The HfP chat thread – Thursday 30th September

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• Rash says:

  30 Sep30 September 10:25

  Hi guys, supposed to be flying from Manchester to Frankfurt LH939 on the 3rd of Oct afternoon. The flight no longer shows as bookable on Lufthansa either in economy or business (possible as it may be sold out) is there any other way I can check whether the flight is running? When I log into my booking at Lufthansa it shows as normal

  • Richie says:

    30 Sep30 September 10:31

    My guess is sold out.

    • tony says:

      30 Sep30 September 11:06

      The LH website lets you look at flight status for about a week in advance.

      You’re due to park at gate B22 apparently!

    • Pete M says:

      30 Sep30 September 11:09

      EF shows availability completely zeroed out, which is unusual and can sometimes suggest a cancellation to come:
      J0 C0 D0 Z0 P0 Y0 B0 M0 U0 H0 Q0 V0 W0 S0 T0 L0 K0
      But it could also mean it’s completely full as they’ve consolidated another flight into it. The seat map certainly doesn’t look full, but that could be because a lot of people haven’t booked seats. LH 949 at 06:10 is showing plenty of availability:
      J4 C4 D2 Z0 P0 Y9 B9 M9 U9 H9 Q9 V6 W0 S0 T0 L0 K0

• Matty says:

  30 Sep30 September 10:29

  If I cancel a BA Holiday will I receive a voucher?

  • Jord says:

    30 Sep30 September 11:03

    yes

    • Michael C says:

      30 Sep30 September 11:37

      So you don’t lose the deposit, it just becomes a voucher?

      • Anna says:

        30 Sep30 September 12:09

        Yes while BWC still applies.

• Nick G says:

  30 Sep30 September 10:31

  I posted a few days ago about availability not showing for QR on the AA site. I can’t seem to find any on BA now. I’m looking at obvious routes like Frankfurt to Doha for next April. I previously had no issues now I can’t find any at all. Is it just me????

  • Richie says:

    30 Sep30 September 10:34

    Easter can be very busy.

    • Anna says:

      30 Sep30 September 10:37

      Might also coincide with Ramadan/Eid?

      • Sandra says:

        30 Sep30 September 10:48

        Ramadan starts 2 April 2022 lasting until the end of the month but shouldn’t stop you flying, although probably not the best time to be in Qatar (or any other Muslim country) if you don’t need to be as you will be quite restricted.

  • Phil H says:

    30 Sep30 September 20:52

    I’ve checked various dates and routes from Doha to mainland Europe, can’t find any availability at all.

• S says:

  30 Sep30 September 10:33

  Hi

  We are planning on spending a week in Egypt early next year. Maybe Cairo then Luxor. Would have been nice to visit Aswan and Abu Simbel but I think this maybe cramming too much in 1 week.

  Marriott Mena House and Hilton Luxor are likeliest stays but would love to hear from others who have suggestions who have stayed in Cairo and Luxor in the past. Any other to-do suggestions or top picks to visit would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

  • JDB says:

    30 Sep30 September 10:50

    The Mena House is excellent. It’s right by the great pyramid, so quite far from the city but does mean you have resort type facilities. Top tip, if you weren’t planning it already, is to get a private guide who will take you to all sorts of places you would otherwise miss, avoid crowds, use secret doors, visit inside the right pyramid as well as being the history of Egypt and these sites alive etc. Same goes for visiting the city and the museum. The concierge can advise; don’t take a guide at the entrances!

    • Polly says:

      1 Oct1 October 22:54

      Yes, can concur with Mena House being really good. Love to go back there sometime, also.

  • Genghis says:

    30 Sep30 September 11:01

    I went to Egypt for three weeks during my student days – very fun place, but got ill, a lot – and remember the best thing we did as a tour of the White Desert from Bahariya Oasis. A bit out of the way from what you’re planning, however.

    • ankomonkey says:

      30 Sep30 September 13:15

      +1 for Bahariya/White Desert. Camped out overnight in the desert a couple of years ago. Kids loved it!

  • davefl says:

    30 Sep30 September 11:10

    To get to Abu Simbel from Cairo, I left the hotel around 3.30am, for a flight to Awsan, hopped on the flight to AS and arrived there somewhere around 7.30am, and was back on the plane to Aswan for lunchtime if memory serves.
    It was a long long day.
    Then I cruised back from Aswan to Luxor over the next 2-3 days.
    Well worth it but tiring
    With the new grand museum finally open (10 mins away) that will eat up an entire day

    • Amy C says:

      30 Sep30 September 18:41

      It’s not open, not until November 2022 at earliest.

  • Mike says:

    30 Sep30 September 17:41

    +1 for Mena House nothing beats lying in the pool looking at pyramids – also has a golf course – I did 9 holes as a novice with a coach for a bit of fun and photos of pyramids in back ground

• LST says:

  30 Sep30 September 10:46

  I have only made RFS Avios redemptions before, but looking to book LHR-LAX for 4 one way in CW.
  The return will be cash fare at the back (not enough Avios to do return). Can I get these all on the same booking by calling BA or will it be two separate one ways?
  Thanks in advance.

  • Anna says:

    30 Sep30 September 10:51

    You can’t mix cash and avios in this way. Also booking a one way return on BA will be very expensive – I don’t know if other airlines are offering one way bookings these days?
    Would doing the whole trip as a cash plus avios booking work for you?

    • Anna says:

      30 Sep30 September 10:57

      Though it actually looks like you can do this now on BA and not be charged a fortune – good to know! You’ll need separate bookings though, and the inbound won’t have the same cancellation terms as the avios sector which might cause issues.

      • LST says:

        30 Sep30 September 11:46

        Thanks Anna.
        Might opt to do the whole trip in the back and save the Avios for another trip. Avios + cash coming up as heinously expensive!

        • Anna says:

          30 Sep30 September 12:45

          Another option is to use less avios for a return to the east coast (say out in CW and back in Y or PE), and book an domestic flight separately to get you to LAX. Then you get the CW experience to go across the pond and maybe do a short stay in a city like New York or Chicago as well. I love this type of itinerary as you can pack an awful lot into a holiday this way.

  • Spurs drive me mad says:

    30 Sep30 September 11:56

    What about buying premium economy tickets and upgrading subject to availability to CW?

• B7 says:

  30 Sep30 September 10:54

  Looking at a little babymoon to California in late November and found business class flights to LAX for circa 1,500 Eur with BA / American Airlines (from Italy). Given the improvements to Club World, is it worth paying a premium to fly BA rather than American Airlines?

• Louise says:

  30 Sep30 September 10:55

  Apologies that I’m sure this is a really simple question that has been asked loads (I did search but obviously using wrong words!) the Amex offers on new cards ‘spend £3000 on first 3 months for xxx points’, etc – is that spending on the main cardholders card only? Or is sup cardholder spend also included? Just trying to work out if we should just use my main card until target hit

  • Peter K says:

    30 Sep30 September 11:11

    Spend on all supplementaries counts towards spend target.

    • Louise says:

      30 Sep30 September 11:16

      Thanks Peter K!

      • Sundar says:

        30 Sep30 September 15:25

        Not necessarily, there are card-specific spends that are applicable only for spends on those cards.

        • Louise says:

          30 Sep30 September 15:53

          This is what I was concerned about, so is the initial ‘spend X in the first X months’ of the account opening just spend by the main cardholder?

  • Reney says:

    30 Sep30 September 17:41

    If it is the sign up bonus then it includes supplementary card spend. If you have to go into amex offers and add the offer than it is only the spend on the card you have the offer showing.

    Your question mentioned new cards but also amex offers which is why you have mixed answers. Hope this helps.

    • Louise says:

      30 Sep30 September 19:03

      That does help Reney, thanks very much!

• Jord says:

  30 Sep30 September 11:00

  Hi All, some of you may have seen my post yesterday. I had a 5 night BA holiday in CE, to Iceland booked. BA cancelled our flight and moved us to the flight the day before. I called them up to sort the hotel for the additional night and they said it’s now £290 for the extra night (significantly more than when we first booked). She said our options are take that, cancel for a refund or come home a day earlier which is a Saturday and doesn’t work with our plans. Anyone had any luck getting them to honour the extra night, or shall i try travel insurance to cover it? Other option is to force them to reroute us with icelandair on the original day booked (significantly more expensive). However this would cause us to lose the double tier points (which will make me miss out on BA Gold)

  • Jonathan says:

    30 Sep30 September 12:10

    You’re a bit restricted with your options on a BAH. Essentially package holiday regulations give them the right to just give you a full refund & that’s the end of their obligations. If you don’t agree with their choice of options then they will just refund you.

    Insurance may cover you though I would be less confident in this scenario than for a cancellation needing an extra day tagging on to the end due to a cancelled flight. Check your policy & call them. Does shifting holiday so you come home a day early really not work if you can fly out a day early? That’s probably your best option & will maintain double TP’s.

  • Anna says:

    30 Sep30 September 12:14

    As a couple of us said yesterday, you don’t have EU261 re-routing rights on a holiday package, BA were basically correct to say your options are accept the change or cancel for a full refund. Not sure if duty of care still applies for the extra night but if not it’s certainly worth asking if your insurance would cover it, or look how much it would be just to book the extra night yourself.
    The problem you might find with the latter options is that as I recall, the tier point offer was reliant on you booking a hotel or car for the full stay, and BA might try to argue that you haven’t done this if you don’t book the extra night through them.
    It’s an extremely frustrating situation, I agree!

  • Andrew says:

    30 Sep30 September 12:25

    Two things…

    Have you repriced the “proposed” longer holiday on BA Holidays to make sure that it’s not better value to cancel and rebook as a single transaction than pay the £290 for one extra night.

    Have you contacted the hotel direct to verify the £290 figure?

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