The HfP chat thread – Thursday 1st July

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• stevenhp1987 says:

  1 Jul1 July 15:57

  BA refused duty of care the other day (flight cancellation causing one extra day in Malta).

  Sent them a carbon copy of EC261 pointing out that there is no notice period that allows them to ignore Duty of Care.

  They still insist that no Duty of Care applies due to the notice giving for the flight cancellation.

  I guess I’ll be sending them a Letter Before Action then and going via MCOL.

  • Sukes says:

    1 Jul1 July 17:19

    Or try CEDR. I had EZJ last year partially paying for duty of care & declining taxi fare. I took up a CEDR case to get the rest and they paid up in full I think in about 8 wks (this was spring 2020).

    • meta says:

      1 Jul1 July 17:23

      It’s now taking months with CEDR as they are giving BA months to respond (some people reported 6 months!). MCOL will give a maximum of 14 days extra to BA. You’ll also make them focus more if you go to MCOL plus you can claim interest too.

      • George K says:

        1 Jul1 July 18:53

        Is it advisable to skip CEDR? I was under the impression that MCOL is a step only after all other options have been exhausted

        • meta says:

          1 Jul1 July 19:14

          You can skip CEDR. It’s voluntary, but airlines make you believe it is not, especially BA.

        • A says:

          1 Jul1 July 20:48

          No need to go to CEDR first to go to MCOL

  • A says:

    1 Jul1 July 18:39

    BA’s in- house legal team should be mindful of their obligations under pre action protocol when they write such clear nonsense

    • meta says:

      1 Jul1 July 20:00

      It’s deliberate as in 95% of cases people will not pursue. In one of their idiotic responses when I made a claim last year they confirmed they are liable, but then in second paragraph said they won’t pay up.

    • Richie says:

      1 Jul1 July 21:31

      Exactly. easyJet emailed nonsense, I won that after MCOL. BA did the same, I won that after CEDR.

• Kevin C says:

  1 Jul1 July 16:05

  Amex travel say membership reward points are now worth 50% more when you book with American Express Travel. 90,000 points was worth £405 and is now worth £608 until the end of the year. Not convinced that’s good value for them even so but you may disagree.

  • Rob says:

    1 Jul1 July 16:15

    90k are worth £720 of Nectar points so I think you have your answer ….

    • David D says:

      1 Jul1 July 16:21

      I got the same email. Works out at 0.68 per point, which is worse than Nectar conversion of 0.8 so not great value

  • Andrew says:

    1 Jul1 July 16:16

    Just got the same email and was going to post. Not sure if it’s Platinum specific or all MR cards. If you have a use for your MR via Nectar then it’s not as good value, if you don’t and want to cash out and have some travel to book then I guess it’s better than the usual £4.50 statement credit rate, but not as good as the £9 rate we saw last year, or the £8 rate for Nectar. And of course people will have their own valuations for transferring points to partners.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      1 Jul1 July 18:34

      Who doesn’t need food? Or booze or whatever is sold in Argos or on eBay!

• jj says:

  1 Jul1 July 16:15

  I’ve been a bit dim and failed to order a Return to the UK test. I leave for Menorca on Saturday and planned to sort out my return test while I was away – without for a moment thinking that I need to the physical test with me unless I can find a local provider.

  I seem to be too late to get something posted to me. Can I pick one up in the airport? Or will it be easy to get a suitable test from a local supplier while I’m away?

  • N says:

    1 Jul1 July 16:36

    In Spain, Vueling offer discounts on tests from a selection of local providers…

    (see here: https://www.vueling.com/en/passengers/test-pcr-covid )

    Or Google ‘vueling covid test’ if HFP eats that link.

    Of the four companies offering tests, I can see the Balerics in the QuironPrevencion list but not Menorca, only Mallorca, Ibiza, and Mahón, so might be a faff to hop islands to do the test. Or a nice day trip, depending on your view.

  • N says:

    1 Jul1 July 16:49

    Update: look what I found for you jj!

    Eurofins is doing in terminal testing and one of their airports just happens to be Menorca!

    https://eurofins-megalab.com/en/eurofins-megalab-is-carrying-out-testing-for-covid-in-12-spanish-airports/

    • jj says:

      1 Jul1 July 16:52

      Thank you, N. That’s incredibly helpful – your Google skills are considerably better than mine.

      Either option would work for me, as Mahon is the capital city of Menorca and the QuironPrevencion centre is within strolling distance of my hotel.

      • Anna says:

        1 Jul1 July 16:59

        I’m hoping we can get ours done at a farmacia in Tenerife, I’d rather put the money into the Spanish economy than Boris & Hancock’s chums!

      • N says:

        1 Jul1 July 17:41

        I’ve used Quiron every return trip from the mainland without issue, so can recommend.

        • Anna says:

          1 Jul1 July 18:14

          Thanks – they seem to have a clinic in Costa Adeje, 45 euros for an antigen test.

    • marcw says:

      1 Jul1 July 18:21

      AFAIK there are COVID-19 testing lab (ok prices) on pretty much all main Spanish airports.

• Ali2010 says:

  1 Jul1 July 16:24

  Wimbledon – debenture seats – I have two no.1 court debenture tickets for tomorrow which I cannot now use. You get lounge access too of course and Novak! Great seats right in centre and only few rows back. Can transfer for £200 a seat if anyone interested?

  • ashraj says:

    1 Jul1 July 17:16

    Hi Ali,

    I may be potentially interested please can you email me on akkennan at gmail .com

    Thanks

    • Ali2010 says:

      1 Jul1 July 17:47

      Sent you an email direct just now. Thanks

  • Mark says:

    1 Jul1 July 18:38

    Hi Ali
    If they are still available I would be interested. Please email if so at markey4848 at hotmail .com
    Thanks

• HBommie says:

  1 Jul1 July 16:40

  Switched to HSBC premier acc. Is the WE card worth the £390 for the sign up and annual bonus points (after the eligible spend) at the moment?

  If I go for the Premier Card would that preclude me from switching when I’m travelling more, lounge key isn’t that appealing either.

  • KS says:

    1 Jul1 July 16:52

    Isn’t that £195? They waived next year’s fee for existing holders. Try checking with customer service if you can get that.

    • Rob says:

      1 Jul1 July 16:54

      Need to pay for 2 years to get the full 40k Avios bonus.

      • KS says:

        1 Jul1 July 17:28

        I didn’t realise that! I was waiting for my anniversary to hit and point that will no longer come with it. Thanks Rob!

  • JDB says:

    1 Jul1 July 16:56

    It depends on how much you spend on non Amex cards or use Curve. It works for me as I’m not interested in collecting hotel or Nectar points, only Avios and particularly with tax payments (via Curve) put over £50k on the card, and the WE card appears to have the best Avios earning rate. It seems they are waiving the next renewal fee for existing holders, don’t know if they will do anything for new applicants.

    • HBommie says:

      1 Jul1 July 19:37

      Never curved or MS’d and doubt that I will.

  • Memesweeper says:

    1 Jul1 July 16:57

    The normal prem doesn’t preclude you from upgrading. It’s a manual process, a bit laborious, but not as broken as Virgin’s.

    Ive held the WE for several years, with sufficient spend it’s OK even without the travel benefits.

  • Genghis says:

    1 Jul1 July 17:21

    Think of the 80k HSBC points from sign up and anniversary bonuses as covering the two years’ fees and then unlocking access for all spend to a high earn rate pluripotent point earning non Amex.

• Washborne says:

  1 Jul1 July 16:57

  Wimbledon Parking Question if I may to those who have been this year.

  Thinking of using car park 6 pay on the day (prepay all sold out)

  If I arrive between 10 and 11 am I going to have an issue getting a space. I realise it’s a large golf club but I don’t know if they limit the number of cars or just welcome everyone.

  • SteveJ says:

    1 Jul1 July 17:24

    No issue at all, used that same car park yesterday at a similar time. Loads of space. £35 fee, contactless card payment, they accept Amex.

    • Washborne says:

      1 Jul1 July 18:18

      Thanks Steve, hope you had a good day there.

• Anna says:

  1 Jul1 July 17:14

  https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/15450583/double-jabbed-brits-can-go-on-holiday-with-their-kids-at-the-start-of-summer-break/

  According to The Sun (and to be fair they do seem to have inside sources!), quarantine will be dropped for vaccinated arrivals and children from amber countries, with testing requirements being pre-departure and day 2.

  • Anna says:

    1 Jul1 July 17:16

    However, there is still no word on the Johnson honeymoon 🤣

    • meta says:

      1 Jul1 July 17:25

      Sky News reported it this morning as I posted. It will be announced in the next few days as Johnson just said to the papers.

      • Yorkieflyer says:

        2 Jul2 July 00:11

        The honeymoon ?

    • BJ says:

      1 Jul1 July 17:43

      Walking holiday in Lochnagar with Teresa and Philip May in the latest effort to save the Union, set a good example on respecting covid rules, and reminisce about the good old days before Lady Hale.

  • Andrew says:

    1 Jul1 July 17:47

    Fake news.

    For many Brits the school holidays started on on Friday 25th June.

    • Anna says:

      1 Jul1 July 19:42

      Presumably the Scottish Sun reported it differently! Though of course the First Minister was completely at liberty to allow Scots to travel abroad without restrictions had she felt so inclined.

    • Chrisasaurus says:

      1 Jul1 July 19:44

      A few, possibly but many is stretching it

    • Tracey says:

      2 Jul2 July 08:07

      In England and Wales it is usually mid-late July with private schools a couple of weeks earlier. Those in years 11 and 13 (5th form and Upper 6th in old money) would finish at the end of exams towards the end of June.
      Scotland is a few weeks earlier, mainly because their new school year starts mid August rather than September.

• BJ says:

  1 Jul1 July 17:59

  According to polls though only about 1 in 4 or 5 of those consider themselves Brits so perhaps not as many as you were thinking.

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