The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 11th August

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r* says:

11 Aug11 August 11:54

Anyone know how busy No1 lounge is at LGW North recently? Is it worth doing the £6 priority pass pre-booking or am I likely to get in without booking at 5am?
Paul says:

11 Aug11 August 12:14

Is there any sort of lounge facility at Santorini for BA club and status passengers.

Thanks
- Richie says:
  
  11 Aug11 August 12:19
  
  It’s a small airport and the LCY flights are very premium heavy, the economy check-in queue can be shorter than club. No lounge, water is available at the state controlled price air side.
  - Tom says:
    
    11 Aug11 August 12:53
    
    LCY-JTR flights are cancelled for this season, unfortunately. LHR is just as premium heavy and the rest still applies, however. I typically try to push things to turn up not much over an hour before the flight. If you turn up two hours before it’s not the worst Greek island airport to spend time in but is still pretty dull. Don’t go through passport control until you absolutely have to, as you will be hearded into a small gate area and there is much more choice of food/drink/seating in the Schengen area.
- Damian says:
  
  11 Aug11 August 13:57
  
  Sorry, there is no lounge at all at JTR airport. I was there a couple of weeks ago.
AnotherUser says:

11 Aug11 August 12:32

I’ve got the joy of a Ryanair flight coming up. I’ve booked special assistance as I’m flying with a disabled person, and this always used to include priority boarding and a free larger cabin bag. Ryanair’s phone agent said this now isn’t the case, though. Anyone know if this is correct? Policy may well have changed, but also Ryanair agents often aren’t great…
- Tony1 says:
  
  11 Aug11 August 12:48
  
  Did not get it last time I booked ( July ), and not got it this next week either. However the assistance offered was good, and certainly made the que at passport control easy. ( leas than 2 mins ). Had to book hold bag this time. Mind you they did not weigh the small bag !
  - AnotherUser says:
    
    11 Aug11 August 13:15
    
    That’s a shame about luggage 🙁
    
    I’ve found assistance varies from one airport to the next, but can be v good.
    - Super Secret Stuff says:
      
      11 Aug11 August 14:22
      
      Most airline policies is an extra bag of medical equipment or unlimited. Suspect Ryanair will only opt for one larger bag however you might have to show them the contents if they challenge you to prove it is medical equipment. Although you can always put the bag in a duty free bag
    - Super Secret Stuff says:
      
      11 Aug11 August 14:27
      
      Also on assistance: can be very good. Can be bad. Depends on the airport. Dubai me and a group of blind / visually impaired people basically had a whole security team! However Antalya in Turkey, here wheelchair got sent to baggage reclaim and had a very dodgy airport one on return we were last to board (awkward as she needs the isle chair) ended up delaying the plane more. Shows the know it all passenger that got pissy with me when I asked the gate agents where the disabled boarding was
      - Super Secret Stuff says:
        
        11 Aug11 August 14:29
        
        Antalya in Turkey, partner’s wheelchair got
      - AnotherUser says:
        
        11 Aug11 August 15:56
        
        Yeah – also travelling with someone partially sighted, and experiences have ranged from being escorted onto a tight connection in record time to insistance that someone with no trouble walking get in a rickety wheelchair…
Andrew says:

11 Aug11 August 12:32

Emirates now offering a paid-for subscription model to enhance Skywards status with a set number of lounge visits a year, higher baggage allowances and lower rates for redeeming miles for flights.
http://www.emirates.com/uk/english/skywards/skywards-plus/subscription/
- Super Secret Stuff says:
  
  11 Aug11 August 14:31
  
  Very clever model there, also potentially very valuable that they might regret!
Tim Jackson says:

11 Aug11 August 12:35

Does anyone know how strict Amex is with the 2 year cut off on getting bonus points on new cards. I last had a personal Amex in September 2019 and want to take advantage of the new Marriott card offer and get the 40000 points bonus. If I apply on the last day, 31 august, will they count the date from then or when the card reaches me a week or so later?
- Rob says:
  
  11 Aug11 August 13:03
  
  Strict to the day.
  - Tim Jackson says:
    
    11 Aug11 August 17:56
    
    Thanks. All
- Peter K says:
  
  11 Aug11 August 13:06
  
  Not worth the risk.
  - FatherOfFour says:
    
    11 Aug11 August 13:11
    
    I was actually going to post separately, but will tag on here as relevant. Player 2 closed her PRG end of Feb 2000. Paper statement doesn’t say when cancelled, though the last payment was 27/2/20. The statement is dated 14th March. Any way of finding the closure date? or do we assume 14th March to be safe?
    - FatherOfFour says:
      
      11 Aug11 August 13:15
      
      above awaiting moderation, but should say closed end of Feb 2020!
    - Benilyn says:
      
      11 Aug11 August 18:10
      
      Call or ask on chat
- Blindman says:
  
  11 Aug11 August 13:34
  
  From the date you applied.
  
  Very strict.
  
  I messed up once by 1 day-No way would they give me a bonus.
  
  Open a chat ans ask when the earliest day you can apply to qualify
Chris says:

11 Aug11 August 12:47

Looks like Radisson Rewards has been dropped from the Amex catalogue. Assume this is linked to the break up of Radisson Rewards but I don’t recall seeing anything written about it previously?

I certainly can’t see them when look at the list of available partners
- Sam G says:
  
  11 Aug11 August 12:53
  
  There is a message that it’s been temporarily suspended due to technical issues. There were reports on here that the transfers were posting as 1:1 instead of 1:3 which might be why
Chrisasaurus says:

11 Aug11 August 12:54

So odd question – no reason not to add an AAdvantage number to an Avios booking or does it screw things up?
- Blair says:
  
  11 Aug11 August 15:05
  
  Fine if you enjoy tier benefits in Aadvantage.
  - Chrisasaurus says:
    
    11 Aug11 August 16:08
    
    Thanks – have have AA status but nowt in baec
Andrew says:

11 Aug11 August 12:54

If I cancel a BA cash flight now to get a FTV, can that be used online to book another cash flight or do I have to call BA to use it?
- Rob says:
  
  11 Aug11 August 13:01
  
  Will be an eVoucher which can be used online.
- Pete M says:
  
  11 Aug11 August 13:02
  
  As long as you get an e-voucher (which is normally the case for cash tickets), you can use it online. It can sometimes happen that if you used a discount code for the original booking, it won’t issue an e-voucher but an FTV, which you need to call for.
- Andrew says:
  
  11 Aug11 August 13:10
  
  Thanks both