The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 14th September

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• Blindman says:

  14 Sep14 September 09:00

  AMEX BAAP
  If any one cares.
  Met the spend got the 40K Avios in the first weeks.

  First billing statement Charged £250 as others have said.

  Rang in to cancel (always the plan)
  Amex quick to point out their error-the extra £55 will be refunded no issues.

  Asked to downgrade to the free BA-Not an option on the system

  Offered an extra 5000 Avios if I spend £1000 in the next 3 months.

  Took the offer.

  Now need to spend £1K asap as if I cancel in the next few days the card will only have cost me £195/12 = £16.25 (I think)

  Ideas?
  Ba flight then cancel to get an evoucher?

  Hotels.com advanced purchase?

  Cheers.

  • Sam says:

    14 Sep14 September 09:12

    Top up your leccy/gas bill, buy an Amazon giftcard, pay your council tax early

    • Blindman says:

      14 Sep14 September 09:32

      Done the first two

      Don’t really shop at Amazon

      My Council tax won’t take Amex-nor does it do it via Coop Pay points

      • FFoxSake says:

        14 Sep14 September 09:34

        Where do you shop? Just buy their giftcards e.g. Waitrose or Morrisons or anything in between.

        • Blindman says:

          14 Sep14 September 09:57

          Aldi

          100 x £10 I suppose

        • SteveJ says:

          14 Sep14 September 11:45

          I’d second this gift card suggestion, booking refundables and closing the account to not get stung by the points being in credit is not a good rep to be building with Amex.

      • aviosnewbie says:

        14 Sep14 September 10:09

        just for future reference, Amazon GCs are valid for 10yrs – so that gives you a lot of time! and even if you don’t shop for yourself, Amazon is a good place for Christmas gifts, etc.

        • Blindman says:

          14 Sep14 September 10:18

          Good Point

          I see Aldi vouchers are 12 months

          Morrisons 24 months.

      • Ryan Gill says:

        14 Sep14 September 11:28

        Bare in mind an opportunity will come up to buy melia points cheaply. They have some good redemptions.

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    14 Sep14 September 09:36

    Book a refundable flight ticket. Get the points, close the card and cancel the ticket.
    Get as many red flags as possible in Amex systems.

    • Blindman says:

      14 Sep14 September 10:01

      Sarcasm I suppose,

      I do not go down this MS route-unlike a lot of HfPers…

      • Anna says:

        14 Sep14 September 10:54

        Does your council accept Paypal though? This is how I pay my council tax with Amex.

    • Memesweeper says:

      14 Sep14 September 11:00

      … not to mention AMex refunds are not at their most efficient right now. I’d not be buying anything I didn’t want.

      Four new tyres? Or four winter/snows? Get the garage to store them till they’re ready to fit.

      • Blindman says:

        14 Sep14 September 12:41

        Novel idea about the tyres.

        Though luckily 4 would not cost £1k

• Ja says:

  14 Sep14 September 09:06

  I am looking to go to Toronto. Last night I looked at prices in WTP. Found the date I wanted and it was about £625. When I went to book as cash plus avios upgrade to club it was quoting £875 + 48000 avios. I thought the cash part would be the same. Not having booked cash + upgrade in years, don’t know if this is normal. Anyone know?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    14 Sep14 September 09:09

    Never do it at the same time you get silly prices and it means you no longer have a 24 hour cooling off period.

    Cash won’t be the same the difference between the taxes on a WTP redemption and a Club redemption will be payable – APD will be the same but YQ will be different.

    • Ja says:

      14 Sep14 September 09:19

      Thanks TGL

      Didn’t think of the taxes. What is YQ please?

      • AJA says:

        14 Sep14 September 09:25

        It is the fees and charges bit of TF&Cs that you always get charged over the base airfare.

      • Rob says:

        14 Sep14 September 09:29

        YQ is the ‘carrier imposed surcharge’ eg the part of the £550 taxes on an Avios business ticket which is NOT a real tax or charge and is simply a random sum added by BA. It represents about £300 of the £550.

        • Super Secret Stuff says:

          14 Sep14 September 10:18

          I think it’s basically a tax dodge 🙂

        • Jonathan says:

          14 Sep14 September 13:53

          To SSS it’s not a tax dodge as still counts as revenue/liable for VAT etc.

          2 reasons;
          a) it’s a surcharge on redemptions so brings in a lot of cash for BA to offset their relatively generous availability vs NA airlines who don’t tend to have them.
          b) the YQ isn’t included in the base fare reductions/rebates that the big corporate clients negotiate.

• Roger says:

  14 Sep14 September 09:11

  Can I still cancel BA Reward flights short haul (Avios) within 24 hours without any fees with full refund of Avios plus taxes?

  • Allan says:

    14 Sep14 September 09:18

    Yes

  • AJA says:

    14 Sep14 September 09:27

    Yes but you have to call. Can’t do it online. Good luck getting through to BA.!

  • Rhys says:

    14 Sep14 September 09:29

    No, but you could cancel it for a future travel voucher.

    • AJA says:

      14 Sep14 September 09:41

      Really ? When did that change? I understand you can get a FTV but I thought you could still cancel over tge phone within 24hours and get everything back?

      • Jake says:

        14 Sep14 September 09:44

        Within 24hrs of booking or within 24hrs of flying. If you have just booked, I understand you can get a complete refund. If 24hrs within flying, you have to take FTV

      • Rhys says:

        14 Sep14 September 09:47

        Avios tickets are only changeable up to 24 hours prior to departure.

        • Roger says:

          14 Sep14 September 09:50

          Sorry I meant within 24 hours of booking.

          Assume at least the cash ticket (with part payment using FTV) can still be cancelled within 24 hours of booking?

        • Rhys says:

          14 Sep14 September 09:52

          Yes, BA has a 24 hour cooling off policy

        • AJA says:

          14 Sep14 September 10:11

          Thanks for the clarification Rhys and Jake. I actually understood Roger to have meant cancelling within 24 hours of booking because he said without fees (and indeed he did mean that). As you say cancelling any other time the deadline is up to 24 hours before flight but it costs you the cash element you paid up to a maximum of £35.

• Allan says:

  14 Sep14 September 09:18

  Some confusing messages on the chat thread yesterday about entry to Germany. Most of the written documentation online suggests if you are fully vaccinated there are no tests required for entry but sites like Sherpa (via BA) say there is a mandatory test requirement and then small print suggesting it only applies to some. Can anybody confirm from recent personal experience that no testing is required?

  • Steve says:

    14 Sep14 September 09:45

    I think in the end agreement was reached that no tests are needed. And are you sure about Sherpa? It says in pretty big print for me:

    “No proof of negative COVID-19 test results for vaccinated travelers”

    (it does note that it is needed for the return journey).

  • Steve says:

    14 Sep14 September 09:46

    PS Sherpa link:

    https://apply.joinsherpa.com/travel-restrictions/DEU

    • Allan says:

      14 Sep14 September 09:56

      Thanks – I now see you need to specify vaccination status.

• AL says:

  14 Sep14 September 09:21

  Applied for an FTV nearly two weeks ago. Got the confirmation email – “we’ll send it if you are eligible” etc. No response yet. Are they being slow?

  • AJA says:

    14 Sep14 September 10:14

    Check your junk mail folder otherwise call BA. It shouldn’t take that long. Was it a cash flight only booking or something more complex such as a holiday or a partially flown itinerary,

    • AL says:

      14 Sep14 September 11:22

      Grand – didn’t think it should take that long. Nothing in the spam folder, so I suppose I better block out eight hours to call the Silver line… 😉

      Nothing complex. Cash booking, not flown.

      • AJA says:

        14 Sep14 September 14:32

        Another thought. Have you checked your BAEC? It could be there as an eVoucher.

        • AL says:

          14 Sep14 September 23:10

          Couldn’t spot it there…

  • Eoc says:

    14 Sep14 September 20:25

    Mine took 20 mins to come thru today

• elguiri says:

  14 Sep14 September 09:29

  Any recommendations for places to stay in Buxton with points or part of BAPP hotel deals?

  • Laura says:

    14 Sep14 September 13:54

    The Crescent is lovely, but only worth it if you have time to enjoy the spa facilities.
    No idea if it’s part of BAPP though, sorry

  • Jonathan says:

    14 Sep14 September 13:55

    Hands down The Crescent. Just had a huge refurb & is lovely. Everything else hotel wise in Buxton is meh.

    • Nick says:

      14 Sep14 September 17:53

      The Crescent is horrific under the new owners. The staff are horrible and the experience nowhere near what it should be. I genuinely left hoping they handed it back so a real operator could take over.

      The Lee Wood is decent, but overpriced unless you get a good deal (check BW website, they often do). Without question the Derbyshire oatcakes for breakfast (or go to the Indian coffee shop on the high street for a ‘full English with an Indian twist’ – 100% would have that again!)

• Andrew says:

  14 Sep14 September 09:35

  Rob any chance of partnering up with Westjet, Air Canada or even BA as part of a “Welcome back to Canada” article?

  Judging by the comments, I’m not the only one who is pondering a trip to Toronto, Vancouver or Calgary. Be good to see a worked example of a quarantine plan too…

  • Rhys says:

    14 Sep14 September 09:44

    Isn’t anyone who is double vaxxed exempt from quarantine?

    I’ve never been to Canada so if Westjet, BA or Air Canada want to pay us to go then I’m all in 🙂

  • marcw says:

    14 Sep14 September 09:58

    That only means you should think about where are you going to quarantine in case you test positive on arrival (randomly selected) or develop symptoms while you are in Canada.
    So look for hotels,… places to stay,… write them down.
    What the Canadian Gov wants to avoid is the: “I don’t know where to quarantine now” “should have told me earlier,…” situations.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      14 Sep14 September 10:20

      exactly and you are covered by your travel insurance if YOU test positive yourself so you would have a hotel stay and replacement flights reimbursed.

      Remember you aren’t covered if a member of your travel companions do and you’re not allowed to isolate together (I don’t know Canada’s rules)

• Tim says:

  14 Sep14 September 09:37

  Any recommendations for pet insurance (9 month old dog)? If it earns Avios and is a reliable provider that is obviously a bonus. Otherwise, any good recommendation is appreciated!

  • AJA says:

    14 Sep14 September 09:43

    Sainsbury’s pet insurance. You get bonus Nectar points which you can convert to Avios

  • AJA says:

    14 Sep14 September 09:45

    Current offer is 7000 NP which is 4375 Avios

  • Guernsey Globetrotter says:

    14 Sep14 September 09:56

    Bought By Many pet insurance is giving 4k Avios via the BA portal for new policies. BBM was the highest rated provider on the Which survey earlier this year when I researched it.

  • mark2 says:

    14 Sep14 September 10:15

    If your dog develops a chronic condition the Avios will pale into insignificance if the insurer declines to renew or imposes conditions.
    PetPlan insure for life i.e. will continue cover however much you claim (within the specified limit). Recommended by vets as they pay direct.

    • Tim says:

      14 Sep14 September 10:34

      Thanks AJA and GG. Bought By Many seems to offer most protection, equally is twice the price.
      @Mark2… I’ll look at PetPlan. Otherwise, I said Avios would be a *bonus*…….

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