The HfP chat thread – Thursday 2nd September

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

• MarkW says:

  2 Sep2 September 12:22

  Just wondering if anyone had any luck with this Tesco Credit Card offer with Hotels.com – https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2021/07/12/tesco-credit-card-hotels-com-offer/ ? I had some stays that were not cancelled but no points posted yet.. still hopeful..

  • Tom says:

    2 Sep2 September 12:45

    Terms stated 14 weeks so still a while yet. I have around 30 stays that i am hopeful for!

    • meta says:

      2 Sep2 September 14:13

      I only managed to sneak in five stays. All others have been cancelled and money refunded by hotels.com. It was not cancelled all at once though. They dripped over the course of a month.

• Rory says:

  2 Sep2 September 12:43

  Anyone stayed at the Sofitel T5 recently? Looks like they’re taking bookings, but just wanted to confirm that they’re no longer doing red list quarantine?

  • njb says:

    2 Sep2 September 17:11

    booked to stay 15/9 so hope its open !

• stevenhp1987 says:

  2 Sep2 September 12:49

  BA have submitted a defence to my claim for Duty of Care via CEDR.

  They are rejecting to cover my accommodation and food costs due to being informed over 2 weeks prior to the flight.

  In their defence, they copy and pasted Article 5, but butchered it to make it appear in their favour (omitting parts).

  They are trying to claim that 5(1)(c)(i) applies to ALL Article 5 and not just 5(1)(c).

  • Richie says:

    2 Sep2 September 13:04

    That’s so very unreasonable.

  • Alex M says:

    2 Sep2 September 13:05

    Ba has cancelled bunch of flights making me to rebook return flight 3 days later than original flight. I plan to submit the receipts to them so I will be following your progress with them…

  • AJA says:

    2 Sep2 September 13:11

    That does not surprise me. But BA is wrong. Article 5(1)(a) Assistance in accordance with Article 8 is due irrespective of any compensation due under article 5(1)(c) which deals with any compensation due.

    The way the regulations are written article 5(1)(a) ends with the word “;and” which means that paragraphs (b) and (c) are in addition to paragraph (a).

    https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:439cd3a7-fd3c-4da7-8bf4-b0f60600c1d6.0004.02/DOC_1&format=PDF

    • Richie says:

      2 Sep2 September 13:21

      WickedWolfie makes the same point https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/30279665

      • AJA says:

        2 Sep2 September 13:56

        Thanks, Good to see someone else agrees with me. By the way I am not WickedWolfie. 🙂

      • stevenhp1987 says:

        2 Sep2 September 16:28

        Thanks all. I’ve made this point to them already though 🙂

        They’re just trying it on and they’re willing to simply drag it out. I don’t mind waiting months for the payout, especially as it’s a trivial amount (~ £87). It’ll arrive eventually.

        • Lady London says:

          2 Sep2 September 22:26

          Sadly this kind of behaviour from BA makes me suggest adding statutory imterest (currently 8% pa) to any claim against BA. It should then be awarded up to the date the money is paid. If the amount they owe is not increased by their shenanigans then BA will keep on bullying and stonewalling valid claims and will profit from doing so.

  • JDB says:

    2 Sep2 September 15:40

    It is incredibly unprofessional if they have put partial (in both its senses) evidence in their defence. The lawyer’s first duty is to the court, not the client but as it is only CEDR they are trying it on. I would ask BA to provide a corrected defence.

  • Lady London says:

    2 Sep2 September 22:20

    Complete and utter rubbish. Is BA outsourcing this to unqualified contract labour?

    Duty of care is *always* payable no mattee how far ahead they cancelled your flight or moved it so much later that those expenses needed to be incurred due to taking longer. Even if they cancelled your flight 360 days ahead they are still liable for duty of care.

    Only compensation for cancellation is avoided if cancelled at least 14 days ahead but duty of care there is no exemption for. And rightly so.

    If they’ve included text they claim is the written law that they’ve butchered this ought to get a swift judgment against them.

• Ja says:

  2 Sep2 September 13:12

  Can someone tell me where I find my Virgin 241 vouchers. Is in my Flying Club account or credit card account. Thanks

  • FFoxSake says:

    2 Sep2 September 13:14

    You can’t see them there. But you can look in the Virgin Red app and look for the activity line with 0 value to see what date it was awarded.

    • FFoxSake says:

      2 Sep2 September 13:16

      Activity is visible under the Account item (bottom right).
      The line you are looking for is “You have qualified for a credit card reward voucher”.

    • Ja says:

      2 Sep2 September 13:17

      My problem is I’m not sure how many I have and that’s what I want to check plus their expiry dates.

      • Reney says:

        2 Sep2 September 13:22

        Ask them on whatsapp. I did that the other week. They will tell you how many and when they expire.

        • Ja says:

          2 Sep2 September 13:23

          Thanks Reney

• Kevin says:

  2 Sep2 September 13:39

  Got 3 nights booked at St Honore with points (40k /night) for end of the month. Now received Ambassador free night (up to 40k points) voucher and trying to ask IHG to swap the 40k points with the free night vouches but told can’t. Anyone got any experience on this? TIA

  • Rob says:

    2 Sep2 September 13:55

    In general, cancelling one night of a multi-night reward would reprice the other nights, so it is a bad idea anyway, and they can’t rebook it because it is now over 40k. Their stance is what I would expect.

    Try calling BA and asking them to swap 2 Avios bookings for a 2-4-1 voucher.

  • Harry T says:

    2 Sep2 September 14:23

    The 40k rate at St Honore was an error so you’ll have zero luck there – it’s now usually 70-100k a night. It’s a bargain for 40k points a night – I stayed there on that rate for two nights last week – so I would just use your points and save your vouchers for something else.

    • Harry T says:

      2 Sep2 September 14:24

      Btw I cancelled another two 40k nights – one night was then 100k points and the other showed no reward availability. So definitely don’t cancel the 40k nights.

  • Kevin says:

    2 Sep2 September 19:02

    Thanks to Rob & Harry suggestion.

• Wollhouse says:

  2 Sep2 September 13:43

  quick question re 2for1’s – my booking was cancelled. I’m going to try and get them to rebook for next year. assuming I ever manage to speak to an agent…. as MMB isn’t available. using all the info from here, i should be able to get this done…. question – is it possible to book using your 2for1 for say EDI to BKK (all BA tin) AND get them to include the ticket from BKK to Koh Samui on the same booking. I know I will have to pay separately for the last leg as it’s not eligible under the 241, but at the moment the Samui sandbox scheme requires all flights to be on the same PNR. And just in case it’s still the same next year…. Is this something the agent/BA’s IT can handle?? as otherwise, I can’t risk using the 241.

  • Sam G says:

    2 Sep2 September 14:02

    No – can’t mix Avios and paid in the same booking. Personally I would still go ahead – I think there is a good chance there will be a solution in place for this at least by then even if you cannot enter via BKK

    • Sam G says:

      2 Sep2 September 14:03

      by a solution I mean some kind of “travel corridor” flights and luggage handling at BKK vs you self transferring/stopping over. Realistically though BA won’t be running BKK flights if you can’t enter without quarantine anyway so they’d just be cancelled or rerouted to Phuket where you could then self transit to Koh Samui on the direct flights from there

      • Wollhouse says:

        2 Sep2 September 14:10

        ok, thanks. good point that the flight would probably be cancelled! sadly, i still have to try and get hold of BA to sort the flight i already have that’s cancelled. like so many others, I’ve been on hold so many times and then get the we’re too busy, disconnect message!

      • Richie says:

        2 Sep2 September 14:15

        BTW Thai Airways are launching LHR to Phuket 3 times a week for Winter 21, they seem to have some confidence.

• Josh says:

  2 Sep2 September 14:11

  Can anyone give some inspiration for the best way to maximise a Virgin 241 voucher without any status?

  I have 300k virgin points, but no status, looking to get best potential value for money (SO is American so we can go to the US as a destination)

  Was hoping for HK Christmas but doesnt seem likely.

  Thanks!

  • Reney says:

    2 Sep2 September 14:20

    only one voucher and no status, the best you can do is use it for a 2 for 1.5. So find an upper class ticket that uses less than 200 fly club miles. Should basically cover most places(?). So the question is where does VS fly to that you actually want to go and can get in?

    • Josh says:

      2 Sep2 September 14:31

      Sorry forgot to add, have 2x vouchers. Would cash tickets be better value combined with 241?

      • Reney says:

        2 Sep2 September 14:41

        if you have two, then you can use them as two upgrade vouchers. i.e use points for PE and upgrade to UC.

        VS flies to about 30 ish location, less a few that you can’t get into at the moment without long hotel quarantine. Look at the flight routes and see where you want to go and how complex to get in. Value depends on cash price which will vary for all 30 locations, so it is very hard to advice.

        The vouchers are very flexible, so what combination of points vs vouchers to use depends on a bunch of reasons from how many cash you want to spend to how many vouchers or points you want to reserve for future trips. Again circumstances based. For example I would probably use two vouchers and save some points as they expire and I am sitting on 6 vouchers across VS and BA with no plans for them at the moment and they expire more easily then points. Others might find points easier to earn and want to keep vouchers and use more points.

  • Ryan says:

    2 Sep2 September 15:26

    I would use them to book premium economy to the Caribbean and then upgrade both legs to upper class. Only 17,500 for off peak instead of 57,500. That will give you a saving of 160,000 points if you used both on them for 2 people. I only had 1 voucher but have used it for upper class to BGI for next weekend which I thought was a great deal

• Sandra says:

  2 Sep2 September 14:27

  As they’ve been discussed on here before, Brook and Wilde mattress’s are back on Brand Alley (end of line, overstocks etc) with around 39% off, so if anyone is thinking of buying one with the 15% back on Amex Gold I suggest they look here first as there might be a bigger saving.

  • KBuffett says:

    2 Sep2 September 14:37

    More than likely (used) returns

    • Sandra says:

      2 Sep2 September 16:24

      Don’t think so. I bought one from there last year when they had an additional discount and it was brand new as far as I am aware from the unopened, undamaged packaging etc.

      • Chris says:

        2 Sep2 September 16:50

        Did it come in a box? The scale of the foam expansion after opening B&W mattress was hugely impressive, would be very much like squeezing the toothpaste back into the tube, and doesn’t seem feasible for returns

        • Sandra says:

          2 Sep2 September 18:07

          Yes it did Chris and you also had the strong memory foam smell that gradually fades over time which is why I don’t think it was a return.

      • KBuffett says:

        2 Sep2 September 17:38

        There was recent news about certain mattress companies having huge warehouses and airfields full top to bottom of returned mattresses that they cannot sell as new. I don’t recall any further information or sources unfortunately.
        One has to consider what actually happens to returned mattresses and why a business would want to undercut themselves by selling through other channels and also lose more margin to that channel.

        • Anuj says:

          2 Sep2 September 18:13

          They get sold on eBay, or donated to the BHF, or destroyed.

        • Sandra says:

          2 Sep2 September 18:15

          No idea why/how they get them on Brand Alley but after a good check over it didn’t appear to be faulty and, as Chris says, I’d never have got it back in the box after expansion if it was but at half price we’re happy with it and it is comfortable.

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