The HfP chat thread – Sunday 18th July

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• Mick S says:

  18 Jul18 July 09:52

  just to pick up the Lloyds Avios upgrade voucher chat from yesterday – Gary is spot on with the comments “If BA cancelled, you can re-book to anywhere you like (eg SYD) and pay the additional avios required (or they will refund the surplus if one picked somewhere nearer than zone 5). No FTV option with Lloyds voucher, all bookings by 31 Oct (for now). If cancelled by traveller, the voucher is lost.” , as I’ve recently changed another booking.

  What I’m hoping for is for BA to cancel my Zone 5 USA flight, giving me the option to do what I want with ticket, eg, book Sydney. However, if the flight is still on then I can only change to another Zone destination, eg Doha.

  • Mikeact says:

    18 Jul18 July 14:24

    Just checking….if you change your mind you can rebook into any other zone ? Guy was adamant I spoke to……choose your zone carefully..no zone changes allowed if rebooking.

• SteveD says:

  18 Jul18 July 09:58

  Morning. I have a FTV with 241 query which I can’t find the answer to, have scoured the most likely threads…

  Currently have 3 avios seats incl a 241 booked. I’m thinking to cancel these to use on another route. However, it’s likely there will only be 2 reward seats available on that route.
  If I take a FTV, the voucher will include: some avios, some cash, and a 241, with 3 named passengers.
  Will I be able to use this for the same 3 passengers if there are only 2 reward seats available (booking the third seat for cash)? In other words, is the ‘3 avios seats’ element of the booking also locked in to the voucher or is it literally just a bundle of avios that I can use in whichever way I choose?
  I realise I may have to call to get this answered…thanks in advance!

  • Optimus Prime says:

    18 Jul18 July 10:07

    Why are you sure there will be only 2 reward seats available? What cabin class are you looking at, First or Business? BA is now releasing 4 reward seats on each Business cabin.

    • SteveD says:

      18 Jul18 July 10:09

      Premium Econ 🙂
      Don’t have enough avios for CW (unless BA decide to match virgin’s points sale in the next few weeks)

      • Optimus Prime says:

        18 Jul18 July 10:13

        Fair enough 🙂

        Looks like Keely has your answer. You may want to sign up for Seat Spy (if you already haven’t) and monitor that route

  • Keely says:

    18 Jul18 July 10:09

    I asked this question of BA last night when taking another FTV . Has to be booked for reward seats only .

    • AJA says:

      18 Jul18 July 10:20

      As Keely says there has to be reward availability but I believe you can get BA to split the booking so that you get a FTV containing the 2-4-1 and lead passenger +1 and a second FTV for the 3rd passenger. Then book over the phone the reward flight using the FTV containing the 2-4-1 and buy a separate cash ticket leaving the FTV for the 3rd passenger for another time. No idea if you get charged a service fee to do this.

    • SteveD says:

      18 Jul18 July 10:41

      Thanks all.
      Splitting the voucher sounds like a good option though, if they don’t charge much to do it – avoids £100 of cancellation fees.

• Chris says:

  18 Jul18 July 10:07

  Is there any way to see on hotels.com whether a booking has been recorded as a stay? (Wink wink) 😛

  • Rui N. says:

    18 Jul18 July 10:28

    If you get the night reward afterwards it was a stay. They might also send you an email asking how your stay was.

  • John says:

    18 Jul18 July 12:22

    They often send an email asking “how was check-in”

  • Toby says:

    18 Jul18 July 12:33

    But it can take a few days to show in your rewards list so don’t worry if it’s not there right away

• Lady London says:

  18 Jul18 July 10:31

  Paying fines, e.g. presumably including parking tickets, treated as cash is a bit mean. It’s not a cash-like transaction at all.

  • blenz101 says:

    18 Jul18 July 11:45

    Doesn’t seem that mean re:parking fines or any other type of court or government fees. Paying these off isn’t really purchasing goods or services, they are intended to cause a cash-like dent the offenders wallet.

    That aside, the reason these types of transactions are included is that presumably they will be caught up on the additional merchant category codes (government services) that Lloyds intend to treat differently from Oct 15th.

    If points/money-back on your fines is something you still want to earn then depending on the local authority you can usually pay at the post office /paypoint which should still appear as a retail transaction. Just need to be wary on anything online with a .gov address

    • John says:

      18 Jul18 July 12:29

      Interesting, Australian cards have had a lower earning rate on government services for many years.

• Keely says:

  18 Jul18 July 10:39

  Morning all … question please:
  Does anybody know anything about current Amex /Aldi cash back offers? Disclaimer – my husband could have got this totally wrong which wouldn’t surprise me 🤣.
  He was in Aldi this week and the cashier told him that there was a cash back offer with Amex and to save the receipt . He duly came home clutching the receipt and said you’ll need this . I have no idea what he’s talking about ..? Nothing on my cards . Any ideas?

  • Lady London says:

    18 Jul18 July 12:10

    was that the Amex Deliveroo credit covered in Rob’s article 3 or 4 weeks ago ? Aldi has a list of products available via Deliveroo, cashier might have heard about it internally but not known the precise mechanism

    • Keely says:

      18 Jul18 July 14:24

      Ah maybe …if I go this week I’ll have a chat with them ..

• gtellez says:

  18 Jul18 July 10:51

  Has someone recently entered Spain without being fully vaccinated? I was looking at different websites (Iberia, BA, Spanish embassy in London…) and it is not clear if Antigen Tests are accepted or not for people arriving from the UK. Some websites mentions that must be a PCR test, but other sites say the opposite…

  • ChrisBCN says:

    18 Jul18 July 11:12

    The official health website says antigen is fine https://www.spth.gob.es/

    • marcw says:

      18 Jul18 July 11:25

      That´s if you travelling from an EU country.
      For travelling from a third country, you should check “Entry requirements for entry in Spain from third countries”.
      https://www.mscbs.gob.es/en/profesionales/saludPublica/ccayes/alertasActual/nCov/spth.htm

      • ChrisBCN says:

        18 Jul18 July 12:03

        It does talk about third countries on the link I provided and does say antigen is fine. However, the link you provided contradicts this – I see the original commenters problem!

  • marcw says:

    18 Jul18 July 11:21

    If you have not been vaccinated (and are travelling from the UK), only PCR or NAAT (LAMP and TMA) tests are valid.

    • Yorkieflyer says:

      18 Jul18 July 16:06

      This

  • Harry T says:

    18 Jul18 July 13:36

    Gf entered yesterday with a PCR test. I suggest reading the official Spain health/tourism websites because even the FCDO website is sometimes out of date.

    • Gtellez says:

      18 Jul18 July 16:29

      It is really bad how it is explained, contradictory information in every website (even in Spanish!). I talked to Iberia and they told me if you are from the UK or resident here you need PCR, but if you are Spanish (or from somewhere else in the EU) an antigen test is ok, even flying from the UK (that doesn’t make any sense!). I’m Spanish so I could theoretically enter with the antigen, however I don’t want to risk a denied boarding for having the wrong test. I guess that I’ll do the PCR to avoid it, but it piss me off quite a lot, since I was hoping to take a same day test at the airport (money I don’t care, it is on my employer…)

      • TGLoyalty says:

        18 Jul18 July 18:47

        You can do a same day LAMP test.

• Mark says:

  18 Jul18 July 11:01

  Does NH Hotels do status match at all from Hilton Gold? Looking at the NH San Sebastian for an upcoming stay.

• ChasP says:

  18 Jul18 July 11:10

  Successfully rebooked next weeks cancelled Orlando flight for next Easter
  Unlike previous time didnt get the – oh thats a reward seat and there is no reward availability
  All done on Whatsapp in 30 minutes – after a 4 day delay in getting an answer
  I woke up to find 6 whatsapp messages betweeb 1.30-8.30 on a Sunday mornng !

  • Michael C says:

    18 Jul18 July 11:35

    Was that just flight, Chas? Am hoping to do same with moving a Boston to Easter, but via a Holiday.
    PD if allowed, could you give me the WhatsApp number?! Cheers!

    • ChasP says:

      18 Jul18 July 12:44

      flight only
      whatsapp no is 0344 8747747

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