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The HfP chat thread – Friday 23rd July

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General

Comments (384)

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

  • Ant says:
    23 Jul23 July 08:53

    Booked for Greece for September. Most of the accomodation I found needs to be cancelled at least 2 weeks. After that no refund.
    My travel policy says “If the FCDO travel advice changes after you bought your Bupa travel insurance policy or booked your trip (whichever came later), we’ll cover you if you’re forced to cancel, amend or cut short your trip as a result.”
    So is my understanding right that as I booked last week if in the last 2 weeks Greece moves to red or amber plus the insurance would refund our non refundable hotel costs if we decide not to go?

    • Joe says:
      23 Jul23 July 09:01

      Whether or not it’s amber plus / red is irrelevant. It’s all about the FCDO advice when you booked and when you need to travel !

    • TGLoyalty says:
      23 Jul23 July 09:07

      Why would the FCDO advice change because it’s Amber+? France has no essential travel only advice right now.

      • JDB says:
        23 Jul23 July 09:41

        The traffic lights and FCDO are not always aligned and they are not intended to be as they are assessments of different risks. Also, either can change at any time; France went to Amber+ outside the regular review cycle.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          23 Jul23 July 09:46

          They aren’t aligned at all.

          FCDO advice can change at any time there’s no review period.

    • Keely says:
      23 Jul23 July 09:17

      Booking.com usually allows free cancellations to 2 days before if you pay at higher fee – I think about 15% -ish more . I’ve used this and cancelled three bookings this year free of charge . Might be worth checking there if cancellation is important to you ?

    • Paul says:
      23 Jul23 July 09:17

      As I have just learned to my cost if the advice was do not travel on date of booking, and Covid issues result in cancellation, then no cover. Other reasons would still be covered by my policy (Amex) but check with insurer.
      I too booked for Greece but only flight and 4 nights in Athens on points. I intend to book stays on two islands only when I get there.
      Something to note, many hotels show full but they are block bookings by tour operators and OTA who seem to have availability. I have noticed a lot of last minute availability popping up where previously a direct booking was not possible. It’s not universal but it does suggest getting decent accommodation at a fair price, a day or so before arrival, will not be difficult.
      I think Greek island hotels have shot themselves in the foot this summer with the terms of cancellation.

      • Richie says:
        23 Jul23 July 10:03

        I’ve returned from Greek Island hopping, we just booked accomodation a couple of days before arrival.

        • idrive says:
          23 Jul23 July 14:45

          @Richie can you share your itinerary (did you rent a car) please?

  • Sam says:
    23 Jul23 July 09:07

    Landed at Stansted 11.45pm yesterday. Empty immigration and got out in <5 mins. Officer diddnt ask for a single thing!

    • peter says:
      23 Jul23 July 09:27

      I had the same 3 weeks ago, prepared myself for 3-4h queues.. and it turned out to be 10-15 minutes between leaving aircraft and being outside! Although I was asked if I live in UK by a well sleepy immigration officer 🙂

      • Aristeides says:
        23 Jul23 July 11:14

        Same for me on Weds eve coming into Stansted from BCN. To be fair it was just as quick and easy getting into BCN on Monday too. COVID never mentioned.

  • IHG says:
    23 Jul23 July 09:19

    If i top up revolutionary with Creation card ,I am being charged interest as I cannot make immediate payment on the app as the transaction is still pending .If i were to make a bank transfer on the same day will it minimise interest? How to minimise interest for such spend?

  • BuildBackBetter says:
    23 Jul23 July 09:21

    Datapoint: transferred Amex points to Radisson on 8th July. Received today.

  • Memesweeper says:
    23 Jul23 July 09:44

    Datapoint: HK World Elite to Krisflyer: eight individual transfers, points took 24 hours to arrive despite the “up to 21 day” indication on website.

  • Patrick Cold says:
    23 Jul23 July 09:46

    I`ve just had a missed call from a Birmingham number which did not bode well. Message left to call the creative ones. I thought I might as well face it straight away. Having cleared security the nice lady asked if I`d tried to make payments to Che and Ernie recently which had been declined – when I said yes she thanked me for calling; it was a random security check and my account would become fully functional again in two minutes!

  • IanM says:
    23 Jul23 July 09:53

    Does anyone use Opodo Prime? Seems to be remarkable savings on flights….any catch?

    • AJA says:
      23 Jul23 July 10:27

      Not used them but you have the extra issues of dealing with a third party if your plans get disrupted. Better to pay more and book directly with airlines and hotels. Also as the saying goes if it looks too good to be true it usually is too good to be true.

      • Nick says:
        23 Jul23 July 10:37

        Opodo is owned by Odigeo, who you should avoid like the plague. Seriously, not worth it. The one and only exception is if they have a last-minute consolidator fare and you know you’re definitely going to travel (by last-minute I mean no more than 5 days before departure).

        For the deal you mention, Rob wrote an article when it launched. I’d advise reading both that and the comments below before signing up.

    • Rob says:
      23 Jul23 July 11:09

      As travel agents make zero money – literally 1% – commission on selling you flights, you can be darn sure there is a massive catch in there.

      There is a reason why Expedia etc make it really tricky now to book just a flight. The only money is the 22% commission they get on hotels.

    • Pablo says:
      23 Jul23 July 17:38

      Only book what you can afford to lose. I signed up for the free trial of prime and used it to book some throwaway Ryanair flights for £5. Ended up using one of them.

  • Wollhouse says:
    23 Jul23 July 09:59

    Question re 241. Thailand is now operating the Samui sandbox. For this you can enter samui via Bangkok if you have an transit on a single ticket. I know BA only allows 241 on their metal, is there a way to use a 241 on a return to Bangkok and add pay in full for the onward flight with Bangkok Airways and have it all on one PNR? I’m guessing no…. And probably moot at this point as BA is still using Qatar, via red zone, as the carrier to get to Bangkok. I have cancelled flights (241 and Avios) where BA refused to rebook me as they weren’t flying to Bangkok. Now they’re at least showing the route, but there’s no point my fighting if I can’t ass the onward connection as I’d be refused entry and have to quarantine (again!) in Bangkok. Can you “tack on” a leg with a 241? TIA.

    • Richie says:
      23 Jul23 July 10:05

      Does the Samui Sandbox apply to one stop flights via HEL to BKK?

      • Nick says:
        23 Jul23 July 10:40

        Are you sure it doesn’t apply? My understanding is that if you can get LHR-HEL-BKK-HKT on one ticket then it will work fine. It’s the connection in BKK that’s the issue, as it needs to be one one itinerary to be valid.

    • AJA says:
      23 Jul23 July 10:11

      Short answer is no.

    • David S says:
      23 Jul23 July 10:50

      Same issue for us. Booked a 241 to BKK and need to add an onward flight. BA do Codeshare with Bangkok Airways to Koh Samui

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