The HfP chat thread – Saturday 16th October

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

• David says:

  16 Oct16 October 09:49

  I will be flying into LAX on 24/11 is 3 hours enough to connect to a onward flight to vegas ?

  • Travel Strong says:

    16 Oct16 October 10:00

    Yes (excluding major delays on your transatlantic flight). Changed with 3hrs previously, was at the gate in 1hr, and waited around for another 2.
    However next year i’m driving it, as the hire car is $250 for 10 days from LAX and $2000 from LAS.

  • BJ says:

    16 Oct16 October 10:02

    Yes

    • David says:

      16 Oct16 October 10:10

      Thanks for that 🙂

  • Blair says:

    16 Oct16 October 19:17

    Can anyone really say right now considering LAX arrival will include CoVid checks for all international arrivals. I have queued 2hrs in IAD in the past without the covid complication

• Andrew says:

  16 Oct16 October 09:52

  10% rebate at Brewdog (online orders) has popped up on MBNA for me this morning.

  • Keith says:

    16 Oct16 October 09:56

    Whereas on 5% on Santander

    • BJ says:

      16 Oct16 October 10:04

      Got 10% on JL and 5% at Morrisons on Santander.

      • Cranzle says:

        16 Oct16 October 11:00

        Is this Santander credit or debit card?

        • BJ says:

          16 Oct16 October 11:19

          Works on both AFAIK.

    • AndyGWP says:

      16 Oct16 October 16:30

      Think I saw 10% on Curve rewards as well (orders over £30 IIRC)

• Gary says:

  16 Oct16 October 09:52

  Great thread on yesterday’s page 4. Thanks everyone for contributing to Ant’s post re cancelled flight to JNB & BA legal’s response. I have two technical questions re cancelled BKK flights Jul 2021 (ticketed Nov 20) requesting re-route on Aug 2022.

  1. If a re-route via OW carrier was requested in LBA (since BA has no summer flights 2022, and no OW direct flights) as a compromise/resolution, have I shot myself in the foot if claiming for direct flights with non-OW during legal action as judge would note the inconsistency after BA legal declined request? Should one just request non-OW direct flights in LBA in the outset?
  2. Two companions vouches exp Jan & Apr 2022 were wrapped in this booking. Do they need to be address in the CEDR/MCOL covering letter? Or it is a non-issue and no need to mention?

  • Lady London says:

    16 Oct16 October 15:17

    You don’t request which airline they reroute you onto. Don’t even state a preference. You can provide example costs if claiming a money amount at MCOL, to prove with some examples the amount is reasonable given prices in the market. But if you want a reroute then the airline that cancelled you gets to choose which. Must be as reasonably close to same timing as possible and under comparable conditions so if they want you to take 2 days to do it and longer route with many more stops on one airline and something much more similar to the journey you had booked is available on another airline yes you could point out they were not fulfilling your EU261 rights when another alternative available in the market, would.

    The text of EU261 is quite good on this I suggest you google it and read it.

    If you’re not yet MCOLing and just asking for reroute, by all means you could mention any alternatives that might work that you’ve previously researched. But the choice is theirs as to what they rebook you onto subject to the above.

    If you’re now MCOLing and have presented OneWorld flights then definitely don’t change now. I suppose you could add further examples.

    I suspect poster Nick here would say OneWorld flights easier to ticket/for BA to provide generally so this looks good and reasonable of you to propose. My view is that if BA is stupidly denying your rights in a really obvious case and has been very trying, then I want the same as Nick I want them to provide me a replacement flight. Just I personally, would use Star Alliance flights because it’s more likely these would cost BA much more cash to provide and so they might be more willing to settle looking at the cash outflow being much higher when they lose. But if you’ve started providing info during the process (LBA etc) on OneWorld flights that would be acceptable don’t change this now.

    Once you have tickets/seats issued that you purchased, how you paid for them eg voucher, sale, discount, 2for1, is completely irrelevant. You now have two seats and each of those seats has its own set of full rights.

    • Gary says:

      16 Oct16 October 16:23

      Provided much clarity Lady London thank you!

    • Thom says:

      16 Oct16 October 18:15

      Your advice is always great so wanted to say thank you for that!

      One thing I’m not super clear on – is when you start the CEDR/MCOL process.

      Assuming BA has refused to honour legal right to rebooking / rerouting, assume you would send the LBA now with what you want to avoid such action. But do you need to book replacement flights and wait until after you travel before starting the claim or submit straight away?

      Thanks!

      • Lady London says:

        17 Oct17 October 11:19

        Your MCOL the perfect solution would be to book a cancellable refundable ticket on any airline (consider a Star Alliance or SkyTeam airline too for this) for the same route and close as reasonably poss to original timing. Then if BA settles you could cancel. If BA is being particularly annoying you could add 8% statutory interest pa to your claim payable on amy money you lay out from date paid till date BA’s reimbursement reaches your account.

        For J and esp for F that’s a lot of dosh. And don’t tell me BA doesn’t take into account the fact that many people simply don’t have the cash to tie up for their own replacement ticket, so easier for passenger to get bullied, when they refuse to provide passengers’rights forcing the passenger to take a poorer solution.

        The poorer solutions forced / bullied by BA, regularly include illegal restrictions on dates you can reroute to, forcing refunds taking away someone’s once-in-a-lifetime 50% cost or avios deal, unwanted FTV voucher forced (including BA has made deliberate adjustment to their systems to remove the ability to request full refund) and recently, inability to reach BA on their published methods of communication forcing many to give up, abandon the reroute or refund they are trying to arrange, or acceot a substandard solution reducing their options such as an FTV because BA isn’t enabling customers to reach BA on their phone lines even after hours and days of effort by customers.

        Are you listening CAA? Or are you frightened of BA?
        …..

      • Lady London says:

        17 Oct17 October 11:47

        Practically.
        Submit LBA saying exactly what date you need to travel on, ideally which flight if it’s a BA flight.

        If BA not flying, either just say you need to fly on that date or mention any other flights you asked for and were refused eg on someone else. Keep it clear you just need to exercise your right to reroute and thus is the date convenient to you to reroute to (don’t choose, that’s up to them to do to provide your right to a reroute).

        State if not provided within 21 days (or 14 if they’re being really annoying) you will proceed to MCOL to claim the cost of replacement flights, costs and interest (meta posted some great text for that here yesterday).

        Get a market (fair, going rate) price, I’d choose other airlines as I have said (seriously, who wants to fly on an airline that has treated you badly), provide about 3 quotes all market rate should prove market price. Very important to include the same, or close, level of changeability/refundability and same cabin as what was cancelled. Noting in the case of an avios ticket often the corresponding cash ticket is a relatively flexible (and sadly, expensive) ticket. You’re not laying out cash doing it this way, just presenting quotes for ticket cost., So if a restricted ticket you could still buy by court date would be similar, quote that However costs could rocket by court date so err on the side of flexibility. You don’t want to win and not have enough for new ticket price on the day and you won’t be able to go back if prices douubled from your quote.

        So this solution (quotes to prove market price of replacement) has that risk, which booking a flexible ticket upfront does not. However there are types of flexible ticket (,expensive) that a competent travel agent can hold in the system (taking a small nonrefundable fee or a deposit) and only have to issue the ticket, say, 7 days or 1 day ahead of travel, but competent travel agents for proper ticketing like this are rare these days.

        If it’s a fully avios booking and you’re having to go as far as mcol then claim 1.6p per avios (and not the return of the avios as by then you’re fed up with BA and don’t want any more avios) as this is BA’s standard selling cost when they sell them. Definitely don’t accept any avios back from BA if they’ve made you go this far.

        Same 1.6p calculation if BA is refusing you the involuntary downgrade comoensation. eg from 1st to Club, 75% of what you paid is claimable back after flight so if avios booking,1.6p ea

        • Lady London says:

          17 Oct17 October 11:54

          Do MCOL as soon as the deadline days you gave them in LBA are past. 3 requests or 8 weeks of trying without resoluion or no reply would also do.

          You do not have to wait for flight date do asap, some people have court resolve it (usually online) or (the ideal and likely in a strong case) before the flight, some after.

          But good to send LBA as it gives them one final chance to resolve at least cost to thenselves and shows how ultra-reasonable you are.

• David S says:

  16 Oct16 October 09:53

  I have a 241 booked to BKK for Jan 22 and have just started looking at accommodation in Phuket / Koh Samui. Prices are almost double if you want a refundable rate. What’s the best approach for making a booking whilst protecting from having to cancel if either flights don’t go or the borders shut again ? Can I add accommodation to a 241 booking? Thx all

  • BJ says:

    16 Oct16 October 10:15

    If these are concerns then do not go to Samui, it can be difficult finding seats to get on and off the island at the last minute in normal high season times. I have no idea if it is (going to be) easier or more difficult at this time. Unless you know you like Samui I suggest you choose Phuket instead, I think most would agree it is the better choice. Staying on points would be cheapest way to get flexibility; purchasing the points if necessary and the price works.

  • Harry T says:

    16 Oct16 October 11:17

    Use points?

    • AndyW says:

      16 Oct16 October 20:38

      This

  • Sam G says:

    16 Oct16 October 11:22

    insurance isn’t going to cover these scenarios so either shop around – trip.com can be good in this part of the world – or try negotiating directly with your preferred hotels for a flexible deal. It’s unlikely even high season they’re going to be particularly full so I imagine at least some will be willing – better to have chance of a booking than none at all!

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    16 Oct16 October 12:28

    Is that even a surprise? There’s always going to be a demand-supply mismatch when travel picks up. You’re competing with Singaporeans and westerners desperate for a break but with limited choice.
    Given the restrictions including quarantine, likely understaffing and less facilities, I’d avoid Thailand for next six months. If you are that desperate, better to choose a hotel based on reviews after reopening than price.

• Liz says:

  16 Oct16 October 09:57

  Just received our next BAPP statement and the promised £55 fee refund is not on it – surprise surprise – are people still managing to get this refunded. I was told it was a known glitch and it would be refunded – will need to make another call.

  • Jen T says:

    16 Oct16 October 10:00

    My refund turned up 2 weeks ago.
    Definitely worth chasing again.

    • BJ says:

      16 Oct16 October 10:16

      +1 for my partner.

• Saiz says:

  16 Oct16 October 09:58

  Does anyone know if Hilton offer 50% off on a second room like Marriott do. If yes, is it via calling reservations as website doesn’t show it.

  • Rob says:

    16 Oct16 October 10:47

    They do at hotel discretion – can only be booked by ringing the hotel to ask.

    • GaryE says:

      16 Oct16 October 14:36

      Plus you must book the fully flexible rate to get the discount on the 2nd room – so you need to check the HH discount rate etc as the fully flexible rate can be considerably more expensive than the HH discount rate

• Andrew says:

  16 Oct16 October 10:03

  Do we think there will be an increase in capacity in November for USA from Virgin and BA? I bet BA wished they’d done their A380 Madrid flights in October, so they could kick off Miami etc from 8 Nov.

• Joseph Abou-Jaoude says:

  16 Oct16 October 10:06

  Hello! Do BA still operate call centres? If so what’s the trick to actually speak to someone? I just need a refund for a cancelled Avios flight but MMB does not work. Thank you

  • Rob says:

    16 Oct16 October 10:45

    Give up if you’re not Gold. Life’s too short 🙂

    You are cut off after an hour and the queue is always over an hour ….

    Quicker to start legal action against BA. This only takes around 15 minutes I believe.

    • ChrisC says:

      16 Oct16 October 12:06

      Letter Before Action should be enough to promt them into action – as long as you can demonstrate you called a good few times (required by MCOL anyway as you need to show that you made reasonable efforts to resolve the issue)

      BA legal loathe dealing with basic customer service issues but if it’s the only way for people to get their money back then I have no hesitation is contacting them.

  • Sam G says:

    16 Oct16 October 11:23

    try chat or Twitter DM if not in a particular rush. At least BA have these options – try getting hold of Iberia!!

  • ChrisBCN says:

    16 Oct16 October 15:57

    Try the online chat. I waited about an hour online this afternoon, but easy to live the rest of your life whilst you wait!

  • monsieurcurt says:

    16 Oct16 October 21:43

    Call their US number on Skype a while after the UK lines close, shorter queues.

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