Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

The HfP chat thread – Thursday 23rd September

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

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.

Category

General

Comments (529)

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

  • Mark says:
    23 Sep23 September 10:49

    Re the issues people have had with Creation IHG night vouchers not crediting, I had a response to my complaint yesterday. Night has now been credited, and £150 goodwill credit as well. Happy with that…. 😊

  • Toby says:
    23 Sep23 September 11:07

    BA have just cancelled a flight on our BA Holidays booking, the balance was due in a few weeks. We were thinking of cashing it in for a FTV anyway so this might be good news. Just tried calling BA Holidays to check options and it didn’t even connect. MMB doesn’t allow me to get a refund for the deposit, only change the flight. BA Holidays help page doesn’t seem to explain what happens when a flight is cancelled.

    So: HfP community can you answer 2 questions I have:

    1) As they’ve cancelled the outbound flight can I now get a full refund of our holiday deposit?

    2) Is my best bet to call them at 0800 and hope I get through?

    • Harry T says:
      23 Sep23 September 11:09

      1) Yes. You can get a full credit card refund and not just an FTV.
      2) People say to call at 7.59am or go via the US call centre on Skype.

    • MattB says:
      23 Sep23 September 11:27

      After our BA Hols flights were cancelled we had a text off BA with a link to a landing page with 3 options.

      1)move flights
      2)take voucher
      3)full refund

      If we didnt respond they would just refund us.

      • Toby says:
        23 Sep23 September 11:32

        Thanks Harry and MattB. I knew someone here would have the answers!

        I think I’ll wait to see if a text arrives, and if not call at 07:59 in a few days time. Appreciate the speedy help

  • K says:
    23 Sep23 September 11:09

    I booked a Swiss flight in First to Singapore in the Swiss February sale, however the longest leg it’s SQ metal, but still ticketed by Swiss.

    SQ no longer has First on their planes to Zurich, so have been downgraded to Business.

    What are my options? Can I cancel because it no longer has First or have to stick with Business and claim downgrade compensation via EU261? Ideally I’d like to cancel. Anyone can advice on options?

    A second smaller detail: They changed flight times a bit, giving me a 60 minute connection time in ZUR. whilst expertlyer says minimum 90 min connection, ZUR airport website says 40. Not sure which one to believe in these times. I would have thought with all these covid checks SQ would want to scrutinise all Our documents , hence a 40mins connection would be tight?

    • Super Secret Stuff says:
      23 Sep23 September 11:29

      Make sure they put on the booking notes that it is an involuntary downgrade and you should get 75% of the ticket price back. Others more versed in the topic but that is the general advice I have seen being given out

    • John says:
      23 Sep23 September 13:22

      You’ll likely arrive early, no security, plenty of time to look at docs.

      Yes you can cancel – it’s just that most people would want to stick with what will now be a very cheap business flight

  • davefl says:
    23 Sep23 September 11:10

    Does anyone have any experience of the rental car collision excess cover with Curve metal as opposed to forking out for a standalone policy?

  • Marie says:
    23 Sep23 September 11:16

    Does anyone know if BA are likely to reinstate flights to Abu Dhabi directly at some point?
    Thanks

    • KP says:
      23 Sep23 September 11:40

      Highly doubt it. They have added capacity to DXB so you can use that

    • John T says:
      23 Sep23 September 11:53

      Doubt it. Never understood why they operated it, with less tourism demand compared with DXB, no onward connection partner and such a good Etihad product.

      Just book to DXB and cab it over.

    • Babyg says:
      23 Sep23 September 12:30

      id like that too + few others here on hFP (at least for the week of the Abu Dhabi GP)…

  • Alex B says:
    23 Sep23 September 11:18

    Do you get Melia Points on a Points + Cash booking?

  • Ste C says:
    23 Sep23 September 11:20

    Just got my code to sign up for Chase, joined the waiting list at 6:50am yesterday

  • N says:
    23 Sep23 September 11:50

    Hi guys, I’m landing back from Dubai early morning Saturday 13th November, and flying out to the US on the afternoon of Wednesday 17th November. ideally i want to optimize in terms of the tests i have to take. i know day 2 LF tests will be allowed by then, but then I’d have to take a PCR test 3 days before flying out to the US

    therefore, can i take a day 2 PCR test on the Sunday, which will satisfy both requirements? (entry into UK and pre departure PCR for US?)

    • TGLoyalty says:
      23 Sep23 September 12:00

      Have they changed the requirements to USA? You can use a LF right now.

      • N says:
        23 Sep23 September 13:48

        Oh I just assumed they accepted PCR tests upon arrival, but you’re right – it looks like LFs are fine. My only concern is if I go for a ‘fit to fly to the US’ LF test, and I put that on my PLF coming back from Dubai. Would they accept that, as it’s not officially a ‘day 2’ test?

        • TGLoyalty says:
          23 Sep23 September 16:03

          But there is talk of an LF becoming an official day 2 test.

          My day 2 pcr certificate from Randox had all of the correct info to enter a country that required a test. No specific reason why the LF’s would be different but if in doubt Randox for £43 will satisfy both.

          • Rob says:
            23 Sep23 September 16:14

            How is LF meant to work? The ‘guilty’ line fades after a few minutes. You can’t post it.

    • Dominic says:
      23 Sep23 September 12:35

      If you’re willing to break the rules, get a pre departure test and work some magic on the PLF

    • Tracey says:
      23 Sep23 September 13:20

      Yes should be fine, as long as the day 2 PCR test is an official one, in case they need to sequence it. I would be inclined to book it early, as the suppliers may stop selling day2 PCRs if the demand is only for LFTs at that time.

    • IanM says:
      23 Sep23 September 13:45

      Have the opening date details for USA been released? I thought it was just ‘november’

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Learn more on our About page.

VAA

Latest comments

Latest Forum Posts

Get 30,000 points bonus with American Express Platinum

Amex Gold

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.3 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

Get 20,000 bonus points and your first year free with American Express Gold

Amex Gold