The HfP chat thread – Monday 5th July

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Anna says:

5 Jul5 July 17:53

Times and Sun reporting that quarantine for vaccinated visitors to amber countries has a small chance of being dropped from July 26th but more likely August 2nd. Fingers x’d it won’t be pushed back any further than that, there’ll be nothing left of the summer season!
- meta says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 17:58
  
  Strange. BJ said at press conference from 19 July, but full details later this week. Oh, well it isn’t the first time it’s a U-turn.
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    5 Jul5 July 18:05
    
    BJ didn’t say that.
    
    26th July is the planned review date of the SI around isolation/testing requirements.
    
    Let’s hope they drop day 2 PCR for green
    - meta says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 18:10
      
      He said it. He said that from 19 July, but details will be announced by transport secretary later this week. There was no talk of 26th July ever. In the SI it’s 31st July actually.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        5 Jul5 July 19:21
        
        Think that was the draft.
        
        The actual SI says every 28 days until May 2022
        
        28 days falls on the 26th after it’s last review on the 28th.
      - meta says:
        
        5 Jul5 July 20:20
        
        Didn’t they say 3 major reviews – 30 June, 31 July and 31 October? The rest are 3-weekly reviews, but maybe that was the global travel taskforce document.
    - Anna says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 18:12
      
      He has apparently promised an update on the situation later this week – they do really need to announce it a couple of weeks before it actually starts or it won’t be much use!
      - meta says:
        
        5 Jul5 July 18:48
        
        Yes he promised an update, but it sure did sound like it would be announced this week to start 19 July because he explicitly mentioned struggling travel industry. But he might have just decided to leave the exact date on purpose.
      - BJ says:
        
        5 Jul5 July 20:28
        
        Not really fussed if it’s mid July or early August tbh, so long as it all just ends. Want to be able to go without spoiling it all with what ifs and do this, don’t do that. Until we get there, or close to it, I’m remaining a no go and will stick to my UK road trips.
      - Doommonger says:
        
        5 Jul5 July 20:41
        
        When will you lot ever learn?, hanging on every word that our erstwhile “leader” trots out regarding the relaxation of rules, just for a week in the sun. It’s actually quite funny.
        
        You that you know when Boris is lying? his mouth moves.
        
        Doomey
      - Rob says:
        
        5 Jul5 July 21:45
        
        I was looking at 3 weeks to be honest …
    - Aaron C says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 20:06
      
      He said there would be a further statement “this week” (same as the school bubbles). It sounded like it was going but he didn’t commit to any date.
      - meta says:
        
        5 Jul5 July 20:57
        
        @Doomey it’s not only about holidays, some people haven’t seen their families for 2 years and can’t go because of all the restrictions in place.
Happeemonkee says:

5 Jul5 July 18:01

Settlement has been reached between BA and PGMBM over data leak
- Jon says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 18:09
  
  Any word of ball-park payout yet?
  - KBuffett says:
    
    5 Jul5 July 18:11
    
    Can we apply for compensation now?
    - Rob says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 18:13
      
      In theory BA will have to pay everyone, yes. If they don’t voluntarily do it there will simply be a new legal claim.
  - Rob says:
    
    5 Jul5 July 18:13
    
    No
- Craig says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 18:15
  
  Looks like it was posted on FT and then deleted. I’ll have to wait for the email.
  - Rob says:
    
    5 Jul5 July 18:43
    
    I have it. Doesn’t say much beyond what I put on Twitter and Facebook.
    - Craig says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 18:54
      
      Got it now.
  - meta says:
    
    5 Jul5 July 18:44
    
    And then they might close everyone’s accounts…
    - Craig says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 18:54
      
      Highly unlikely.
      - meta says:
        
        5 Jul5 July 19:07
        
        @Craig why do you say that? Plenty of evidence companies closing people’s accounts after claims, incl. travel-related ones. It would be really useful given the current situation for BA to eliminate some Avios from their books and free up some space for cash bookings from 2022 onwards.
      - Craig says:
        
        5 Jul5 July 19:27
        
        From the PGMBM website FAQs:
        
        Will claiming affect my BA executive club status?
        
        Absolutely not. We are acting as a voice for all the affected victims of the breach and your status as a British Airways customer will never be impacted.
        
        You can continue to fly with BA as usual and collect your Avios throughout the case.
      - stevenhp1987 says:
        
        5 Jul5 July 19:58
        
        @meta
        
        They will still want your future money, especially if you’re a frequent flyer. In the long-term they will still make more money off you.
        
        Otherwise they’d close everyone’s accounts for going to CEDR or MCOL when attempting to enforce their rights.
        
        They’d also destroy their public image and be tarnished in the media for acting more scrupulously than the low-budget airlines!
    - Lord Doncaster says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 19:12
      
      Except that is very very unlikely to happen Meta, but keep scaremongering.
      - meta says:
        
        5 Jul5 July 20:24
        
        I am not scaremongering. This is why I said might in my original post.
    - marcw says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 19:55
      
      Are you a shareholder meta?
- BP says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 18:59
  
  However, under the terms of the settlement that has been reached with BA you must keep all information about it – including the amount paid to you – strictly confidential, or BA may be entitled to take legal action against you.
  
  There are a number of obligations that you, as a Claimant under the terms of this agreement, must adhere to. In summary:
  
  – You must not disclose to anyone the level of damages that you have been paid;
  
  – You must not discuss any terms of the settlement with anyone; and
  
  – You must not seek to bring a further claim against BA that arises out of the same Data Claim, and you must not encourage or assist anyone else in any way to make any such claim
  
  This settlement is in full and final settlement of all claims arising out of the Data Claim.
  - Chris Heyes says:
    
    5 Jul5 July 19:49
    
    BP I Had a similar restriction put on me and my solicitor a few years ago when we reached a out of court settlement, even now not allowed to revival amount i can say it was about my right as a disabled to sit next to my partner with free seat selection for 3 of us.
    the person wouldn’t move seats as he had paid for his seat, staff asked me to ask him, I said it wasn’t up to me to say anything to him,
    - Travel Strong says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 20:18
      
      @Chris Heyes – Your post on this topic a few weeks ago has enabled my family to select seats in advance owing to disability and is something I never really considered before. Previously just paid up or took chances 24hrs before. Thanks for sharing that it is a thing!
      Only using on BA though as Virgin don’t charge or limit selections anyway, so they were always a step above! And always now pay for priority seats with easyjet anyway just to get the extra hand-luggage.
    - Soloflyer1977 says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 20:21
      
      I’m a bit late to the game. Is there a way to apply for compensation now? I just checked my emails and I did get an email about it in September 2018.
      - BJ says:
        
        5 Jul5 July 20:39
        
        There was a beautifully simple strategy to have your cake and eat it regardless of whether it went well or … hit the fan but by the sounds of it few played along.
  - Lady London says:
    
    5 Jul5 July 20:56
    
    You are *not* obliged to accept a gagging order as part of any settlement. Particularly one where you would win and get a settlement anyway.
    
    For this reason a settlement offer with a gagging agreement has to be considerably higher than claimant is likely to be entitled to strictly.
    - JDB says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 21:14
      
      It is totally standard for this type of agreement to have a ‘gagging’ clause and the individual claimants will have signed away their rights so that the lawyers can accept any terms deemed acceptable. The payout is not likely to be very significant.
Doug M says:

5 Jul5 July 18:38

The Nectar/Avios competitions Rob did a piece on a few day back. I can’t find any mention in the Nectar app, and googling on a browser doesn’t really bring anything up other than his article. Seems a bit pointless to have a competition as an incentive to do something, but hide it?
- BJ says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 20:44
  
  Shifted two batches today and just checked for you and it is still showing on my app now. It’s called ‘Stand a chance to win bonus avios’ under a picture of a sunset under the partner offers. Perhaps try reinstalling the app?
- Janeyferr says:
  
  6 Jul6 July 01:48
  
  Did you look under “Partner offers”?
Luke says:

5 Jul5 July 18:45

Hopefully amber list travel is a possibility soon…… The big question is, will any country let us in as our cases near certainly go through the roof.
- meta says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 18:49
  
  Yes, most big destinations will, but only if you’re double-jabbed.
  - Luke says:
    
    5 Jul5 July 18:58
    
    Some countries have started to add us to their version of the red list already, and our cases are expected to double by the time we can travel to amber countries without quarantine on our side.
    - meta says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 19:10
      
      But their red lists usually don’t apply for double vaccinated. Yes, there are some that outright ban us, but not bigger summer destinations. I seriously doubt that Spain, Portugal, Greece, etc. will ban fully vaccinated British tourists. Iceland too for example has lifted all restrictions for fully vaccinated and they don’t intend to re-introduce them.
- Ian says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 19:11
  
  I don’t understand why anywhere with an relatively low vaccination rate would allow UK visitors at the moment, double jabbed or otherwise. OK, I do understand – some places are desperate for the tourist £ and going without it for another summer would be disastrous. I expect soaring case rates in Spain before the end of August.
  - Luke says:
    
    5 Jul5 July 19:23
    
    Before the end of August? Have you seen their numbers in the last 48 hours…
    - Anna says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 19:55
      
      Exactly, and agreed to be down to their own unvaccinated young people ignoring social distancing guidelines. It’s not even as if that many people have had chance to go there from the UK yet. And their vaccination rate is one of the highest in Europe, by the way!
      - Rimmingtown says:
        
        5 Jul5 July 20:55
        
        YES!!! Anna you have come in for me! I had a bet with one of the former frequent contributors on this board. 350 posts in a week! Nice work 🙂
    - meta says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 20:30
      
      @Luke I said it before, but other countries trust the vaccines, unlike in this country.
      
      Why do we double jab those who had covid when it was proven one dose is sufficient and issue covid passes to those people? Why do we keep on requiring people who are vaccinated to self-isolate if they had contact? And so on…
      - Ian says:
        
        5 Jul5 July 21:22
        
        Um, because two jabs are better than one, but even double vaccinated people can still catch it. Just ask my neighbour who had his second jab 4 weeks ago and is currently laid low in bed.
    - BJ says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 20:49
      
      Delta is going to surge through much of Europe in coming weeks. Provided the vulnerable are already vaccinated that might do less harm than good by boosting herd immunity.
- HH says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 19:25
  
  Switzerland is letting in fully vaccinated UK tourists without any testing or quarantine, and they even accept the Indian AZ batches some of us were given here. The principle being vaccines are effective against all known variants, so unless that changes, it’s back to normal for vaccinated people—as it should be!
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    5 Jul5 July 19:27
    
    Vaccines are highly effective is stopping severe disease/hospitalisation against all variants (what matters)
    
    And therefore why shouldn’t it be for all under 40’s since the risk of them ending up in hospital is very very low.
    - Mike says:
      
      5 Jul5 July 19:38
      
      Because Switzerland isn’t bothered by hospitalisation of British citizens in the UK. It cares about the reduced transmission, reduced viral load and reduced infection rates that vaccination brings as they want to protect their citizens whilst allowing economic activity to continue. Allowing in unvaccinated under 40s makes no sense as they have been shown to very efficient at spreading COVID.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        5 Jul5 July 19:42
        
        Reduced transmission, reduced viral
        Load … you mean like those under 40’s which are much more likely to have mild to symptoms …
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        5 Jul5 July 19:43
        
        Mild to no symptoms*
      - Lady London says:
        
        5 Jul5 July 20:59
        
        …as in, and are still virulent transmitters if they have it, TGLoyalty
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        6 Jul6 July 00:00
        
        @LL no evidence you don’t do the same with a vaccine.
        
        Feel free to send me the study that shows a vaccinated person with mild symptoms sheds less virus than an unvaccinated person with mild symptoms and same for asymptotic
Doug M says:

5 Jul5 July 18:54

Also, regarding Heathrow Rewards, I think it’s far from fixed. Password issues continuing. Used the chat facility and you get this
“Unfortunately we are experiencing issues on the Heathrow Rewards Platform, we are working on getting it back up and running. Please retain any receipts for purchase within the terminals and these points can be added once the system is back up and running.”
- Lady London says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 21:07
  
  There’s a story here for Rob “What really happened to Heathrow Rewards? ”
  
  – did they get hacked, and still trying to work out personal data has been leaked?
  
  – or more prosaically, did they have to let their person with IT skills go and struggling to get back started witbout them now?
  
  I wish them the best, and hope they get it sorted. They have always been very decent in crediting purchases after the fact, etc
Jord says:

5 Jul5 July 19:15

Hi, i’m trying to organise flights one way from london to tampa flexible in the next 3 weeks. These are for a friend who has no points im happy to use some of mine but not too many… I have ba avios, what would be the best option with lowest tax/air miles in economy? I have read possibly using air lingus for transatlantic but can’t seem to find any avios flights. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
- Ikaz says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 19:54
  
  I am not sure of the airports that are possible, but BA LHR-MIA on Friday the 16th of July, you can get there one way for 8,750 avios + £305.00 per person with RFS, which is pretty good for a one way flight
  - Jord says:
    
    6 Jul6 July 22:01
    
    thanks Ikaz 🙂
Mouse says:

5 Jul5 July 19:32

Re BA refusing to re-route people beyond one year ticket validity, which has come up a few times on here recently. My case was decided in my favour by CEDR today – they instructed BA to reroute me at a date of my convenience irrespective of conditions of carriage, referencing article 15 of EU261. I had booked in the half price avios sale so this saves me a big chunk of avios compared to having to rebook at full price. Process was very smooth (if slow) – I would recommend it to others in the same position.
- stevenhp1987 says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 20:06
  
  Now I wish I took the “can’t be bothered route” and asked for a refund instead of fighting it when Japan got cancelled for May!
  
  When did you open your CEDR case? I opened up a few days ago as BA refused Duty of Care citing some non-existent notice period. Not overly bothered about the timescales as I can float an extra night and the value of a meal but I’m interested to know!
  - stevenhp1987 says:
    
    5 Jul5 July 20:06
    
    *Now I wish I didn’t take…
    
    That makes more sense!
  - Mouse says:
    
    5 Jul5 July 20:16
    
    Opened in March, whole process takes about 80 working days
- BJ says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 20:54
  
  Good to hear 🙂 I’ve been lucky with BA myself but think they need to be more consistent (good) with pax across the board.
- Lady London says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 21:11
  
  Yaaaay Well done Mouse. Thanks for letting us know.
- Lady London says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 21:18
  
  This is why the poster with 241 bookings for Sydney yesterday would be wise to consider rerouting to the latest flight that has any cash seats available now that BA has cancelled his flight instead of the refund BA is trying to force him into
- Jody says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 21:51
  
  Fantastic news, well done!!
  
  Any top tips please? I’m about to start this, just waiting for BA to reply (or not!) to my letter before action.
  
  Talking of my letter, have they furloughed the whole of their head office? Sent my letter first class signed for on 22nd June. Checked the tracking today, and it was signed for at the delivery order on 1st July! Seems like no-one was in the office……..
  - Sukes says:
    
    5 Jul5 July 22:21
    
    Jody have a look at this thread and in particular post #13: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2044931-eu261-cedr-upholds-right-rerouting-outside-ticket-validity.html
  - Rob says:
    
    5 Jul5 July 22:40
    
    All management are furloughed, yes, although not all for 5 days per week.
- Jody says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 21:53
  
  I know I’ve just asked for top tips, but probably my most important question is did you actually buy replacement flights? Or did you just do screenshots, show replacement flights etc?
  - Mouse says:
    
    6 Jul6 July 00:12
    
    I did not buy alternative flights. Just asked for CEDR to enforce my right to rerouting at a date of my convenience under EU261. Articles 5+8 give your rights and article 15 states that they override the conditions of carriage – I would just explain that clearly. My impression from the full written adjudication was that the adjudicator was well aware of all the various arguments already.
Tracey says:

5 Jul5 July 19:45

Is there any way of connecting people on here? I’m happy to let people know where they may be able to get early second jabs, but can’t really post on anything too visible.
- Tracey says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 20:47
  
  Ignore. I’ve worked it out.
- Heathrow Flyer says:
  
  5 Jul5 July 23:33
  
  Tracey, I’d be keen to hear from you.