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The HfP chat thread – Monday 13th September

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General

Comments (557)

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

  • Oliver says:
    13 Sep13 September 10:02

    Hi All, my wife and I have 2 Companion Vouchers, one on the free BA Amex expiring in March 22 and one on the Premium BA Amex expiring in Feb 22. I’m not sure we’ll be able to use them both by then. Any suggestions? Do you think there could be further extensions? Thanks

  • His Holyness says:
    13 Sep13 September 10:14

    Regarding my saga with GotoGate/MyTrip. The IATA of the agency which cancelled my tickets is 91200233 which shows as a UK agency registered to http://www.mytrip.com. Can anyone with access to IATA search validation provide the companies address? I’m guessing to be a UK IATA agency you need a UK address, I certainly hope so!

    • Aston100 says:
      13 Sep13 September 10:21

      Not read your previous history with this OTA, but anytime I see gotogate mentioned, I shudder and feel sorry for anyone who may have made a purchase through them.

      In these uncertain times, people should avoid all but the biggest of OTAs, and even then probably better to just stick to booking direct with airlines for now.

      • Laura says:
        13 Sep13 September 12:51

        Even Expedia took about 6 months to make a refund to us.
        I should have known better than using an OTA to book flights, but the airline wanted passport details to make the reservation. I didn’t want to delay booking as it was an intern rate.
        However I did better than my friends who booked the same intern rate through GoToGate and eventually they got a refund through their travel insurance

    • Jonathan says:
      13 Sep13 September 11:41

      Nothing plausible on companies house for G2G, mytrip or close variations. uk.mytrip.com shows as a subsidiary of G2G in Sweden

      I’d just repeat my advice from yesterday that a) persuading an English court that they have jurisdiction here will be very tricky & almost certainly makes the case too complex for small claims track (so suddenly costs come in to play).

      b) enforcing an E&W court’s judgement against a company with no U.K. assets will be expensive & likely fruitless.

      Seriously just hassle G2G for the refund which you will get (eventually).

    • Memesweeper says:
      13 Sep13 September 12:46

      Mytrip.com domain is registered to Sweden.

      You’d have to ask IATA which UK entity holds 91200233.

      • His Holyness says:
        13 Sep13 September 16:13

        I can sign up for a free Pro membership (which seems like its on approval only) on IATA but as I know a number of TA’s read HFP I thought a kind sole might be able to retrieve it for me

        • Blenz101 says:
          13 Sep13 September 16:54

          But what will it give you? At best a correspondence PO Box that will ignore you for a company that you have no relationship with.

          You are going to have to deal with the entity from which you made your purchase and under the legal system of the county in which the purchase was conducted if you want to take legal action. You can’t just pick E&W.

          Even if you can baffle an ADR adjudicator or a judge into thinking they have jurisdiction you aren’t going to be able to enforce the judgement in E&W and will remain out of pocket.

          You should really push either for a refund or goodwill customer service gesture to get you replacement flights (unlikely).

          • His Holyness says:
            13 Sep13 September 19:38

            But it’s the same company, I’m pretty sure I can use that to latch on. A refund is second place for the the theft of the funds, I want performance.

          • Blenz101 says:
            13 Sep13 September 20:08

            It’s not the same company though is it.

            That’s like me having an issue with my Sky TV bill in the U.K. and trying to take Telemundo to court in Texas because they are both part of Comcast.

            You can’t just “latch on” to companies with whom you have no contact. You have formed a contract with a specific legal entity. And as I think you know that entity has no assets or operations in the U.K.

            I’m not trying to be unhelpful but just suggest you focus your efforts via your credit and debit cards as well as GG customer service. You could spend the next 6+ months with your small claims action; potentially even win a judgement in default. But the point that has been made by me and others is your still won’t get paid out.

            Now there are routes to enforcing judgments and international debt recovery but you really don’t have the budget for that if you are using OTA travel agents in the first place!

  • Definitas says:
    13 Sep13 September 10:17

    Has anyone successfully submitted travel documents including a quarantine plan for entry into Canada? I’m looking at doing it next month and would appreciate any insight into how it went.

    • Richie says:
      13 Sep13 September 10:30

      [deleted]

      • Definitas says:
        13 Sep13 September 11:43

        That’s useful thanks. Things have changes in that fully vaccinated people don’t have to quarantine unless they are selected at random for testing on arrival and subsequently test positive. However, the plan has to be submitted in advance in case the traveller tests positive on arrival so elements of the plan in the link still have to be planned for and so will be a useful template.

  • peter says:
    13 Sep13 September 10:24

    Used Expert Medicals on Sunday and it worked fine on PLF – I purchased the test on the last day it was still on gov website. I’ll send it tomorrow to see if they check them..

  • BP says:
    13 Sep13 September 10:24

    Spent the last two nights at the IC Porto. It’s a very nice hotel and the location is great.

    Unfortunately I didn’t get any upgrade at all as a Spire member on a free night and points booking but the base room is nice and is a decent size so no complaints. The room was spotless and well appointed. The bed is bigger than my UK superking size one.

    I emailed before arrival to inform them of my late arrival and asking for a cot to be in the room. They ensured everything was speedy and the cot was waiting as requested.

    Food in the hotel is good – room service pasta with pesto for my toddler was very tasty. There is no kids menu options at the hotel which is a negative point. Breakfast is a small al-la-carte eggs menu and a buffet. Sparkling wine available at breakfast and is quite nice. 17 euros pp Spire rate.

    Cocktails at the temporary garden terrace are good and very cheap for an IC at 6.5-8 euros. Service at the bar is so-so. A few more members of staff wouldn’t go amiss.

    On arrival at the hotel I was greeted by name which was a nice touch as I hadn’t checked in yet. I think I must be been the last guest of the day to check-in.

    I arranged an airport pickup with portoairporttransfersto.com as it was late night with a tired toddler in tow. It went smoothly with the driver waiting outside arrivals and the Mercedes Van (I booked an E-class estate) having a car seat in place. At 40.5euros including late night fee a little expensive but worth it for the convenience. The driver, Ricardo, was great and gave us a lot of information.

    Now we are off to SSDV.

  • YC says:
    13 Sep13 September 10:38

    Any reports on new platinums having 24k referral bonus? And upgraded from gold having £200 restaurant?

    • Reney says:
      13 Sep13 September 10:45

      I think for the last few days, at least one person on the chat every day reported getting the £200 credit.

      • Rob says:
        13 Sep13 September 10:57

        We’re covering this tomorrow. Now seems pretty clear that the £200 is being given.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          13 Sep13 September 11:10

          If you cover it isn’t it more likely everyone agrees Amex will read and stop giving it?

          • Andrew says:
            13 Sep13 September 11:24

            But they are adding it to people’s accounts automatically after a few days of opening, without request, so it seems clear it’s a policy rather than a good will gesture on a case by case basis, like a retention bonus. It’s a good way to get people to try the card – first 4 months free effectively, plus a sign up bonus if you qualify and spend enough.

          • Guernsey Globetrotter says:
            13 Sep13 September 11:32

            Sounds great – application for Plat now referred from Mrs T’s BAPP – £200 dining credit for me and 12k avios referral for her, all for a monthly fee of £48 ? Yes please 🙂

        • YC says:
          13 Sep13 September 11:38

          Can someone remind me the amex card policy again? Is it 2 charge and 3 credit? Just thinking about it, its better to not upgrade and just refer for 24k!

          • Rob says:
            13 Sep13 September 11:47

            This seems to have been quietly dropped. It is a couple of years since anyone reported being refused a card on these grounds.

    • Harry T says:
      13 Sep13 September 11:52

      @Rob is it possible to hold more than three credit cards with Amex then?

    • S says:
      13 Sep13 September 12:55

      Is the cap still 90k?

      • Rob says:
        13 Sep13 September 12:58

        Yes

        • Metty says:
          13 Sep13 September 18:18

          I’ve just been refused the Accelerating Business Amex as

          ‘Currently, we only accept applications from customers who have less than four credit products with American Express®. Our records show that you do not meet this criteria and we are therefore unable to continue with your most recent application.’

          I admit that I do have a lit of Amex cards in my drawer (~10?) but will risk ringing them tomorrow out of curiosity to find out what the rules are.

          • QFFlyer says:
            14 Sep14 September 04:17

            It was definitely pretty well known a few years ago that there was a limit of 2x personal credit and 2x personal charge cards per person. I managed to get a third credit card from them simultaneously. No idea if this is still the rule, but sounds like it is.

          • QFFlyer says:
            14 Sep14 September 04:18

            Can’t edit, but my brain just clicked that it’s a business card you’ve applied for, so ignore me.

    • QFFlyer says:
      14 Sep14 September 04:16

      Yep, OH opened a new Plat last week, has both the GBP200 and 24k referral on her account.

  • Steve says:
    13 Sep13 September 10:45

    Returned from a BA Holiday two weeks ago , booked whilst double tier point offer was running . Only received 40 for each leg ( CE to Palma) called BA and outlined that 80 points should read 160 . They said it could take 4 weeks to get the missing points ? Anyone else experienced this ?

    • Jonathan says:
      13 Sep13 September 10:54

      Yes, quite a few reports of this. I’d leave it at least 6 weeks before chasing as it seems to be a manual process.

      • Steve says:
        13 Sep13 September 10:57

        Thanks Jonathon

      • Rich says:
        13 Sep13 September 11:17

        This could be a problem for me. I’m planning on a BA Holiday when my TP year resets on 8 Dec, then I plan to use my silver status for a trip departing 25 Jan, 7 weeks later.

        I’ll be a bit miffed if I’m not Silver by then, as I am relying on it to avoid extra baggage fees for two people for 4 segments!

    • James says:
      13 Sep13 September 11:15

      It’s in the T&C. Bonus tier points will be posted one month after the return flight. If they don’t post by then call BA.

      https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/executive-club/offers/holidays-double-tier-points

    • Bob S says:
      13 Sep13 September 11:45

      I have had the same problem. I returned over 7 weeks ago now and still have not had the additional tier points credited. I raised a complaint with BA on 1 September but still haven’t heard anything! There must be a large number of others affected by this?

    • Optimus Prime says:
      13 Sep13 September 12:10

      They aren’t posting automatically, obviously didn’t bother update their IT for this promotion. There’s a thread on FT about it – everyone including myself has had to chase. Don’t wait 6 weeks, just raise a complaint through BAEC forms after a month.

  • Nicky says:
    13 Sep13 September 10:48

    Just had an e-Mail from my travel company telling me my Cunard trans-Atlantic trip over Christmas is being brought forward 2 days: a real headache for me regarding flight to Southampton from Newcastle, booked hotel, dogs in kennels etc. Spoke to company who tell me no option to cancel and receive refund??? All extra money to change bookings etc….any suggestions as to what I can do please

    • Anna says:
      13 Sep13 September 10:57

      What do the Ts and Cs say? Could they be in breach of contract? I don’t know if there’s a reliable cruise industry regulator.

      • Nicky says:
        13 Sep13 September 12:09

        Thanks Anna, I have looked at the T & C’s. Apparently if it is a ‘significant’ change I should be entitled to a full refund – significant is quoted as changing departure more than 12 hours unless an unforeseen circumstance … so travel company will no doubt argue that it is out of their hands that Cunard made the change. So even though I suspect the cruise will be cancelled anyway I still have to go through the headache of re-arranging the flight/hotel/kennels to 2 days earlier.

    • Reney says:
      13 Sep13 September 12:04

      Would your travel insurance cover anything?

    • Aaron C says:
      13 Sep13 September 16:31

      Aren’t Cunard offering free changes? You could move it to another cruise but that would still leave you with the hassle of rearranging your transfers and kennels.

      I only know because we had a Cunard cruise booked for December that I currently don’t want to go on. They only allow people of the ship on their (expensive) tours and insist on masks almost everywhere. I decided it wasn’t really a holiday and wouldn’t be taking any cruise until the masks are gone or the USA reopens and I can take one ex-Florida without the mandates.

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