The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 6th October

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Simon says:

6 Oct6 October 03:27

What’s the best option for a throwaway day2 test? Travelling from Hong Kong to Berlin via Heathrow on 2 tickets (happy with the risk things might go wrong).
Airline will check bags through, but I’m assuming they will want me to have paperwork for a UK arrival for the first ticket.

Worst case I get stuck in the UK and do the day2 test. Trip is in 3 weeks.
- Pablo says:
  
  6 Oct6 October 04:30
  
  I believe you can select transit option in PLF in which case you don’t need to buy a test.
  - Simon says:
    
    6 Oct6 October 05:42
    
    Nice, does that mean the airline only cares that I have a QR code (or whatever the output of the Passenger Locator form is?)
    - Ian M says:
      
      6 Oct6 October 06:58
      
      When you check-in at the airport in Hong Kong, they will likely check your paperwork (PLF), and see you have selected that you are exempt from having to book the day 2 text because you are transiting, they will then likely ask to see proof you are transiting. So you’ll just need to show them your onward flight to Berlin
    - Sam G says:
      
      6 Oct6 October 08:58
      
      Based on my recent experiences the airline almost certainly won’t actually look at the PLF, just want to see something with a QR code. They’ve been far more worried about the negative test though that has gone now of course. So just put on it that you are in transit & worst case they’ll want to see that ticket. You won’t show anyone the PLF after that
- K says:
  
  6 Oct6 October 05:42
  
  Select exempt from day 2 on PLF, then enter reason. Transit on the next page, where it asks
BJ says:

6 Oct6 October 06:42

Not sure if it’s new or if I am just late to the party but I see amex offer this morning for an additional 5 MR points per £1 up to a maximum 1000 points at amazon.
- Harrier25 says:
  
  6 Oct6 October 06:52
  
  Discussed on page 1 of yesterday’s chat.
  - BJ says:
    
    6 Oct6 October 06:59
    
    Thanks, didn’t get time to see all of chat yesterday.
    - Danny says:
      
      6 Oct6 October 07:19
      
      So you didn’t get to see ALL of yesterday’s chat on page 1 about this Amazon offer?
      - BJ says:
        
        6 Oct6 October 07:44
        
        Usually start reading comments backwards, by tge time I got round to yesterday’s lot we were about page 12 and only had time to get back to page 9 or so. Not my fault HfP has become so popular with so many prolific commenter 🙂
      - Rhys says:
        
        6 Oct6 October 08:16
        
        The site shows the most recent page so people often don’t get to page 1.
    - BuildBackBetter says:
      
      6 Oct6 October 08:41
      
      Need to skip the ‘can I pay nsi’ question asked in every page.
      - CarpalTravel says:
        
        6 Oct6 October 20:16
        
        Ooooh, can I?
Anna says:

6 Oct6 October 07:16

The upgrade/241 voucher from the Virgin cc – does it arrive at the end of the card year or as soon as you spend £10k like the BAPP 241?
- Gary says:
  
  6 Oct6 October 07:33
  
  Soon after you hit the spending target.
  - Anna says:
    
    6 Oct6 October 07:57
    
    Thanks!
    - JohnT says:
      
      6 Oct6 October 08:27
      
      Don’t forget only appears as a line in Virgin club statement! No other notification.
      - Anna says:
        
        6 Oct6 October 09:32
        
        Thanks, yes, I’ve read quite a few comments here that it’s tricky to spot!
  - Amy C says:
    
    6 Oct6 October 10:06
    
    I hit it and my card year ended 3 days ago, nothing on any app or the statement. Been in phone to CC people who confirm spending then palm me off to flying club who then palm me back off to CC folk. Currently been on phone on hold waiting to speak to flying club for 90 mins!
    - AL says:
      
      6 Oct6 October 10:20
      
      When this happens, WhatsApp them. You won’t get a fast response as you’re not calling about a rebooking etc but it saves being on hold.
      - Amy C says:
        
        6 Oct6 October 10:51
        
        Oh I have believe me. They say they can’t help & to contact Virgin money who just confirm I have and then tell me to contact flying club. It’s a ridiculous wheel.
Tarmohamed says:

6 Oct6 October 07:17

@Ollie, not sure if any ones been in touch but feel free to find me on LinkedIn and I’ll get you in touch with my contact. Internal guidance does state printed test is required. However, the back office should’ve printed it off for you for free.
Anna T says:

6 Oct6 October 07:21

Morning. If you cancel a BA Avios RFS booking where taxes and charges were £1 – do you just lose the £1 or get charged £35 per ticket? Thank you
- Spurs drive me mad says:
  
  6 Oct6 October 07:23
  
  Just the £1 I believe.
- Andrew says:
  
  6 Oct6 October 07:26
  
  Just £1
  - Anna T says:
    
    6 Oct6 October 07:41
    
    Thank you both 👍
    - BJ says:
      
      6 Oct6 October 07:55
      
      Still need to call to cancel though or you end up with FTV. Cancelled three USA domestic flights in the past week at £4.10/person loss per ticket. Works well because makes you feel fine about booking something speculatively or locking flights in in the hope something better comes along. Finally got the Alaska Airlines J seats from DCA to SFO I wanted this way, well worth a £25ish total donation to BA in cancellation fees.
      - Lyn says:
        
        6 Oct6 October 11:34
        
        Well done getting the seats BJ. Hope The Alaska J works well for you and that you are able to use the American Airlines lounge at DCA as well.
      - BJ says:
        
        6 Oct6 October 12:31
        
        Thamks @Lyn, DCA and the early evening departure times were my key draws. However, the positive feedback fromyou and others on Alaska v AA is a bonus. According to the Alaska website business class reward flights get lounge access but I have no idea if that applies to third party award bookings and/or lounges. I should have amex platinum during the trip so I’ll check if there are any PP options at DCA.
      - Lyn says:
        
        6 Oct6 October 13:23
        
        BJ, if it was an Alaska lounge you could take a look at your booking class for the DCA to SFO flight. Per Alaska’s web-site C, D, E, I or J would give you lounge access. I have recently changed a BA booking after they cancelled our flights and now have a connection on Alaska which shows I class.
        
        As you know, Alaska don’t have a lounge in DCA but American do. I don’t think American normally gives lounge access to their own passengers flying in domestic First. Perhaps they would for an Alaska flight though, since Alaska would give you access if they had their own lounge there. Worth a try.
      - BJ says:
        
        6 Oct6 October 15:03
        
        Thanks Lyn, your comments prompted me to have a look and I discovered that Alaska use Terminal B gates and United lounge at DCA. I suspect that may be subject to change reflecting AA and OW developments. If access to lounge is denied PP apparently provides a $28 credit at a sports bar called The Bracket Room which might be a better option anyway.
Venturelog says:

6 Oct6 October 07:47

Just an update re a Schengen airport arrival query I made last week ( @sandgrounder asked about my experience)
Flew into Copenhagen airport last night and the immigration process was quick and easy. Only ask for your passport, (stamped) and vax document. Biggest advantage from our POV was that the queues had barriers, so it’s unlikely they would spend too much time interrogating We took a quick train across to Malmö. They can check your docs just before Malmö (Hyllie) but no one checked our id. And from there a sleeper to Stockholm arriving this morning.
- Venturelog says:
  
  6 Oct6 October 07:57
  
  Also to confirm the Virgin Atlantic CC , I pre-booked my tickets in danish krone via app and it didn’t charge me a FX fee. So no need to be in person. (Tip: don’t use their conversion, pay in Danish K)
  - John says:
    
    6 Oct6 October 09:19
    
    Usually cheaper to buy from a Swedish site in SEK in my experience, because the rail exchange rate tends to be out of sync with the actual rate
    - Venturelog says:
      
      6 Oct6 October 10:20
      
      Yes you’re right, correction I purchased mine from SJ so in SEK not danish.
James says:

6 Oct6 October 07:54

Morning all. I was asked to report back from my First Class flight yesterday from MLE to LHR. Got the upgrade for a very generous £360 PP. There was only us 2 and 1 other (a crew members’ family member I believe) in the 8 seat cabin. Excellent crew and service throughout. Despite us upgrading at the airport, all food and drinks were available and to a great standard. Very impressed with the hard product too, I was in 1A and it had a very British Airways “feel” about it. The crew set up our beds in row 2 and the bedding was very comfortable. I’ve flown Emirates First on the A380 and I knew going into this flight that the 2 are hardly comparable. That said, I was very happy with the experience and would certainly be happy upgrading again at this price.
- James says:
  
  6 Oct6 October 08:02
  
  Forgot to add – we got through T5 passport control in about 30 seconds. That was the biggest surprise!
- BJ says:
  
  6 Oct6 October 08:05
  
  Sounds well worth it, when you get nearly empty coins the service is usually both very relaxed and very good. The separate seats set up as bed makes all the difference. Did you do this upgrade from CS or old CW?
  - James says:
    
    6 Oct6 October 08:48
    
    This was from CS. The CS offering was huge by the way, I went for a walk to the back of the plane and I’ve never seen so many business seats.
    - BJ says:
      
      6 Oct6 October 09:13
      
      Interesting, I probably would not have gone for it from CS myself but that is largely because I have not yet tried CS and would like to.
      - James says:
        
        6 Oct6 October 09:35
        
        I had yet to try First so thought it was a good opportunity for me to give it a go. I am yet to try CS but will be in December.
      - BJ says:
        
        6 Oct6 October 19:18
        
        Yes, I remember your comments and this was a good opportunity for you. If First is available I always consider it worth the extra avios if we have them, not least because any downgrade would result in CS or CW at worst.
- Andrew says:
  
  6 Oct6 October 08:29
  
  Was the T5 arrivals lounge open?
  - James says:
    
    6 Oct6 October 08:49
    
    Not sure Andrew, we headed straight home after getting our cases. From landing to leaving on the HEX was very seamless.
- BuildBackBetter says:
  
  6 Oct6 October 08:38
  
  Did you get access to the first class lounge?
  - JDB says:
    
    6 Oct6 October 08:40
    
    @BBB got an email from Boris yesterday headed BuildBackBluer – are you going to be updating your HfP name?
  - James says:
    
    6 Oct6 October 08:50
    
    There was now First lounge at MLE but we did get access to the Leeli Lounge which was very basic but better than nothing, of course.
    - MD says:
      
      6 Oct6 October 09:46
      
      Glad you got a good price James. Definitely worth it for that money. Have they at least brought back LPGS champagne? And what about the pre takeoff drink? Really missed that. MLE lounge is pretty rubbish sadly.
      - James says:
        
        6 Oct6 October 10:45
        
        Yes to both MD! It all felt very normal once again.
- KBuffett says:
  
  6 Oct6 October 11:23
  
  Sounds great. How was your stay in Maldives? Where did you stay and what did you think of the property? Was the weather good?
  - James says:
    
    6 Oct6 October 18:47
    
    We stayed at OBLU Select at Sangeli and it was honestly the best holiday we’ve ever had. Words can’t describe just how incredible the Maldives is but the people there really make the place. We had 2 days out of 10 of bad weather which we were delighted with considering the time of year.
Anna says:

6 Oct6 October 07:55

IHG are offering 15k bonus points if I renew Ambassador by 1/11 – is this usual? Just wondering whether to hold out and see if they repeat this in a few months to make the most of the membership.
- Lula says:
  
  6 Oct6 October 07:57
  
  Did yours just expire? If so then yes, that’s usual.
- ChrisC says:
  
  6 Oct6 October 08:11
  
  The 15k bonus points is standard if you pay the $200 fee to renew.
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    6 Oct6 October 08:48
    
    But only for about a month after it expires.
    - Anna says:
      
      6 Oct6 October 09:35
      
      No IC stays planned till the end of March I’ll probably get more value waiting till just before then or even till the end of 2022 when my Spire may well expire. Ex-Spire, even!