Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

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.

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Comments (484)

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

  • Alex says:

    On my way to LHR T5 – lounge options are Plaza or Galleries. What would you pick?

    • Harry T says:

      IMO Plaza Premium T5 is superior to BA Galleries. But I haven’t visited PP since the start of covid.

      • Andrew says:

        Galleries First is fine, Galleries club isn’t. Depends on the access your ticket or status gets you.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        I’m not so sure it was looking very shabby last September. though the paid for cocktails aren’t bad.

        Hopefully Galleries Club T5b opens at some point.

      • Rob says:

        Would generally agree. Recent reports from Galleries suggest overcrowding and 30 minutes wait for food, although to be fair they were very punctual at 6am when we flew to Spain last month.

        • meta says:

          My recent experience was that there was no QR ordering of hot drinks (just assisted), so you need to wait for food and hot drinks separately. Yet, juice and water is available for self-serve. Ok-ish if you’re travelling as a couple, but even that is chaotic. They forgot an item I ordered, then tried to argue that I didn’t order it until I showed them on the screen. I’m not stepping in the Galleries again for a while. I made a complaint via their survey.

        • @mkcol says:

          Was there at 1130AM on Tuesday & it was a ~7 minute wait for food & drink after ordering through the app.

    • Graham Walsh says:

      First lounge was quite busy on Monday. I would chose Plaza over Galleries North/South pre Covid.

  • barnaby100 says:

    At Heathrow. Flying tomorrow. PCR just back etc. Verifly done. Is there an option to check in bags tonight?

  • YC says:

    If u have done by verify and got boarding pass on the phone. Do u still need to go to check in desk?

  • Anna says:

    25% off 6 or more bottles at Asda. No panic buying, mind 🤣

  • Dave says:

    Quick questions:
    Is the supplementary platinum card able to get the hotel status benefits as well?
    When the PP card came with platinum card and the supplementary platinum card will be posted?

    Thanks guys

    • Rich says:

      1 Yes

      2 Not sure I understand the question. Each PP card should arrive automatically, very quickly after each Amex card arrives.

    • Rob says:

      Yes to Q1

      Q2 – Priority Pass should arrive separately in the post a few days after your Platinum card

    • Lee G says:

      Q2 – we received our PP cards yesterday, opened the Platinum card 6th September so just over 2 weeks for us.

  • Simon says:

    Morning, BA 241 help…

    I’m looking to book our first trip using Avios and the 241 voucher, hopefully in Business class. If I’ve read it right, I can book the outbound leg approx 355 days out. I guess at this time I won’t be able to book the return leg (going for 2 weeks). Will I be able to use the existing voucher on the return when available or do I need to wait until both outbound and return is available?

    Appreciate any help on how I might book this.

    Thanks

    • AJA says:

      Book outbound at t-355 using the 2-4-1. Then in two weeks phone BA to book return and add to 2-4-1 booking. Or book return online if you have enough Avios and then phone BA to add to existing 2-4-1 booking for 50% refund of Avios.

      • Simon says:

        Thanks for your help, appreciated!

        • Matt says:

          Depending on where you’re going there may be an advantage or disadvantage to booking the return flight separately then calling up to get half of the avios refunded. The cash element isn’t recalculated, so if you’re going to North America or a few other places you’re better off booking it over the phone. If you’re going to HKG (or much of Asia) you’re better off booking online as a separate booking.

  • CB says:

    I chatted with amex plat to switch to a monthly payment of the fee. that’s what they wrote:

    we would like to invite you to consider the Platinum Charge monthly fee Card:
    This card gives you all the same benefits you get today on your Platinum Card but you would pay your fee on a monthly basis rather than annually.
    The fee will be £48 per month which equals a total annual cost of £576 which is £1 higher than your current annual fee.
    This will be billed on each statement from enrolment.

    What I found odd was that they call it “Platinum Charge monthly fee Card”..
    just wanted to share

    • Harry T says:

      Maybe English isn’t their first language?

    • TGLoyalty says:

      It’s just because the fee is slightly different. It’s exactly the same product.

      • Andrew says:

        They probably have to call it a different product name as they aren’t allowed to charge people different prices for the same product.

    • MinR says:

      When I swapped to the monthly payments, they sent out a new card in the post as if it was a brand new application. There was also a credit check on my account albeit it was a soft one if I remember correctly.

      When questioned, they conveniently advised that the new card was ‘more secure’. I think the change to monthly gets treated as a new application in their system.

  • Triath5 says:

    Curve customer service almost as atrocious as BA…I received an e-mail 2 weeks ago or so asking for supporting documentation for some of my transactions which I promptly provided.

    I have e-mailed them repeatedly for an ETA of resolution, acknowledgement of my e-mail, or any signs of life and have not heard back. I wrote through the ‘chat’ function in the app and going on 5+ days without an answer (“it can take up to 48h to get back to you”)…

    Has anyone faced this / know of any alternate way of getting in touch with these people? My account is frozen, and I don’t even know if they’re processing what I sent them.

    • mark2 says:

      When you do get a reply it will probably be to a different question!

    • JSemity says:

      yes, I am also facing this. I have ‘chatted’ multiple times, emailed support@ and no reply now for a week. Every transaction is getting declined for an unknown reason (not underlying card) and these jokers don’t reply.

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