The HfP chat thread – Sunday 29th August

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• Blair says:

  29 Aug29 August 05:05

  Amex International Airline Programme, aka get £100 off a £1500 BA itinerary. Any experience on how Amex/BA treat one’s entitlement to Book With Confidence? The BA webpage is quite equivocal. If Amex do honour BWC I’d be inclined to route my future bookings in that direction as Amex Travel are easier to contact than BA. The collective wisdom of HfP may tell me why this is a terrible plan.

  • Jonathan says:

    29 Aug29 August 09:30

    If you book with Amex you can get similar to BWC with a few caveats. You get an Amex Travel credit note so need to rebook with them & I was told passenger name is fixed (can change route/class etc.)

    • Blair says:

      29 Aug29 August 10:20

      I could live with that. Thanks

      • Lady London says:

        29 Aug29 August 12:30

        For £100 I’d stick with BA direct. BA is facing a hard winter with costs they can’t shift and prob would cost them more to close now. if you want to fly on something that’s running I’d expect BA yp remain amenable for a while yet.

        Over time some people have reported surprises with Amex such as paying a current market price at time of buying but later discovering – when they need to change something – that without being told they were sold a more restricted ticket. It’s a common trick in the travel market but more towards the lower end so surprising at the higher end Amex customers tend towards.

        Right now I’d need a lot more than £100 to book with Amex rather than BA direct.

        • Blair says:

          29 Aug29 August 13:05

          Understood milady, wise advice

• aviosnewbie says:

  29 Aug29 August 05:46

  Looking for beach resort suggestions in Europe for 18-25 October. I am picky about beaches and only love Mexico/Caribbean style beach resorts, but we’re not planning to travel far this year. So I will really appreciate suggestions for good European beach hotels somewhere that’ll be warm in October: but no cliffs, pebbles, small coves, volcanic rocks, or going down steep stairs to reach the beach. Would love a hotel directly on a great golden or white sandy beach that has warm waters. Does this exist? 🙂

  • Paul says:

    29 Aug29 August 05:55

    Well Santorini is out as you need to be a mountain goat here! I’d suggest you Google best 20 white sand beaches in Europe. That said October can be hit and miss for the weather.

  • HBommie says:

    29 Aug29 August 06:23

    Meia Praia in the Algarve comes to mind, amazing expanse of sand. There are 3 or 4 hotels in that area, Vila Gale, Iberostar and Palmares Beach House but not directly on the beach. October may be a push with the weather.

  • Andrew says:

    29 Aug29 August 06:35

    Late October rules out most of Europe for beach weather. Dubai probably a better option.

    • TimM says:

      29 Aug29 August 07:16

      No, you just need a Southern Mediterranean climate, e.g. Costa del Sol, Kalamata (Messinia), Southern Crete, Cyprus or Antalya province opposite it. Here it is beach weather for all but around 6 weeks centred on mid February. I know, I have lived in three of them. The downside is these are best avoided mid-Summer due to 40+ degree heatwaves.

      • aviosnewbie says:

        29 Aug29 August 07:27

        awesome! any hotel recommendations for any of these? Ideal preference is a 5-star hotel right on the beach with great food and activities.

  • TimM says:

    29 Aug29 August 07:10

    Not quite Europe, but a short-haul flight away. Belek is a string of large five-star, resort hotels on the wide golden beach and 30 mins transfer from Antalya airport. Of course Turkey is currently on the Red list but is overdue to be moved to amber at the next update in 3 week’s time.

    Antalya province attracts visitors from all over the World for its antiquities, shopping, cuisine, scenery, year-round weather and amazing-value World-class hotels. Only around 5% of visitors are from the UK.

    The sea temperature is around 23 degrees at the end of October, with air daily maximums around 26. Full climate stats here:
    http://www.antalya.climatemps.com

    Trivago is one of the best paces to start (your dates, in guest rating order):
    https://tinyurl.com/5dx4xy7u

    • Mr(s) Entitled says:

      29 Aug29 August 11:04

      I’ve had trips to Antalya cancelled in 2020 and 2021. I hear so many good things about the area that I’m hoping for third time lucky.

    • Bearing up says:

      29 Aug29 August 16:32

      I, as part of a group, have stayed and played golf in the Belek area during March for the last 12 years. Of those we have stayed at the Regnum Carya for the most recent 4 and are booked to return next March, again on the all-inclusive deal. The weather then has been generally good. The Regnum is excellent having great facilities and extensive beach access but can be expensive during what might be termed as the ‘season’.
      Good luck with your search-and getting there!

  • Jamie says:

    29 Aug29 August 07:43

    Cape Verde (Boa Vista) had a brilliant beach, was very flat you’d probably get the weather. However it’s so small you’re limited hotel wise and the hotel wasn’t excellent. May be a bit far away time wise too.

  • Andrew says:

    29 Aug29 August 07:45

    Is that particular week dictated because you have kids or are a teacher?

    Otherwise school half term isn’t ideal if you are seeking peaceful empty beaches.

    Scottish school holidays are generally the first full week in October. Here it’s the 18th or 25th this year.

  • Rob says:

    29 Aug29 August 07:46

    Middle East – but prices are out of control over half term so avoid that 2-week period.

  • BJ says:

    29 Aug29 August 08:22

    By then the schools in England will have been back a month and cases will be so high that there is a good chance that just about everywhere will panic and slam the door on visitors from UK regardless of testing and vaccinations. Might be a good idea to go sooner if you can.

    • Lady London says:

      29 Aug29 August 10:10

      You’re not a believer in herd immunity working by then, BJ?

      • BJ says:

        29 Aug29 August 11:10

        I’m not a believer in politicians doing what is right and ignoring headlines, I have no problem with reputable science and stats.

    • bafan says:

      29 Aug29 August 15:31

      Yeah, my travel schedule is pretty jammed in September because I think this might happen too.

  • Lou says:

    29 Aug29 August 10:15

    Ikos Olivia, but you’ll need to cross your fingers for the weather

  • James17uk says:

    29 Aug29 August 10:48

    Probably eastern Cyprus a good bet. Nice beaches, warm water and nice well run resorts. Protaras area or nearby.

• Mark says:

  29 Aug29 August 06:01

  Corralejo in Fuerteventura is the most Caribbean beach in Europe.

  • Anna says:

    29 Aug29 August 06:36

    + 1, also Lanzarote has lovely beaches. You are also guaranteed much better weather in the Canaries than mainland Europe in October.

    • Memesweeper says:

      29 Aug29 August 11:37

      +2 for lanzarote

• Ranga says:

  29 Aug29 August 07:28

  Planning on a trip for 4 london to toronto May 2021 for a family of 4 using BAPP 2for1 x 2, however one of the vouchers runs out just before we leave. Any advice on how to address this? – I saw the article by Rob about how they may still extend, but will I get into the trap of not having 4 available seats? Any tips?

  • Dave says:

    29 Aug29 August 09:22

    You can book a trip now using the voucher (short hall is enough) then cancel for a ftv that includes the vouchers, avois, cash. Use that to book the Toronto trip. Those named on the original booking will need to travel on the new booking. There been a lot of chat about it and may be an article if you search.

  • Lady London says:

    29 Aug29 August 10:08

    Put any voucher that will expire too soon onto the shortest cheapest flight you can find eg lon-man, give it a week for decency then cancel it for an ftv ftv extends voucher to apr2023 (fly – not just book). Ftv’s may not be around forever but you prob have a bit of time to think about it. Then use ftv to book YYZ

    • AJA says:

      29 Aug29 August 10:28

      BA just recently extended FTV validity to end of Sep 2023. Rob did an article on it.

• HH says:

  29 Aug29 August 07:32

  I tried the T5 arrivals lounge check-in this morning. They’ve changed the process since the HfP article – everyone was being asked to leave bags by the wall after weighing them (on what could easily be bathroom scales!) to remove the need for dragging them in to check in. Convenient but resulted in the check-in agent having to repeatedly check which bag is mine as they’re all left out of sight from the seating area. It feels only a matter of time before someone ends up with the wrong bag tagged…

  • Andrew says:

    29 Aug29 August 07:36

    Apart from getting a free coffee, I’m not really seeing what the advantage of doing this over just going to the checkin desk in departures?

    • John says:

      29 Aug29 August 08:04

      That’s why it’s a trial

    • Rhys says:

      29 Aug29 August 08:07

      The advantage is that BA were seriously concerned they didn’t have enough check-in capacity over the bank holiday weekend so are doing all they can to make sure T5 is a fairly smooth op

• Michele says:

  29 Aug29 August 07:58

  I’ve hit over my £10k spending on the free BA AMEX, but companion voucher hasn’t been triggered yet (due to it being triggered at 20k). My thoughts are to call up AMEX, upgrade it to the paid BA card, and then ask them to reissue the new companion voucher with 2 year expiry.. any thoughts? Mind you I already have 2 existing companion vouchers that I haven’t used and are expiring feb 2022 (face palm!).

  • Rob says:

    29 Aug29 August 09:08

    Are you over £12k? If you are, you need to move quickly – on 1st September you will trigger an ‘economy only’ 241 on your free card. If you don’t want this, you MUST upgrade today or tomorrow so it is fully processed by 31st.

    • Michelle says:

      29 Aug29 August 17:59

      Yes just called them now! Thanks for the tip! I completely forgot about it being 12k from September even though I’ve read your post multiple times!

  • Andy says:

    29 Aug29 August 11:33

    For the ones expiring in Feb 22 you can do the FTV trick so you don’t end up losing them. There is an HfP article somewhere explaining how to go about it

• Travel Strong says:

  29 Aug29 August 08:26

  T5 outbound yesterday was busy but functioning. Probably a 5 minute wait for security. Think fast track was still closed. Lots of unmanned belts (ie extra capacity if they have the people to man them).

  Galleries North closed at 3pm and was emptied within minutes, with South due to stay open until 10pm. Service in Galleries North was excellent.

  What really made yesterday a delight though was the flight crew on BA490 (28/08/21) – they were fantastic, upbeat, friendly, and beyond helpful. I have never experienced BA cabin crew so enthusiastic and happy to help!

• MrIO says:

  29 Aug29 August 08:31

  Woke up this morning to an email from BA saying you have earned your companion voucher and valid for 24 months! Perfect timing! 😃

  • VerdantBacon says:

    29 Aug29 August 08:51

    Would perfect timing not be earning it 3 days later?

  • Dave says:

    29 Aug29 August 13:30

    Surely awful timing – if you had waited a couple of days you could have a voucher that books into non-completely-horrendous I class availability.

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