The HfP chat thread – Saturday 7th August

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• Vit says:

  7 Aug7 August 10:35

  Anyone’s having problem while trying to apply for Sainsbury nectar card? I have been trying a couple time this morning — but after clicking submit, it keeps leading me to “time-out” page with the info to call in to speak to CS. I pre-check my state and had it “pre-approved”.

  • BJ says:

    7 Aug7 August 11:05

    I had something similar before my last application earlier this year. In my case it was due to me still having a profile/account from the previous time I held a card. They had to manually resolve that and it meant I had to go through the snail mail agreements etc but got there in the end and got the points etc. If you have previously had accounts with SB you might be having similar issues.

    • Benilyn says:

      7 Aug7 August 11:08

      Thanks good to know!

      • Benilyn says:

        7 Aug7 August 11:08

        CS told me need to wait 90 days for the next application

        • BJ says:

          7 Aug7 August 11:37

          Thanks for confirming that too. I always allowed six months but somebody previiusly mentioned in comments that three months was enough.

    • Vit says:

      7 Aug7 August 11:19

      Thanks BJ. No, never had any Sainsbury or nectar credit related card. Reason for applying is that we will be shopping mainly at Sainsbury as we recently moved out and it is the most convenient for us.

      Called and spoke to Cs they said they have not got any of my applications through at all. They suggested applying through different we browsers. I did but still no result. So I’m not sure now if I have to call in and apply via the phone. Can I do that? Will that still get me the points?

      • Vit says:

        7 Aug7 August 11:19

        *moved home 🏡

      • BJ says:

        7 Aug7 August 11:40

        Sounds just an IT issue. Try again during the week if it is not past the time Rob recently flagged up as a possible end date for the offer.

        • Tonyb says:

          7 Aug7 August 11:58

          I have just applied and been successful although it wouldn’t accept my Barclays account details to start with so I put a different account in and went through fine

        • Vit says:

          7 Aug7 August 16:20

          Thinking it is something to do with me moving home every year and online application does not allow me to put more than two addresses. Called in to apply through CS but they said they need to send “confirm my ID” to me — fingers crossed it will go through. Thanks guys.

• Josh says:

  7 Aug7 August 10:36

  Hey all,

  What’s the best lounge to pick (if there is currently one open) for an Amex plat card holder flying from Gatwick? (North terminal)

  Thanks!

  • Rob says:

    7 Aug7 August 10:40

    No1 probably. Aspire is in a basement and has far fewer features.

    • Save East Coast Rewards says:

      7 Aug7 August 11:37

      It’s possibly not an issue at the moment but the reason I used the Aspire last time I had to use LGW N (2019) was because the No 1 lounge was so busy (there was a queue to get in) I immediately went downstairs and got straight into Aspire. It’s not really a basement, it does have windows but it is one level below the normal departures level.

      Do you know if there’s any plans for the VS lounges on the top floor? They used to belong to BA but when GAL wanted to consolidate EZY in the north terminal BA and VS swapped places.

• Kevin says:

  7 Aug7 August 11:31

  Data point. Thanks for the HFP sharing knowledge/experience. I have managed to get BA to move my Aug KUL flight to end of the year, which beyond 12 months of booked date. The flight was bought via 50% avios sales and has been re-route via MAS after BA cancelled KUL route last year.

  • Memesweeper says:

    7 Aug7 August 12:14

    Good result @Kevin and thanks for sharing

  • Paul says:

    7 Aug7 August 16:29

    The policy has changed. The final flight on any rebooked itinerary must now be flown no later than 1 year after the original outbound date. Previously it was within one year of ticket purchase and BA lost a number of cases brought via CEDR.
    It remains questionable if the new policy is legal albeit it probably meets most people’s needs

• Andrew says:

  7 Aug7 August 11:45

  If i am flying with BA from NCL to LHR to BKK (J class) and i can only choose my seats 24 hours before i fly without paying , will i be able to select my seats on both flights 24 hrs before the NCL flight departs?
  Many thanks

  • John says:

    7 Aug7 August 12:13

    yes 24 hours before BA NCL-BKK flight.
    Which airline are you flying from LHR-BKK on?

    • Andrew says:

      7 Aug7 August 12:39

      Thanks John – BA all the way

  • BJ says:

    7 Aug7 August 12:53

    Also, it looks like the route is going to be operated by a 787 going forward so your pick of seats NCL-24h will be fine as no longer middle pairs to worry about. Interestingly, they always load a 4 class 787 with F blocked. I don’t know if this is the normal on routes to be operated by 787s. Regardless, I think a 787 is too small for the route so as always there remains a good chance of F upgrades, particularly on the weekends, due to equipment swaps. Remains J service but F cabin when it happens.

    • Andrew says:

      7 Aug7 August 13:37

      Thanks BJ – very interesting!

    • ChrisC says:

      7 Aug7 August 14:47

      I don’t think BKK is a normal F route so they can still swap it back to a 3 class.

      They will only open the F cabin if lower cabins have been oversold and they need to shift passengers up.

      People have moved to F then BA has moved them back to club because there was no need to open F thus losing possibly better seats.

      And as BJ says it’s club service. You don’t get F tier points or access to the CCR etc. Should you be lucky enough.

      • BJ says:

        7 Aug7 August 16:49

        After they stopped the 744s they used 3 class 772ER. Towards the end if 2019 they were listing but not often using 787s with 4 class showing on the seat map but we could only ever book CW, WTP or WT. That remains the case. I don’t think there will be any plan to reintroduce F. It seems odd to me that they have gone seasonal, I’m not sure if that is a long term plan to use aircraft on more premium heavy routes or if it is simply due to covid. Any time I flew loads were always heavy across all cabins. Rumour was that CW was always mostly award seats and staff but the release of award seats is not consistent with this. I think Qatar has its hands in it, they are too heavily invested in Thailand and are likely pulling strings at BA.

      • BJ says:

        7 Aug7 August 20:07

        For clarity Chris I should add that in this BKK situation I mentioned people only got upgraded on the day after the equipment change happened. There was never any musical chairs days or weeks in advance as far as I know do perhaps it was more a case of aircraft going t3ch or into routine service.

• Mark says:

  7 Aug7 August 11:46

  Cheapest in person PCR test in London? Flying to Singapore and they require an in person one annoyingly.

  Cheapest I’ve seen is £80?!

  • meta says:

    7 Aug7 August 11:55

    Randox for £60.

• Gothbe says:

  7 Aug7 August 11:54

  Any recommendations for travel insurance. Travelling to Tenerife this week

  • Luke says:

    7 Aug7 August 13:55

    I’ve always used Coverwise. Never had any problems… even when I claimed last year after a trip got cancelled where I didn’t have a return ticket, they still paid out.

    • Pete M says:

      7 Aug7 August 15:45

      LV= for me, but may be a bit expensive for your requirements.

      • BJ says:

        7 Aug7 August 20:09

        They are especially good for pre-existing conditions too.

• Aston100 says:

  7 Aug7 August 12:00

  Freedom Day here in Wales.
  Means that people here at the Voco can now touch the food with their hands; overload their plates as if they haven’t eaten in days; ignore the one way system etc

  The highlight was when someone pushed their hand past me, through the gap between my elbow and my waist in order to grab a croissant and pull it back, brushing my body with it.

  @Dave1985, any thoughts?

  • Aston100 says:

    7 Aug7 August 12:01

    Woops, to clarify I was referring to the breakfast buffet lines

  • SteveJ says:

    7 Aug7 August 12:13

    Glad to hear the great unwashed are out en masse again. The Croissant picker is probably a walker not a washer too.

  • ChrisC says:

    7 Aug7 August 12:24

    They’d have got a piece of my mind for invading my personal space and being rude.

  • BJ says:

    7 Aug7 August 12:38

    Sounds like the Americans have arrived already. The certain giveaway will be if they start piling mashed potato and gravy on top of salad at dinner time.

  • Mike says:

    7 Aug7 August 13:03

    Aston – I am pretty sure the hand did not belong to Dave1985 !

  • Harry T says:

    7 Aug7 August 13:44

    Just eat somewhere with proper a la carte breakfast? 😊

    • BJ says:

      7 Aug7 August 16:52

      Wouldn’t that just be swapping the hands you see for the hands you don’t?

  • OP says:

    7 Aug7 August 15:30

    Sadly some of the best English hotels are now exactly the same – worst offender for me is the hotels that offer no additional items on their buffet to their old a la carte menus. University Arms in Cambridge (which until a couple of mixed experiences recently was a favourite) springs to mind, sadly.

• Mark J says:

  7 Aug7 August 12:16

  Virgin Atlantic plotting stock market debut…

  https://news.sky.com/story/virgin-atlantic-takes-flight-with-surprise-plot-to-land-on-london-stock-market-12375314

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