The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 25th August

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• Bill says:

  25 Aug25 August 12:44

  How long is Avios to Nectar currently taking. I did a transfer online on Monday just gone

  • DeB20 says:

    25 Aug25 August 12:48

    About 10 days for me.

• Jonathan says:

  25 Aug25 August 12:51

  If you have negative Avios balance on your BA Amex card, will it continue to be negative until you spend enough to put into positive numbers or will they just deduct the amount from your BAEC account?

  I had a refund on my card a few days ago, and since I haven’t been using my BA Amex card much lately, since I’ve got the Virgin Atlantic Premium card, which I’ll be cancelling very soon as it’s due for renewal very soon, and I’m not keeping it for another year. I’ve got too many vouchers now already !

  Anyone who’s got any idea what will happen, please say below thanks

  • SteveJ says:

    25 Aug25 August 12:52

    It’ll stay negative til you earn enough, no claw back from BAEC. If it’s negative and you cancel the card the negative is wiped forever

  • PJJ says:

    25 Aug25 August 15:48

    Mine has been a negative balance of about 1500 for about a year
    Have been wondering to cancel and still not sure as I now have the spend £1k for 1500 miles

• berneslai says:

  25 Aug25 August 12:54

  Any top tips on getting through to BA at the minute (Bronze level) to make a reward booking? I’ve been cut-off 4 times already today after hitting the hour mark on hold.

  • Anna says:

    25 Aug25 August 12:58

    Various suggestions on these threads over the past few days. I would advise booking online if at all possible unless you are certain that no one else is going to snap up your seats before you get through to BA.

    • berneslai says:

      25 Aug25 August 13:05

      Just got through, sods law. N. American flight at +355 so couldn’t do online.

• Ukgeorge says:

  25 Aug25 August 12:56

  Does a change of airport qualify for rebooking dates or refund for an entire flight schedule with BA? As part of a complex booking I have had one of the flights moved from LGW to LHR. They have the same flight number and the time is less than an hour different.

  • Anna says:

    25 Aug25 August 13:00

    BA might to argue otherwise, but it’s my understanding that a change of airport equates to a cancellation as far as your legal rights are concerned, and that would apply to the entire itinerary, not just that leg.

    • Ukgeorge says:

      25 Aug25 August 13:15

      Thanks. I’ll give it a go and see what they say.

  • Lady London says:

    25 Aug25 August 13:31

    They’ll try it on but same as a cancellation.

  • Dave says:

    25 Aug25 August 13:55

    Yes, BA.com is offering full refunds online for the many LGW shorthaul flights moved to LHR today.

• Will A says:

  25 Aug25 August 13:01

  I recently got the personal Platinum for the extended bonus however the usual tracker bar for the welcome bonus is not showing in my account. Is anyone else’s new personal Platinum card not showing the bonus tracker? I assume that for the personal Platinum they’re meant to show the welcome bonus tracker just as they do for other cards? I should be entitled to the bonus if I meet the spend criteria as I’ve never had a personal MR card before – I just have the business Plat, which I got earlier this year.

  • Anuj says:

    25 Aug25 August 13:03

    Sometimes the tracker won’t show, or will appear and disappear randomly even when you’re eligible for the bonus. Try asking webchat to make sure you’re eligble.

• tony says:

  25 Aug25 August 13:04

  Bloc hotels have just launched a limited time offer, running until 11am tomorrow (26/8). All rooms at Gatwick are 50% off using offer code BACK50. This does however make the booking non refundable and non flexible, so treat with caution. Valid on bookings to April 17th 2022.

  • FatherOfFour says:

    25 Aug25 August 13:13

    I imagine being based at a closed South Terminal means things are very quiet and they need to provide such incentives. Looks like they realise nothing is happening til Summer ’22 too…

• Bigmaggot says:

  25 Aug25 August 13:09

  Have the test to return rules just changed from advised to mandatory PCR test?

  Sky news reporting at 09:04:
  Amber list: A PCR test is required three days before departure from the destination and again on or before day two upon return.

  My antigen tests just arrived today to take with me this weekend!

  • tony says:

    25 Aug25 August 13:18

    It was always the case that for the pre-departure return a PCR was preferred, but they would accept a LFT, so it might just have been lost in translation, although an update is due today/tomorrow.

    • tony says:

      25 Aug25 August 13:21

      Edited to add it was ex-Spain that they were pushing for PCR tests, but couldn’t make it compulsory https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-testing-for-people-travelling-to-england.

      There’s been no update to this document today and other recent updates only give clarification over what constitutes fully vaccinated

  • StevieKicks says:

    25 Aug25 August 13:20

    It also says the same is required for Green, hoping it’s just a mistake

  • TGLoyalty says:

    25 Aug25 August 13:33

    Type of test
    The test must meet performance standards of ≥97% specificity, ≥80% sensitivity at viral loads above 100,000 copies/ml.

    This could include tests such as:

    a PCR test
    a LAMP test
    an antigen test, such as an LFD (lateral flow device) test

    You must check with your test provider that the test meets the standards. You may not be able to travel if it does not.

• Mr. AC says:

  25 Aug25 August 13:14

  Revolut sent me an offer for free Premium and I decided to give them a go again. Big mistake. Was fine initially, but the first large transaction I sent (from my US bank account via SWIFT) got flagged and is now sitting as “pending”. Exactly two weeks now. Chat support says it was “flagged for an additional check” and that there’s “a huge backlog” so no timeframe. I’m not necessarily looking for advice, just shocked how Revolut consistently has the same exact issues year after year.

  • JDB says:

    25 Aug25 August 13:20

    Revolut is very twitchy after the problems at Monzo and ahead of its proposed IPO at a stratospheric valuation. Some of these e-money institutions have historically had fairly notional compliance but that will have to change. Essentially, while they have attracted ‘turnover’ as facilitators of other activities, they are not often much good at doing basic banking stuff so it is difficult to understand the future of the business model.

    • John says:

      25 Aug25 August 13:49

      From what I’ve read of the underlying culture at Revolut, I would also not be inclined to bet on their future success!

      • CarpalTravel says:

        25 Aug25 August 18:03

        A solid +1. I know someone who worked there and have heard terrible stories.

  • Blenz101 says:

    25 Aug25 August 14:23

    What sort of size was impacted? I’ve used them for pretty much nothing but international transfers from AED and never had an issue. Several thousand a month on a paid account.

    Perhaps extra twitchy on USD given the long arm of Uncle Sam?

  • Aston100 says:

    25 Aug25 August 14:30

    I posted a few months ago about how they did something similar when I made a payment of under £150 (yes £150) to someone and changed the wording from “from Revolut” to “For Dave”.
    Took more than a week (9 days I think?) and numerous painfully slow ‘conversations’ to get it sorted.
    Absolutely noting even remotely dodgy about that transaction at all. They never did say why they had put it into pending.

    • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

      25 Aug25 August 14:43

      Probably a Dave on the sanctions list somewhere 😉

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