The HfP chat thread – Monday 12th July

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• Martha says:

  12 Jul12 July 13:18

  Hi. i am looking for a fit to fly center. I don’t want to use the postal service as I travel this Thursday. I see express test near me for £80. Is that a fair price(a few people need this) or should I look for cheaper?

  • Harry T says:

    12 Jul12 July 15:19

    It’s a pretty good price and their TrustPilot reviews seem positive.

    • Martha says:

      12 Jul12 July 15:36

      Thank you

• JustJ says:

  12 Jul12 July 13:28

  Couple of questions.
  1) Have a flight to Canada at the beginning of September. I see that all flights have been cancelled by BA up to the end of august. Anybody have an idea as to when BA are likely to confirm or cancel September flights?

  2) PCR tests for returning to the UK – Does anybody know if they expire? i.e. in order to be assured of receiving them to take on holiday with me can I order them a month in advance of my holiday and keep them safe til I go?

  • Tracey says:

    12 Jul12 July 13:43

    Usual expiry date is months away.

  • Anna says:

    12 Jul12 July 13:55

    Re the flight – is Canada currently admitting visitors (or would you be allowed to enter due to e.g. citizenship)? BA won’t confirm flights, but in the event yours gets cancelled, you would be entitled to re-routing if you were able to travel.

    • Alan H says:

      12 Jul12 July 14:03

      I’ve just had a BA flight to Grand Cayman cancelled which was due to fly on 18 September. Clearly BA don’t have any confidence in the recently announced plans for reopening of the borders

      • Anna says:

        12 Jul12 July 14:58

        There isn’t really a plan, though, the government is saying this will open happen when 80% of their population is vaccinated, and numbers are grinding to a halt currently! Also visitors vaccinated in the UK still have to do the 5 day quarantine (as opposed to 10/14 days for other visitors) so there’s not going to be enough demand for travel from the UK to merit many BA services for the next few months at least. We are re-booked for July next year but I think even that’s going to depend on whether our teenager is jabbed by then.

  • Richster says:

    12 Jul12 July 16:27

    Interesting, I have a flight to Toronto booked in 15 days, still showing up at the moment (although saying this will probably jinx it!)

• r* says:

  12 Jul12 July 13:28

  Does anyone have the url for the randox page which allows you to enter postcode to find nearest dropbox? Im sure I saw one a week or so ago but cant find it now

  • Jamie says:

    12 Jul12 July 13:32

    There is a map which shows all the drop box locations here: https://www.randoxhealth.com/kit-return

    • Harry T says:

      12 Jul12 July 15:39

      Thanks, I used this map to confirm the drop boxes in Newcastle. Not bad pricing for day two tests using the Ryanair discount code.

      • r* says:

        12 Jul12 July 16:11

        It seems they moved my nearest dropbox from the time I checked before ordering the kit and now, which is why it wasnt showing up.

  • Mr. AC says:

    12 Jul12 July 13:37

    Check the descriptions very carefully. Some droboxes are inaccessible before or after a certain hour (if they’re within a venue that closes) or even on some days entirely!

  • Jamie says:

    12 Jul12 July 13:43

    Should also mention (if you haven’t already ordered yet) that Randox appear to be having some issues lately (see TrustPilot reviews) – my order of D2 tests placed 2 weeks ago never turned up, no replies to e-mails and ridiculous wait times (1 hour plus) via phone.

    • Harry T says:

      12 Jul12 July 15:40

      Thanks, I’ll stay vigilant. As we are both fully vaccinated, I don’t mind as much if anyone sends me tests on time – just want to satisfy the silly government requirements by showing I’ve booked them!

• david says:

  12 Jul12 July 13:32

  Question – does anyone know if BA keep details of historic flights taken as far back as 2016 – thanks !

  • JDB says:

    12 Jul12 July 13:43

    You can find all your BA flights going back as far as you have been a member of the Exec Club. If you log in, look for Flightpath. If you need more details than this shows, do you not have email confirmations etc.?

  • Sam G says:

    12 Jul12 July 14:08

    you can get a full list – I think this is the correct URL https://www.britishairways.com/travel/permissionscentre/public/

    • David says:

      12 Jul12 July 20:52

      wow amazing !

  • Super Secret Stuff says:

    12 Jul12 July 15:00

    I believe the UK law requires them to keep passenger manifests up to 7 years after the flight, some airlines only store this as paper copies to reduce cyber security risks or something like that. Not sure what else you want to get?

• Mark says:

  12 Jul12 July 13:35

  Looking to go to San Sebastian in 1-2 weeks. Probably going to fly in to Barcelona, do 1-2 nights and then take the train/domestic flight over. Don’t see any direct flights this month unfortunately.

  Also, will getting around with public transport be possible if I were to tour the towns around San Sebastian, or is renting a car necessary?

  • ChrisBCN says:

    12 Jul12 July 14:36

    You can use the train to visit the nearby towns (https://www.euskotren.eus/en/tren/turismo) but a car is better.

    Vueling are flying daily between BCN and EAS (San Sebastian), the flight times are different every day so you might want to check various days. The train takes almost 6 hours and I think only runs direct once a day, https://www.renfe.com/es/en has the timetables and fares.

    • ChrisBCN says:

      12 Jul12 July 15:03

      And if you do look at the Renfe site, BARCELONA-SANTS is the station to choose

  • Richie says:

    12 Jul12 July 15:52

    Bilbao airport is near enough to San Sebastian.

• Howard says:

  12 Jul12 July 14:03

  Does anyone still have the FT offer on their amex cards and is it likely to return soon? Looking to get the weekend print edition, cheapest i can see is £25 for a 3 month trial.

  • JDB says:

    12 Jul12 July 14:38

    My FT offer expired in June. I had the offer on my gold card only in April 2020 which I used and again this April on my BAPP only.

• N says:

  12 Jul12 July 14:11

  Hi guys, Platinum Business card holder here. i saw on my account that there is a limited time referral offer of 30k points, and the person i’m referring would get 60k points if they hit £6k in the first 3 months on their platinum business card

  however, does anyone know what they would get if i referred them for an Amex gold card? it only tells me what they would get if they get the same card as me

  thanks

  • Dayle says:

    12 Jul12 July 15:49

    I would say that you’d get 30k. I believe you’ll get the bonus as long as they don’t take out the basic card
    Happy to stand corrected though but this the case for Gold referrals

    • Sam G says:

      12 Jul12 July 16:54

      I just got 30k for referring to someone who took out the Marriot card

  • TGLoyalty says:

    12 Jul12 July 21:06

    You’ll get the 30k but they’ll get the standard offer (it’s shown on your referral link when you click gold instead of platinum)

• Tim Tinsley says:

  12 Jul12 July 14:13

  Hi, I wonder if anyone can provide advice. Took the plunge and booked Antigua for August as our US trip is very likely not to happen. Antigua appear to need a PCR test “administered by a health care professional” as entry requirements, and specifically say home tests are not valid. Is my only option to visit a proper clinic rather than a video administered test? My nearest clinic (a boots) is 1.5hr drive away so no exactly very handy for me and family. Ta.

  • roberto says:

    12 Jul12 July 14:29

    Where do you live? A 3 Hr round trip is not that bad in the context of things but there may be another option that the hive will know.

    Presumably you have to connect for Antuiga , is there an option of travelling to London the day before, getting a test at the airport and staying overnight?

    • Tim Tinsley says:

      12 Jul12 July 14:51

      The middle of nowhere in Cumbria. My understanding is that a PCR takes 48hrs and therefore we can’t visit the airport the day before. Happy to be corrected if there is an option at Gatwick

      • Anna says:

        12 Jul12 July 15:01

        Plenty of airports doing same day testing for PCR tests, I would imagine Gatwick as well.
        If you don’t want to risk travelling all that way first, you can get a 3 hour test at Manchester airport for £95.

        • Tim Tinsley says:

          12 Jul12 July 15:22

          Thanks Anna, I hadn’t picked up that Randox had a location at Manchester Airport that does 3, 12 and 36 hr turnaround. We could travel there the weekend before we fly as Antigua has a 7 day requirement for the test rather than 3 days. The BA discount may also work

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