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The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 13th October

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Category

General

Comments (601)

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

  • Nigel W says:
    13 Oct13 October 08:21

    Question regarding Tesco Clubcard vouchers and Hotels.com.

    If you use the vouchers, what happens if you need to cancel a booking? Does the voucher get returned back to you?

    • Genghis says:
      13 Oct13 October 08:27

      Bookings are non-refundable

      • meta says:
        13 Oct13 October 08:47

        Slightly different. The voucher portion of the booking is non-refundable. Any remaining cash gets refunded.

    • Yuff says:
      13 Oct13 October 09:13

      If you speak with the hotel directly they might move the booking.
      I did this last Christmas when covid lockdown happened and all hotels closed.
      The vouchers are very inflexible.

  • Mikeact says:
    13 Oct13 October 08:23

    @Rui N. Hi, would you be good enough to bring up the Ryanair issue of refused pandemic refunds and their clawback tactics. Thanks,

    • Rui N. says:
      13 Oct13 October 08:39

      Humm, what?! Why on Earth would I do that? LOL But I can be hired for a cheap rate if you feel very strongly that you need my input! 😀 That was discussed on yesterday’s chat in any case. I don’t think there’s much more to add.

    • Jonathan says:
      13 Oct13 October 08:43

      Did either of you hear about what Ryanair have done with returning customers who previously claimed back money using Chargeback ? It’s almost certainly breaking the law, not to mention it’ll probably stop many people from going anywhere near their planes

      • Rui N. says:
        13 Oct13 October 08:44

        I don’t understand why I was brought to this conversation, but like I said that was discussed on the chat yesterday

        • Zoe says:
          13 Oct13 October 08:45

          why dont you just repeat it, its helpful to the community

          • Richie says:
            13 Oct13 October 08:56

            If Ryanair are in dispute with payment card companies, they should discuss it with them and not further involve the passsenger.

          • Rob says:
            13 Oct13 October 09:03

            Why? The passenger told the card company to claw back the money.

      • Anna says:
        13 Oct13 October 09:02

        How is it breaking the law? Rob mentioned that people had to agree to Ts and Cs re owing money to Ryanair when they booked future flights (and if they were that unhappy with FR why did they continue giving them business?) Also legal proceedings to compel airlines to refund customers who couldn’t travel due to the pandemic have failed, as reported recently.

        • Richie says:
          13 Oct13 October 09:07

          Card companies should not carry out passengers’ unreasonable requests.

          • JDB says:
            13 Oct13 October 09:10

            Indeed, and also the fact someone has done a successful chargeback doesn’t necessarily mean the money wasn’t owed and still is owed, it’s just that 99% of merchants will accept it, but not Ryanair.

          • Anna says:
            13 Oct13 October 09:25

            I’ve only done a couple of chargebacks but I was given to understand that in the event my claim wasn’t justified, I’d be liable to repay the money, which is fair enough.

          • Lady London says:
            13 Oct13 October 12:37

            The matter is about Amex’s merchant contract with the airline I think. Probably it obliges Ryanair to accept Amex’s decision. So money is not then IMV owed by the passenger – for Ryanair to try to claw back on a completely different transaction is tacky and immoral. And as for copying at least one of the US airlines to claim money is owed on a completely different flight… nasty, tacky and immoral.

            The problem is that is s75 was used this would be statute so stronger. Without clarifying case law as there are so many nuances to this, Ryanair might potentially be able to get away with some of this – so we need some challenges to sort this out immediately.

          • Lady London says:
            13 Oct13 October 12:39

            Lots of cases where chargeback and even s75 has been denied initially by card companies due to pathetic irrelevant not even very good submissions by merchants to cardco’s that the cardholder has had to work very hard to get reversed.

        • Tracey says:
          13 Oct13 October 11:00

          Even if it is in their T&Cs it can still be deemed an unfair contract.

          In this case, FR have a point, but to only instigate the “pay up or don’t fly” rule within a couple of days of the flight is unreasonable.

        • Ken says:
          13 Oct13 October 11:28

          Legal proceedings didn’t actually fail, the CMA just believed (and received counsel opinion) that the law wasn’t clear – and certainly not clear enough to issue a blanket instruction to refund.

          • Anna says:
            13 Oct13 October 15:54

            Failed to secure a ruling in favour of the consumer, I’m not sure what else you could class it as!

  • Andrew says:
    13 Oct13 October 08:38

    Has anyone visited the Netherlands/Amsterdam in recent weeks? I’m seeing conflicting reports about acceptance of NHS vaccine proof, either in original app form or via the TousAntiCovid trick, due to a specific Dutch reader-app block. Is this the case? I have a team of 11 getting together there next week and if it doens’t work, I’ll need to add daily testing to the agenda, which is a right pain in the proverbial.

    • ChrisC says:
      13 Oct13 October 09:08

      Do they not accept the NHS produced letter?

      Good thing to have and carry anyway in case apps fail or your phone battery dies on you.

      https://www.government.nl/topics/coronavirus-covid-19/visiting-the-netherlands-from-abroad/requirements-for-proof-of-vaccination

      • Andrew says:
        13 Oct13 October 09:21

        Thanks, I should have clarified – getting into the country is fine, but entering hospitality venues/museums needs a proof they scan in their apps and I’ve read reports that NHS or the French shuffle aren’t working for that purpose.

        • ChrisC says:
          13 Oct13 October 10:04

          I’ve just looked at the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh websites at random and they say there is no need to show vaccination status or have a negative test (though they are restricting entry voa timed tickets) etc etc

          Where proof vaccination – or a daily test – is required is for sit down bars, cafes and restaurents.

          Latest I read – 3 weeks ago! – is that the Netherlands is waiting for the EU to approve the NHS QR code rasther than to go it alone like France did but the UK was yet to apply to the EU for that approval

          https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2021/09/non-eu-visitors-will-need-daily-tests-under-dutch-corona-pass-rules/

          • Peter Taysum says:
            13 Oct13 October 11:39

            Lord Frost, who doesn’t like the “great deal” he negotiated anymore, now that he is seeing how bad it is, was ranting about the EU not co-operating with the UK…. *sighs*

        • E says:
          13 Oct13 October 10:30

          Still seems to be the case. My colleague was there last week, just for the day, but he couldn’t go into a cafe or restaurant. Fortunately our client bought him a takeaway sandwich!

          • TimW says:
            13 Oct13 October 15:38

            I travel regularly to the Netherlands for work and every place, generally bars and cafes to be fair, I have visited recently has accepted looking at my NHS proof of vaccination stored in my Apple wallet.

    • Blair says:
      13 Oct13 October 16:07

      Other than the Rijksmuseum, nowhere would let me in with the NHS app or the Irish app using an NHS vaccine cert. Including the cafe in the Rijksmuseum. I would avoid travel to the Netherlands until the UK app situation has improved.

  • Zoe says:
    13 Oct13 October 08:44

    Is there any issue in using a Randox home kit purchased direct for UK departures?

  • Ming the Merciless says:
    13 Oct13 October 08:56

    Morning- I managed to stuff my Amex 24month rule up massively!

    I checked on chat when the last time I held a BAPP and they confirmed over 24months. I then asked them to confirm I would qualify for the enhanced SUP, which they did (all logged on chat).

    Suo didn’t arrive so I queried it and was told that in checking I had held the free BA card 19months ago so no SUP.

    This situation was replicated for player 2 as well.

    It’s a bit annoying as I would have Delayed applying for the BAPP, however:

    1. I should have made my own notes on cancellation dates rather than asking amex.
    2. I actually want to make use of the 241 voucher sooner than waiting 24months.

    Any point in challenging amex over their incorrect correspondence?

    Looking forward to hearing your views.

    • Rob says:
      13 Oct13 October 09:02

      If you have it in writing then definitely worth chasing, yes.

      • Ming the Merciless says:
        13 Oct13 October 21:12

        Thank you all for your notes though. I’ll pick it up with Amex.

    • Genghis says:
      13 Oct13 October 09:04

      May be worth asking Amex for mercy but I wouldn’t hold out much hope.

      Record your own cancellation dates on your MS spreadsheet and file the cancellation letters.

    • BuildBackBetter says:
      13 Oct13 October 09:04

      You asked for BAPP, but missed the free BA card you had?

    • TGLoyalty says:
      13 Oct13 October 09:05

      Two lessons here

      1) Never downgrade to the free BA get a nectar instead

      2) remember you downgraded so you ask when the last time you had any BA card rather than just when you closed your BAPP

      • Ming the Merciless says:
        13 Oct13 October 21:11

        If I remember correctly I wasn’t downgrading but referring between player one and two to maximise referral bonuses.

  • Zoe P says:
    13 Oct13 October 09:03

    Hi all,
    I have a few questions. First does anyone want to refer me for a Platinum? Rob have you had all referrals possible for the year? And is it still 70k points if referred? And how soon will I get the card?
    Second, I am planning a tip to Japan next April, assuming it is open. If I book hotels via booking.com, can I use the Platinum to get (potential) upgrades when I arrive, or am I supposed to book direct?
    Thanks

  • Michael AC says:
    13 Oct13 October 09:23

    I got a notification about a BA flight cancellation and a link to rebook, but whenever I try to change it, it just says “something went wrong”. I’m loathe to call, but I suppose that’s my only option?

    • AJA says:
      13 Oct13 October 16:30

      How far out is the cancelled flight? BA usually tries to rebook you on an alternative which you can either accept or not. I would not bother calling for a few days and see if you do get allocated a revised flight. Or ignore the link in the email and try to see if you can amend the flight via MMB. Otherwise you are left with the unenviable task of calling.

  • meta says:
    13 Oct13 October 09:37

    @xcalx Creation already had more than 26 complaints this year and I am sure they are going to get substanitally more.

    • Anna says:
      13 Oct13 October 10:15

      Need to get all ours in before the end of the year!
      My free night cert is due at the end of this month so if it doesn’t land, that’s my first one.

      • JDB says:
        13 Oct13 October 11:17

        Is this complicated by the timing of the payment of the next fee as someone mentioned yesterday, depending on your anniversary date? ie no certainty you will get pro-rata fee back but only way to avoid fee is to cancel so no voucher.

    • xcalx says:
      13 Oct13 October 10:45

      Yes. My smiley face was missing. They will have had more on Black Friday 🙂

    • Si says:
      13 Oct13 October 12:11

      My year finished on 8th Sept. Looking at my transactions from last year, they took this year’s annual fee on 21st Sept and then my free night cert landing on 22nd.

      I’ve decided I’m going to see what happens on those dates this year. I guess they’ll happily take the £99 but I’m feeling I’ll have to fight for the FNCert.

      I haven’t used my card since the 6th Sept so hopefully they can’t say anything about me not cancelling it.

      At worst, I’ll lose £99 but I’ve decided that can be my HfP subscription fee so I can warn others if doesn’t goes my way.

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