The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 31st August

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Rob says:

31 Aug31 August 07:39

Used Solihull via Bendy to top up Ernie on Thursday and Friday. Money went in fine, showing on Bendy but nothing on Solihull yet. It hasn’t even reduced my available balance.

I haven’t used this route for many months, is it just a lot slower clearing than it used to be?
- John says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 07:54
  
  Even normal purchases can take a few days to show up – and sometimes my available credit doesn’t even change
- JSemity says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 09:02
  
  no, always takes a few days, their IT is beyond useless.
  - StevieKicks says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 09:32
    
    Can’t find the link this morning, but Curve said on their forum that this is actually an intended change on their end. They don’t do the full charge to the underlying anymore until it’s been fully charged to them
    - Char Char says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 09:35
      
      Maybe but Creation don’t show pending if there are too many transactions going on
      - stevenhp1987 says:
        
        31 Aug31 August 10:36
        
        I think Creation see all the pending charges as the “Curve” merchant and then when a transaction posts they remove one of the pending charges without checking the transaction total, just the merchant.
        
        This means the available balance may go up or down based on which pending charge they decided to remove!
      - Char Char says:
        
        31 Aug31 August 13:11
        
        It is rare for me to see pending charges on creation theses days using Curve or not.
- dean says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 09:58
  
  Do you need to use metal for this?, does Solihull charge any cash advance fees at all?
Paul says:

31 Aug31 August 07:44

Heathrow Rewards – what has happened to Heathrow rewards?
No reply to emails as for manual allocation after car park would not accept card
No points from spend in terminal
App now requires the full account number plus email and password- account number does not store.
As premium member for last few years it both frustrating and concerning. Anyone else experiencing issues or have insight.
- Andrew says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 07:49
  
  I guess Heathrow doesn’t make any money from airport shopping anymore, so they’ve probably given up on Rewards being something to resource.
  - Rob says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 09:12
    
    They have not added points for a manual claim I made a week ago.
    - Paul says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 12:06
      
      My requests are 3 weeks old. when you email you get the auto reply that states 24 hours for a response but nothing. perhaps they are all managing the queues and feeding stations in T5!
- Navara says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 07:51
  
  Article on HfP 1st July
- Cats are best says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 09:17
  
  I received points for a purchase in mid June.
  
  Not seen 30-40 points due from late July yet, didn’t keep the receipt though so not I’m bothering about it.
  
  Both were in WDF, used the Dufry app ok with both as well.
- Save East Coast Rewards says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 09:26
  
  Things do seem to be slowly returning to normal but I think we’re a long way away from the days when you’d get a same day reply to an email from Heathrow Rewards. A bunch of small transactions I made during to outage period have appeared on my account a few weeks ago automatically.
  
  However, I had a few points I still needed to claim from places where my card wasn’t scanned so I had sent an email about 4 weeks ago which still hadn’t been answered.
  
  If you need to chase up a claim for missing points and you’re prepared to be on hold a while call 020 3666 5550 this will connect you directly to the Rewards team. It took over 40 minutes of waiting but they were able to find my email and add the points.
  
  They are saying that they still have a massive backlog due to the system outage (and presumably some had been furloughed/made redundant) but they are working their way through emails, so if you’re not in any hurry maybe waiting a few months is best, otherwise call in and they’ll deal with your email quicker.
- JDB says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 09:30
  
  With so many Heathrow staff having been made redundant or furloughed, unfortunately I doubt staffing Rewards is at the top of their priority list.
  - Pete M says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 09:42
    
    Well, then they should probably update their auto-reply from “We’ll respond to you within 2 working days.” I have now been waiting for HEx points to be manually added since early July…
    - JDB says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 09:46
      
      Ah yes, but there isn’t even anyone to update the auto-reply!
      - Save East Coast Rewards says:
        
        31 Aug31 August 11:47
        
        I did mention the auto reply says 2 days and the images are broken when I phoned them. I’m not going to add to their pile by sending a test email to see if it’s updated I’ll find out when I next have some receipts to send in
- andyT says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 12:45
  
  @Paul – why did you think it was necessary for you to announce that you are a premium member? Are you a DYKWIA person?
  - Save East Coast Rewards says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 13:49
    
    You need to spend £700 a year to keep the premium membership which earns double points so retaining these double points requires that the transactions actually post. I’m going to struggle to hit that this year so I will try to ensure everything I spend counts just in case it gets me over the line.
  - ankomonkey says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 14:46
    
    I’m a DYKWIA person. I list my current and former airline & hotel statuses on my CV. I was Freccia Alata Gold once, Best Western Diamond, Sweaty Betty World’s Sweatiest Man 3 years running (pun intended)…
- Mr. AC says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 15:38
  
  On a similar note, while the website still says you can spend Heathrow Rewards to pay for Heathrow Express both online and at the tills, I’ve failed to find a way to do so in the new interface online, and I think there’s no way at the tills as well.
John says:

31 Aug31 August 07:53

Good morning. Could somebody please summarise the rules around Amex Plat travel insurance? Does the trip need to be paid on Amex? In part or in full? What about redemption travel? A recent poster claimed they would cover enforced stays and repatriation if you test positive while abroad (eg fail a pre departure test and are denied boarding)? Is this confirmed? Thank you
- Andrew says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 08:08
  
  Medical insurance is always covered, but if you want an element of the travel covered for cancellation/curtailment/inconvenience, then that aspect needs to have been booked on an Amex issued Amex account in your name (so you can book on your BA card and still be covered, if you hold Platinum). You need to pay the cash element of a redemption ticket on the card – not sure how this works with multiply cancelled tickets that end up as eVouchers though – but essentially when you can’t pay by Amex (eg a company doesn’t accept) or in this case when there’s nothing to pay, you should still be covered.
  - JDB says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 09:35
    
    Medical may not “always” be covered, notably if you travel to an FCDO avoid all but essential travel country.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 08:23
  
  All insurance companies will cover you if YOU test positive as your are ill (even if you don’t feel it)
  
  The issue is when you have to isolate because someone else in your group tests positive as you’re not I’ll very few will cover the cost of extra nights / new flights.
  - John says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 08:40
    
    @TGLoyaty Do we know anything about Amex cover in that circumstance? Enforced isolation abroad
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 08:55
      
      When I asked the answer was no cover but Rob has sometimes made comment that what they say and what they do can be different.
      
      Maybe someone has put in a claim recently can comment.
      
      Re paying on “the card” it’s ok to pay the flight/hotel/redemption taxes on any Amex issued card and you’ll still be covered for all the non medical items. You’ll also be covered if they didn’t accept Amex so paid with a non Amex.
    - Reney says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 09:42
      
      what do you mean by enforced? I called and my example was let say I caught covid and tested positive on my pre departure test, and now can’t leave and must quarantine by the rules of the country I am in. They told me that is covered by medical delay and something like £150 per day up to 10 days.
      - Reney says:
        
        31 Aug31 August 10:10
        
        to clarify my earlier comment. If by enforce, like NZ or HK where you are going knowing that you have to do hotel quarantine then my guess is no (but i have never asked this). Both scenarios are enforced, my previous example is you ‘stumbled’ into one and the latter is you knowingly travelled into one.
      - John says:
        
        31 Aug31 August 10:18
        
        Thanks Reney, this is the circumstance I had in mind. Maybe it was your post I saw a few days ago!
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        31 Aug31 August 10:48
        
        It’s clear YOU are ill therefore you are covered by medical cover you have
        
        The op seems to be asking about close contact enforced isolation where you aren’t ill this is where you are unlikely to be covered as it’s a known risk.
      - Reney says:
        
        31 Aug31 August 12:17
        
        Best to call the Amex insurance line to explain your scenario to be honest. No amount of responses will give you the same confident, but the responses help you to flush out what scenarios you are worried about.
- Michael C says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 08:27
  
  Also, if you have a pre-existing condition not covered by Amex, do you have to actually “declare” it, or is it simply not covered?
  - JDB says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 09:39
    
    You need to check carefully with Amex, but my understanding is that you can’t ‘buy out’ pre-existing conditions as you can with many non packaged policies, so you need to be careful as, for instance, high blood pressure that affects 25%+ of the population could be used to avoid paying a claim for much broader vascular or heart incidents you could suffer abroad, which is not ideal.
- Cats are best says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 09:22
  
  To add to the above, you can get current detail here…
  https://my-insurance.americanexpress.com/dashboard
  
  It also lets you create and download an insurance document which some destinations may require.
  
  If you’ve got a specific situation, I’d contact them direct.
- JDB says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 09:33
  
  As others say, check the T&Cs as you need to be certain for yourself; there has been conflicting advice on here in recent days.
  
  Also, aspects of the cover may depend on the FCDO status of the country you are travelling to at the time of booking and/or at the time of travel (obviously traffic lights are not usually relevant for insurance purposes).
Dave says:

31 Aug31 August 07:57

Had flights from Gatwick for next January totalling £526.46, part paid using an eVoucher. Cancelled last week and moved to LHR.

Requested a refund on BA.com as one of the three options on the cancellation MMB splash screen (change date / eVoucher / refund).

Refund has just hit the credit card – £23.26! 😮

My guess is they have process the refund as per the fare rules, meaning I’ve only got some taxes back minus an admin fee. Grr – this is going to be fun to unpick via phone!
- Andrew says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 08:10
  
  Yes, a refund request under Booking with Confidence needs to be done on the phone – the online refund option is for a pre-covid style refund, like you say, as per the official ticket rules you have.
- Gavin says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 08:29
  
  I had a flight cancelled that was part paid by evoucher. The cash part was refunded but they would only reissue the evoucher element as a new evoucher (which had somehow got missed and was quite a battle to receive – multiple hours on the phone!). I understand I could have argued for a full refund but I didn’t really have the energy.
PM says:

31 Aug31 August 08:01

Hi all. Recently booked flights to Dubai using an e-voucher which was the result of a BA double the difference price match on a US flight I’d booked last year. Does anyone have any experience of FTVing when there is a price match e-voucher involved as I’d like to cancel and rebook as a holiday now the double tier points have been extended to cover my travel period. The price match e-voucher was different to the flight cancellation ones as BA confirmed that the expiry didn’t extend to with the rest of the other e-vouchers people have been issued despite having the same numbering format (125-). Thanks
Crafty says:

31 Aug31 August 08:04

Strange email from Hilton Honors offering free points, but think it’s legit… have others had it too?

“We have been delighted to welcome you and so many other guests back to our hotels in recent months. It’s been wonderful to serve you once more, and on behalf of all of us at Hilton, I want to say a huge thank you for your continued trust – and for choosing to stay with us time and time again.

As a token of our appreciation for your loyalty and patience – particularly as we have all adjusted to a unique summer travel season – please accept 10,000 Hilton Honors Bonus Points on us. Just click the button below to instantly claim your Points.”
- ChrisC says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 08:22
  
  yes see the latter pages of yesterdays chat.
- AJA says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 08:25
  
  Was mentioned in yesterday’s chat. I think it is legitimate. Unfortunately I haven’t received any email but then again haven’t stepped in let alone stayed at a Hilton hotel in the last two years.
- NSL says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 08:33
  
  Legit for select Hilton members. Check here
  
  https://www.hiltonhonors.com/en_US/10k-member-gift/landing/
  - Rob says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 09:11
    
    Heaven knows what the criteria are. Nothing for me as Diamond with 300,000 points, nothing for my wife as Gold with 146 points!
    - FFoxSake says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 10:33
      
      I think it’s a reward for people who have made a certain number of stays during the pandemic period. But who knows what exactly the criteria is!
      - VerdantBacon says:
        
        31 Aug31 August 13:01
        
        If only it was for that! I had 28 actual nights in 2020 with a portion of those being in Q4 during the double status nights and ended the year with 40 status nights.
        
        Just hit my 34th night last night for 2021 with 2 more to go during this stay and 8 more nights booked for the rest of the year and I haven’t gotten the bonus 10k!
- John says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 08:53
  
  Why is the first reaction to think it’s fake
  - Rhys says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 09:11
    
    It’s a good reaction to have, given how easy it is to be fooled by spam/phishing emails.
    - John says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 11:01
      
      I get that but it just said “click this link” so I clicked it in a sandbox and it didn’t ask for any other details, I then checked Hilton app and the points were there.
      
      I’ve stayed 18 nights from Jan 2020 to now.
John says:

31 Aug31 August 08:09

Could BA release new CE reward seats on flights within 7/14/21 days of travel? Or does it now depend on cancellations? Asking because the seat map on expert flyer suggests fewer CE seats are occupied than their typical CE redemption allocation.
- ChrisC says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 08:19
  
  The seat map is unreliable in assessing how busy a cabin is. because not everyone selected a seat the moment they book – especially if they have no status.
  
  As to releasing more reward seats they can release them any time they like. Or not. Someone cancelling an avios ticket does not automatically release it into the pool.
  - Pete M says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 09:50
    
    I’ve had BA randomly increase the size of the CE on a flight to Berlin the other week the day before. I jumped on it and when I got on the plane the divider was still in the wrong place. The cabin manager had a fairly full on argument with me and the other 4 people in those rows about how we couldn’t be in CE (despite boarding passes saying so) and only called the ground crew to move the divider and flip-out the middle tray tables after we each showed him our booking confirmation… The luxury antimacassars never arrived though 🙂
- Char Char says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 09:55
  
  Yes this often used to happen I remember within 7 days availability showing up for me
  - C says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 10:05
    
    BA are definitely adding extra CE reward seats prior to departure. I took advantage of this to extend my holiday last week; we were discussing how nice it would be to stay an extra day (in light of the Bank Holiday). I had been watching Avios availability and saw that on my route BA had been adding award seats 2-3 days prior to departure. Sure enough, on Saturday last week BA added extra CE seats for Monday (48 hours ahead), which I promptly purchased and requested an evoucher for the original [cash] booking.
    - John says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 10:20
      
      Thanks all! There is hope!
Chrism20 says:

31 Aug31 August 08:23

@BJ I\m just catching up on the threads from a few days ago. I think I may be the guilty party who took the last of the Amazon cards from Ferry Road although there were only two left when I got there.

Dalkeith had loads last night if you are still trying to hunt them down.
- Peggerz says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 11:44
  
  So it’s you that has hit Ferry Rd…….. 😎
  - Chrism20 says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 15:09
    
    Guilty as charged. Normally I go to Granton but the waterfront road is closed just now so it was Ferry Rd.