The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 12th October

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• AnotherUser says:

  12 Oct12 October 15:16

  Great – thanks Nick! We’re only in Hotel Indigo Edinburgh for one night, so won’t be needing cleaning during the stay 🙂

• Amo says:

  12 Oct12 October 15:24

  I’ve got (had) a trip to Tokyo booked for this December which has just been cancelled which I booked in Feb this year. The flight was booked as a BA Holiday which includes a single hotel night and a domestic flight within Japan operated by JAL.

  I’ve read here that BA are offering 12 months rebooking from the original flight dates (which would be ideal) but also read 12 months from the original date of booking (which given it was booked in Feb is less ideal). Either way, travelling this December was not really an option due to the border restrictions. I’ve not sunk much cost into the booking, paying only a deposit but I did book during a sale so am keen not to lose the flights.

  What are my rights in this case?

  • kitten says:

    12 Oct12 October 15:27

    BA Holidays have different rules.
    I suggest you phone them and ask what are your options.

    • Amo says:

      12 Oct12 October 15:39

      Thanks Kitten. Given the long call wait times, I was aiming to go into the call armed with as much info up front. Does anyone have any relevant, recent experiences of BA Holiday related cancellations they could share?

      • ChrisC says:

        12 Oct12 October 15:45

        General rule for a holiday is rebook for free within -3 and +14 days of the original booking.

        A booking to a later date can lead to a reprice.

        Someone posted a link to the BA hols T&Cs earlier today so look for that (should be something like pages 1 – 3 at most)

        To reiterate holidays come under a different set of legal regulations and BA policies than do flight only bookings.

        • Amo says:

          12 Oct12 October 15:57

          Thanks Chris. I’ve found the post in question and read through the T&Cs (https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/legal/package-booking-terms-and-conditions).

          They don’t seem to explicitly address my specific rights to rebook. The closest it calls out is item 8.6.2. “accept substitute arrangements of equivalent or superior quality if we are able to offer this to you”

• graham says:

  12 Oct12 October 15:38

  Have an early morning flight out of Terminal 5 on Dec 10th so thinking a hotel nearby would be a good option. Any recommendations and ease of transiting to T5

  • Blenz101 says:

    12 Oct12 October 16:09

    Sofitel T5, directly connected to the terminal

  • Tom says:

    12 Oct12 October 16:32

    The pods will be running again between the Thistle and T5.
    The Thistle is truly a dump. But I’m paying £105 (which will reduce to £75 with the current £30 return on a spend of £100+ at Thistle using an AMEX) for a nights stay plus 8 days parking over October half term.
    Plan to arrive around 23:00, and the flight departs at 07:30 so I’m sure I can slum it 😁

    • Tariq says:

      12 Oct12 October 20:47

      Got a similar rate and deal for Mid November. For night before, parking and Pod convenience, it can’t be beaten.

• Simon says:

  12 Oct12 October 15:42

  Books vs flights over the phone as web wasn’t allowing me to use points /cash offer

  This was done Sunday , I have one details and it’s showing under MMB , but no ticket numbers , mileage hasn’t been deducted and no payment taken .. should I be concerned

  • Blair says:

    12 Oct12 October 20:28

    Not unusual IME

• Ian Buckingham says:

  12 Oct12 October 15:49

  Hi all. I’ve booked a flight to Miami using Avios and a BA Amex 2-4-1 voucher. Can I now cancel my BA Amex card and the flight would stay booked? Also, what would then happen if I had to change or cancel the flight? Thanks in advance

  • Rob says:

    12 Oct12 October 15:50

    Nothing bad happens. Cancel away. Should you cancel the flight the money goes back to Amex and you call them to either arrange a bank transfer or move the credit to another Amex you have.

    • Bill says:

      12 Oct12 October 17:07

      Is it possible to cancel the BA card before making the companion voucher booking? As long as one has another Amex card?

      • Rob says:

        12 Oct12 October 17:18

        Yes – but Amex will tell you otherwise.

  • Yorkieflyer says:

    12 Oct12 October 21:25

    Just make sure they’ve charged your card before cancelling

• Dominic Barrington says:

  12 Oct12 October 16:00

  Could some kind soul remind/update me about whether one has the right to a refund for something booked online in the UK if cancelled within 24 hours? I think it used to be an automatic right under some kind of distance selling regulations, but I’ve lived in the US for some years now and am not up to speed on things British so much.

  • Blenz101 says:

    12 Oct12 October 16:08

    Distance selling regulations give you 14 days to change your mind after receiving a product bought at a distance online/phone/mail order to give you change to inspect the goods bought unseen.

    Flights are slightly different and covered by the DfT where you get 24 hour free holding or refund if hold is not offered.

    Services are NOT covered by the 14 days e.g. catering, hotel rooms, car rentals, couriers etc. as they are not goods you can inspect.

    Tell us what it is you ordered and I’m sure someone will have relevant experience.

    • Genghis says:

      12 Oct12 October 16:16

      Distance Selling Regulations of course replaced by Consumer Contracts Regulations in 2014.

      • Blenz101 says:

        12 Oct12 October 16:21

        Same concept though Genghis I think. Was trying to say if Dominic has ordered a physical product he can return it within 14 days. If he has ordered a service he may well have no rights. If it is a flight special rules apply. Other special rules may apply but I can’t think of any of the top of my head to suggested he told us what it is.

        Plus lots of companies are being quite generous due to Covid to encourage sales.

  • ChrisC says:

    12 Oct12 October 16:42

    depends what was ‘booked’ as there specific exclusions from the regulations depending upon the product.

  • Peter K says:

    12 Oct12 October 17:18

    If something is bespoke then the usual rules do not apply. As already mentioned, it depends on what exactly you purchased.

    • Dominic Barrington says:

      13 Oct13 October 01:34

      It was a hotel room, which for complex reasons I had to do with lastminute.com – in fact, to my surprise, they were actually very easy about refunding me, but it was not what I expected! But good to know the legality of the situation!

• Craig says:

  12 Oct12 October 16:05

  Planning Singapore/Bali in Feb/Mar. The Singapore part is looking a little more likely, flights booked in F with BA and VTL looking promising. Just wondering if anyone has any hotel recommendations for Sentosa or similar as a backup plan and whether 16 nights be a relaxing option there instead of Bali? This would be a backup plan if Bali is not possible at the time.

  • JDB says:

    12 Oct12 October 16:08

    Not sure Singapore is a very relaxing place and also expensive. Could be worth looking at Malaysia Desaru coast – c. 2½ hour drive from Singapore for your back up?

    • Craig says:

      12 Oct12 October 16:13

      How’s the border looking at the moment between Singapore and Malaysia?

      • Sam G says:

        12 Oct12 October 16:29

        Currently closed. Desaru is OK for a weekend if you live in Singapore but wouldn’t say it’d live up to the expectations of someone travelling all the way from the UK for a holiday !

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    12 Oct12 October 16:21

    As JDB says, Singapore is expensive and can be a bit boring after a few days.
    But if that’s your backup option, there are plenty of hotel options. From W at Sentosa to family friendly Shangri-La, you get all types.
    If things get better, you can choose from a dozen different destinations within a few hours from SIN. So a short trip within the 16 days can be easily done.

    • Craig says:

      12 Oct12 October 16:22

      Thanks, just deciding whether to shove it twelve months down the line or press on and make the most of it.

      • BuildBackBetter says:

        12 Oct12 October 18:00

        Break your SIN stay into a few segments that you can cancel if a neighbouring country opens up close to your visit. There are things you can do at SIN that, while may not be exciting, can be interesting. Little India, Chinatown, temples, hawker centres, southern ridges trail, etc, to keep you occupied.

        • Polly says:

          12 Oct12 October 23:09

          Doing the same, just in case we can pop over to HKT. Sentosa for 5 days in W. Some good options. Would love to get to Penang for a few days too by train, but country not open yet, unless that changes soon.
          Seems like they all want to open now for the high season.
          Hoping to change our F to VTL for Nov, will see. Ba have cancelled our F return leg, so VTL.

      • Anuj says:

        12 Oct12 October 18:13

        I think you’ll get bored in SIN for 16 days.

  • Sam G says:

    12 Oct12 October 16:28

    I’d look at Phuket, the weather will be much better in Feb than Bali and a UK-Singapore-Phuket-UK trip is now already nearly possible (if you take the VTL flight to Singapore – currently you couldn’t self connect back though in Changi on your return but I think that will ease or you need to try switch to BA from Bangkok or another option)

    Definitely wouldn’t do Sentosa for 16 days, vv expensive and dull for that long !

    • Craig says:

      12 Oct12 October 16:34

      Ta.

      • Axel says:

        12 Oct12 October 17:10

        If you knew the local history of Sentosa you wouldn’t stay there as its known as Death Island.

        I things have opened up I would look at the Marriott Group options on Bintan and Batam

        • BuildBackBetter says:

          12 Oct12 October 18:16

          Bintan and Batam are horrible tourist traps.

  • David says:

    12 Oct12 October 20:22

    St Regis Langkawi – no brainer and a bargain with points too.

    • BP says:

      12 Oct12 October 23:21

      I loved the Danna Langkawi. Also love Panang even more than Langkawi. And Koh Lipe if you want to go that little bit further although the hotels are ropey there.

• R says:

  12 Oct12 October 16:20

  Amex interest rate increase

  I am just wondering, did anyone else get a letter from Amex informing them about personal interest rate increase?

  I’ve found the language of the letter a bit weird as it says ‘we review cardmember accounts on a regular basis to determine whether there is a greater like hood that certain members might not be able to repay us…’

  • Ryan says:

    12 Oct12 October 16:25

    Nope, nothing here, but why would the interest rate effect you? Who on this site doesn’t pay off in full each month?!

    • Gormlesstraveller says:

      12 Oct12 October 16:33

      They say that if you let them charge a bit of interest they are kinder when the time comes.

    • R says:

      12 Oct12 October 17:39

      It does not, I pay my cards off. That’s why I find it so strange

  • Andrew H says:

    12 Oct12 October 16:37

    Yes I got that – I thought it was rather off considering I’ve never been late paying them – AND given that only a couple of weeks earlier they’d offered me a credit limit increase

    • Lady London says:

      12 Oct12 October 16:56

      I’d find that wording quite insulting.

      • R says:

        12 Oct12 October 17:40

        It does feel like insulting tbh. I pay my balance off when due, I think I didn’t do it just once or twice with my low interest card (it was only few pounds anyway)

        • Yorkie Aid says:

          12 Oct12 October 17:53

          If you find it so insulting then just tell Amex to poke their horrid little card. Simples.

  • BP says:

    12 Oct12 October 23:33

    My wife who is a low earner had a spending limit placed on her Platinum charge card. Similar wording.

    • R says:

      13 Oct13 October 00:37

      Interesting! How much does she tend to spend on the card tho? I find it especially strange because I pay off a 3.5-4.5k balance/month

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