The HfP chat thread – Saturday 25th September

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• A says:

  25 Sep25 September 10:13

  Had several weeks of the 10% back at Morissons on my Virgin credit card which stacked nicely with the 5% at all supermarkets. Both ended last week and didn’t renew. Does anyone else still have this? Has it gone and comeback before?

• Andrew says:

  25 Sep25 September 10:29

  Do we expect that BA will reopen T5 arrivals lounge in November once transatlantic picks up?

  • Blenz101 says:

    25 Sep25 September 10:46

    It’s already open isn’t it?

    • Nick says:

      25 Sep25 September 10:56

      Yes, opened a month ago.

      • Andrew says:

        25 Sep25 September 11:16

        Oh that’s good news. Passed me by clearly – I thought it was just being used for that silly bag drop thing.

• Dave says:

  25 Sep25 September 10:41

  Any idea how long points take to post when adding a supplementary card to a Amex Gold? Added the person Tuesday and seen nowt yet..

  • Jay says:

    25 Sep25 September 10:55

    Usually the day the card is delivered so a couple of days. If nothing do online chat.

  • Anna says:

    25 Sep25 September 13:08

    A few of us have posted here that no points have posted and chat said it can take up to 60 days – that’s probably the response you will get!

• John Ledger says:

  25 Sep25 September 10:54

  Does anyone know if the Indian manufactured Astra Zeneca covid vaccine is accepted in Poland.
  My NHS Covid passport has my 1st dose as AZ Vaxzevria but with batch number 4120Z003. There’s no mention of Covidshield anywhere which I know Poland will not accept but it seems strange that it has a Covidshield batch number.
  My second dose of the vaccine is fine.
  Travelling on 19th October for a family wedding and don’t really want to quarantine for 10 days.
  I’m eligible for a booster dose so also wondering if having that ASAP might be a sensible option.

  • JDB says:

    25 Sep25 September 11:12

    All NHS vaccine certs say Vaxzevria even if you had Covishield as the MHRA considers them to be the same, so you can only see from the batch number you quote that you had one dose of the Indian one. As to whether it’s a good idea to accelerate your booster that is something you need medical advice for.

    • John Ledger says:

      25 Sep25 September 11:17

      So will the authorities in Poland accept it as Vaxzevria or Covidshield?

      • JDB says:

        25 Sep25 September 11:24

        As Poland has explicitly not accepted non EMA approved vaccines and they could see your Covishield if they looked, there is a risk, but others who have travelled to Poland more recently might be able to advise better.

    • Jeff Greene says:

      25 Sep25 September 11:57

      You can’t accelerate a booster. You won’t be able to book until 6 months after the second

      • John Ledger says:

        25 Sep25 September 13:26

        Yes, just realised that. Although I’m over 50, I had my 2nd dose back in May so won’t be eligible until November.

        • Pete M says:

          25 Sep25 September 15:09

          In all my travels this year (admittedly mostly Europe + Mexico) I have not come across a country that would be even remotely interested in your vaccine batch number.

• AL says:

  25 Sep25 September 11:02

  Bought a new iPhone. Gadget insurance recommendations welcome. AppleCare is obvious answer but no points from it and is more expensive than others on market.

  • Tony Soprano says:

    25 Sep25 September 11:13

    I use the phone insurance bundled with Nationwide Flexplus account. Two claims over the years (both screen damage), very straightforward.

    • Tony says:

      25 Sep25 September 11:27

      This. The free breakdown cover is handy too.

    • Adam says:

      25 Sep25 September 13:55

      Nationwide +1
      90 days Nationwide (£75 Excess)

      • Adam says:

        25 Sep25 September 13:58

        Not sure why my earlier reply got messed up:
        Nationwide +1
        Less than 90 days claim on Amex – £50 Excess
        More than 90 days claim on Nationwide – £75 Excess

  • Blenz101 says:

    25 Sep25 September 11:27

    Why not self insure? Even with the Flexplus mentioned its £156 a year and then £75 excess for a claim. Out of warranty screen repairs direct with Apple isn’t much more than £250.

    If you think you are going to lose the phone the maths is a bit different but only you know how often you misplace valuables.

    • Richie says:

      25 Sep25 September 14:18

      Also consider how much the iPhone has devalued by month 7.

  • Rich says:

    25 Sep25 September 12:20

    I tend to use MSE for this sort of thing, he does the research. You’re looking at £70/ yr for the new iPhone, which seems expensive to me.

    Don’t forget, you get 90 days purchase protection if you bought with Amex, so I guess that takes the price down to £70 for 15 months.

  • Tracy says:

    25 Sep25 September 13:18

    Nationwide +1

  • The Streets says:

    25 Sep25 September 15:05

    Curve Metal has been good to me

  • Brian W says:

    25 Sep25 September 16:30

    I have this policy, covers every iPhone, iPad, MacBook, Apple Watch, Airpod etc in the house hold. Up to 2 claims per year.

    Helpucover.co.uk

    £14.99 a month
    Unlimited number of items may be registered
    Up to £1,500 cover per 12 month period subject to claims excess(es)
    No registration required for items worth less than £150. Any item over £150 must be registered otherwise the maximum cover will be £150.
    Cover includes items owned by you and members of your family living at your address
    Worldwide cover for up to 90 days
    Repair or replacement cover for mechanical or electrical breakdown of your items following expiry of a manufacturer’s warranty or guarantee
    Your no claims bonus on other insurance not affected
    Excess of £50 per item.

    • Rich says:

      25 Sep25 September 16:49

      2 claim and 1500 limit?

      That doesn’t sound like much headroom for a policy that is supposed to cover so many gadgets for a whole household.

      • Brian W says:

        25 Sep25 September 18:42

        How many gadgets do you lose a year 🤷🏼‍♂️ 🤦🏼‍♂️

• Toddy says:

  25 Sep25 September 11:32

  Trying to book American Airlines flights (Miami to Orlando) with Avios and would appreciate some help.

  When I search on the BA website, it only gives me a small selection of the available daily flights.

  For example on the 22nd April, I can only select the 07:15 & 15:30 (the 08:30, 10:27, 13:40 are all missing).

  Is this because they no longer have Avios availability? Or is there an alternative way to book to get a broader selection?

  Thanks

  • ChrisC says:

    25 Sep25 September 11:49

    When you look on the AA site for a points booking what level of awards does is show for those other flights?

    BA only get access to saver awards priced flights.

    • Toddy says:

      25 Sep25 September 12:16

      The ‘missing’ flights are priced between 17.5k-21k points. The available flights are 12/12.5k.
      That’ll be the reason then!
      Thanks (also to xcalx too)

  • xcalx says:

    25 Sep25 September 11:51

    The 0830 and 1340 will be in a higher award Cat on AA only the lowest award level Cats on AA are available to book with Avios.

• Aston100 says:

  25 Sep25 September 11:43

  Cancelled a BA Holidays (disinclined to travel).
  Received an email from BA advising I now have a voucher for the full amount.
  Was unable to apply this to any bookings that include some payment with Avios. Seems it can only be used towards cash-only bookings (including the ability to apply it retrospectively to existing cash bookings it seems).

  Reviewing my plans for the next 18 months, there is little chance I’ll be doing any more BA cash-only bookings (though I acknowledge the voucher expires end of Sept 2023).

  Is there a risk that this voucher will eventually expire and I would lose the amount held on it?

  • Blenz101 says:

    25 Sep25 September 11:52

    You have a voucher with an expiry date of Sept 2023 and you are asking if it expires?

    If BA had canceled your holiday you would be able to get a refund. That you no longer wish to travel is a voucher with a very generous expiry date.

  • ChrisC says:

    25 Sep25 September 11:54

    There would be merry hell to pay if that happened so yes they would either have to extend or refund.

    I know some EU countries have passed laws that state that if a passenger hasn’t used a voucher within the voucher period then the airline has to refund once that period has passed.

    • Blenz101 says:

      25 Sep25 September 11:58

      Don’t be so silly. If it is the customer who decides they don’t want to travel then there is no automatic right to a refund on a package holiday. Travel insurance may cover this in some circumstances but not for being “disinclined”.

      Also the UK is not in the EU and even if another country has passed a law relating to vouchers that doesn’t make it law in England and Wales.

      • ChrisC says:

        25 Sep25 September 12:26

        Why am I being silly?

        BA have given him a voucher. They could have said “not our fault yiure cancelling so no refund” but they didn’t.

        It’s a reasonable question for people to ask about what happens if they are unable to use their vouchers.

        I used that as an example of what some other countries have done re airline vouchers. I never said the UK had to follow suit

        • Blenz101 says:

          25 Sep25 September 12:42

          No, you stated his required voucher was going to be extended or refunded. This is ‘silly’ in terms of being bad advice.

          If BA Hols wanted to issue a voucher with unlimited validity for customers deciding not to travel it could have done so. The fact is that it expires in two years which is more than a reasonable period in which to use it.

          The UK isn’t going to pass legislation banning the use of credit notes where it is the customer who has decided to cancel a transaction.

        • Blenz101 says:

          25 Sep25 September 12:43

          required = ftv. dam autocorrect!

        • ChrisC says:

          25 Sep25 September 13:00

          How do you know the UK isn’t going to pass such legislation.?

          Other countries wern’t either until they did because of public pressure.

          BA didn’t have a BWC policy until it decided it had to.

        • Blenz101 says:

          25 Sep25 September 13:17

          Chris why not accept you are wrong? You gave dud advice. A voucher with an expiry date given as goodwill gesture is going to expire.

          If you now think that the law is going to be changed to retrospectively allow Aston100 to get a refund on a holiday he/she no longer wants then good luck to you.

          The law of the land has always been that you have no automatic right to a refund if you change your mind (distance selling regulations aside) and that isn’t going to change.

          This is not the same as an airline cancelling a flight and not refunding.

  • Anna says:

    25 Sep25 September 13:14

    What do you mean you weren’t able to apply it? You need to email the voucher back to BA holidays (just reply to the original email) and ask them to apply it to your new booking. This is clearly stated in the email! They will then refund the amount to your payment card. Don’t mention that the new booking contains avios as they don’t check, just say, “Please apply this voucher to new booking ref ABC123”.

    • GHT says:

      25 Sep25 September 13:23

      ChrisC – probably safest that if you give advice you base it on the current law or make clear you’re assuming there’s a future change in legislation.

      Aston100 – as it stands, absent a change in law, when your voucher expires you’ll lose the value and won’t get a refund from BA (particularly as this is a “you decided not to travel” situation). Who knows what BA does in terms of policy for these types of voucher – they may extend – but it’s a neat piece of balance sheet management if they let them expire

      • Nick says:

        25 Sep25 September 13:58

        Whether they’ll be extended depends a lot on what happens between now and then, probably also on how many are still outstanding on a given ‘decision day’.

        The EU Commission has made it clear privately to BA that they will expect and enforce voucher refunds for European customers on expiry. But as the UK has opted out, our government would have to pass legislation for it to apply here – and they’ve been equally clear they’ll support British airlines in not doing so. Obviously u-turns are their speciality so this could of course change.

    • Memesweeper says:

      25 Sep25 September 14:21

      +1

      if they refuse, ask where in BWC T&Cs at the time you booked you were warned about this restriction – which will be a struggle because, last time I checked, there wasn’t any such restriction on the use of vouchers for a particular type of booking

      • Blenz101 says:

        25 Sep25 September 14:25

        Seems pretty clear to me!

        “When does the voucher expire?

        The voucher expires on 30 September 2023.

        Your voucher can be used as payment, or part payment, for a new future booking. Your new trip booked using your voucher must be fully completed by 30 September 2023 (departure and return).”

      • Anna says:

        25 Sep25 September 14:52

        Exactly – just send the email! Worked for me with £1500 of FTVs recently.

        • Aston100 says:

          25 Sep25 September 16:16

          Well it didn’t work for me I’m afraid. Either you were lucky, or I was unlucky and they checked the new booking and found it wasn’t eligible for the voucher due to the presence of Avios in the new booking.

        • davef says:

          25 Sep25 September 20:02

          Send it to where?

          I’ve just tried replying to both the email address on the FTV and the email address on the BA holidays booking and both bounced back with address not monitored messages.

    • Aston100 says:

      25 Sep25 September 16:15

      Anna – that is exactly what I did. Simply gave them a booking ref and asked for the voucher to be used/offset against that.
      BA checked the booking ref and found it was one where Avios had been used. They advised they can’t apply the voucher because of that.

      • Anna says:

        25 Sep25 September 16:58

        It’s not clear what you did though – it sounds as though you were actually speaking to them as opposed to just sending the email back with your new booking ref.
        In any case, I would just send the email again with the request and see what response you get. If they still refuse, ask for it to be escalated. I used 4 vouchers to get money refunded on 2 new 241 bookings and none of them were queried. As someone pointed out, there’s nothing in the Ts and Cs to say they can’t be used in this way.

• Rash says:

  25 Sep25 September 12:08

  Hi all, leaving for Lisbon on Oct 4th (Easyjet) so looks like the UK Covid certificate is not accepted and I’ll need an antigen test. According to MSE the British airways code gets me the antigen test for £18, hopefully I can use a future BA booking code. The return seems confusing to me though, does anyone know if I need a negative test result for returning back to the UK? I have seen that after Oct 4th this might not be required?

  • Rich says:

    25 Sep25 September 12:45

    After 4 Oct you won’t need a negative test to board your fight back to the UK (assuming you’re fully jabbed), but you will need to have booked a Day 2 PCR test, and fill in a PLF.

    ‘Later in October’ (no date announced) the Day 2 test will get easier and cheaper, because you will be able to use a lateral flow.

  • TheOtherN says:

    25 Sep25 September 15:55

    From 0400 4th Oct, no test needed to board flight **if fully vaxxed** (including mixed vaccines). Amber and Green lists become “Rest Of World”, pre-booked Day 2 PCR required, entered on PLF, Day 8 no longer required, 10 days isolation no longer required. Be prepared for confusion if you are flying ON the 4th, as not all staff on all airlines may have been briefed.

    https://www.gov.uk/guidance/red-amber-and-green-list-rules-for-entering-england

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