The HfP chat thread – Sunday 8th August

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• Manya says:

  8 Aug8 August 02:51

  Thanks to those who provided useful comments a few days ago on how to get home from Mexico before the change in status.

  Thankfully I didn’t have to make use of the costly alternative arrangements to fly home as our original flight got bought forward. Have just landed at 02:50am in LGW! Hope it doesn’t take so long to clear immigration but so happy to not have to quarantine!

  • Mike says:

    8 Aug8 August 04:59

    Manya – welcome home , glad it all worked out well.

  • Tazzy says:

    8 Aug8 August 08:43

    Great news!

• Neil says:

  8 Aug8 August 06:18

  I can’t thank Emyr enough for our stay last night at the Shangri-La Shard. We received a double upgrade from the base room and received a corner suite!! Waking up to the sunrise at 5am this morning was bliss

  • Mike says:

    8 Aug8 August 06:41

    I would definitely expected curtains / blinds at that price !

    • Andrew says:

      8 Aug8 August 06:57

      And not to be awoken at 5am on a Sunday morning!

      • John says:

        8 Aug8 August 07:31

        Where did he say he was awoken?

        • Blair says:

          8 Aug8 August 07:52

          Where did he say he was a he? It’s not the nineties anymore ya know

        • Yuff says:

          8 Aug8 August 08:04

          The clue might be in the name of the poster 🤣🤣🤣

        • The Savage Squirrel says:

          8 Aug8 August 08:14

          … or is it 😉 😀

          https://nameberry.com/babyname/Neil/girl

        • Andrew says:

          8 Aug8 August 08:24

          And they might identify as non-binary and therefore prefer gender neutral pronouns such as ‘they’ rather than ‘he’.

        • Phil W says:

          8 Aug8 August 10:25

          In the eyes I believe. Maybe Cilla could sing a song.

      • BJ says:

        8 Aug8 August 08:34

        No way, best time of the day, always has been and always will be! Been getting up at 5(am) since I was 13 🙂

        • Anna says:

          8 Aug8 August 09:43

          I am quite an early riser but awoke with sore throat and blocked nose at 5 am so panicked and got up to do a LFT! It was negative & they’ve both cleared up now so I’m assuming that 9 consecutive nights of air con is starting to take its toll!

  • Craig says:

    8 Aug8 August 08:09

    How’s the kettle?

    • Andrew says:

      8 Aug8 August 08:25

      Well having been awake since 5am, they’re certainly going to need a coffee or two!

      • meta says:

        8 Aug8 August 08:28

        But maybe they don’t drink coffee or are coffee intolerant?

        • BJ says:

          8 Aug8 August 08:36

          Very intrusive speculation on readers private lives this morning…

        • John says:

          8 Aug8 August 08:41

          Indeed. Coffee makes me sleepy. If I have one it’s usually at 5pm rather than 5am to wind down, probably while Dave1985 is just getting up ready for a night of raving

  • Paul says:

    8 Aug8 August 08:49

    Neil, random question, is room service still in operation at the Shard in this post-pandemic age?

    • Neil says:

      8 Aug8 August 11:42

      All back to normal now Paul

      • Paul says:

        8 Aug8 August 19:54

        Thanks, Neil.

  • Benilyn says:

    8 Aug8 August 12:42

    Any others tips? Did your room have the bath tub by the window or in the bathroom? Thanks

    • Neil says:

      8 Aug8 August 14:45

      I wouldn’t call these tips but rather just lines of solid advice! Make sure you book everything prior to arrival to avoid disappointment. The hotel is operating at full capacity for the entire month so book the pool and the Gong bar in advance if you want to do either. I transferred over a stash of HSBC points to Singapore in order to trigger gold status and make an F redemption. The remaining points I sent to GC which contributed to dinner last night. Emyr’s rate stacked with the current two amex deals (Ting and Shangri-La offer) meant we received brilliant value and the bathtub by the window lives up the expectation. Once again, you have to request the bath tub as not all rooms have the view

• Amy carpenter says:

  8 Aug8 August 06:36

  Booking aVirgin reward flight with upgrade voucher. The outbound I’m interested in is available but currently not an inbound. I’ve never done this before so can anyone tell me if there any ‘catch’ or disadvantage to me going ahead and booking the outbound and then booking the inbound if/when it becomes available. Is there a financial benefit that means I should book both at the same time? Taxes wise or anything? Thanks.

  • Jonathan says:

    8 Aug8 August 07:28

    Virgin will let you add a return flight to a voucher. As to the financial implications then you can price up the taxes & surcharges online for the 2 legs individually then as a return & see if there’s a difference.

  • Amy C says:

    8 Aug8 August 08:42

    Thanks, just after I posted this the return leg was suddenly available. Ring Virgin bang on 7am, got through straight away and booked myself a return seat to St Vincent in UC! Happy! In the meantime they replied via messenger that the extra taxes/points to book two one ways would be $332 and 65K extra points. Don’t see why extra points but hey ho. Can’t see ow I could have used an upgrade voucher for a return flight if booking two entirely separate one ways either. I’ve got my head around BA rewards/vouchers but Virgin scrambles my brain somewhat.

    • Joe says:

      8 Aug8 August 09:18

      I was just thinking about booking these, but entry protocols still a pain – multiple testing plus 2 days quarantine for fully vaccinated?

      • Amy says:

        8 Aug8 August 09:58

        Didn’t even think of that! Praying it’s not a thing in March!

• Anna says:

  8 Aug8 August 07:26

  Looking to do a Zone 1 city break between Xmas & New Year due to having to change a Lloyds voucher booking. Where is likely to admit 2 vaccinated adults and 1 (probably) unvaccinated teenager?

  • Crafty says:

    8 Aug8 August 07:57

    In Zone 1? Andaz Liverpool Street should be fine?

  • YC says:

    8 Aug8 August 08:06

    Munich is a great Xmas destination. Teenager should hopefully be vaccinated by December

    • Phil W says:

      8 Aug8 August 10:26

      +1

    • KBuffett says:

      8 Aug8 August 11:36

      Agree, great experience at Christmas

  • BJ says:

    8 Aug8 August 08:48

    Why restriction to Zone 1? Also sounds like the driver is using the the voucher not the break which seems a little daft if so. If there is no place you really want to go or time doesn’t quite work then why not just let the voucher go? ISTR it was one of the lucky vouchers anyway that you didn’t need to earn so at end of the day letting it go should not be too painful.

    • meta says:

      8 Aug8 August 09:21

      Unless BA cancelled, you can only change Lloyds voucher booking to the same zone.

      • Anna says:

        8 Aug8 August 09:49

        Correct, and to complicate things the return flights are with easyJet so I have to find somewhere which is also on their route network!
        BJ, plenty of Zone 1 destinations I’d love to go to but the issue is which of them will let us all in without quarantine? I’d happily return to Paris, Prague, Amsterdam and others.
        Even if teenager gets first jab when term starts it’s going to be a squeeze to get 2nd jab plus 2 weeks by Xmas I would think.

      • BJ says:

        8 Aug8 August 10:12

        @Meta very on the ball! Sounds like you just have to opt for most likely or go for your favourite and hope for the best @Anna.

  • Mikeact says:

    8 Aug8 August 09:24

    Zone 1 ?? I’d forget that. Go for Zone 5, 12 months out.

• YC says:

  8 Aug8 August 08:02

  Any tips/recommendations for Corfu? Planning to stay slightly south at domes miramare

  • Stephen says:

    8 Aug8 August 08:19

    Lovely hotel, been three times now. Would advise renting a car (FairDeal Corfu) provide a great service. It will allow you to explore the island (places like Porto Timoni) and sunset at 7th Heaven. Boat hire I’d recommend “35” Boats for Hire (Limni) – can rent whole day inc fuel for 100 Euro with such a friendly service. Enjoy!

    • YC says:

      8 Aug8 August 09:44

      Thanks Stephen – great ideas will put them into the mix. Was there anything worth doing nearer to the hotel? As I can’t see myself driving up north everyday

  • Peggerz says:

    8 Aug8 August 10:48

    I normally sail down the coast and stop around Petriti area where there are nice restaurants, though that pretty much is the story right along this bit of coast.

    Corfu Town is still quite quiet (relatively) and is really good for a wander. The Corfu Sailing Club restaurant at Mandraki harbour is good. Right beside the yachts at the harbour which is beneath the Fortress. Just walk past the ticket office telling them your heading for the restaurant and walk down through the old fortress.

• Dave says:

  8 Aug8 August 08:37

  Transferred 50,000 Avios to 80,000 Nectar points at 2pm on Tuesday, they still don’t show in my Nectar account.

  Anyone experienced this before? Thought they should be instant?

  • The Streets says:

    8 Aug8 August 09:11

    Mine took 10 days

  • Rob says:

    8 Aug8 August 09:12

    Not instant. It seems the new process is still manual – your online request is being typed into Excel and sent over ever week or so.

  • HH says:

    8 Aug8 August 09:44

    I did the same on my mother’s account, and the confirmation screen said the Avios balance would update instantly but it would take 10 days for the Nectar balance to update.

• The Original Nick says:

  8 Aug8 August 08:41

  TAP GOLD Question.. Has anyone who took up the status match offer seen any changes (extensions) to their status?

  • Ben says:

    8 Aug8 August 09:04

    I got an email which said ‘we have extended your status for 12 months’ in bold but which goes on to say ‘…if you have obtained your status through flown status miles or flown segments’.
    No change on my account anyway – mine expires in September 21.

    • Rob says:

      8 Aug8 August 09:10

      Snap

      • The Original Nick. says:

        8 Aug8 August 09:58

        My miles now don’t expire until 2022. Lets hope thier IT system is a bit flaky and extends our status.

  • LS says:

    8 Aug8 August 11:24

    I contacted them when they sent a previous email with the CEO’s email address in. Got a call at 9pm in broken English explaining that there will be a repeat offer around 6 weeks prior to expiry, where status will be extended in exchange for purchasing miles/joining club tap again.

    • Ben says:

      8 Aug8 August 13:17

      Just checking back, I did receive an email with an offer to rejoin Club Tap – the only club level giving status is platinum though and it only gives silver status (so no lounge access). At EUR718 for the year I’m not a buyer (although you do get 188k miles included for this price).

      • AJA says:

        8 Aug8 August 17:14

        I think TAP Gold has soft landing to Silver so no point rejoining anyway.

• GaryE says:

  8 Aug8 August 08:41

  My flight to BHD on the 17/8 was cancelled and BA moved me onto the later one (4 hours later) which I accepted. Then have now re-instated my flight – can I insist they move me back on to my original flight.?

  • Pid says:

    8 Aug8 August 08:49

    I do not see why not.

  • ChrisBCN says:

    8 Aug8 August 09:45

    No, you can’t insist on it as you have already accepted the later flight. However, I would be phoning them up and applying pressure too move you. If they say no, hang up call again, repeat, repeat.

    • GaryE says:

      8 Aug8 August 10:33

      Thanks – after holding on for 30 mins as part paid with Avios she told me I had to contact Avios dept – anyone got a number for them as the BA numbers are just saying flight changes!

      • Sam G says:

        8 Aug8 August 10:59

        If it’s cash booking part paid with Avios (as opposed to an Avios booking part paid with cash!) then you need to speak to commercial bookings. For some reason as soon as they see Avios they want to shunt you off to Avios who won’t be able to help.

        BA does have an official policy for this – https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/traveltrade/bookings-policies/policies/askba?faqid=8520 so hopefully you can get it done. Of course as there aren’t any flight change fees if the price is the same or lower you can do it without any pushing anyway (maybe even online)

        • GaryE says:

          8 Aug8 August 11:34

          Thanks will try getting thru to them!

  • Paul says:

    8 Aug8 August 16:01

    Is the fare more or less than you originally paid. If less cancel, take a voucher and rebook. Any sensible agent will move you when presented with that option

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