 Jun26 June 08:32

        Not many countries are open to anybody to be fair. Most of our issues aren’t getting in but getting home again!
        Even France has no problem with fully vaccinated Brits.

      • Yuff says:

        26 Jun26 June 08:35

        Spiralling out of control, really.
        They said months ago as restrictions were relaxed that cases would go up, even with cases as you put it, spiralling out of control the forecast for daily hospitilisations, on July 19th, is 10% of the January peak. Hardly a problem is it?
        Spain , Greece, Portugal are more than happy for Brits to visit and rightly so they tell Germany and France vaccination is the way to protect their populations, not closing borders.
        Cases are going to fluctuate all the time and europe will be where we are end of august according to their own forecasts.
        Most people agree countries need to learn to live with the virus rather than angry politicians trying to score political points……

        • pauldb says:

          26 Jun26 June 09:31

          Hospitalisations are relevant for our domestic policies, but it’s the rising case count that will rightly influence other countries’ entry requirements for Brits. If we have more (delta) cases and they have more unvaccinated, the two shouldn’t be allowed to mix, regardless of blame and politics.

      • The Lord says:

        26 Jun26 June 09:02

        Cases are high because tests are high and concentrated in areas of outbreaks. If you actually look at the positivity rate we are very similar to other Western nations, similar with hospitality rate

        • jek says:

          26 Jun26 June 10:26

          I call bullshit on your statement, The Lord: England 3% (and increasing), Germany 1.4% (and decreasing) positive rate.

        • The Lord says:

          26 Jun26 June 11:43

          Taken from here https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/positive-rate-daily-smoothed

  • Phil W says:

    26 Jun26 June 10:38

    Or it probably has more to do with both Merkel and Macron facing upcoming elections. Though on Covid, tough on the causes of Covid might very well win the most votes.

  • Alex says:

    26 Jun26 June 10:42

    Never our fault. Always someone else’s.

    • David says:

      26 Jun26 June 12:56

      Yes, we should have remained in the EU. Then i would be on holiday somewhere nice

      • TGLoyalty says:

        26 Jun26 June 15:15

        Wet Cornwall and Devon for £1000 a night isn’t nice?

  • Lord Doncaster says:

    26 Jun26 June 14:08

    Erm… Maybe it’s also to do with Germany doing far fewer tests than Britain. Frau Merkel is on her last legs, politically, anyway. She’ll soon be an irrelevance

• trader363 says:

  26 Jun26 June 05:13

  Has anyone else suddenly started getting charged cash advance fees for feeding che with beardy?

  • Chrisasaurus says:

    26 Jun26 June 07:00

    No that has always been the case, adding bendy
    Into the mix serves no purpose at all

  • Reney says:

    26 Jun26 June 09:53

    most people did since last year, occasionally you read some people on the chat managed to missed the change but sounds like beardy is catching them now.

• Andrew says:

  26 Jun26 June 07:14

  Peloton has turned up on my Amex offers.

  I’ve been following the story about their treadmills in the US. Think I’ll pass.

  • Oh! Matron! says:

    26 Jun26 June 09:55

    Last week’s removal of the free tier has been the final straw for may people

    • Super Secret Stuff says:

      26 Jun26 June 12:04

      That’s a shame because I’d really like a Peloton…

      • The cyclist says:

        26 Jun26 June 21:18

        I’ve got a Peleton, I’m not sure of the instructions but I appear to have the the model with square wheels and no saddle, but I can assure readers its provided some very exhilarating workouts so far.

  • Doogie says:

    26 Jun26 June 17:27

    Good shout – unfortunately I already have the bike, so the specific offer is not useful to me, but honestly can’t say enough good things about the bike, the classes and the whole ecosystem.

    If anyone is thinking about buying I can give a referral code, which gets £100 of accessories for you (effectively getting the shoes for £30) and I get £100 to spend on their apparel

• mark says:

  26 Jun26 June 07:16

  Cancelling my 10 days in Portugal this morning. We are supposed to be heading out on the 18th of July for 10 days but with them getting put on the Amber list its no longer possible.
  I booked one way flights out there and one way flights back, if I cancel them allnat this point can I get a future travel voucher?
  Thank you

  • Andrew says:

    26 Jun26 June 07:28

    If you’re flying with BA, then yes. Other airlines I don’t know about.

    • roberto says:

      26 Jun26 June 08:02

      You could wait to see if BA cancels or ammends the flights to get a cash refund.

      • Sam G says:

        26 Jun26 June 11:10

        Yep. no rush, you only need to do the voucher an hour before (though I wouldn’t leave it that late in case it doesn’t work!)

• Gary says:

  26 Jun26 June 07:16

  DP: BA randomly offered option to “hold” a LHR TLV cash flight with deposit during booking process for 72 hours (this was just before the government announcement so was helpful). Decided to go for FTV, CSA advised this kind of deposit cannot be turned into FTV so fully refunded.

  • Jonathan says:

    26 Jun26 June 07:57

    Well done but I’m gobsmacked they refunded that tbh. It’s a relatively small amount & isn’t actually a booking, it just guarantees the price for 72 hours.

• john says:

  26 Jun26 June 07:33

  I read a few recent comments about Bali, hoping to travel via Sin etc and Hotels here and the current Covid situation/opening up etc
  If anyone would like first hand advice I am happy to give, currently in Bali for the past few weeks (I live in Indonesia) stayed at the FS Jimbaran and Ubud, Amankila, St Regis and RC Nusa Dua on this trip and various other hotels previously.
  I also have flown back and forth to the UK a few times via Sin, BA isn’t possible via Singapore as they don’t have an agreed/approved partner to allow transfer in Singapore.
  Bali in my view won’t be opening in July, currently Indonesia is having the highest daily Covid count (over 20,000 on Thursday) maybe you could at least double that to get the real number. When it is open for non residents I think quarantine will still happen (5 days)

  • Craig says:

    26 Jun26 June 07:34

    Fingers crossed for next Feb?

    • john says:

      26 Jun26 June 07:44

      I would hope so, the actual vaccination program is pretty good in Bali, most hotel staff have had 2 jabs.

      • Craig says:

        26 Jun26 June 07:46

        I’m hoping so too John, booked via Singapore at the moment. Haven’t booked the local flights yet.

        • john says:

          26 Jun26 June 07:52

          Singapore is a different story, the only safe route through there is SQ, even in business and first your not allowed in lounge just have to stay in an area for high risk country OR book the air side hotel for a few hours

      • Axel says:

        26 Jun26 June 07:58

        Is that 2 jabs of Sinovac the hotel staff are getting? It seems to have been ineffective for medical workers in Kudus.

        Is there any word on access through Batam to Changi?

        • john says:

          26 Jun26 June 08:17

          Most in Bali that I know have had AZ, certainly the staff at FS and St Regis, my wife also had AZ in Bali.

          Outside Jakarta and Bali I believe Sinovac is mainly used

        • john says:

          26 Jun26 June 08:18

          Batam to Changi is a no go at the moment.

        • Craig says:

          26 Jun26 June 08:19

          It does seem to have protected them against severe disease though? Not ideal but not a busted flush either?

        • john says:

          26 Jun26 June 08:43

          Yes for sure SV works to some degree, it certainly lessons the symptoms in the people I know that have caught C19

  • Polly says:

    26 Jun26 June 08:21

    Tnx for that John. Yes we are hoping for that route to Bali vis Sin in Nov… as you say it’s not hopeful at present. Are there any plans to allow transit from eg BA etc in the pipeline? Perhaps for people double vaccinated ? Other option l guess is via Jakarta with their 5 day stay option? Great to have the inside info, looking forward to your updates then.

    • john says:

      26 Jun26 June 08:42

      BA have been selling flights via Sin using GA for the SIN to CGK leg, but it wouldn’t work, I had a flight booked for next weekend via HKG with CX and BA, CX got cancel and I asked BA to change the flight to SIN but they refused so I cancelled and rebooked SQ.

      The idea in Bali for July was to allow double vaccinated but still have to do 5 days quarantine in Bali and two tests in a approved hotel, I would guess they would use wings at the larger hotels cost around 500 GBP, you wouldn’t be able to quarantine at the smaller hotels, it may happen August or September, they def want it and Bali needs it…

      • Sam G says:

        26 Jun26 June 09:19

        plenty of folk (digital nomads and the like) that would do 5 days quarantine so it may be a good starting point, but no good for any form of holiday though! Seems like they’ll miss another peak season at this rate & of course some of their big markets of Aus, China etc still closed off for the foreseeable anyway, especially with their case numbers now spiking.

        I wouldn’t book to go until it’s open but if you did want to I’d book SQ on one ticket, they’ll definitely be one of the first back into Bali as it’s just a short hop for them and transiting Changi shouldn’t be an issue with UK (currently green list).

        BA unlikely to add transit anytime soon as they have to arrange it with Changi & get approval from the Singapore aviation authority & they handle very little transit in Singapore in normal times. Changi has been a source of a big local cluster in recent weeks so I can’t see a relaxation of procedures there any time particularly soon – currently SQ-SQ you are escorted and held at a transit gate, no access to lounge, shops etc – only the airport hotel for long connections.

        • BuildBackBetter says:

          26 Jun26 June 10:28

          Their peak tourist season is Dec

        • Sam G says:

          26 Jun26 June 11:38

          busy then too but July/August is peak for the weather / Euro holiday season + being winter in Aus.

          Nov-Mar is wet season, I’ve had a couple of weekends there then with weather akin to Skegness! Still plenty to do and it isn’t usually constant but I met quite a few Brits who were pretty disappointed it wasn’t 2 weeks on the beach weather.

  • Paul says:

    26 Jun26 June 14:02

    If you closely examine the data EU nations are catching up on vaccinations very quickly. Importantly however they closed their borders (who knew they could do that?) to arrivals from Delta variant nations. Consequently their infection rates continue to fall allowing many to open their borders to vaccinated travellers. By comparison the U.K. did not control its border and do while we top the vaccination league table we also top the infection table too. As others have said vaccination rates impact death and hospitalisation domestically, infection rates determine who will allow us in. It’s a very short list and may yet dwindle

    • Pete M says:

      26 Jun26 June 15:30

      The EU has been closed to every third country (aside a very short white list) since March 2020 – with only EU citizens and residents allowed to enter. The UK is open to anyone from anywhere, rather unusually perhaps, but the arrival protocols are, in theory, rather strict. Everyone from an ember country (which India was) was meant to isolate at home for 10(5) days. Hotel isolation is a pretty extreme step few countries around the world are using. I would suggest a bigger issue perhaps was Indian arrivals either not doing isolating at home, not being able to afford to do that, there being limited enforcement or maybe none of those things – people were returning to large multi-generational household and were passing the virus to others there, who are free to live their lives as normal. As far as I know, no other European country demands hotel quarantine for arrivals from anywhere bar the UK and Norway (Norway requires it for UK arrivals, of course!). And no other European country has anywhere near the size of the Indian community we have here. My point being that if there was a large Indian community in, say, Germany, they’d likely have the same problem right now – unless they completely banned any arrivals from India, as Australia did (and don’t get me started on that!).

      • Pete M says:

        26 Jun26 June 15:31

        (I do know certain European countries have made unilateral decisions to let citizens of countries not on the white list enter, but that doesn’t change the overall point.)

  • Paul says:

    26 Jun26 June 14:04

    One thing that bothers me. The Bali Sun runs daily stories of crime and as a regular visitor over last 15 years not something I have ever encountered. It’s not putting me off but it suggest a worrying trend and perhaps one that is not accurate

• JohnT says:

  26 Jun26 June 07:52

  Any good/bad experiences using Japan BA call centre at 1am to add return leg to a 241 outbound please?

  • Phil W says:

    26 Jun26 June 10:40

    Always an excellent experience for me.

• MrIO says:

  26 Jun26 June 07:59

  Hi, has anyone got a steer on what Sky news are stating around Malta is now requesting all passengers are double vaccinated? No problem for my wife and I but cannot see any detail around children???

  • Craig says:

    26 Jun26 June 08:16

    Discussed yesterday that unvaccinated will be required to quarantine from 30 June, I think we are still waiting for more details with regards children etc?

    • TGLoyalty says:

      26 Jun26 June 15:17

      Complete utter nonsense when nearly every adult is fully vaccinated.

  • YC says:

    26 Jun26 June 08:24

    And that’s double jabbed + pcr requirement prior to departure?

  • Aaron C says:

    26 Jun26 June 08:31

    My friend who lives there says for the fully vaccinated it is a pre-departure test only. Dunno about children.

  • Sukes says:

    26 Jun26 June 08:47

    The source is this statement from Maltese Gov (auto translated) dated 24 June https://www.gov.mt/en/Government/DOI/Press%20Releases/Pages/2021/June/24/pr211210.aspx
    ‘JOINT STATEMENT BY THE DEPUTY OFFICE PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND MINISTRY OF TOURISM AND CONSUMER PROTECTION Persons arriving from the United Kingdom must present a vaccine certificate – From Wednesday 1 July, Malta will be on the UK’s green travel list. This decision will mean that British tourists who come to Malta will not need to take a quarantine period when they return home.

    In response to this news, our country will be protecting the health of Maltese residents, and of all those who visit our country, by demanding that from 30 June 2021, people flying to Malta from the United Kingdom they must present a vaccine certificate.

    This means that only persons with a vaccination certificate recognized by the Superintendent of Public Health will be able to enter Malta from the United Kingdom without the need for quarantine.

    This decision was taken on the basis of an epidemiological study of the situation of variant cases reported in the United Kingdom.’

    They’ll have to clarify in coming days 1) how they accept UK proof of vaccine and 2) treatment of minors.

    The source of all this is EU Covid certificate officially launched 1 Jul but there’s no EU agreed approach for treatment of vaccinated travellers from 3rd countries from that date. So policy is being made up, announced & clarified on the hoof.

  • Jamie says:

    26 Jun26 June 13:18

    Looks like there has been a further update today – Malta will accept the UK vaccine certificate from July 1st – https://www.visitmalta.com/en/info/new-covid-19-updates/

    • Paul says:

      26 Jun26 June 14:08

      So Malta closed to families with teenage kids as U.K. not vaccinating them till Autumn /spring terms ie Sep-Dec and Jan22- Mar, based on information provided to schools

      • TGLoyalty says:

        26 Jun26 June 15:18

        Shouldn’t be vaccinating them full stop unless they have some real risk factor.

        Read the views of the person who was core in bellowing the mRNA technology Dr. Robert Malone or is he just a crackpot anti vaxxer

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