The HfP chat thread – Sunday 4th July

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ACK says:

4 Jul4 July 15:51

I wanted a back-to back and I got it. Too bad it’s the immigration queue, full length of the entire T5A side faving B. And back. Not exactly what I wished for. This will be approx 2-2.5, maybe even three hours.
- Aston100 says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 16:17
  
  I feel there is some context missing.
  - Jon says:
    
    4 Jul4 July 16:24
    
    +1
- Harry T says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 17:19
  
  I assume this person is trying a back to back (?domestic) to earn tier points and has ended up in a queue in immigration.
  - John says:
    
    4 Jul4 July 17:37
    
    It’s not possible to end up in an immigration queue when arriving off a domestic flight at LHR. The only way you could do it is if you take the train from T5A to T5C and then stay on after the departing passengers leave, and mix with the arriving passengers.
    - Harry T says:
      
      4 Jul4 July 17:47
      
      Good to know!
  - ACK says:
    
    4 Jul4 July 18:53
    
    I may have been way too brief. I wanted a b2b, yes, but given the pandemic it’s not really what you can do. I was simply arriving back to T5 and faced a long queue to immigration which ended up to be just under two hours. Some people were let through the egates but most had to see an actual human. I have a colleague arriving from a different country with staralliance and therefore into T2, which was no better either. Apologies for the short and confusing initial comment.
    - Matthew R says:
      
      4 Jul4 July 18:57
      
      I am in this queue too. So upsetting. I am considering buying a domestic ticket to get through connections and go landside from departures. Possible?
- Travel Strong says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 18:34
  
  Meanwhile, came through gatwick this afternoon and literally encountered no one other passengers in the airport through immigration and baggage claim! Total time from touch down to driving out of short stay = 18 minutes.
  (…. However it did then require a further 30 minutes of our day to get the Collinson testing in the APH car park done!).
Chris says:

4 Jul4 July 17:10

For those that have attended Wimbledon, looking for some advice. Got tickets for centre court tomorrow with a fixed entry time of ~1 hour before first match. Does that mean I can’t go earlier and take a wander outside outside courts etc?
- SteveJ says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 17:21
  
  They won’t stop you, turn up as early as you like, from 10am onwards
- Zoe says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 17:48
  
  Make sure to check the bag sizes you are allowed, then pack a couple of half bottles of your favourite tipple and a few snacks and avoid some of the queues for food & drink.
  - MW says:
    
    4 Jul4 July 18:24
    
    +1 – check the bottle requirements though as my bag was checked rather thoroughly (my wife’s wasn’t).
    
    No issue if arriving early – consider which gate you want to go through though (queue for entrance 1 is long, but better staffed so decide on the day)
- Rob says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 18:23
  
  Odd, I have Centres for tomorrow (debenture) with no restrictions. As they clearly don’t want that many people arriving at once I would assume you are fine to arrive earlier. Play starts on the outside courts before then.
  - MW says:
    
    4 Jul4 July 18:25
    
    Could be the Debenture thing! Mine (Cente Ct) have entrance time of 12:15). Will be on the lookout for you, Rob!
    - Rob says:
      
      4 Jul4 July 18:47
      
      We’re in the 203 section!
      - MW says:
        
        4 Jul4 July 19:10
        
        We are in 204!
      - Neil says:
        
        4 Jul4 July 19:34
        
        206 tomorrow, ,are sure to wave 🙂
      - The cyclist says:
        
        4 Jul4 July 19:39
        
        Will you be wearing your geography teacher jacket with elbow patches by any chance?
  - DZOO says:
    
    4 Jul4 July 20:41
    
    I had a debenture ticket last Fri (which was transferred into my account) – am I still eligible to purchase 2 tickets for this week or does that rule me out under the single household rule?
    - Rob says:
      
      4 Jul4 July 22:14
      
      Do a dummy purchase and it will tell you. I am blocked as a debenture holder from buying tickets but that’s the same as your situation.
Harry T says:

4 Jul4 July 17:16

Have unexpectedly ended up in the First Class lounge for a domestic flight – the new table service concept is great!
- Andrew says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 18:07
  
  Presumably the buffet will be back after 19 July alongside the previous table service menu for the burger etc in Galleries First.
  - Kevin C says:
    
    4 Jul4 July 18:28
    
    I was in the First Lounge this week and thought table service worked well. There was also a small ‘grab and go’ selection of water, crisps, muffins and fruit.
  - bafan says:
    
    4 Jul4 July 18:38
    
    You think? I think table service might stay. They must save a fortune on waste. Plus hygiene wise buffets have always been low key gross AF.
    - Andrew says:
      
      4 Jul4 July 19:55
      
      Then they could have done it years ago.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        4 Jul4 July 22:32
        
        Sometimes you need a nudge to invest in the infrastructure
      - Tim says:
        
        4 Jul4 July 23:25
        
        Be surprised if it went. New lounge management came from Virgin 18 months ago and seems to have a genuine plan to improve across the board.
  - Harry T says:
    
    4 Jul4 July 19:23
    
    I hope the table service stays – it’s far more convenient and feels more refined.
    - Ben W says:
      
      4 Jul4 July 19:48
      
      Yes, it’s as close as airports come to having a Bob Bob Ricard champagne button.
Yorkie Aid says:

4 Jul4 July 18:30

Could I please request some HfP expert opinions? I’m looking at flying Istanbul to JFK in November (planning to visit Istanbul for two weeks so can gain entry into USA just in case rules haven’t changed by then). I did a google search for flights and can go Business with Royal Jordanian via Amman for less than £900pp. However if I try to book this up via the RJ website it just says not possible but it does seem bookable via Lastminute.com. Also the prices for the same flight on the RJ website just for the AMM to JFK segment (which IS searchable on their site) is showing about £4k pp! Am I missing something here? Also as the layover would be overnight, would we be able to leave the airport to say visit the Dead Sea and pop back again in the morning? Otherwise an 18 hour layover in the airport is clearly not very appealing! Thanks in advance
- Lady London says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 19:07
  
  Dont touch LM with a bargepole Other than GotoGate and one other (forgot name) they have had the worst reports on here for Covid non-refunding.
  
  Additionally I was just reading today LM has lost a court case and had to pay a couple back 2x the cost of their holiday. Couple booked and paid 2300 back in January for holiday in May. LM told them shortly before departure that their holiday was cancelled. Couple checked flights and not cancelled, LM had resold their holiday for 2800. Court ordered LM to pay holiday cost back+same again to couple.
  - Yorkie Aid says:
    
    4 Jul4 July 19:37
    
    Thank you LL, that’s very useful info. I’m wondering whether the low fares shown on LM are just a baiting tactic then to get revenue in. The pricing did sound ridiculously cheap. Funnily enough the other provider with a similar priced fare was GoToGate!
- Memesweeper says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 20:02
  
  Flying from Istanbul may well be cheaper than just from Amman … BA does similar discounting for indirect routes.
  
  18 hours is easily time to get to the Dead Sea resorts and back, highly recommended way to deal with the layover.
  
  Try and find a decent agent: flight centre, Amex travel, propeller travel, etc. Sometimes GoToGate gets genuinely better prices than others, I’ve taken advantage of this before. But given their behaviour recently I’d not risk it again personally.
  - Memesweeper says:
    
    4 Jul4 July 20:21
    
    The Jordanian fare is showing on Matrix so should be bookable through any agent:
    
    Fare Construction
    IST RJ X/AMM RJ NYC 968.00DLEETR1 NUC 968.00 END ROE 1.00 XT 2.60M6 17.20TR 5.40KJ 2.60O7 4.30YC 5.10XY 2.90XA 13.90US 7.20YQ 105.20YR
    
    Unlike Saudia will earn TPs and Avios.
- Colin MacKinnon says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 20:14
  
  You can go with Saudia for around the same price, booking direct.
- Yorkie Aid says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 21:10
  
  Thank you all so much for taking the time to help me. I really appreciate it. Right, off to a decent agent then 🙂
Steve says:

4 Jul4 July 19:31

Seems like Randox has some issues, see the recent posts here:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2037910-ba-partnership-randox-health-covid-pcr-tests-60-a-3.html

and their recent Trustpilot reviews:

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.randoxhealth.com
- Sandgrounder says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 20:17
  
  I suppose that’s what happens when you are the cheapest, anyone looking on the internet can find that out, and green list travel options suddenly expand. I think I’m probably going to use them for my upcoming day 2 return test, but probably wouldn’t use a postal service for an outbound time critical test.
  - Anna says:
    
    4 Jul4 July 20:35
    
    Majority of complaints seem to be about day 5 tests not arriving, and people who obviously didn’t read the information about “next day” test results taking up till midnight the next day – which is why I have booked same day pre-departure tests!
    - Marie says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 14:57
      
      They made us sweat with fit to fly . Next day Result due at midnight didnt arrive until 3.15am .Left for airport 1 hour later.Bit too close for my liking.
      Are using them for day 2,won’t use them again
- Mr. AC says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 21:02
  
  Yup, ordered Day 2 and Day 8 tests from them 48 hours prior to arriving (flight landing after testing center closes at LHR so couldn’t take it on day 0 at the airport). Today is Day 2 and no test arrived, no tracking number, courier messages etc – nothing after the payment confirmation. Called Randox hotline, spent 1 hour on hold but got through – they said test dispatched yesterday and to just wait. Informed the track and trace people when they called, they said it’s pretty typical and that it’s not a big deal.
- Rash says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 21:52
  
  I could be in the same boat but paid by credit card, am I right in thinking I could do a chargeback if the tests don’t arrive on day 2 and/or day 8?
  - Sandgrounder says:
    
    4 Jul4 July 21:57
    
    Feeling like I might pay an extra score and do a Rob now and use Collinson at LTN on arrival.
trader363 says:

4 Jul4 July 20:28

Have booked the Waldorf Astoria Ithaafushi with points for Jan2022 (5 nights; 570k HH). Unlikely I’ll make it – Am looking for opinions from the HfP community on whether you think the hotel would move the booking to Aug/Sep this year, if I emailed the hotel directly

Thanks
- Anna says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 20:36
  
  Do you actually mean this year, isn’t Maldives on the red list at the moment?
  - trader363 says:
    
    4 Jul4 July 20:48
    
    It is – hoping it would be moved to Amber at some point in the next few months?
    
    And by that time, i’m expecting that double-jabbed individuals wouldn’t need to quarantine for Amber countries
    - Anna says:
      
      4 Jul4 July 21:09
      
      You can ask, but you might be out of luck with standard room availability at this short notice.
- Tom H says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 21:36
  
  Zero I chance, I have tried to move two different bookings of similar size on points, and they flatly said no.
- MCO says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 22:53
  
  No chance. I have tried moving just one night before and they refused. According to FT they have even refused people who couldn’t travel due to covid restrictions.
- Ali M says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 21:04
  
  apparently you can get a full refund.Rob mentioned once.I agree with other comments that it no availability they’ll politely decline
Barbuda says:

4 Jul4 July 20:29

Grateful for advice please. I need a family ( 2 adults, 3 kids under 12) annual Travel Insurance policy that covers the following:
– Two weeks in Antigua (on Green list atm) starting 18th July.
– Refund on BA flights and accommodation in the event that we/some of us have to self-isolate and can’t travel between now and 18th July.
– Late August trip to France if it goes on Green list by then.
– Skiing next year if on the green list.

Any ideas? Main concern is that we can’t because of having to isolate
- Richie says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 10:22
  
  Have a look at Staysure.
Andrew says:

4 Jul4 July 20:54

Those crazy scenes at T5 immigration on Rhys’ Instagram! I think I’ll hold off travelling if that’s what it’s like coming back to the UK.
- Yuff says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 21:10
  
  Came back into east mids today, queue wasn’t great but only took 20 mins, there must have been more than one flight arriving as there was more than 40 ish passengers in the queue and that’s more than our flight
- James says:
  
  4 Jul4 July 21:51
  
  Tbh queues weren’t too bad at T5 on Friday but the Egates are a bit of a mess some don’t seem to work and they just get you try another until it does
- MKB says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 00:08
  
  The staff were telling me yesterday — see page 5 of yesterday’s comments — that there was a software update on the T5 eGates yesterday morning. Presumably this was the promised one that should link your passport number to your Passenger Locator Form. The effect was that most people were being rejected and sent for manual processing. They had about six manual desks open for rejected eGate passengers.
  
  There were barely any queues in the Other Passports section, and passengers were through here in under 5 minutes. They didn’t call any passengers over from the UK/EU desks.
  
  I was travelling from a green country with my PLF successfully submitted, so I should not have been rejected by the eGate, but was, as was my partner.
  
  Only 4 of the 16 gates were in use on Saturday. As we were leaving, they announced those gates were closing for another software update, which clearly has also not worked.