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The HfP chat thread – Friday 3rd September

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We are running this daily chat thread on Head for Points during the coronavirus outbreak.

Historically, the daily ‘Bits’ articles were the de facto repository for random comments and questions.  With the news flow being lighter, we are running fewer ‘Bits’ articles.

The comments under this article are where you should post questions about travel and, indeed, anything else on your mind.  At this tricky time, and given that many of you are at home, we want the HfP community to have a place to chat.

Please only comment under the main articles on the site if your comment is directly related to the topic of the article.  This has long-term benefits as it keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

Old chat threads are hidden from the HfP home page.  If you want to look for something in an old thread, click here.  This brings up all the articles in our ‘General’ category which includes the chat threads.

Comments (530)

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

  • Mark says:

    FYI, triggered my “new” 241 voucher and it arrived today. Tried to make a dummy booking to Los Angeles in August next year to test I class availability and I got the following message at the top of the search page;

    “Extra reward seat availability. As you are using a BA American Express Premium Plus Voucher, additional seats have been made available to you on 1 or more of the flights you have searched.”

    Not clear how much more availability but it would seem to be working

    • Sam G says:

      For example

      July 10th – 16th you shouldn’t see any Avios seats on a “normal search”

      You should see on a “extra availability” search

      July 10th None
      July 11th BA269
      July 12th BA281 + BA269
      July 13th BA269
      July 14th BA281 + BA269
      July 15th BA281 + BA269
      July 16th None

      Be interesting if someone can check!

      • FatherOfFour says:

        Would also be interesting if someone with the “old” voucher can do the same check!

      • Babyg says:

        checked with old voucher, your story checks out.. i see no Club availalbity using legacy 2for1 voucher.. closest date is June 16th and May 30th.. but thats it..

      • Claire says:

        Does it show if more than 2 tickets or is it just that there is at least 2 allowing you to book?

  • Dave says:

    Having to (sadly) cancel a trip to Paris, 2 x Standard Premier returns for a whopping £538.

    Presumably the best course of action is to take an eVoucher – are there any ‘gotchas’ with these? Are they tied to our names or usable for anyone? Can they be used for (say) 3 x £179 returns rather than 2 x £269 returns?

    • Ian says:

      The only terms stated on the Eurostar vouchers are below. I’ve redeemed part of my vouchers’ values and received a new one showing the remaining balance. I didn’t change the names of the passengers:

      Can be redeemed on eurostar.com before 30th Dec 2021 23:59

      Is issued in GBP and can only be used when making bookings in that currency on eurostar.com.

      Has no cash alternative and therefore no cash will be given on any unused portion.

      • ChrisC says:

        Remember that’s the redeem by date not the travel by date. You can book travel well into 2022

        If I read the website correctly you can use them for other passengers but the booking must be made from your account.

    • kitten says:

      I wouldn’t take a voucher from Eurostar if I could possibly avoid it. They have form for introducing worse conditions and applying them retroactively.

  • HH says:

    Is there no lounge at Marseille airport for BA customers? The Oneworld website suggests not.

  • TOBIAS L says:

    Booking a Day 2 test for return to UK.

    People recommend Expert Medicals, but it doesn’t appear listed in the UK Gov’s official website as one of the 407 vendors which is a bit strange – is this an issue? Were they taken off the list at some point or should i just proceed as normal?

    • Reney says:

      I used the reference number from Expert Medical day 2 test to come back on Monday fine, did the test on Tuesday and sent it off. Heard nothing since. I would actually like my test results mostly because I paid for the whole service. I did activate my test, and I can’t see anything on the website to say how many days it takes to process my test.

      • Gavin says:

        They are a bit slow, I got my (negative) result 6 days after sending if off.

      • Andy says:

        Seems like they have disappeared from the list – certainly were on there when I booked my test last week (and it arrived on time). If they’ve been permanently removed from the list than I suspect the PLF will catch up in due time and it might cause an issue

        • TOBIAS L says:

          Uh oh! I’m flying back this weekend so will try to buy it before the PLF kicks in.

          Next best alternative to them in terms of price and self-service (though am not too fussed about receiving the result)?

    • Sam G says:

      They were there the other day. Judging by the reports on here I’m not surprised they’ve been taken off! Hopefully no problem using it for those that already bought – I’ve got 3 to use mid-Sept

      • Pete M says:

        A – are you suggesting some people may not be able to make it to Chester in person once they’re in the country and used 0044 to get their code…?

        • A says:

          Well, it’s a long journey for some people, so entirely possible. Plus jetlag.

          • A says:

            When I used them in July they had a longer booking window than the current 2 weeks, so I booked it for a random date next year as my actual 2&8 dates weren’t available. No checks/follow ups/issues.

      • Soo says:

        I don’t want to panic anyone, but my Which weekly email today linked their article that Expert Medicals was removed from the govt list on 2 Sep.

        • Anna says:

          Guess my test ordered 3 weeks ago won’t be arriving! Fortunately my PLF completed on Wednesday seems to have registered ok.

  • Harrier25 says:

    Radisson seems to be back and available for exchanging Amex MR points again this morning.

  • KP says:

    I’m looking to get the Platinum card. What is the current offer for referring FROM the Platinum card? On Gold it is 15k MR points. Thanks

  • BrotherBear says:

    Asked a month or so ago for recommendations for a non flying holiday that may have some sunshine early September. 1 or 2 people kindly recommended Benodet and we’re getting the ferry this evening and have booked a week at the Yelloh campsite in a static home.

    Weather looks good for the first half of the week and hopefully will get lucky second half too.

    Thanks for those who recommended – hope we enjoy.

  • Stephan says:

    Has anyone had the issue where you can’t check in when you are within 24h due to no ticket number?

    • KP says:

      Is this BA? Why dont you have a ticket number… unless your booking is not actually ticketed ? ? It should have a number starting 125

      • Stephan says:

        I saw someone ask something on this a couple days ago. It’s the return leg of a ba flight. Had a ticket number flying out but the return is blank.

      • Stephan says:

        BA Flight

      • Stephan says:

        Check-in works on the website but still not on the mobile app. Will see what happens on departure

        • Pete M says:

          Do you actually have a boarding pass now, though? Because if so you should be fine!

        • KP says:

          as long as you were able to generate a boarding pass, you’ll be fine. If not, then ring up BA (easier said than done!)

        • AJA says:

          Check that you are actually ticketed. You should have a 125- number in MMB. If not you will have problems. If you have a boarding pass (mobile or physical) you will be ok, but merely checking in will not be enough.

          I would strongly urge you to contact BA ASAP rather than waiting until check in at the airport as they will not be able to do anything and you may end up missing the return flight.

          Did you do any changes to your booking where you needed to pay extra or anything like that? If so it could be stuck in back-office systems waiting for something to be done.

          How to check if you have a ticket:
          1. BA app, clicking on “View and manage more flight details” and ticket number should be near the bottom

          2. You can use CheckMyTrip if you have or want to register for an account

          3. If you have an e-ticket receipt email from BA it should list a ticket number if it’s been ticketed

          4. If you modify the booking through QR’s website (change a contact detail), they should send a confirmation email soon afterwards. The ticket number would be listed under the passenger name in the email if there is one.

          5. Another place to check is Finnair’s Manage Booking feature, using the usual BA PNR and surname option, it puts the ticket number right on the top of the screen, you are looking for a number beginning 125 if BA

          If you do not see the 125 ticket number you are in trouble.

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