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The HfP chat thread – Friday 16th July

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General

Comments (383)

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

  • Hugh says:
    16 Jul16 July 07:34

    Four of us (2 couples with 2 different accounts) are hoping to use 2 241 vouchers to book business class seats on a popular route in the next few weeks. If we ring at 1am, will 1 agent be able to grab all 4 seats and book them all if we are all physically together to speak and go through security, or do we need to make 2 phone calls and risk 2 of us possibly getting seats and the other 2 missing out if the seats have gone?

    • BJ says:
      16 Jul16 July 09:00

      Just get yourself set up as third party nominees on BAEC account of other voucher holder and you can take care of it all by yourself. But call early enough to give them time to get their head around your requirements.

      • Hugh says:
        16 Jul16 July 10:30

        Fantastic, thanks I will try and get that sorted!

      • Chris Heyes says:
        16 Jul16 July 15:59

        Or a friends and family account (Not even sure that’s needed) as long as you have their details to hand
        I have passport numbers, full names, Dates of Birth, BA Exec numbers
        I Do the booking for use all and tell them after where the are going and when
        BA normally just ask for full names and dates of birth

        • Hugh says:
          16 Jul16 July 17:00

          I will have to read up again on friends and family account! I need to use the Avios from my account to pay for me and my wife and the Avios from my friends account to pay for them. Is there away to do this with friends and family? I thought that just allowed me to pay for friends with my avios?

  • Gary says:
    16 Jul16 July 07:35

    DP. Rung BA this morning to move avios 2-4-1 flights beyond one year ticket validity. Was advised no update of policy allowing re-routing up to one year fr departure date by CS. Perhaps update not trickled down.

    • Louise K says:
      16 Jul16 July 07:41

      I was able to move mine a few weeks ago well past validity but this was a result of a cancellation by them.

    • Memesweeper says:
      16 Jul16 July 08:08

      I moved an Avios booking backwards by two days yesterday, but that was still nearly two years after the original date of issue. HUACA.

      • Jody says:
        16 Jul16 July 08:25

        What’s the best number to call these days? I need to call today to try and persuade them to move my cancelled flights.

    • Amy C says:
      16 Jul16 July 08:12

      I scoured the BA site yesterday looking for info relating to policy change and it still said a year from purchase. Currently on BA chat waiting to ask the question

      • BJ says:
        16 Jul16 July 09:06

        I doubt they have any other policy than the longstanding one. It just seems to be a lottery both via call centre and MMB. Where it doesn’t work first time best just leave it and try both options again later if there is no pressure to make imminent changes.

    • VerdantBacon says:
      16 Jul16 July 08:27

      Have they cancelled the flights?

    • Amy C says:
      16 Jul16 July 08:30

      Just got through to someone who confirmed the change in policy. Now you have to depart within one year of the original departure date. YIPPEEEE!

      • Jonny says:
        16 Jul16 July 09:00

        BA told me the same new policy – that if BA cancel an Avios Reward flight – they restart the 1 year ticket validity from the date of departure of the cancelled flight (or maybe first sector on that ticket), but you must complete the entire rebooked journey (if return or multi-flight) within that year.

        • Memesweeper says:
          16 Jul16 July 11:21

          Which still isn’t strictly legally compliant but fixes things for most travellers I guess.

      • Jane says:
        16 Jul16 July 09:56

        Interesting – something seems to have changed, I couldn’t change my dates earlier this week online, I assume because it went outside the 1 year validity rule but today I can 🙂 I still need to wait till they release my dates next month but looking better than it was !

    • John says:
      16 Jul16 July 10:49

      Spoke to You First yesterday who confirmed this new policy came in last week for cancelled flights

      • Jonathan says:
        16 Jul16 July 11:05

        Whenever they change a policy there’s no point rushing to utilise it as high chance you end up dealing with a CS who isn’t familiar. Give it a week or two by which time they will have updated their Standard Customer Guidelines which you can view online & refer any recalcitrant agents to.

    • Jody says:
      16 Jul16 July 14:36

      So, just got off the phone to BA. Upshot, I was able to move my cancelled flights from June this year to April/May next year. I’m over the moon, has saved my a load of hassle. BA had failed to respond to my letter before action, so this weekend I was going to be form filling to take it further, now I don’t need to!!

      For reference, the chap I spoke to (who was lovely) had no idea about the update, and initially tried to tell me it was still 12 months from issue of tickets. However, he took the time to have a look on the internal information system, and BA sent out the policy change on 8th July. May be worth pointing this out if people are phoning and not getting any luck.

      I am so pleased!

      Thanks to lee for sharing last night, and others that have added to it today. Also, thanks to everyone that has done the MCOL/CEDR route for this, first of all for the information they have given on here, but also as I have no doubt that this has helped force BA to change it’s policy.

  • Matt B says:
    16 Jul16 July 08:43

    Need to check in shortly for a BA flight tomorrow, had an email yesterday which said i had to upload documents for travel verification through MMB which I did straightaway (Spanish health doc and vaccine cert) but nothing back yet so I wont be able to check in apparently. I’d already put everything in to the verifly app, which i thought was meant to serve this purpose anyway?

    • meta says:
      16 Jul16 July 09:00

      Has Verifly approved everything? If so, you will be able to check in online.

      • MattB says:
        16 Jul16 July 09:05

        It says ready to travel for my trip with a green tick on my picture so assume so!

        • meta says:
          16 Jul16 July 09:15

          Should be fine then. I also received an email from Verifly to log in to check status when it was approved. Hopefully check-in/ bag drop at the airport will be a breeze as it was for me last weekend. BA had everything in the system, so the agent just printed out bag tags and that was it.

    • AFKAE says:
      16 Jul16 July 10:58

      I went through all this hassle yesterday. It takes about 3.5 hours to get your stuff approved. It then enabled me to check in, but wouldn’t let me print the boarding pass. Tried self service this morning but no dice. Went to the check in counter and there was some faffing about and then was checked in. This was the Gold/Silver club etc check in and the queue was short. This was for Madeira. Just in Galleries South now waiting for boarding.

  • ashish says:
    16 Jul16 July 08:58

    BA 241 voucher going down to 12000 spending on free card

  • Richie says:
    16 Jul16 July 09:24

    Has anybody done a hair transplant comparison between Budapest and Istanbul, ie total cost, ways to pay, redemptions, earning points etc. Looking at 2500-3000 grafts initially. Thanks.

    • Beardless Hipster says:
      16 Jul16 July 10:00

      Just embrace the baldness mate like we all do.

    • Sam G says:
      16 Jul16 July 10:32

      Istanbul is very popular – I was quite alarmed the first time I took BA from Istanbul (self connect from the bargain Singapore-Istanbul flight!) and literally half the flight had bandaged heads until I realised why! There are also some horror stories I’ve seen in the press so make sure you research carefully but Turkey is (usually) cheap and simple to get to, doubt redemption make sense vs cash

      I’ve had dental work done in Budapest which was great and would happily do it again for the saving but again I spent a lot of time researching and paid a bit more for a company that had a presence in London and a lot of reviews

      • Tony1 says:
        16 Jul16 July 22:23

        +1 for BUD for dentist. They sorted out for a few € the “mess” that my old dentist left behind when extracting. Not a flash setup, but clean and better equipment. And they took AMEX !

  • Mark says:
    16 Jul16 July 09:25

    Looking at booking the Amsterdam Marriott for a weekend break early next year for the wife and I. Club lounge access rooms are coming up at 50 Eur extra per night which doesnt seem too bad…anyone have experience of the lounge here? do you get beers/wine in the evening or is it just soft drinks? Breakfast spread any good?

    • Billy P says:
      16 Jul16 July 11:40

      We were there in 2019, Beers Wines and Spirits were flowing. Long opening hours too. Breakfast was ok but nothing amazing.

  • Sandra says:
    16 Jul16 July 09:28

    £100 off £300 spend with The Maybourne Hotel group which includes Claridges, The Connaught & Berkeley hotels in London has appeared on my Amex Gold (pretty sure it’s new today). Valid until 30/9 for first 10K to save.

  • Harry T says:
    16 Jul16 July 09:29

    Data point: gf took a next day PCR test for travel abroad at the Vivo clinic in Glasgow. The staff at the clinic were lovely and fitted her in after a misunderstanding about where the clinic was led to a late arrival. Result came back within 21 hours, courtesy of the Randox lab. The test certificate includes her passport number, name, date of birth etc. A very professional and efficient service. The very positive TrustPilot reviews are accurate.

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

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