The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 7th July

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• C says:

  7 Jul7 July 13:17

  Does anyone know if time spent in a green country reduces the 10 day quarantine from an amber country?
  Looking at doing 4 days in an amber country then 6 in a green. Would I still need to isolate for 10 days or just 4?
  Thanks

  • bafan says:

    7 Jul7 July 13:22

    On FT yesterday I read the rules changed so you’d have to do the full 10 days. Could you stay out until the 19th? That’s my plan 😂.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    7 Jul7 July 13:25

    No if you have been in an amber country at all in the past 10 days you must do the full 10 days.

  • Aliks says:

    7 Jul7 July 13:27

    On the gov website it says that the highest area you have visited in the 10 days before arrival is what counts. Presumably because thats where you are most likely to catch something and bring it back.

    So no benefit from your 4 green days, you are Amber and isolated (at least until the rules change again)

• GaryE says:

  7 Jul7 July 13:34

  Raised this point earlier today – BA have cancelled my late morning flight (17 August to BHD) and have offered me the late afternoon flight which means I will miss my meeting. There is an early morning flight with Aer Lingus but they have not offered this option which would work for me.

  BA are saying they have no rebooking agreement with Aer Lingus re-cancelled flights and can only book me on another BA flight.

  I thought I could be rerouted on another carrier especially in the same IAG which also accepts Avios.

  Flights been paid for on Avios and money – are they correct in this or can I insist they put me on the early morning flight which has availability. The rebooked flight is 4 hours later.

  • Sam G says:

    7 Jul7 July 13:47

    Quite bizarrely they are right, even though they are both owned by IAG the rebooking arrangement ended in May and hasn’t been renewed.

    So you need to go on a BA metal flight (they fly from London City as well).

    You could see about taking a refund and booking EI yourself, you can use Avios via Aer Club but surcharges are high isn’t usually worth it vs paying cash

    The other option is to book yourself on EI, don’t get a refund and then go after BA via MCOL for the fare as they didn’t reroute you onto a convenient flight as is your EU 261 right

    • Sam G says:

      7 Jul7 July 13:53

      There is a 6.40am LCY or a 7.25am LHR flight, they’ll put you on those FOC. Aer Lingus is £109 booked direct cash

      • GaryE says:

        7 Jul7 July 14:06

        Thanks for the feedback – most helpful. Would only use EI if it was a like for like swop as their flights and charges are higher. Easyjet flight options are the same times but go into Belfast International. Not worth the hassle to go via MCOL, – just seems strange that they are already cancelling flights in the middle of August.

        • GaryE says:

          7 Jul7 July 14:11

          One question as flight delayed by 4 hours can you claim compensation for meals etc from BA – or do we just have accept the situation?

        • Sam G says:

          7 Jul7 July 14:19

          https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/traveltrade/bookings-policies/policies/askba?faqid=8212 this is the policy, you could do nothing and wait a while and check back and see if it gets extended. If they’re cancelling a lot of BA metal flights to Ireland/NI they might.

          Duty of care always applies so you can claim meals, no £ compensation though as they gave you +2 weeks notice (and even within 2 weeks they’re blaming COVID for everything!)

• Luke says:

  7 Jul7 July 13:55

  No announcement so far on the amber changes…

  • meta says:

    7 Jul7 July 14:06

    Tomorrow afternoon.

    • Anna says:

      7 Jul7 July 14:18

      Oh for pity’s sake! Flight prices for early September are already going through the roof …

      • Navara says:

        7 Jul7 July 14:37

        I’ve been away for 2 weeks and nothing’s changed. Thought you already had plan’s A-Z for the whole year :-))

        • Anna says:

          7 Jul7 July 14:53

          There’s always room to squeeze in another one, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do!

        • Jody says:

          7 Jul7 July 15:52

          Anna, serious question, would you consider one of the many UK cruises that are on offer? There are some fantastic prices out there, particularly with blue light card discounts.

          We did one in May with MSC, and have another 3 booked, all with different cruise lines. Even if you would never consider a cruise for a ‘normal’ holiday I think they’re definitely worth considering. Various lengths available, from 3 nights through to 7 nights.

        • Jody says:

          7 Jul7 July 15:56

          Pressed return too soon!

          Meant to say, the bonus of them is that the rules aren’t generally changing all the time. Although you do need to be vaccinated, so I guess that would rule your son out.

        • Anna says:

          7 Jul7 July 16:05

          Hi Jody, we’ve done 2 cruises and loved them but only because there was guaranteed hot weather and an exotic stop every day! And the vaccination requirement would be an issue, yes.
          I’d actually love to do a cruise round the Scottish islands but I’m not sure they’re up and running yet? Orkney especially is on my bucket list.

        • Jody says:

          7 Jul7 July 16:22

          Anna there are quite a few going round Scottish Islands, but not sure there are actually port stops. The Iona (P&O) has it’s maiden voyage very soon, and they are going to Iona and other Islands.

          As for sun, no not guaranteed, but because there are few/zero port stops the Captain has the flexibility to chase the weather. We spent most of our 4 night cruise in May off the coast of France just bobbing about, and the weather was gorgeous.

          I just think that for the price people are paying for ‘nice’ hotels in this country, the UK summer cruises make an excellent alternative. With blue light card discount we’ve just paid £311 each for a 3 night cruise on Princess. That’s a balcony cabin, and also includes drinks package, tips and wifi, so nothing else to pay unless we decided to pay for speciality dining or a spa treatment (and both of those are unlikely, not something we normally do). For those who don’t have a blue light card, there was an offer that came through on the travelzoo email last week (which is what prompted me to look in the first place) that was only a few £ more.

• YC says:

  7 Jul7 July 14:03

  Hilton Bournemouth – Any experiences for Gold to get lounge access? T&Cs say u need to be upgraded to an exec room for lounge to apply. Any experience with Hilton Bournemouth?

  • BJ says:

    7 Jul7 July 14:16

    Recent feedback on the hotel here in the comnents has been poor. Upgrade to exec rooms does not always guarantee lounge access. With do many Diamonds around at the moment and high occupancy rates the chances of Gold upgrade cannot be good.

  • John says:

    7 Jul7 July 14:20

    Thought the lounge was closed. The hotel is meant to give you vouchers for the bar I guess as a substitute, but they didn’t provide by default and the queue at reception was always so large I couldn’t be bothered to wait for them.
    If you have a reservation, check the app – choose ‘hotel guide’ from your booking to see details on the lounge.

  • Harrier25 says:

    7 Jul7 July 14:23

    I’m Gold and stayed at the Hilton Bournemouth a few weeks ago. Although the hotel was very busy we were surprisingly upgraded to a junior suite on the top floor. Unfortunately they no longer have an executive lounge.

    • YC says:

      7 Jul7 July 15:43

      Thanks – I thought the comments here was good! Might reconsider

      • BJ says:

        7 Jul7 July 20:34

        Think they’re mixed to be fair, the negative ones were met with a few positive ones. Perhaps a more reasonable interpretation is that it slipped a bit from a high bar.

    • Tariq says:

      7 Jul7 July 16:08

      That’s a shame, any ideas what they’ve done with the space? Used to be quite a nice area near the top of the building with a wrap around terrace facing the sea.

  • njb says:

    7 Jul7 July 17:36

    I recently moved to Lower Parkstone – between Poole and Bournemouth now. Must say Bournemouth has seen better times but the Hilton is nicely positioned near the seafront. Decor by Ted Baker.
    Some nice places to eat/drink – we like Urban Garden and Stables looks nice. No good shopping.
    I would get away from Bournemouth – try Westbourne (Delish Deli run by ex BA crew) /Penn Hill (Gossip Harry Rednapp fav)/ Sandbanks/Studland to the west or Muddiford/Christchurch to the east. We live in walking distance to Ashley Corss with fantastic places to eat/drink – Drgnfly/Maison Sax.
    Be prepared to see a fair share of homeless/drug users in Bournemouth/Boscombe. This is just an observation, not a judgement on people whose life has led them on a difficult path.

• James H says:

  7 Jul7 July 14:06

  Easyjet have cancelled my outbound flight from LGW to Malaga in first week of August that I was hoping to take awaiting new amber country quarantine relaxation with two japs. It appears they have gone to a skeleton service and no only one or two flights out of Luton a day that week, and not all days. I thought they would bump up volumes with a relaxation not cancel flights so wondering if they may have got wind of a new government policy or EU policy coming in that will limit travel to Spain. Does anyone know or has heard of anything around this that could explain it? Thanks

  • Sam G says:

    7 Jul7 July 15:41

    something looks weird about that whole week, either a glitch or they’re genuinely all sold out. The corresponding return flight seems to operate each day.

    I’d leave it a couple of days, especially if there is an announcement tomorrow re: amber no quarantine they may add more flights back in

    • James Hackett says:

      8 Jul8 July 13:45

      Good call Sam, thanks. They have magically reinstated a load of new flights and different times and much higher costs but I was able to transfer over to new dates and times so all good! Appreciate the guidance.

• David says:

  7 Jul7 July 14:15

  Does anyone know what time Wimbledon tickets for Sunday go on sale tomorrow ?

  • Rob says:

    7 Jul7 July 14:23

    Totally random. Ladies Final was there at 8am this morning so possibly during the night tonight, but it is getting increasingly random.

    • FFoxSake says:

      7 Jul7 July 14:45

      Ladies Final appeared last night (during the footie). Snagged a pair in the 212 block next to the Royal Box, but decided to release them and take a chance on getting Men’s Final day instead.

      • Rob says:

        7 Jul7 July 14:53

        Better than the 509 block my wife will be in!

        • njb says:

          7 Jul7 July 17:39

          I’ve got 510 block for Friday – thinking tickets released later are getting better seats!

    • Babyg says:

      7 Jul7 July 15:09

      as rob said totally random, loads of seats got released (womens final included) last night around midnight… who knows when the men’s final will be released, but you’ll be in competition with me for seats, if its anything like the other centre tickets it shouldnt be too hard to snag tickets!

• Craig says:

  7 Jul7 July 14:42

  Finally sat on deck on Anthem of the Seas with a mojito. Quite a stressful couple of days with regards PCR tests, my wife’s can through just now but waiting for mine still. Quite efficient at the port with a backup plan. Time to relax.

  • Zoe says:

    7 Jul7 July 14:59

    Enjoy yourselves, you really deserve a break.

    • Craig says:

      7 Jul7 July 15:55

      Thanks Zoe.

    • Anna says:

      7 Jul7 July 15:56

      +1, enjoy! Love a mojito 🍸

      • Craig says:

        7 Jul7 July 16:09

        Thanks Anna.

• Mark says:

  7 Jul7 July 15:18

  Does anyone know of any shipping providers where I can ship high value items (watch) abroad? Seems like I need a business account with DHL/Fedex to do so, or otherwise they only cover up to 1000USD.

  • Sina says:

    7 Jul7 July 15:28

    DHLitNow is a great service and they charge 1.5% of the total value for anything above £800. You don’t need an account and they will collect.

  • MattB says:

    7 Jul7 July 16:15

    Maybe have a look at the tzuk watch forum, lots of high end private sales and I’m sure the question will have been asked there many times.

  • Chris says:

    7 Jul7 July 18:45

    You can get seperate postal insurance e.g. https://www.secursus.com/en-gb/compare-parcel-solutions/royal-mail-insurance/

    never had to claim so can’t comment on that. Has a decent number of reviews of variable quality on trustpilot

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