The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 13th July

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• Annabel says:

  13 Jul13 July 06:14

  Morning. Trying to call BA on 0344-493-0747 to add a return on 2-4-1 booking and they say their phone lines open at 8am even though on website it says 6am 🤷🏻‍♀️ Any other telephone number is appreciated thanks.

  • Anna says:

    13 Jul13 July 06:27

    The call centres have been on reduced opening hours throughout the pandemic, you can try one of the landline numbers on the website (prefix with 141 so the system thinks you are outside the UK), but you may get the same result.

    • Annabel says:

      13 Jul13 July 06:57

      Thanks Anna 😄

  • Number9 says:

    13 Jul13 July 07:19

    Or call Tokyo or USA call centre number. You can find numbers on BA contact pages.

• Blenz101 says:

  13 Jul13 July 06:49

  Just following on from yesterday’s hotels.com chat and to reassure Will and others. Hotels are NOT passed your credit card information when you book via hotels.com.

  You can find more information if you look on the pages relating to signing up to be a partner hotel but in short they use virtual credit card numbers against each booking….

  “The Expedia Virtual Card works like a credit card. When a guest books at your property, an Expedia Virtual Card is pre-loaded with the payment amount. A new Expedia Virtual Card is assigned to each reservation.
  When you charge the virtual card after a guest checks out, the payment automatically transfers to your bank account after being processed by your bank. You don’t need to create an invoice. ”

  • Dubious says:

    13 Jul13 July 07:28

    Interesting and quite novel!

  • John says:

    13 Jul13 July 07:36

    Some hotels do receive your actual card details, but they are rare and hotels.com warns you. Usually prepayment is not available. With these hotels it’s almost always cheaper to book direct since hotels.com has no way to pay the hotel more than you paid them (as they do with the Expedia virtual card) while also giving you 9% back

• Mark says:

  13 Jul13 July 07:09

  Anyone with HSBC World Elite ever used the Expedia or Agoda deals that you get by using your card for hotel stays?

  • Dani says:

    13 Jul13 July 07:25

    The Agoda one is naff…

    I would use a smartphone to screenscrape your hotel…triv@go or hotel$combined and then with a laptop book via t0pc@shb@ck

  • Thom says:

    13 Jul13 July 07:30

    I’ve used the Expedia one – just remember it’s minimum 2 night stay!

  • Red Flyer says:

    13 Jul13 July 08:49

    Forgot about this and saw a great rate on Agoda for the Four Seasons in BA recently that I could use this offer on next year – is there a special link to get the discount?

    • BP says:

      13 Jul13 July 10:53

      Gives no discount on major chains in my experience.

• Number9 says:

  13 Jul13 July 07:24

  Did anyone use the Rimowa offer, how long did it take for bonus points to post?

• Dubious says:

  13 Jul13 July 07:32

  Got an offer on my Amex, Spend £13 on Telegraph Subscriptions and get £10 statement credit.

  This might seem like a silly question but is there anything that can be bought/subscribed to that is not the newspaper?

  • Andrew says:

    13 Jul13 July 07:42

    Let me know if they sell amazon gift cards!

  • Paul Pogba says:

    13 Jul13 July 11:55

    If you do decide to give it a go it looks like it might stack with a nectar connect offer, I have 70pts per £ listed.

• Mirp says:

  13 Jul13 July 08:07

  Question regarding cancellation of a BA flight. BA has cancelled our flight back from Lanzorate on 3 August. BA does have a flight scheduled for 4 August. We booked a BA Holiday package that includes a hotel. Should we call BA holiday and be asked to be put on the flight on the 4th? Will BA automatically also extend our hotel stay for one day or should we pay and request reimburse meant when we return? Also am I correct in my understanding that BA will pay for food on the extra day?

  • Paul says:

    13 Jul13 July 09:09

    I might be wrong but as the cancellation is more than 2 weeks out BA’s only responsibility is to re book, re route or refund. But the choice is yours and yours alone. If you want to travel on the day you booked they must reroute at their expense.
    As this is a BA holiday, BAH will deal with it all and they may, as a gesture of goodwill, cover a further night, but again as the airline cancelled the choice of what you do is yours.

    • Matt says:

      13 Jul13 July 09:58

      The 2 week limit is for compensation only. There is no 2 week limit for duty of care, which includes accommodation, extra transport required, food, non-alcoholic drinks and phone calls.
      I would be surprised if BA holidays don’t just extend your stay (if that’s what you want), but you can ask for alternative dates or a re-route.

      • Lady London says:

        13 Jul13 July 12:54

        +1 I would expect BAH to cover it at no extra charge

        • stevenhp1987 says:

          13 Jul13 July 21:03

          Been in a similar situation recently.

          BA lying out of there teeth atm claiming 14 days notice applies to duty of care.

          Was a BA holidays to Malta last month.

          Might need to fight through CEDR or MCOL to get duty of care.

  • Neil says:

    13 Jul13 July 09:18

    I’m sure someone with more knowledge will be along to help but as you’ve booked a package holiday I think the only thing BA are obliged to do is refund you within something like 7 days because they cannot supply the package you purchased so I’d maybe call them to see what they offer as the rules around package holidays are quite strict and this would be the easiest option for them I suspect.

    • Anna says:

      13 Jul13 July 09:40

      I think you’re correct, Neil, I would be looking at re-booking at this point if I definitely wanted the holiday. Prices with Ryanair & EasyJet seem lower than ever just now, though, so Mirp might even come out of it better!

      • Neil says:

        13 Jul13 July 11:34

        That’s interesting – my first instinct was that BA would cancel and easily re-sell at a higher price but maybe not. If you went non BA then you’d loose some of the points etc. which could be quite a lot on an expensive package and with the enhanced rate on the ba card but could be worth it if the savings are there.

• Eric the Half a Bee says:

  13 Jul13 July 09:18

  New T2 at MAN airport opening from tomorrow. Escape, 1903 and Aspire lounges all to open this month. T2 Escape and Aspire already showing on Priority Pass app. Here’s hoping BA flights move to T2 at some point in the near future…

  • Ian_H says:

    13 Jul13 July 10:19

    BA are now giving access to Escape T1. Issue at T2 is that the Domestic/CTA arrivals channel was planned for Pier 4 and with the rest of the works on hold the next best solution may well be to keep these arrivals in T1 for now or else face the misery of bussed arrivals.

    • Eric the Half a Bee says:

      13 Jul13 July 10:38

      Surely they (BA) could move to T2 for departures and continue to channel arrivals through T3 as they have been going since T3 closed? You have to assume that T2 departures would be preferable to T1, and BA could presumably give access to the new Escape lounge in T2.

      • Ian_H says:

        13 Jul13 July 11:29

        They COULD but T2 & T3 are the furthest terminals apart and there is as yet no airside link so logistically it would either be passenger bussing or aircraft towing – neither of which are ideal on a domestic turnaround.

• Stu N says:

  13 Jul13 July 09:20

  BA Hols are generally very good in these circumstances. I’d give it a day or two to see if they automatically rebook you, otherwise give them a call and they will sort it. If you’re happy to stay an extra day they will cover accommodation, reasonable meals (but not alcohol) and direct incidentals.

  I’m not sure what limits are but when we got stuck in Barcelona (quelle damage!) due to flight cancelation – they paid for same hotel, dinner in a taverna which was about €60-80 for two and taxi as we were put on early flight so the metro wasn’t an option. All reimbursed very quickly.

  • Mirp says:

    13 Jul13 July 09:28

    Thanks all. I was surprised that the flight was cancelled as now double vaccinated do not have to quarantine on return. But I guess demand is not there yet. I will wait and see if we are rebooked. The email says the will contact us but I know that they are very busy. On the 14 days we are leaving in less than 14 days on 24 July. I know it is the return flight that is cancelled that counts but seems tricky to say we need to sort it when the holiday starts in less than 14 days.

    • Anna says:

      13 Jul13 July 09:41

      But see comments above, as EU261 doesn’t apply to package holidays!

      • Matt says:

        13 Jul13 July 10:00

        EU261 still applies to flights in package holidays. There are other regulations as well around them, but the regulations still apply.

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