The HfP chat thread – Sunday 22nd August

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• JSemity says:

  22 Aug22 August 10:14

  any recent data points for creation payments from beardy? assume all good still?

  • Guernsey Globetrotter says:

    22 Aug22 August 10:18

    Over the last couple of days several, including me, have reported August statements that are treating such transactions after August 5th as usual, with no 5% fee applied. Seems to be BAU 🤞

    • JSemity says:

      22 Aug22 August 11:41

      great, thanks

• Keith says:

  22 Aug22 August 10:20

  I’ve booked a holiday with Virgin Holidays in Premium Economy. Was thinking of using my Virgin Vouchers to upgrade the flights to Upper Class. Are they likely to charge me more tax? If so, is there any way to work out what that might be without calling them?

  • Sam G says:

    22 Aug22 August 10:23

    No actual tax but maybe “surcharges”

    Try pricing the flights on ITA matrix and looking at the fare breakdown but as it’s a holidays booking it might be a non-published fare so only VH can tell you

• Aaron C says:

  22 Aug22 August 10:27

  We are thinking about a Munich Christmas Market trip for December. Is Schloss Elmau worth it (£917/night!) compared to some of the more reasonable options including the Mandarin Oriental or even Kempinski?

  • JDB says:

    22 Aug22 August 10:43

    I’m not sure about the Schloss, but the Vier Jahreszeiten (Kempinski) is excellent and well located. It’s worth joining the GHA/Discovery programme where you will get a better rate than published ones and the hotel directly will give you a better deal than any travel agent.

• M says:

  22 Aug22 August 10:43

  During period when the signup bonus is increased on either of the Amex cards- which is relevant? Is it application submission date or when the card was activated?

  • KS says:

    22 Aug22 August 10:56

    When the application is approved. It can be instant on submission or a few days later. Definitely before card is activated though.

  • Harry T says:

    22 Aug22 August 11:14

    You can also ask amex when you are eligible for the bonus.

    • Harry T says:

      22 Aug22 August 11:16

      Apologies, I misread your comment and it isn’t possible to edit.

      I would highly advise taking screenshots during the application process. I think it should be the application date that is relevant but I will bow to greater wisdom here, of course. Either way, it’s worth having proof of when you applied and the bonus you signed up for.

• M says:

  22 Aug22 August 11:19

  Thank you. My brother got only the regular bonus from the Gold Business Card and not the increased 50k one (application was approved on the 9th of April). He raised that with Amex and awaits response.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    22 Aug22 August 11:55

    Unfortunately personal and business are different in this respect in that the business terms specifically state approved by.

    • Rob says:

      22 Aug22 August 12:10

      Except, with this offer, they didn’t. The ‘Approved’ wording you now see is BECAUSE of the problems with the Amex Business offer.

      The Amex call centre was specifically told that all claims for the higher bonus were to be approved.

• Russ says:

  22 Aug22 August 11:25

  I was wondering with all the talk of the need for a third Covid vaccination if the first two jabs have a shelf life? I’ve got a few bookings over Christmas and with the talk of a third jab being introduced will they still allow us in just with the first two jabs?

  • Anna says:

    22 Aug22 August 11:38

    It depends on the country – I’ve seen reports that Austria requires a booster jab after 9 months.

    • Russ says:

      22 Aug22 August 11:54

      Ah so it is a thing then. Thanks Anna and have a great time in Mallorca!

  • Bonglim says:

    22 Aug22 August 12:37

    At the moment very few countries are doing a booster jab.
    The uk had only planned, public ally at least, to do it for over 50s. With that in mind suspect there will be no imminent demands for a booster.

    I the long term I suspect it might be an annual thing, or perhaps more frequent.

    On a completely unrelated note, if you are in a booster group you should just get it ASAP.

    • Tracey says:

      22 Aug22 August 19:35

      Uk gov still undecided on who will get it. Undoubtedly the over 80s and CEVs. Anyone else may not get, particularly if the gov decides to vaccinate more teens. They still haven’t decided whether to give a second jab to 16/17 yr olds and if so what gap to leave from first jab.

• H says:

  22 Aug22 August 11:30

  Hi. Has anyone returned from Dubai recently using the £22 Chronomics test? If so, would be keen to know your experience/any issues? Thanks

  • Anna says:

    22 Aug22 August 11:39

    +1 and just generally, I’m hoping to use it in Mallorca next week.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      22 Aug22 August 11:55

      Not an issue from Malaga airport for 9 travellers.

• Sean says:

  22 Aug22 August 11:44

  DP: Just phoned Youfirst to move a cancelled flight to LAS (via LAX) (50% avios sale) from August this year to June next year. On hold for 95 seconds before being put through – had to remind staff member that changes were ok within 1 year of cancelled flight (she went away and checked and confirmed that is correct) and new flights booked and confirmed within 5 minutes – a pleasant surprise.

  • Andrew says:

    22 Aug22 August 12:08

    YouFirst were my saviour at the start of the pandemic with all my cancellations – I was so pleased at the time that I don’t fly business class or I’d be waiting for an age on the phone to cancel. And even if you have a Holidays booking with a First flight, you can call YouFirst who can’t help but they will put you to the front of the Holidays queue and find an agent to speak to you.

  • Babyg says:

    22 Aug22 August 12:19

    “with 1 year of cancelled flight”- thats new, BA used to enforce 1 year of ticket being issued (usually the same day as the booking), but that seems to being waived ATM too, I’ve got a number of bookings that were made well over a year ago (dubai mostly)… but good to hear you can get through quickly and have your problem sorted so swiftly!

    • Jody says:

      22 Aug22 August 15:26

      It’s been mentioned on here a fair bit. BA changed their policy in early July, and sent round an internal memo to staff on 8th July (sometimes need to prompt agents to look on their system for the memo, as for whatever reason they’re not aware of the change).

      I think they’d taken a hammering at MCOL/CEDR so finally decided to change their policy.

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