The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 20th July

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BSI1978 says:

20 Jul20 July 05:38

I ‘think’ I already know the answer to this, but please humour me on this humid Tuesday morning seeking clarification on the same;

241 voucher expires Nov, already been extended twice – think I can book a random/cheap destination now, cancel and then it’s refunded as a FTV with Apr23 expiry?

Main downside is that the 2nd named traveller has to remain constant I believe? Is there any way at all around that little wrinkle that I’ve missed…..?

I’ve 3 extant vouchers, with the other 2 having longer dated expiration dates but would prefer not to ‘lose’ this first one.
- Anna says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 06:25
  
  Yes re booking the random flight and cancelling for a FTV.
  Someone posted yesterday that BA had told them that an FTV containing a 241 could be split and refunded to each passenger, though Rob pointed out that in effect everything would go back to the OP.
Gtellez says:

20 Jul20 July 05:39

I recently applied to the BAPP, although I have had other Amex cards (including a BA free card) in the last 24 months, the bar for the 25k welcome bonus appeared in my profile. Does it mean that once I reach 3k spent I will receive the bonus although I shouldn’t? I don’t have plans to spent that much in the short term (just pushed quite hard to hit the 15k spent in my gold card last month), but for 25k I could try harder and get a ton of Amazon/Other retailers gift cards.
- Chris Heyes says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 06:11
  
  Gtellez It’s possible but you can’t unfortunatly rely on it happening.
  I say it’s possible, because My Partner and her brother both had Platinum rung up to cancel both asked for the Amex Gold, and both got the Gold with full Targets and Bonuses-
  I slipped up because I didn’t think they could, I asked for BA Premium at the time !
  Now if it was an IT mix up/fault no idea or because we was in full Covid and wanted keep customers
  According to Amex t&c it couldn’t happen, but it did for two as well
- Doc says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 07:00
  
  This is normally an IT glitch and you will not get the bonus. You might get lucky and get the bonus but normally this is not the case. This happened to me when I got my new card and even though I got the required level of spending and the progress bar was showing on my account, no welcome bonus Avios were awarded but I was not expecting it anyway since I knew I didn’t qualify for it.
  - Gtellez says:
    
    20 Jul20 July 07:51
    
    I guess that I will buy a fully flexible ticket to check if it triggers the bonus. If it does, I will buy gift cards and refund the fully flex ticket. In case it doesn’t trigger it I just need to cancel the ticket.
  - babyg_wc says:
    
    20 Jul20 July 10:12
    
    I’ve had sign up bonuses on multiple occasions where I shouldn’t have been entitled and this was first indicated by the status bar, my guess is you will get the bonus.
- Jane says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 09:11
  
  We have obviously just been very lucky but my husband and I have both had 3 ba cards in last 20 months and had tracker and received bonus every time!
  - babyg_wc says:
    
    20 Jul20 July 10:13
    
    Same, I think there is a correlation between bonus and hold zero cards at the time… But there could be no correlation and just random IT weirdness..
Toppcat says:

20 Jul20 July 06:22

Good morning all.

Has anyone who booked a backpacking holiday to take advantage of the Tesco/Hotels.com promotion had a wave of cancellations come through from Hotels.com over recent days?

I had booked c.30 individual nights so far, booked while logged out of my Hotels.com account, as I didn’t want the low value free night vouchers. 40-50% of them have now been cancelled, with the emails from Hotels.com quoting T&C’s ‘regarding overuse, suspicious activity, signs of fraud, or abuse of the travel services reservation facilities’.

Not the end of the world, but I wondered whether others had had a similar experience.
- Jonathan says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 06:48
  
  Sounds like you got a little greedy! Can’t say I’m surprised a huge number of low value bookings in parts of the world you probably couldn’t even get to triggered their security algorithms.
  - Dominic says:
    
    20 Jul20 July 07:05
    
    Not sure that I would call it greedy! No issues in making a large number of bookings for a backpacking trip.
    - meta says:
      
      20 Jul20 July 08:21
      
      Yes, but people got greedy and booked it all
      at a single hotel.
      - Toppcat says:
        
        20 Jul20 July 08:28
        
        All booked at different hostels. But it had definitely tripped something – I have had another wave of cancellations come through this morning… Ah well.
- Chris says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 09:13
  
  I booked 14 nights in a row, all different hotels – no cancellations so far. But also no idea whether the points will post.
- John says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 10:05
  
  You used the same credit card didn’t you, the account doesn’t matter
Dave1985 says:

20 Jul20 July 06:50

Does this blurb need updating now that freedom day has arrived?!

“ At this tricky time, and given that many of you are at home, we want the HfP community to have a place to chat.”

Freedom!
- Andrew says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 07:09
  
  It’s pingmania though!
  
  We’ve worked out a mate has been pinged whilst alone, sitting in his car, in a traffic jam on the Oxford ring road last week.
  
  It was the only time he was near anyone for a few minutes.
  - Dave1985 says:
    
    20 Jul20 July 07:12
    
    I believe we’re now legally obliged to call it a “pingdemic”!
  - Super Secret Stuff says:
    
    20 Jul20 July 07:39
    
    Sounds about right, a few people at work had that. Many now turn off the app when they aren’t mixing with people
    - Rob says:
      
      20 Jul20 July 08:50
      
      As you no longer need to check in to venues, there is no real need for it.
      - Super Secret Stuff says:
        
        20 Jul20 July 09:24
        
        I never had it in the first place as I suspect it will soon be managed by an outsourced provider, like Capita or Sodexo.You might as well post all the info on the internet if you have the app because it will be as good as gone
      - Rich says:
        
        20 Jul20 July 11:08
        
        @Super Secret Stuff Post what info on the internet?
        
        There isn’t any personal info. The app doesn’t know who or where you are, or any of your personal details, or where the contact took place.
        
        I’ve deleted it – not for privacy concerns, but because there’s no point in trying to reduce cases while the PM is pursuing a ‘let it rip’ policy.
- Andrew says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 07:17
  
  Restrictions on travel are very much still in place – in fact worse than ever, and far from freedom. And this is a travel blog, so it remains a “tricky time”.
  - Dave1985 says:
    
    20 Jul20 July 07:21
    
    It’s 30 degrees and pubs and nightclubs are open. Go out and enjoy yourself rather than thinking about it being a “tricky time”. Let’s have some freedom related positivity!
    - Andrew says:
      
      20 Jul20 July 07:41
      
      And yet travel is still very difficult – and this is a travel blog, not a going to nightclubs blog.
      - Dave1985 says:
        
        20 Jul20 July 07:46
        
        There’s loads of places you can now go! Only yesterday someone was saying that Stansted was rammed at 4am so it’s clearly not that difficult!
        
        Enjoy freedom rather than being a party pooper!
      - Dave1985 says:
        
        20 Jul20 July 07:49
        
        Rhys has just spent six nights in the Balearics, for example!
    - John says:
      
      20 Jul20 July 10:07
      
      I’ve been going out and enjoying myself since March, and since May I have been free to do everything I wanted except leave and enter the UK
      - Dave1985 says:
        
        20 Jul20 July 12:52
        
        Freedom!
- Andrew says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 08:16
  
  Maybe we’ll just agree to disagree then.
  - Dave1985 says:
    
    20 Jul20 July 08:22
    
    Fair enough Andrew!
    
    Have a good freedom day 2!
Anna says:

20 Jul20 July 06:52

I’ve ordered a cheap Day 2 test from Expert Medicals. The confirmation email contains an invoice number – is this what I will need to put on the PLF when I eventually return from holiday?
Worth noting also that I’ve had an email from DPD just now advising someone will need to be at home to take receipt of the test so it looks like these tests need to be ordered before people go away.
- meta says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 07:22
  
  You should get an email with booking reference number. It arrived for me the moment I submitted an order followed by another email with an invoice, followed the next day by DPD tracking number.
  
  No, you don’t need to order before you go, you only need the booking reference number. I was also able to select the shipment date when I placed an order last Thursday for delivery on Friday. But the date has obviously slipped! It still hasn’t arrived though I have looked at DPD tracking info and the parcel is now with them as of this morning. Delivery probably tomorrow!
- Patrycja says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 07:36
  
  They will send you a second email with booking reference number. Ours had commentary highlighting this was the information to update on PLF form. Test were supposed to be signed for but ours were just posted through the letter box.
  Hope this helps☺️
Bupps says:

20 Jul20 July 06:53

Re: HSBC World Elite MC / Curve – it looks like HSBC has started to treat more transactions such as HMRC tax payments via Curve as tax advance.. ie no longer awarding points and charging cash advance interest. has anyone else noticed the same? Would be a real shame – has been a very lucrative source of many many points for a good few years.
- Nigel W says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 08:11
  
  Just checked my statement and yeah, I can see they’ve given no points for my HMRC transactions.
  - Jonathan says:
    
    20 Jul20 July 10:11
    
    I’d argue HMRC isn’t really a cash like transaction. You’re not getting anything redeemable or convertible for your payments! I completely understand for the other routes though.
- Ian M says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 09:12
  
  That’s very disappointing! If others follow suit Curve Metal will lose most of it’s value
  - Sprout says:
    
    20 Jul20 July 09:25
    
    Indeed! My statement is due in the next couple of days so I’ll check it promptly. Whilst I don’t use the combination for HMRC I do use it for “other” methods so will be interested to see if these are picked up as well.
    It seems as though a number of providers are going through a similar process – it has been very lucrative while it has lasted!
    - LST says:
      
      20 Jul20 July 14:15
      
      I had paid my self assessment in 4500 chunks at the start of the month via crv, no points awarded, so looks like this route is dead.
      Paid Brighton also, but this did award points.
  - Nigel W says:
    
    20 Jul20 July 14:22
    
    @ Ian M, I think my six months before I can cancel is nearly up. May do this if curve x hong kong to pay HMRC is really dead now.
- Jonathan says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 10:13
  
  Do you have big tax/VAT bills to pay or were you “accidentally” putting an extra zero in the payment amount?
Andrew says:

20 Jul20 July 06:59

What’s the opposite was Sweaty Betty?

Superdry!

(7% “every time” on my BA Blue).
- mr_jetlag says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 08:02
  
  you get 12% more with Betty though, sweat equity 😉
  - Super Secret Stuff says:
    
    20 Jul20 July 08:44
    
    Who doesn’t love a bit of swequity!
Claire says:

20 Jul20 July 07:15

Re BA cancellations. Our new york flights are still showing as flying and have not been cancelled. Fly out 14th Aug and back 30th. I booked during 50% sale so hoping they would be cancelled and I could rebook for Easter. Was going to leave until end of the month but do you think schedule now unlikely to change?
- Anna says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 07:26
  
  If that particular flight has been departing most days I would think it will still run but you don’t need to make a decision until much nearer the time.
  I’ve also seen a couple of mentions on here about being able to move bookings but didn’t note the details as I have only 1 current BA booking and it’s not till next year!
- Joseph AJ says:
  
  20 Jul20 July 07:41
  
  Not NY but my August 14th flight to Pisa was cancelled last night
  - Lottie says:
    
    20 Jul20 July 08:31
    
    My 14th aug flight to Brindisi has just been cancelled, moved from last year. BA must be cancelling Flighs to Italy this week.
    - Sam G says:
      
      20 Jul20 July 08:54
      
      I imagine with our cases going up most people are assuming the 5 day quarantine isn’t going to be lifted and are rethinking / holding off booking any Italian holiday plans
      - Sam G says:
        
        20 Jul20 July 08:55
        
        also based on my unscientific observations BA usually does a lot of US transfer traffic to Italy which will not currently be happening