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The HfP chat thread – Friday 24th 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.

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Comments (484)

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

  • AJA says:

    I think so. Your referral bonus is separate to any earning bonuses for the person receiving the referral.

  • S says:

    How good is Qsuite? Looking to book Manchester to Maldives and ideally wanted to try Qsuite. On the dates we can travel the only option left is a 20 hour 2 stop journey via DOH and CMB.

    Other option is a 15 hour 1 stop journey on Etihad J. For those who have been on both is the extra 5 hours in CMB worth it to travel in Qsuite?

    Thanks in advance

    • TGLoyalty says:

      Honesty no and I say this because Qatar is notorious for switching out aircraft and you can end up with a 5 hour detour on exactly the same plane you would’ve got direct.

      If it’s a cash flight perhaps the extra TP swings the equation though.

    • Blenz101 says:

      Both are some of the best business class seats in the sky. QSuite has the edge but not worth another 5 hours of travel times and the hassle of an additional change particularly as covid restrictions could throw up unexpected complications at any point.

      I’m guessing you will have even more travel to do on arrival at MLE as well to get to your resort.

    • Rich says:

      CMB is not much fun to hang out at for 5 hours, either.

      • Michael C says:

        And Sri Lanka is still in total lockdown until at least October!

      • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

        Completely agree, Colombo itself is interesting for a couple nights if you want to build in a stopover (especially from MLE where you may have had to fly from your resort already).

    • Harry T says:

      QR are notorious for equipment swaps. Just book the best itinerary for your travel plans.

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    BuyAGift – 20% off on Amex, can be combined with taco bell 11%.
    Anyone used it before? Is it easy to redeem for experiences?

  • JSemity says:

    Frustrating – finally got through to a Virgin Atlantic WhatsApp agent last night after multiple failed attempts (contacting me at 3am previously?!?). Only to be told I could not reschedule one of my flights to the desired date as there was ‘no availability in UC’ (on any of the flights of the day). This is clearly incorrect as they are selling cash fares in UC on those flights.

    Formal complaint has been lodged.

    • ChasP says:

      its ether a change of policy or an agent who knows sweet FA
      Had no problem moving an Orlando flight from August to Easter even though there was no redemption availability

      • JSemity says:

        thing is, they were happy to move outbound to a date that had no redemption availability. All very odd.

        • ChrisC says:

          Was this a volutary change or one resulting from a cancellation?

          Voluntary change does require points seats to be available. Cash seats being on offer makes no difference to that.

          After a cancellation there doesn’t

          • Magic Mike says:

            There seem to be a few people in the VS office who don’t know the rules. Try again and you’ll probably get one who does.

  • Alex M says:

    Any recent experience on taking ba to mcol re rescheduled flight (counts as delayed, me thinks) and expenses associated with that? I received a final answer from ba refusing reimbursement as they had rescheduled the flight more than 14 days prior to the flight. I plan to submit mcol but want some reassurance before i do that.

    • Anna says:

      What are you claiming for? Have you taken the flight?
      I have used CEDR previously which was extremely well handled and cost nothing, though it sounds like both they and MCOL are dealing with high volumes of claims at the moment.
      14 days only relates to compensation, however if you accepted the re-scheduled flight I doubt that it would be classed as a delay.

    • Blenz101 says:

      Some more detail is needed. By how much was the flight rescheduled, it needs to be over 4 hours. Was this inbound or outbound? What expense did you actually incur that you wish to claim.

      You won’t get compensation notified that far in advance plus they will cite Covid.

      Some consequential losses if that’s what you are claiming may be covered by your travel insurance if you don’t fancy MCOL..

  • SteveJ says:

    Yes, as long as card application accepted referrer gets bonus, regardless of eligibility of the referred

  • Nick Booker says:

    Any new Airtime codes guys?

    • SteveJ says:

      Future forum, I would subscribe to a thread on airtime codes!

    • Si says:

      I see Airtime mentioned a lot on here. I’ve just read up on it. My phone bill is only about £10pm as legacy SIM only rate but guess there is no minimum tariff to qualify??

      Can it be used in conjunction with the similar Sainsbury’s nectar rewards product? I hadn’t signed up for that as didn’t want organisations rummaging through my accounts and purchases while I was “Bending” every which way, but as that has now been curtailed, guess it doesn’t matter…?

      • Rich says:

        +1 I keep seeing it mentioned but never got round to it.

        It seems it doesn’t work with my network (Virgin) and only works with Visa and MC, so limited value.

        Is there any way to get a value higher than your monthly bill – which for me is £10?

        • TGLoyalty says:

          Looks like they can pay out via PayPal but you have to contact support.

          • David says:

            Where is the detail on this?

          • TGLoyalty says:

            Detail on what? They paid me £30 via PayPal after I said I can’t cash out to my phone provider.

          • David says:

            “Looks like they can pay out…” suggests some written info/t&c, don’t you think?
            Would have been helpful to be clearer in original comment.

      • Tracey says:

        My monthly bill is around £7, when I use a £10 credit from AR it covers one month’s bill and makes my balance negative, the next months bill is then only around £4, so it isn’t a problem at all.

    • Tracey says:

      I think they’ve woken up. The last code I entered yesterday showed as being used too many times already, never had that before.

    • Rich says:

      Well it can’t hurt to try – may be able to get some value out of it. Anyone want to share a referral code?

  • Amy C says:

    Virgin upgrade voucher: I’m very confident I have acquired another voucher in the last week having crossed the 10K spending threshold on Monday. Yet voucher is not apparent on the CC app. Does it usually appear immediately or do I have to wait for next statement to be generated? My year ends next Friday. Can’t see where it would be on flying club screen either as that only updates once a month at statement date. Thanks in advance.

    • Andrew H says:

      Immediate in my Virgin Red app.

      By “another” do you mean two in one year? is that possible?

      • Amy C says:

        No, I just meant to add to the one I’ve booked but not yet used and the other one from last year not yet utilised. I’ve got Virgin Red app but can’t see it there. Is it hiding somewhere? It’s not under ‘activity’ which is where I’d expect it.

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