The HfP chat thread – Thursday 15th July

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• Paul says:

  15 Jul15 July 07:48

  Has anyone managed to find a route to pay the tax free child care account for nursery payments with a credit card?

  Feels like a big chunk of money to miss out on points

  • Rum says:

    15 Jul15 July 07:59

    Yep, I’ve used my curve blue card backed by HK to do this and it has a worked a treat for the past year or so.

    • Rui N. says:

      15 Jul15 July 08:06

      So, no need for curve black then? Cool 🙂

    • Paul says:

      15 Jul15 July 08:16

      Any further clues as to what HK is?

      • Peter K says:

        15 Jul15 July 08:29

        @Paul. It’s been discussed massively over the past year. My clue is that you Google search the topic on HfP….or choose a few random days last year of the chat and read through it. It’ll come clear then.

      • Rui N. says:

        15 Jul15 July 08:29

        HK is HSBC

        • Mike says:

          15 Jul15 July 17:48

          what is the first rule of fight club !

      • The Urbanite says:

        15 Jul15 July 10:13

        The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Premier credit card.

    • Toby says:

      15 Jul15 July 08:22

      Rum, that’s huge! I’ve just tried it and it works! Just to confirm, no fees from HK or Curve Blue?

      • Rum says:

        15 Jul15 July 09:29

        Can confirm no fees on either. Happy days 🙂

        • Toby says:

          15 Jul15 July 09:52

          😀

  • Pid says:

    15 Jul15 July 08:03

    Yes used curve black backed by Solihull many time.

    • Ed says:

      15 Jul15 July 10:20

      Has anyone got experience of Solihull backed by blue bendy paying tax free childcare

• Berneslai says:

  15 Jul15 July 07:59

  Do we have any feeling on what will happen to membership status across all travel partners for 2022? Based on my current trajectory, I’m going to find it difficult to hold on to any current status that I hold.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    15 Jul15 July 08:10

    Since everyone else is now travelling in USA and Europe and we are the only ones trapped on plague island with a myriad of changing rules I suspect 2022 won’t have much leeway for existing status holders

    • Rob says:

      15 Jul15 July 08:20

      BA and Virgin will have no choice but to extend further but I don’t think the hotel groups will do much. US occupancy is back to 95% of 2019.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        15 Jul15 July 08:21

        Yeah sorry forgot about BA / Virgin.

      • Rui N. says:

        15 Jul15 July 09:06

        And US domestic flying is at 80%+

      • Reney says:

        15 Jul15 July 10:23

        This is the reason I am making an effort to use up my free nights vouchers, can’t see them will get extended much more and I have 2 years worth of them.

    • Harry T says:

      15 Jul15 July 08:26

      Agree, don’t expect anything from hotels but UK airlines will realistically have to offer something.

      • Stu N says:

        15 Jul15 July 09:12

        I’m banking on a BAEC status extension. I’m BA Gold with a May year end and there is zero chance I’ll meet the reduced threshold for Gold without any significant TP-earning summer trips.

        If they don’t extend me I drop to Silver so not a total disaster but I would miss access to F wing and easy access to CE Row 1…

        • Andrew says:

          15 Jul15 July 09:21

          +1. Would be such a blow to drop to Silver – Galleries Club is ghastly. And it would also mean I got zero benefit from the flying I did in 2019 to retain Gold.

    • Anna says:

      15 Jul15 July 08:38

      Everyone else like who? I haven’t seen that the Schengen zone has had its US travel ban lifted?

      • Rui N. says:

        15 Jul15 July 08:44

        Everyone inside the US and everyone inside the EU. But the US has actually been added to the EU approved list of countries actually. But it’s up to each EU member state to decide what to do with that.

        • Definitas says:

          15 Jul15 July 15:25

          Friends of ours just travelled from Florida (via DFW) to Paris and return without any requirements for testing both outbound and return

      • Rui N. says:

        15 Jul15 July 08:51

        E.g., Portugal is already allowing US tourists to enter.

        • Yuff says:

          15 Jul15 July 08:59

          US citizens are travelling freely around Europe and the ME, from what I can see.
          Had dinner at a friends parents last month, who were from the US, and the Dad had flown from LA to Dubai for a business meeting then on to Mallorca for a couple of weeks before flying back to the US.
          Only issue they had as a family was his wife and son who flew to Mallorca via LHR and they could only transit airside for a pretty long stopover…..

        • marcw says:

          15 Jul15 July 10:36

          The whole of the EU is allowing US citizens in – no restrictions, including, unvaccinated ones.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        15 Jul15 July 09:47

        That’s to the USA but US citizens are now allowed to enter the EU (depends on country) and ME and they are doing it!

• Nathan says:

  15 Jul15 July 08:14

  Hi would anyone here please know if there is a lounge at Mexico City for BA first class passengers and if not are there paid lounges with showers available?

  • JDB says:

    15 Jul15 July 08:36

    At MEX, BA used to use the Admirals Club lounge, but it currently isn’t open late enough for the BA flight. It was never much good anyway! They used to offer the choice of this, JAL or IB, but no longer. Generally, the T1 lounges aren’t much good, so pre-security bar/restaurants a better option. Not sure about showers, but you could try a day room at the Hilton inside the terminal, fairly close to BA arrivals exit and check-in area.

    • Anthony says:

      15 Jul15 July 08:46

      The Amex lounges at Mexico City are brilliant – if you’ve got Platinum / similar

      • JDB says:

        15 Jul15 July 09:05

        Don’t the Amex lounges close late afternoon, i.e. too early for BA’s 9pm departure? Personal opinion, but I would say OK, not ‘brilliant’ about T1 MEX Centurion lounge; haven’t tried T2 one.

        • Gtellez says:

          15 Jul15 July 10:38

          The centurion lounge pre security has showers and it is good enough for it, just weird that not all the food/drinks are for free. Last time I went there only limited options for breakfast.

    • GeorgeJ says:

      15 Jul15 July 11:41

      I have used the priority pass lounge in T1 at Mex for a shower since at that time the BA facility didnt have one. It was fine.
      Otherwise checkout Amex though their best offerings are in T2.

  • JDB says:

    15 Jul15 July 08:45

    I should add that it might be OK for a shower, but I wouldn’t stay the night at the T1 MEX Hilton again, after a stay in December. It is very, very tired, the food is dire and public areas almost non-existent. The NH at T2 (also inside the terminal) is a better option, but some aspects also looking tired. NH breakfast however, is excellent.

    • Pete M says:

      15 Jul15 July 11:09

      I flew back on Sunday from MEX. BA, as per most places, are not paying for any lounges at the moment. The AA lounge shuts at 18:00 anyway, the Centurion lounges shut at 16:00. The IB lounge shuts at 20:00 I think. Your best option is probably the Grand Lounge Elite on PP (which KL/AF use, but shuts at 22:00), they’ll then move you to Lounge 19, which is dire. Not sure about showers, but Lounge Buddy says the Grand Lounge Elite does have some.

• C says:

  15 Jul15 July 08:32

  I know it’s been discussed many times, but with Sofitel T5 not available, what’s the most convenient hotel for an 0700 departure from T5? I’m familiar with the Bath Road hotels, but we’ll have luggage and an infant, so walking or very easy transport is key (London buses would actually be easy, if I could depend on them @0500).

  • Anna says:

    15 Jul15 July 08:41

    Anything other than the Sofitel brings varying degrees of difficulty! In your position I think I’d bite the bullet and get a taxi – the Sheraton Skyline for example can organise one for about £30 which I would go with for convenience and peace of mind (also quite reasonable 30ishk Bonvoy points for a family room).

    • TGLoyalty says:

      15 Jul15 July 09:49

      Uber is about £15

    • Tariq says:

      15 Jul15 July 22:24

      I was at the other Sheraton (closer to T5) and they were advertising https://www.weknowlondon.com/transport/hotel-e-shuttle which looks reasonably priced

  • Rob says:

    15 Jul15 July 09:06

    Hilton Garden Inn at Hatton Cross, although the first tube into T5 may be too late. The buses from Hatton Cross bus station are 24 hours I assume. That said, I’d bite the bullet, reduce your hotel cost by staying further out and use it for an Uber. We did a Crowne Plaza (not the T4 one) stay a couple of years ago and an Uber at around 5am was £20 IIRC.

    • C says:

      15 Jul15 July 09:26

      Thanks for the suggestions. As there is no obvious option, I’ll see what gives the best range of options between quality, points and promos.

      Looks like the Heathrow area CPs are still being used as quarantine hotels – the closest are Kingston and Ealing, which aren’t really helpful.

    • kitten says:

      15 Jul15 July 19:25

      new Moxy at the Eastern end of Slough centre looks OK from the outside and I suspect an Uber would be very cheap

  • John says:

    15 Jul15 July 10:15

    First bus is at 0348

  • Matt says:

    15 Jul15 July 14:44

    Are the pods working again? If so, just stay at the Thistle and get the pod to T5

• Paul Pogba says:

  15 Jul15 July 08:34

  Has anyone else seen the Telegraph offer on Nectar Connect disappear after being activated?

  • Toby says:

    15 Jul15 July 09:17

    Paul, yes, mine has gone missing too.

    I’ve just spotted one with 2000 nectar at Mindful chef, which appears to stack with a few offers out there. Looks potentially interesting as a trial so I’m going to try it.

    • Rob says:

      15 Jul15 July 09:51

      Just saw 2 empty Mindful Chef boxes dumped outside our front door waiting for the dustman. Box said ‘highest rated food kit provider’ or similar.

      • Toby says:

        15 Jul15 July 11:01

        Big claim! I’ve heard that they’re a step above the likes of Gousto, and recipes do look good. Now to see if reality lives up to the marketing..

        • Pete M says:

          15 Jul15 July 11:13

          We tried Mindful Chef and, frankly, it was the worst recipe boxes we’ve tried. In fact we didn’t even take them up on the offer of the second free one. It was just insane amounts of boiled veg with 0 taste. But we may be in the minority as people on Trust Pilot seem to like them… Or maybe we just picked the wrong 3 recipes…?

        • FatherOfFour says:

          15 Jul15 July 11:21

          We are regular Gousto customers, but have also used HF and Mindful when offers were on. We had a couple of retention offers when my wife cancelled, but these finally ran out after 2 or 3 £10 off offers.
          I never looked forward to them as much as Gousto, though they are undoubtedly moe healthy than MOST Gousto offerings. Definitely more of a faff too.

        • Crafty says:

          16 Jul16 July 07:09

          Much higher quality. Good business. Now owned by Nestle.

• Sam says:

  15 Jul15 July 08:44

  Amex Hilton offer for £50 off with £200 spent.

  Confused how this works. As per below, this means I must choose a rate online that allows me to pay when I checkout I.e I can’t prepay? And I must also choose to settle in GBP rather than EUR at checkout?

  Book, stay and pay at hotel checkout by 31st August, 2021.
  Offer excludes online payments and is only valid on checkout spend.
  Offer only applies to spend settled in Great British Pound (GBP) on the Card to which the offer is saved, including an American Express Card loaded into a mobile payment wallet.

  • APPL says:

    15 Jul15 July 08:57

    Had the offer on 2 cards, and both EUR, GBP, checkout and prepaid worked.
    Card 1 worked on checkout spend in EUR. Card 2 was multiple stays – 1 on checkout in GBP and one prepaid in EUR. I think as long as hotel is on the list, and you book through Hilton it will work.

    • Andrew says:

      15 Jul15 July 09:22

      The GBP only bit is just standard wording for all offers.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    15 Jul15 July 09:52

    You can prepay – the at checkout line is really saying that the card MUST BE charged before the offer ends and not all pre pays automatically are (some hotels do you a favour and wait until a few days before your stay but you can just contact them and they will charge)

    You can pay in the local currency – in fact since Amex don’t allow dynamic currency conversion (DCC) I can’t see how you’d pay in GBP anyway.

    • Sam says:

      15 Jul15 July 11:25

      Thanks everyone. So I guess best option is if the hotel allows me to pay online when I book, I should anyway since it’s in GBP rather than paying in EUR at checkout (+3% FX fee?).

      • John says:

        15 Jul15 July 18:38

        You usually don’t pay online, Hilton bookings outside the US (and Canada?) are manually charged by the hotel at a time of their choosing, however some hotels do have some sort of online payment portal. There’s no way to know beforehand unless someone has reported it on flyertalk or tripadvisor

        As amex doesn’t allow DCC it will be charged in the hotel’s currency.

• Sandra says:

  15 Jul15 July 08:50

  To avoid having to call BA to make an open jaw avios redemption (I’d like to fly out of INV but back to EDI) can I just book the redemption as a return to INV online, then ‘manage my booking’ and alter the return LHR – INV to LHR- EDI?

  • Stu N says:

    15 Jul15 July 09:14

    Nope – you won’t be able to do that change online. Probably better to just phone and book in first place.

    • Sandra says:

      15 Jul15 July 09:17

      Thanks

  • Duncan Stevenson-Price says:

    15 Jul15 July 09:37

    I called BA the other day to make an open-jaw redemption and it was surprisingly quick and painless. Much, much quicker and easier than the previous time I did the same.

• Lee says:

  15 Jul15 July 08:52

  Hi everyone I booked 1 first class ticket with cash to miami with BA and for 2 with Avios on 2 for 1 voucher .

  My orginal fight was cancelled and I was moved to a new flight in business which I rejected and I booked a new date which would have arrived back in uk 1 day before my to ticket validity expired . They cancelled flight again and downgraded me to business class . Do I have any other options other than a refund or taking a voucher which is pointless as the cash booking is now around 4k for flight and I paid 2k .

  Thanks in advance

  • Anna says:

    15 Jul15 July 10:15

    Do you mean BA has moved you to another flight and put you in J on that flight? You could try and argue for BA to move you all to F on another flight (or the same one if there’s space in the F cabin). Or you could all fly and claim the 75% downgrade compo (though double check how this works if your flight has been cancelled and not just downgraded).

    • LEE MOSS says:

      15 Jul15 July 13:11

      yes we were moved to another flight and downgraded . this is second time now and the ticket validity is expiring . is there any hope of getting Ba to extend it and move my dates to another date next year ?

      • Matt says:

        15 Jul15 July 14:47

        They should move you at your convenience according to the law – they may or may not. Try online first – some people have been able to change dates in MMB. Then it depends on how much effort you want to put into it – if you’re willing to fight then you will win in the end, but it might end up in MCOL before you do.

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