The HfP chat thread – Sunday 17th October

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• Realakagi says:

  17 Oct17 October 03:12

  I accidentally used the wrong 241 voucher (one with a closer expiry). Has anyone tried calling to replace the voucher before?

  • Dan says:

    17 Oct17 October 04:53

    Did the same. They wouldn’t change it without cancelling and rebooking which I didn’t want to risk.

  • Lula says:

    17 Oct17 October 08:06

    I called and asked recently whether swapping was possible. The CSA I spoke to said it was no problem at all. I haven’t tested that though.

  • BJ says:

    17 Oct17 October 08:08

    There have been reports of CSA swapping vouchers no problem. @Dan, suggest you try again with different agent(s).

  • Reeferman says:

    17 Oct17 October 08:32

    Mine was swapped earlier this year – so definitely worth HUACA

  • Toby says:

    17 Oct17 October 09:02

    Yes. Very easy, about a year back, called and asked for it. They swapped it over straight away.

  • Harry T says:

    17 Oct17 October 09:07

    I didn’t think this was possible until recently, but I’ve heard a couple of anecdotes to the contrary. Well worth a HUACA.

  • ChrisC says:

    17 Oct17 October 10:18

    Rather than call BA because of the almost seeming non existing phone service I’d consider using your close in date voucher to book a cheap short haul return then a couple of days later cancel it online for an FTV and use that for a future flight (trip completed by 30th September 2023)

    You’d still have to call into use that voucher but hopefully by then BAs phone line issues will have lessened and you’ll have a change of getting through!

  • Mattb says:

    17 Oct17 October 10:23

    I was told they could but they both have to be in your name. I wanted to swap between my wife’s and one of mine but that was a no go.

  • Toppcat says:

    17 Oct17 October 10:28

    Yes, I have done this. Agent was happy to do it.

• Neil says:

  17 Oct17 October 06:44

  How much extra time does it take to get through check in at Heathrow the moment with all the extra COVID related paperwork? We are flying at midday on Sunday the 24th and wondering what time to plan our arrival. T5.

  • RKEdin says:

    17 Oct17 October 06:50

    We flew to Dubai last week. Even though we had uploaded everything onto Verifly the check-in staff did re-check the paperwork. Even with that it probably only took 2 or 3 minutes longer than pre-COVID.

  • The Original Nick says:

    17 Oct17 October 07:15

    Depends on a few things – do you have status so that you can use fast track? Business class check in? Are you checking in bags? Fast track was fine for me on Friday. Business check in was about a 15 minute wait.
    Try and use Verifly as this speeds things up a little.

  • The Original Nick says:

    17 Oct17 October 07:16

    Also – I used the First Wing 3 weeks ago and flew through..

    • Andrew says:

      17 Oct17 October 08:23

      +1 I arrived at LHR at 8:30 and was sitting down ordering breakfast in Galleries First at 8:45, having checked in luggage at the First Wing.

    • babyg_wc says:

      17 Oct17 October 14:53

      +1

  • Toby says:

    17 Oct17 October 09:03

    We checked in and dropped bags the night before and it was seamless. We uploaded paperwork to MMB but they still wanted to look at it, but they barely checked it. When we went through security the next morning there were v few queues. So, for us it took just 3-5 mins more than usual.

• Chris says:

  17 Oct17 October 06:53

  I flew BA connecting through LHR on Friday and aside from not checking in online there was basically zero additional time for new process

  It was like they replaced the old have you packed your own bags questions with have you had a negative test etc

  Was remarkable how normal it all felt

• Js says:

  17 Oct17 October 07:20

  Does anyone know when/if Hertz in LTN will reopen?

• Pid says:

  17 Oct17 October 07:29

  Does anyone know of the BA Porto schedule has now settled downtown as Wed, Thu, Fri? Have a booking next week that I was hoping would be cancelled so I can get a refund. Might move it if there is a possibility of further changes to the schedule.

  • ChrisC says:

    17 Oct17 October 10:21

    If the flights are next week then I’d say there is zero chance of them being cancelled now.

    If you move it you’ll still have the same risk of them not cancelling that flight as well as having to pay for any fare difference on your new dates.

• Peggerz says:

  17 Oct17 October 07:39

  Good morning from Crete.
  I’m due to fly back to the UK from Greece this morning and have all documents in order. Flying BA, I have completed VeriFLY but how does this work in reality? Do I present my phone screen to the check-in agent or does the agent have the verification already linked to my booking on their screen?
  I realise that VeriFLY may have little benefit having read past comments on here.
  Thanks.

  • Cats are best says:

    17 Oct17 October 07:44

    You show the Verifly ‘pass’ on your phone to the agent.

    But if they don’t accept it, make sure to have all the required documents ready to show.

  • Jalpo says:

    17 Oct17 October 07:53

    VeriFLY brilliant if you have hand baggage only as it allows you to check in online and receive a boarding pass, thereby avoiding airport check-in altogether.

    • Matty says:

      17 Oct17 October 08:47

      I used Verifly with HBO a number of times. Have the app handy at the gate because the agent will still want to check it. The second time, the app crashed, and I had to retrieve the various PDFs individually, which didn’t go down too well with those waiting behind me.

      • Thywillbedone says:

        17 Oct17 October 11:25

        The Verifly app seems utter trash to me. Worked once but ever since it is only showing me two airlines in drop-down menu (AA and EI) so I can’t set up any more trips. A 1.4/5 rating on the App store tells you all you need to know.

  • Peggerz says:

    17 Oct17 October 07:56

    Cheers CAB!

  • Peggerz says:

    17 Oct17 October 07:56

    Cheers Jalpo.

  • Graham C says:

    17 Oct17 October 08:04

    I used it in Tenerife last month. It was great. He saw it on his screen and then said all good out your first bag up.

    Others hadn’t bothered and it took forever.

    • meta says:

      17 Oct17 October 08:11

      Most time, I don’t even have to show it on my screen. The agent just says, I can see you’ve done Verifly and that’s it. The boarding pass will show “verifly ok”.

  • Simon says:

    17 Oct17 October 08:14

    Flew BA from Chania yesterday evening. Didn’t use verifly. Just uploaded the vax cert and UK PLF to BA within 48 hours before arrival. Agent can see all paperwork had been submitted on their system.

  • Harry T says:

    17 Oct17 October 09:19

    Leave plenty of time if you’re flying from Heraklion. We flew back from there last weekend and we nearly missed our flight, despite arriving three hours before.

  • Peggerz says:

    17 Oct17 October 09:43

    Thanks everyone.
    Harry T: I saw your comments about HER last week. I can only concur. They need to build another one and fit some decent air conditioning whilst they are at it!
    The lounge – naturally for BA- is not open.
    The comic thing is we showed our VeriFLY app to the checkin agent and she showed it to the other BA check in staff in a “so that’s the app” kind of way. It’s as if they’d never seen it. Then she asked for our documents (plf etc) separately!
    My thoughts are, if you are coming to Crete and have a choice of airport, go through CHQ and not HER. CHQ is about 3-4 years old and is a comparative delight.
    Still, it’s 25 degrees and the sun is shining. 🌞

    • Harry T says:

      17 Oct17 October 15:00

      Chanda sounds much better but unfortunately it was a much longer drive to Domes of Elounda from there!

      Apparently they are building another airport near Heraklion but it’ll be ready in 2028, at the earliest (or similar). I suspect that is optimistic.

      Enjoy your holiday!

      • Harry T says:

        17 Oct17 October 15:01

        Chania*

        Weird Apple autocorrect never fails to surprise.

• Robert says:

  17 Oct17 October 07:44

  Has anyway completed an IHG stay and expected to get x2 or x3 promotional points but only received x1 points, do I need to chase up IHG or will the additional promotion points come through seperately later?

  • Robert says:

    17 Oct17 October 07:45

    anyone*

  • Andrew says:

    17 Oct17 October 08:27

    They arrive with the stay when it posts and a higher bonus shows to whatever your status bonus is. So if they aren’t with the original points post you need to chase. You won’t see an additional line entry for this.

  • TJones says:

    17 Oct17 October 09:27

    Should post with the stay. No bonus on the first stay, of course. Stays also have to be at a “qualifying rate”. Otherwise “Missing points? Let us know” on the website usually fixes it.

    • Rich01924 says:

      17 Oct17 October 10:07

      So I have chased and reply from Ambassador team was that they were posting 4-6 weeks post stay

      • Robert says:

        17 Oct17 October 11:04

        Thanks for the advice, I’ll give it another week or so then chase up. It took just under a week for them to post my stays points.

• Simonbr says:

  17 Oct17 October 07:49

  If a BA gold card holder cannot collect enough TPs during their year to retain gold I understand BA drops him/her down to silver the following year, the so called soft landing. So is there any point in making the effort to collect a significant number of TPs during the year with gold by taking cash flights unless there’s a chance of retaining gold? Thanks for any advice.

  • Graham C says:

    17 Oct17 October 08:08

    I don’t really understand your question. You’ll lose gold if you don’t meet the criteria, that’s a given especially with the states about to reopen.

    If you want to retain it the you could complete a tier point run to amass a large quantity quickly. Or you could take advantage of the double tier point holiday offers running until March.

    A trip to Tenerife for example for me from Glasgow became 480TP instead of 240TP in club.

  • Simon says:

    17 Oct17 October 08:10

    You get more avios as Gold.
    The Tier points add to your lifetime grand total.

  • John says:

    17 Oct17 October 08:13

    You should consider whether any TP runs would be better timed just after your new tier collection year starts, as there is a lag of 7 weeks before you drop to silver if you fail to requalify, and getting gold or close to it then will give you status for 2 years

    • Simonbr says:

      17 Oct17 October 08:21

      Thanks for these comments. Rephrasing..if a gold holder has no hope of collecting enough TPs to retain let alone become a lifer, is there any need to collect enough for a silver the following year when they give it to you anyway?

      • Kwisstan says:

        17 Oct17 October 08:28

        No, some people switch their allegiances to other airlines during the silver year and then only requalify for gold in the grace period for silver.

      • Andrew says:

        17 Oct17 October 08:30

        No need. Either go for gold or collect zero – don’t chase silver as they’ll give it to you free. Gives you a chance to check out Virgin with your status matched Gold or try Jet Blue Mint Suite.

        • Simonbr says:

          17 Oct17 October 08:57

          Thanks both for the good suggestions.

      • ChrisC says:

        17 Oct17 October 10:25

        Remember You need to collect enough TPS in your “free” silver year to remain silver the following year otherwise you’ll drop to bronze.

        How many TPs do you anticipate missing Gold by? We might be able to advise on how easy it might be to retain.

        • Simonbr says:

          17 Oct17 October 11:06

          Very kind of you, but probably I’ll miss it by a helluva lot unless they continue the double TP package offer and the reduced status thresholds.. I do very little business travel.

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