Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

The HfP chat thread – Sunday 10th October

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

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.

Please only comment under the main articles on the site if your comment is directly related to the topic of the article.  This has long-term benefits as it keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

Old chat threads are hidden from the HfP home page.  If you want to look for something in an old thread, click here.  This brings up all the articles in our ‘General’ category which includes the chat threads.

Category

General

Comments (363)

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

  • @mkcol says:
    10 Oct10 October 03:53

    Bonjour!

  • Dave says:
    10 Oct10 October 05:38

    Morning from Serby

  • Chrisasaurus says:
    10 Oct10 October 06:05

    Morning all

  • jj says:
    10 Oct10 October 06:20

    Beware of Randox.

    Travelling back to the UK today. Ordered Day 2 test from Randox last night. No email, no PLF reference received. No reference numbers show on my order on their website. Call centre closed until after the check-in time for my flight. Email to support gave automated reply warning of ‘High volume of calls and queries’ that would delay any response.

    Had to book another test with Chronomics. PLF reference supplied in seconds, both by email and on their web site. Perfect.

    Now I’ll have to faff with getting my money back from Randox. I suspect it will have to be a card charge-back.

    • Save East Coast Rewards says:
      10 Oct10 October 07:19

      Randox have been fine for me. I tend to rate them as reasonable value while still getting the test results in good time. I think this is more likely a glitch either with their email server or your provider when the message was sent. Good to know Chronomics provides the code via both email and direct on the website, Randox really should do that too.

      Post here your experiences when you try and get a refund. However if you do plan on travelling again in the next few months you would be able to use the Randox test kit so it might be worth holding on to it if that’s the case (if customer relations can resend the confirmation email)

      • Bearing up says:
        10 Oct10 October 08:35

        +1
        Randox delivered “what they say on the tin”. Ordered in advance for recent trip to Portugal, emailed acknowledgement recd, with ref no. On return, test completed, registered-after misunderstanding of guidance, dropped off at collection site with negative result email recd next day. Job done.

    • Rich says:
      10 Oct10 October 09:05

      Beware of acting last minute more like. Randox has so far been brilliant, I received confirmation and the reference number within seconds, just received email acknowledging receipt at their lab, result due later today. I know last minute travel is sometimes essential, but I did order the test kit 7 days in advance of my return to the UK and so had plenty of time if things went awry.

    • David says:
      10 Oct10 October 09:52

      Travel back today, and you book the test last night?! Clever idea.

  • Patrick Cold says:
    10 Oct10 October 06:52

    Does anyone have any travel insurance recommendations for a week in Cyprus next week please?

    • Louise K says:
      10 Oct10 October 08:17

      Staysure.

      • Patrick Cold says:
        10 Oct10 October 08:21

        Thanks Louise.

      • Mike says:
        10 Oct10 October 09:34

        +1 for staysure. Expensive but they covered pretty much everything when I caught covid in Cyprus last year.

        • Jane says:
          10 Oct10 October 09:57

          I’m worried I got something wrong now. I thought £150 for a 2A and 2K, worldwide, including ski for 15 months was pretty good. Especially when battleface wanted £750!

  • Scott says:
    10 Oct10 October 06:54

    Can you apply for a US ESTA at present?
    Should the US open up sometime soon, it would be handy to have this in place, and not sure if there are processing delays at present anyway.

    • Ryanfozzie says:
      10 Oct10 October 06:58

      Yup, you can!

    • Metty says:
      10 Oct10 October 07:39

      Yes, applied for ESTA yesterday. $14 and approved in 4 minutes.

    • KP says:
      10 Oct10 October 09:27

      Ive booked for 20 Nov and wondering too if I can apply for ESTA now or it will be automatically rejected due to travel restrictions.

      Visiting US for the first time hence I would like to apply asap in case there are any delays

    • Andrew says:
      10 Oct10 October 09:50

      Had a look online at my existing ESTA, purchased Feb 2020. It’s still showing as valid and current.

  • Save East Coast Rewards says:
    10 Oct10 October 07:12

    After my thread a few days ago that somehow was controversial I was asked my some if I’d give an update on my PCR.

    The result was negative so it’s really unlikely to be covid, my friend who developed symptoms at the same time was also negative. As it feels quite a nasty illness I think it’s best that I isolate anyway. For me today is the first day I’ve developed other cold/flu like symptoms on top of the sore throat. My muscles ache and I have a bit of a sore head. Prior to today I felt mostly fine except for the sore throat.

    I’m in Italy at the moment (after being back in the UK for 10 days, which is where I think I picked this up as a friend who’s still in the UK got it at the same time) and one thing that’s different here is people do tend to consult the doctor for just a cold whereas in the UK we tend to consider that a waste of resources. I think it is probably due to the fact a lot of painkillers here require a prescription (and none are available at the supermarket) I had some in my bag from the UK so I’m ok on that front.

    • Crafty says:
      10 Oct10 October 08:16

      Well done for doing the right thing. I had been optimistic that Covid fallout would mean the end of idiots “struggling into the office” with bad colds and infecting everyone around them, but am already seeing more and more of this returning…

      • Cat says:
        10 Oct10 October 09:14

        I spent yesterday morning on a train, sitting 2 metres away from an idiot with a bad cough. He wasn’t wearing a mask, and made a token effort to raise his fist a few inches in front of his mouth, but only for maybe two coughs out of three.

        Sadly the idiots have learned nothing, Crafty.

        • Mr(s) Entitled says:
          10 Oct10 October 11:43

          Why not move rather than sit there?

          • Cat says:
            10 Oct10 October 15:13

            Because every double seat had at least one person in, and hardly anyone was wearing a mask. I would have had to sit right next to someone if I moved. At least in my seat I had no one sitting within 2m of me (I was near the toilets, so fewer seats around), and the windows open.

      • AnotherUser says:
        10 Oct10 October 09:15

        In lots of places this is down to crappy sickness policy – depressing how many companies still have policies that effectively incentivise people to come to work when ill

        • The Savage Squirrel says:
          10 Oct10 October 09:43

          I’ve worked in both full pay sick pay and statutory sick pay only environments. The amount of p*staking in the former – with the 2ry effect of great annoyance of the good employees who don’t abuse it – leads me to conclude that a sensible employer would be insane to offer it. Given a certain amount of available cash for wages, I’d rather offer (and receive) higher base pay and SSP only than lower pay and sickness coverage. If you wish to have your income protected against absence due to illness you are quite free to choose and purchase an insurance policy to do so…

        • Jeff Greene says:
          10 Oct10 October 09:54

          It’s the case in offices too though which is odd as people can now easily work from home. Some moron came into work with a cough even though staff have been told not to come in if they have covid symptoms (a cough is one by the way)

          • Save East Coast Rewards says:
            10 Oct10 October 12:03

            A cough has now appeared for me about an hour ago. I hope this means I’m towards the end of this spell of illness. Is there any reason someone would turn up at your office with symptoms when they’re told not to (e.g. only getting SSP rather than full pay)? Although you do have some people who pride themselves to turn up to work everyday regardless of health thinking it’s a good thing and screw others that get infected.

      • Andrew says:
        10 Oct10 October 10:05

        It needs a good HR policy that promotes colleague welfare without undue influence on people who are unwell.

        So, if your kid has brought the cold from hell home from school, don’t share it. Work from home. But if you are feeling wobbly, don’t log in, go back to bed.

      • Jeff Greene says:
        10 Oct10 October 12:01

        I also think some people think that hand washing was a covid restriction.

        When I’ve been at football recently, for example, a lot of people don’t even wash their hands properly or even at all after using the toilet. I know a lot of football fans in this country tend to be disgusting but still.

        • Jeff Greene says:
          10 Oct10 October 15:25

          “ Is there any reason someone would turn up at your office with symptoms when they’re told not to (e.g. only getting SSP rather than full pay)?”

          No. They can work from home or if they’re actually unwell enough not to work, they’ll get paid full pay.

    • Lady London says:
      10 Oct10 October 14:40

      Could this be a form of Covid that current tests aren’t detecting? Especially as you caught it in Plague Island?

      • Save East Coast Rewards says:
        10 Oct10 October 15:11

        I hope not. New undetectable strains would mean we’re in for another winter of restrictions.

        • Oh! Matron! says:
          11 Oct11 October 08:48

          There’s been some good write ups recently as to why the autumnal cold of 2021 is much worse than years prior. The primary reason is that you didn’t have a cold last year, just like there wasn’t a flu season. I had my cold about three weeks ago, and it wasn’t pleasant. Have a sniffle today too. But that’s probably down to being pooped after my first ever half marathon yesterday!

          https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/22/well/live/colds-summer-immunity.html

  • r* says:
    10 Oct10 October 07:15

    Does anyone know if I can access the priority pass lounge in module b at palma airport on an easyjet flight which will prolly be departing from module A?

    • Yuff says:
      10 Oct10 October 07:19

      I was in the lounge on Friday, next to gate A16, I gave them my platinum card but they wanted the priority pass which I hadn’t bothered to bring. I used HSBC WE to get in.
      Most of the lounges are open now

      • r* says:
        10 Oct10 October 08:27

        Priority pass app only lists lounges in b c and d, is the one in A included?

        • Yuff says:
          10 Oct10 October 08:50

          The lady on reception asked for the priority pass so I assume they would accept it.

          • Yuff says:
            10 Oct10 October 08:52

            There is another lounge just before the e gates, that accepts priority pass, near the bottom of the escalator on the way to the A gates

          • r* says:
            10 Oct10 October 14:47

            The one near gate16 is open and they were happy to accept priority pass 🙂

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Learn more on our About page.

VAA

Latest comments

Latest Forum Posts

Get 30,000 points bonus with American Express Platinum

Amex Gold

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.3 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

Get 20,000 bonus points and your first year free with American Express Gold

Amex Gold