The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 1st September

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• Supersub says:

  1 Sep1 September 10:17

  Quick sense-check, please:
  No status, just Blue. Thinking of cancelling our 2-4-1 Club booking to Asia next Easter. Paid 187500 avios + £1200 taxes. We’ve still to add a child to the booking for cash (currently a steep £2800 return for the exact flight time). So it’d be 4 grand plus the Avios for the 3 of us.
  If we cancel and go for slightly different timing, we could get all 3 seats cash for £5k in current BA sale. This is making more sense to me and we could save the Avios for another time.
  Do my sums add up? Thanks.

  • ChrisC says:

    1 Sep1 September 10:25

    How old is the child? Infants and Children get various discounts on the base fare (infants is IIRC 90% (and no APD) and child is 25%)

    Only 12+ pay full whack

    Does that change the calculations?

    • Supersub says:

      1 Sep1 September 11:21

      Thanks – 5yr old, so would get the 25%.
      Just getting used to school holidays pricing!
      I think if I use HfP’s 0.8p Avios “floor” calculation, might be better off paying cash this time (albeit with some loss of flexibility).

      • ChrisC says:

        1 Sep1 September 11:54

        Yes you’d need to do the calculations.

        Don’t forget that even booking just one nights hotel with the flights via BA Holidays you’d only have to pay a deposit.

        • Guernsey Globetrotter says:

          1 Sep1 September 12:05

          Remember to factor in the extra avios and tier points you’ll earn if you pay cash (including the avios for your partner and child also, as you’ll be able to pool via household a/c)!

• ChrisC says:

  1 Sep1 September 10:20

  BA have fed the IT hamsters.

  Had 5 emails about flight changes in the last few hours.

  Ex LGW bookings changed to LHR for November and December amongst them.

  Make that 11 emails! Must have out the hamsters on red bull!

• His Holyness says:

  1 Sep1 September 10:35

  BA have been cleaning up the schedules a lot the past few days, any idea how far they’ve gone? I thought they had done as far as March 2021, but I might be wrong.

  • Rob says:

    1 Sep1 September 10:47

    Had my Feb flights changed last week so sounds about right. May bookings still seem intact, even from Gatwick.

    • ChrisC says:

      1 Sep1 September 10:57

      Just seen a March LGW – AMS has been switched to LHR.

      • Rui N. says:

        1 Sep1 September 11:03

        (Most of) March is still IATA winter season. BA likely moved the entire winter season out of LGW for now.

        • Andy says:

          1 Sep1 September 14:23

          Funnily enough I had a flight moved out of LGW to LHR on March 26th 2022, which is the last day of the IATA winter season. The return flight on the 27th is still operating into LGW. Although with the cancellation I can now move the flights to other dates so no complaints

        • His Holyness says:

          1 Sep1 September 14:59

          GLA is still there

    • ChrisC says:

      1 Sep1 September 11:33

      Just tried to rebook for May ex LGW and despite flights being available for cash they aren’t coming up in the change flights results.

      Worth calling at some point or can I do this via the web chat?

      • Lady London says:

        1 Sep1 September 12:32

        For avios bookings even if BA cancelled the flight, their system still only shows you avios ability for the rebook even though you have the right to any seat in that situation. So need to call..

        • ChrisC says:

          1 Sep1 September 13:43

          These are existing cash bookings they have cancelled that I want to rebook

        • Louie says:

          2 Sep2 September 00:45

          Not in my (limited) experience. I have changed an Avios booking changed by BA from Gatwick to Heathrow to an alternative flight from Heathrow that did not have Avios availability. Now I have two flights on the PNR, the old and the new. BA IT!

• Can says:

  1 Sep1 September 10:57

  Will be flying back to London from Skopje next week. Any recommendations for Covid test (too late for qured for me I am afraid)? Would LAteral flow Antigen test is accepted at the border entering England?

  • Tony1 says:

    1 Sep1 September 19:27

    Not on topic, but the PP lounge is nothing special, if open, and that was pre Covid. Good view of apron though.

• The Rooster says:

  1 Sep1 September 11:02

  I think I must be the only person to not be offered retention for my plat Amex.
  I called up last month and live chatted today to be told nothing is available.

  My renewal is September as well so thought there might be something when I live chatted today, the last time I got a retention offer was last September.

  • SteveJ says:

    1 Sep1 September 11:09

    Probably too soon (what DATE in Sept last year). At a guess I’d think you need to wait >12 months. OR maybe they’re pulling retentions given the “free” £200 dinner (primarily for Londeners)

    • The Rooster says:

      1 Sep1 September 11:26

      I think it’s the 15th September my renewal and I got the retention at the start of September so I might wait another week before asking again

      • Lady London says:

        1 Sep1 September 12:35

        9-5 mon-fri has been commented as the time to find staff at home for retention offers

    • VerdantBacon says:

      1 Sep1 September 11:59

      I got 50k this March and another 35k yesterday, also got 50k in the middle of last year though forget off hand exactly when, 2020 was one big blur.

      Could be pulling retentions for the £200 offer

  • Can says:

    1 Sep1 September 11:19

    My renewal is end of Oct. I snapped 50k today. Love chatted between the business hours.

    • Sam G says:

      1 Sep1 September 11:20

      I just tried chat and got told I have to call. What magic words did you use 🙂

      • Can says:

        1 Sep1 September 11:37

        Lack of travel. Asked them to check if they have any retention offers for me. That’s it really. It was easy.

        • The Rooster says:

          1 Sep1 September 11:49

          That’s exactly what I said but nothing

    • Thomas Shelby says:

      1 Sep1 September 11:32

      When was your last batch of points though

      • The Rooster says:

        1 Sep1 September 11:49

        Last renewal so September last year

  • Travel Strong says:

    1 Sep1 September 12:32

    Gave it a punt on chat 2 minutes ago, went away for 10 minutes to check – but no joy. I have had some retention points earlier in the year just after renewal time.

• Benilyn says:

  1 Sep1 September 11:02

  Anyone have Shangri-La £100 back on £500 spend trigger when paying via the app? Mine has not unfortunately 😞

  • George K says:

    1 Sep1 September 19:43

    Was it a pre-paid rate? If so, it may not trigger… Does the spend show as SHANGRI-LA AT THE SHARD FRONT OFFICE?

    I had a close shave when I did my stay, whereby I checked in via the app, and used the function where you add your payment details in advance so that the pre-authorisation can happen without any human interaction.

    At check-out, when the guy handed me the final bill, he almost took it from the card which was “on file” which… was not the one I submitted on check-in. Thankfully I checked!

• FFoxSake says:

  1 Sep1 September 11:19

  Data point – legacy Marriott Creation has just triggered (sometime in past 2 weeks) an additional 10 nights to Bonvoy. Already had 15 from Amex card.
  This was several months later than in 2020 so might be worth others checking.

  Puts me on 38 nights after no stays in 2021 – might still be worth chasing Platinum now!

  • George K says:

    1 Sep1 September 19:44

    My biggest regret is not taking this card out when I had the chance!

• WaynedP says:

  1 Sep1 September 11:43

  Data Point: First time Addison Lee user last month. Made mistake of paying by Amex Plat Supp instead of OH’s Main card. Acct never received Amex credit for using Addison Lee.

  Lesson learnt and main card details now saved on Addison Lee App instead of my own.

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