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The HfP chat thread – Sunday 12th September

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

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Comments (494)

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  • ChrisC says:

    The booking reference should be in the email.

    So search your emails for that.

    And more often than not the booking remains in MMB so scan that as well and that will tell yo the route etc and jog your memory.

    • jimc says:

      Thanks Chris. Ive got the booking reference in the email, what should i do with it next?

      • ChrisC says:

        Use the search function in your email account to see if it finds the original booking email(a) which should have the value in it.

  • TurkTraveller says:

    If Turkey gets taken off the red list next week, is there any chance BA will reinstate some more hotel availability in Istanbul? I tried booking a BA holiday package to Istanbul for end of September but there is virtually no availability right now. Since I have to travel to Turkey end of the month/early Oct, it would be nice to combine it with a BA holiday to get enough tier points to become a silver executive member.

  • AlanC says:

    Booked Edinburgh to Kings cross for travel today. Got to the station and the First Class lounge is closed for 6 weeks! Specially booked First as it was somewhere quiet and relaxing for my 88 year old dad while waiting to board.

    • Yorkie Aid says:

      That’s very poor if you weren’t notified beforehand. I can confirm Kings X lounge was open on Monday.

      • AlanC says:

        I messaged LNER and the reply was ” It’s on the website”

        • Scott says:

          Used the Doncaster lounge a couple times earlier in the week and no biscuits or crisps at all. Coffee machine was only doing hot water for the half dozen tea bags left and something other than coffee on Wednesday.
          The Newcastle lounge was fine. Open and plenty of stock in there.

    • Harry T says:

      That’s really annoying, sorry to hear that. I recently booked business class equivalent seats from Paris to Amsterdam and they weren’t serving any food – I was then told off in German (?!) for taking my mask off to eat. Covid is unfortunately being used as an excuse worldwide to provide rubbish service. Hope your Dad had a restful and stress free journey nonetheless.

      • meta says:

        Yes, I find that last year it was all about travel industry going out of the way to provide a stellar service despite covid. This year it’s all about providing as little as possible due to covid. Although I have to say, I am enjoying Canopy Reykjavik very much!

        • Craig says:

          Meant to be in Reykjavik in January and couldn’t decide to book Canopy or Curio, went with latter although could still change, how good is the Canopy @ Meta? Anybody got feedback on Curio Reykjavik? Thank you!

      • The Original Nick. says:

        Exactly the same as this government using Covid to privatise whats left of our NHS.

      • Jeff Greene says:

        To be fair, a lot of places are now short of staff and many members of the public now have an inflated sense of entitlement (lockdown now seems to be an excuse for people to act like scumbags eg the increase in abuse directed towards shop staff etc)

    • Peggerz says:

      Sorry to hear this @AlanC. I have used this lounge 3-4 times recently. The closure may have been the reason they had no hot or cold facilities whilst Kings Cross and York etc were up and running with coffee/tea/cold water/biscuits etc as they were going to upgrade the place? Did you manage to get your dad a seat downstairs at reception?

    • Duncan Stevenson-Price says:

      We were at the Edinburgh lounge a couple weeks ago and there were photographers taking ‘before’ photos in advance of a big revamp. Shame they couldn’t arrange some alternative in the meantime, but it’ll be nice if they can make some big improvements.

  • JG says:

    Some (most?) may want to take that risk but isn’t it anti-social not to take reasonable precautions to stop infecting others? Masks are still mandatory on tube and on my commute I’d say at least 80% wear one. Please keep using one in crowded environments, wearing a mask never killed anyone.

    • JG says:

      That was in response to ChrisW on mask wearing!

    • TGLoyalty says:

      And stay off the tube for all those short hops and walk more … more steps never killed anyone

      • TGLoyalty says:

        Or even take up riding a bike for longer commutes … burn off that business lunch (look out for busses though)

        • Chris says:

          +1
          I’ve tried to switch to boris bike for short trips in central London, both to up the exercises post lockdown and to avoid the whole tube situation.

  • Nicky says:

    Hi, just wondering if any hpf’ers have any thoughts on the following question. I have a transatlantic Christmas cruise in December. If the borders are opened and the cruise goes ahead (which I am beginning to doubt) what would the situation be as I had the double Astra Zenica jabs – which the US do not recognise…if I were therefore unable to go would I lose the price of the cruise?

    • Graham says:

      It’s really impossible to answer this question. Probably one for your cruise company.

    • Anna says:

      I’ve read that AZ is accepted to enter the US, it’s just not authorised to be given there, but obviously official confirmation would be best!
      Which US destination are you visiting – if it’s just one of the islands like Puerto Rico I imagine the itinerary would be changed if the borders still aren’t open by then.

      • Tracey says:

        Canada has used a lot of AZ. Once America opens its borders to Canada it will accept AZ, it can hardly then refuse to recognise UK AZ.

    • ChrisC says:

      depends on the policies of the cruise company

      It’s not their fault you may not meet the entry requirements into the US.

    • Paul says:

      I don’t reckon AZ will be your problem; if the borders are open to vax’d I think you’ll be fine. Personally I don’t think they will be by December but really who knows.

      As for the implication if that is the case that’s a q for your cruise company, terms of booking and possibly travel insurer. On the face of it if the cruise operates it’s not the companies fault you aren’t allowed to enter the US. But realistically it very well may not operate in that scenario, or there may be a goodwill gesture from the cruise line.

  • Dominic says:

    Planning to fly UK > Lithuania > UK > Abu Dhabi > UK.

    3 day gap in between Lithuania and AD – I think I need an antigen to fly back to the UK, a PCR test to fly to Abu Dhabi (presumably I can semi-skip the day 2 test in the UK, as I’ll be doing an RT-PCR for Abu Dhabi), and then Day 2 when I get back to the UK finally.

    Does that sound right? Anything that I’m obviously missing? First time flying since last September when this wasn’t required….

    Thanks!

    • Dominic says:

      I am, of course, rolling the dice that I won’t test positive at any point

    • Blenz101 says:

      Assuming you are staying in Abu Dhabi then you may have further PCR tests to take there as well.

      I don’t think you can skip the Day 2 U.K. test as you will need to book and pay for this in order to get the PFL code.

  • Gavin says:

    On the off chance:

    Booked for a group from the UK to the Netherlands; last weekend in October.

    At the moment double-vax UK travellers are required to self-quarantine on arrival in Holland. I was assuming this would change by the end of next month, but so far no dice.

    Any idea as to the rhythm by which the Dutch review country status? Or any other intel? Thanks

  • Michael says:

    What’s the best rewards MCard/Visa to get at the moment? I recently got my first ever credit card after being in my first job for a few months which is an Amex Gold. Unsure on what to use for places that don’t accept it – was looking at the IHG card as an options for when i want to book holidays

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