The HfP chat thread – Monday 9th August

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MilesOnPoint says:

9 Aug9 August 09:48

Does anyone have an experience of the Best Flexible hotel rate dropping in price since a Hyatt Privé booking was made?

Can you simply request a reprice from the Virtuoso agent on an existing booking an maintain your agreed room upgrade?
- DaveL says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 10:11
  
  I’ve not done this with Hyatt, but had no problems with Fairmont and Four Seasons (albeit upgrade no pre-arranged).
- Rob says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 12:02
  
  I would get the agent to call the hotel and ask – they can adjust the rate directly without having to risk cancelling and losing the upgrade.
  - MilesOnPoint says:
    
    9 Aug9 August 12:09
    
    Thanks both. Sounds like a good plan
DaveL says:

9 Aug9 August 10:10

Any confirmation of whether triggering the 2 for 1 now will result in not benefitting from the new features being introduced in September? I understood Amex had been telling some people new availability would still apply, but this could easily be uninformed CS.

Wanting to use some cash back on a hotel stay but it will tip me over £10k…

Thanks
- Blenz101 says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 10:22
  
  Nobody can know for sure until the new availability is made available in September.
  
  My hunch would be that the new vouchers will be treated differently as the changes to how they operate are pretty significant.
  
  Nobody will know for certain until September but I doubt Amex call centre agents are going to know too much about I class availability!
  - JDB says:
    
    9 Aug9 August 10:29
    
    There are quite a few reasons they need to be treated differently, although it will require quite an IT upgrade to do so. That upgrade may also herald other tweaks that some may not appreciate.
  - Rob says:
    
    9 Aug9 August 11:59
    
    BA’s IT is already perfectly capable of handling this. Remember that Gold members have, for years, been able to book cheap cash revenue seats for Avios where Avios seats did not usually exist.
    - JDB says:
      
      9 Aug9 August 12:51
      
      It was more the IT ability to distinguish between old / new vouchers and blue vs BAPP ones and, assuming they can, whether it will then also enable them enforce other rules to protect the new vouchers for those who actually pay £250.
Simon says:

9 Aug9 August 10:14

Any idea at what point I can start uploading the jab proof etc in to MMB before we fly?? Is it 2 days before departure ? Or is Verifly a better option ?
- Will says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 10:20
  
  Can’t give you and advice on this other than my only experience with VeriFLY when retiring from majorca was that it didn’t have my flight number listed so I couldn’t input any details into it.
  - meta says:
    
    9 Aug9 August 10:27
    
    Do Verifly first, otherwise you won’t be able to OLCI. If BA changed timings of the flight since you booked, Verifly will have old details, but it’s fine to use it regardless. The way Verifly is set up, it’s easy to think that the flight details are incorrect especially if the destination you’re flying to/from has several flights a day!
    - meta says:
      
      9 Aug9 August 10:28
      
      And you can do Verifly 3 days before departure.
- Simon says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 10:45
  
  many thanks everyone. will give VeriFLY a try
Jonathan Clague says:

9 Aug9 August 10:16

The sign up bonus on the Sainsbury’s Bank credit card has now dropped to 8000 points from 10000, not a substantial drop in welcome points, but still a 20% cut
N says:

9 Aug9 August 10:36

DP: No retention offer on cancelling Amex Bus Plat
- Tony1 says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 10:44
  
  They don’t seem to “like” the Bus Plat. Did not get anything either, apart from “we have lots of good offers coming your way in the next few months” speech.
- Rob says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 11:57
  
  On the upside you will qualify for the huge Avios sign-up bonus on the relaunched BA Accelerating Business card by next August.
  - Memesweeper says:
    
    9 Aug9 August 12:53
    
    What about qualifying now? There’s no block on the bonus for BA AB given your history with Amex for membership rewards (or business) cards AFAIK.
    - Rob says:
      
      9 Aug9 August 13:05
      
      There is going to be a block from 1st September.
H says:

9 Aug9 August 10:37

Hi, is anyone aware of a restriction in using a Gold upgrade voucher on the Dubai route from J to F on a cash ticket? BA sales are saying this is restricted to avios availability on the Dubai route. Thanks
- Sam G says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 10:46
  
  https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1944147-ba-removes-class-bos-dxb-routes.html
  - H says:
    
    9 Aug9 August 11:07
    
    Thanks but now A class is back on sale for DXB route. Unless I’m missing something, the restriction shouldn’t apply?
    - Sam G says:
      
      9 Aug9 August 11:22
      
      hmm you’re right , everything looks normal , A class availability & fares filed. Maybe call again and push them / a supervisor to check?
      - H says:
        
        9 Aug9 August 11:26
        
        Thanks Sam, I’ve asked for that let’s see. They are insistent it’s not possible without avios availability for DXB & BOS routes.
CS says:

9 Aug9 August 10:37

Dear all, I would like to ask, does any people experience BA cancelled some of your bookings recently? They cancelled my outbound flight to Zürich a few weeks back, and now cancelled my inbound.

Luckily, when they cancelled my outbound, they were doing the 20% off promotion. I managed to find a different flight on the same day, and ended up cheaper (winner).

But I received an email today they have cancelled my inbound today.

Does anyone have any experience like this recently? Do you know the reason why? (I guess it is mainly due to covid related?)

Thanks
- Sam G says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 10:49
  
  yes, covid demand related I imagine
  
  https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/traveltrade/bookings-policies/policies/askba?faqid=8216 if you booked before 22nd June you can get rebooked to Swiss FOC
  - Sam G says:
    
    9 Aug9 August 10:50
    
    Otherwise EU 261 rights mean you can book yourself on another carrier if BA doesn’t have a suitable option and then reclaim via CEDR or MCOL. Don’t take a refund from BA otherwise you’ll lose these rights.
    - CS says:
      
      9 Aug9 August 11:01
      
      Thanks for your advice, I am going to give them a ring to see what is my best option and to see whether I can negotiate something.
Anna says:

9 Aug9 August 10:52

https://people.com/travel/2-travelers-fined-for-entering-canada-fake-vaccination-cards/

They’ll be coming this way soon then!
- Pete M says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 11:19
  
  This is intriguing, as they were Canadian nationals… Wonder if they were using fake US vaccination record cards? Because if so, they must have used some terrible fakes as the US card is like the easiest thing in the world to forge!