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The HfP chat thread – Thursday 29th July

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We are running this daily chat thread on Head for Points during the coronavirus outbreak.

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Category

General

Comments (460)

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

  • Tony says:
    29 Jul29 July 02:14

    BA extended Tier status by another 12 months for members with a Tier Point collection end date between 1st July to 31st December.

    Is it likely we will get a further extension? My end date is early January (🤦🏻‍♂️) and will be challenging to retain Gold given current restrictions and time I have to get 1125 points? Seems harsh that 1125 is still the target given I will likely only have 5 months to achieve?

    • Andrew says:
      29 Jul29 July 07:06

      Let’s hope they do this for the rest of us – very odd only extending for half the membership base and it’s near impossible to retain Gold on short haul alone and it’s near impossible to fly long haul at the moment. Especially with USA not opening up in the foreseeable future they will surely have to do something to extend all members.

  • John says:
    29 Jul29 July 02:33

    Comments yesterday thought yes.

    But if BA decides not to extend, you can teach them a lesson by never flying them again

  • Iain says:
    29 Jul29 July 05:46

    Does the Barclaycard reward card (0.25) attract additional fees when using with curve to pay off HMRC and “other bills”?

  • Paul says:
    29 Jul29 July 06:25

    Hello from Caledonian sleeper train! Just stopped at Blair Atholl, heading for Inverness.

    • BJ says:
      29 Jul29 July 06:32

      A reader the other day was looking for feedback on current state of service so a few comments from you might help. Enjoy Inverness.

      • John says:
        29 Jul29 July 06:35

        A waste of money until the lounge car reopens, unless a daytime train/flight and hotel doesn’t work.

        • Super Secret Stuff says:
          29 Jul29 July 07:40

          A bit of an opinion that’s not entirely justified, it’s still a nice experience and very practical

          • Andrew says:
            29 Jul29 July 09:20

            Practical depends on where you are going.

            It’s amazing in the dead of winter to be standing at a Perthshire railway station around midnight (always be careful which date you are booking), and see the sleeper pull in through the whisps of snow. Then head to bed knowing you’ll be waking up in Euston ready to head to the office in 6-7 hours.

            It’s hell waking up at 04:45 ready to disembark at 05:08, trudging through a foot of snow, or Scottish monsoon home. I end up feeling worse than an overnight transatlantic in economy.

            (Then there was the morning my elderly parents forgot to leave the deadlock off and I had to sit in the garden from 05:15 until they woke up at 07:30. Fortunately it was a lovely warm August morning… Clearly not Caledonian’s fault, but it made me less likely to use them.)

        • Dave says:
          29 Jul29 July 07:48

          Perhaps it has redeeming features other than the lounge car?

    • MJ says:
      29 Jul29 July 08:06

      I travelled during covid restrictions with them and felt very safe and secure. Everything was beautifully clean and sleeping compartments modern.

      • Ben says:
        29 Jul29 July 08:26

        I know this is dependant on the person, but whats the quality of sleep like? Is there much noise? Movment when in bed etc?

        • FFoxSake says:
          29 Jul29 July 09:21

          All of that is mostly dependent on the person you are sharing the compartment with…

          • KP says:
            29 Jul29 July 13:05

            @Rob – when we get the Forum up and running can we have the option to choose a comment of the day (e.g number of likes etc)

            This one would get my vote !

        • John says:
          29 Jul29 July 13:03

          Choose the berths in the middle – the ones over the bogies are very bumpy and noisy in the mk5 trainsets

          • John says:
            29 Jul29 July 14:20

            Found this quote from railforums “avoid rooms 1 and 2 in first, 9 and 10 in standard. In fact, they should offer a discount to any poor soul with a first class ticket who ends up in room 1!

            Aim for 5 or 6 in first, 7 in standard for the best sleep.”

      • Rob says:
        29 Jul29 July 09:41

        We are keen to review this once the full catering service restarts.

  • TomH says:
    29 Jul29 July 06:36

    Just wondering if anyone can recommend a pre-travel and day 2 PCR test provider? In particular for my in-laws who will be flying in to Stansted from Sweden in September. Best option looks to be posting over 2 Qured tests and then a walk-through PCR from Randox at the airport on day of arrival. Should be £33+£60 per head.

    • Pete M says:
      29 Jul29 July 06:55

      Check Chronomics with the BA discount (should come down to £10pp if booked individually). Postable Randox with the BA discount should be £43 if you have a nearby box. Can’t they get a free/cheaper LFD in Sweden, though?

    • Sandgrounder says:
      29 Jul29 July 06:56

      Antigen tests for travel are widely available in Sweden, it’s probably easier to use a local provider. You could do the walk through, although the Randox postal for 43 with a code will do the job too, you won’t be waiting on the results. Just a little bit more fiddly, it all depends on your priorities.

    • Aaron C says:
      29 Jul29 July 09:22

      Cheapest Day 2 I’ve found is Expert Medicals at £35.99. The results take a while (mine took 5 days) but you don’t need that result for anything.

      • Anna says:
        29 Jul29 July 09:43

        +1, I’ve ordered 3 so far and they’ve all been delivered very promptly by DPD.

        • Stephen says:
          29 Jul29 July 10:30

          Does it matter if the details you submit on the Expert Medicals form is incorrect (e.g. travel dates), or only matters once you activate the test?

  • Margaret says:
    29 Jul29 July 06:46

    Ordered a Randox test for my daughter, who will now be flying back to the UK 2 days later. Does it matter that she’s travelling on different dates to the ones supplied? The test isn’t registered yet.

  • CarpalTravel says:
    29 Jul29 July 06:50

    Morning all. Just tried logging into an existing booking on BA and getting:

    “ Sorry, due to a system error, we are unable to display your booking. Please try again. If the problem persists contact your local British Airways office or Travel Agent.”

    Is anyone else getting this? Had been working fine days and months before.

    • John Gallagher says:
      29 Jul29 July 07:05

      Yes, one of my recently rebooked flights disappeared on Monday

    • John says:
      29 Jul29 July 07:27

      Happening for me as well – my flights (taking place tomorrow) were available yesterday evening via BA.com and the app, and this morning it says the booking is no longer displayable.

    • James says:
      29 Jul29 July 07:36

      Also the same for me for a Maldives holiday.

      • CarpalTravel says:
        29 Jul29 July 08:52

        Ah ok, well I am kind of pleased it’s not just me – sorry it has happened to you guys too though.

  • Mark says:
    29 Jul29 July 06:51

    FYI, I spoke to my Barclays Premier relationship mgr yesterday via email and he said the 25k Avios bonus should be coming in August

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

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