Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

The HfP chat thread – Monday 16th August

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Comments (290)

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

  • ben says:

    Is the randox day 2 test at £43 the cheapest there is? Flying back on Friday so need to get something sorted.

    Thanks

    • Harry T says:

      Expert medicals is cheaper but probably won’t arrive. You only need the code for the PLF, so it’s up to you.

      • r* says:

        If it doesnt arrive, surely thats a win as you just charge it back? 🙂

      • Gavin says:

        It was fine for me last week, arrived after a couple of days, well in advance of my trip.

        • Chelseafi says:

          I ordered yesterday evening needed tests for 4/9 and I’ve had confirmation both have been dispatched this afternoon £28 as now free delivery.

          • Anna says:

            We’ve had 3 delivered no problem and had a notification that a fourth has been dispatched after being ordered on Saturday (at the new lower rate!)

  • Mrs_Fussy says:

    Some information of Departure test requirements from Dubai
    https://www.visitdubai.com/en/coronavirus-advisory/faqs

  • Anon for this post... says:

    I have an MCOL claim in against BA for cancelled Avios flights that they unsurprisingly refused to rebook under EU 261.

    As they refused to rebook, my claim is for £x to allow me to rebook with another carrier at my convenience. I’ve been generous to BA in how I’ve calculated the claim in order to be fair and minimise their potential losses – valuing the flights at the cost of the Avios required rather than the cash ticket price (circa 30% less).

    Predictably BA’s legal department have now been in touch offering to rebook the flights to dates of my choosing.

    This outcome would have been acceptable and the preferred one on the 2/3 occasions that I gave them that option, but they chose not to play ball and now I’d prefer to arrange the flights myself with another carrier later in 2022.

    Is it reasonable for me to reject the offer and continue to pursue the £ value for the flights?

    • JDB says:

      Yes, if they have offered what you originally asked for, it would be unreasonable to reject it now, essentially because you have changed your mind. It would add a significant risk to any subsequent MCOL. That is why it is very important to identify precisely your loss and/or proposed remedy at the outset of a claim; you can’t move the goalposts at whim and still hope to have the judge on your side.

      • Alan S says:

        Ah but the remedy of rerouting was what I asked for pre MCOL. My letter before action was clear that if BA didn’t agree to do that at that final opportunity, then the MCOL would be for £x amount calculated as X Avios at 1.6p plus costs.

        I’m not sure that’s moving the goalposts at a whim.

    • Babyg says:

      If BA are now offering you flights (and you haven’t actually booked alternative flights) then what exactly would you be taking them to MCOL over?

  • Pete M says:

    Just in case it’s useful to anyone – we’re no longer on Denmark’s red list, so fully vaccinated British residents can go without tests and quarantine.

  • Nelson says:

    Marriot Amex question. Will I get second set of “15 nights” if accepted for the card again in the same year? I ve cancelled in march and have 28 nights towards plat status currently. Thanks

  • Njb says:

    Don’t think I have ever seen this asked!
    We need to find home style dog boarding so we can go on holiday.
    Any recommendations?
    We live in Poole area and will be flying from LHR . Our previous one is in Taunton – Country Dog Hotel – which I highly recommend but is too far to travel.
    And I know its only for a dog – but she’s family 🙂

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

    One of the big two websites is offering 20% rebate on Hotels.com bookings made today. Very solid return factoring in the Hotels.com rewards that it would appear to stack with.

    • KBuffett says:

      Rarely stacks. Can anyone confirm?
      Whenever I’ve looked at such deals, I’ve noticed Hotels.com have become ruthless at excluding reward nights from other deals

    • Amy says:

      Probably being thick but can you be more specific?

    • Benilyn says:

      Google and Bing? 😉

    • mr_jetlag says:

      max £50 rebate but seems a decent deal and no mention about not stacking with reward nights.

  • Anna says:

    I’ve just re-booked a CE flight which was previously going to NCE next week and I’ve got other plans now so going to PRG next Easter which suits me a lot better. It was using my last Lloyds voucher and was for me and my son. The avios CSA told me the only option was to cancel and rebook (fine as I didn’t really want to lose the voucher but that it would now be 21k avios + fees (MAN-LHR-PRG) as the number of avios required for RFS has gone up. I’m not convinced this was right but I’ve got loads of avios and don’t want to lose the booking. However, when I booked a 3rd avios seat via BA so my OH can come with us, I was only charged 19.5k avios plus the taxes so now I’m really confused!

    • meta says:

      Have you actually received your tickets from Avios team? Usually with Lloyds voucher tickets, the seats are put on hold, then they are sent to ticketing team and processed within a day or two. Although Avios will he pulled into your old Avios.com account immediately, Avios and RFS fee are only taken at the point of ticketing. So it might well be that they return some Avios back to you.

      • Anna says:

        I have the email confirmation with the usual PDF attached with the ticket numbers on already.

    • Gary says:

      Lloyds voucher is an upgrade voucher rather than 2-4-1. So for CE seats both ways for 2 pax you pay avios equivalent of economy x2 & CE x2. The maths is always a bit odd w Lloyds

      • meta says:

        It’s never odd. It’s exactly the price displayed on BA’s site for economy awards. Although it actually might be under old pricing structure before £1 RFS.

        • Anna says:

          Exactly – this was my 6th Lloyds voucher and the pricing has never been weird before!

      • Brian W says:

        Not true @Gary, depends on what type of Lloyds card you held as to what voucher you earned. If you held the Premier Duo Lloyds cards you earned a 241 voucher, not an upgrade voucher. I used my last Lloyds 241 (companion) voucher last week. Same as Amex 241 except it can only be used in economy and valid for a year.

        Do some research and you will be enlightened.

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