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The HfP chat thread – Thursday 21st October

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Category

General

Comments (440)

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

  • Craig says:
    21 Oct21 October 10:07

    A bit of advice please team.

    I have BA booked to Singapore in Feb/Mar and although I can at least now travel to Singapore travelling around the Far East looks difficult.

    Virgin have seats available to San Francisco on the same dates which would use up my stash of Virgin points and my vouchers, it would be my first time in UC with Virgin.

    I know lots could change in 4 months but what are peoples thoughts? It’s a 3 week holiday.

    Thanks.

    • Rhys says:
      21 Oct21 October 10:14

      Why not book both and then decide closer to the time?

      To be honest, travel to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand etc is starting to thaw so you’ll probably be ok by March.

      • Craig says:
        21 Oct21 October 10:42

        The problem Rhys is transit at Changi but not on one ticket. At the moment I can get into Singapore, travel onwards and enjoy a holiday but not get back without rebooking the return flight.

    • BuildBackBetter says:
      21 Oct21 October 10:23

      Singapore can become tricky as well.
      18 covid deaths yesterday, equivalent to 198 in UK.

      • Pete M says:
        21 Oct21 October 10:28

        Agree with BuildBackBetter, I have a sneaking suspicion the reopening may well get rolled back…

        • Sam G says:
          21 Oct21 October 11:27

          they just extended the local controls another month yesterday. So personally I think you are wise to put in a plan B at this point & like Rhys says, if you’re using points you can do it at minimal cost.

          Getting to Singapore itself (and then onto say Thailand) will be possible, coming back into Singapore to transit back may be more difficult. BA are allowed transits from Jetstar at Changi on the same booking so if you’re on a cash ticket you could potentially change it to add that on or try get onto the Bangkok-London flight coming home. Thailand itself should be fine enough by then and March offers good weather for a trip around.

          • Craig says:
            21 Oct21 October 11:30

            Thanks Sam G, my gut feeling is to kick this a year down the road. It’s an Avios ticket back so no possibility of adding Jetstar and keeping a single booking. If I head to SFO it gives me the option of heading to Hawaii for a couple of weeks if Covid permits that, heading down to Mexico or just road-tripping?

          • Sam G says:
            21 Oct21 October 12:17

            I don’t have anything booked but I’m doing the same with an Asia trip – planning a big trip in March 2023 to blow my stash of SQ miles. US is definitely a safer bet- life is pretty much normal there so you’ve got plenty of options to put together a nice trip without the hassle/worry

    • Louise K says:
      21 Oct21 October 13:06

      Southern California would be sunnier at that time of year.

      If you are considering Hawaii, then best look now for your accommodation options. Feb / Mar is peak season and $$$.

  • allycat says:
    21 Oct21 October 10:22

    Amex MR->Emirates->Heathrow Rewards question: If I convert some Amex MR points to Emirates, can I then convert those to Heathrow Rewards points or will Emirates block that conversion? I have 1500 orphan Emirates points which are due to expire 31 Dec 21. Should I convert 4500 Amex MR points to Emirates and then convert the 6000 Emirates points to Heathrow Rewards for £40 of parking credit which I WILL use this year? Notional value of 4500 MR points is £45 at 1p/point so the £40 of parking credit uses up the Emirates points about to expire and gives me 0.88p / MR point which seems OK?

  • Jonny says:
    21 Oct21 October 10:23

    I THINK I’ve received ANOTHER “Get 100% back, up to £200” dining on my Amex Platinum.

    Is that possible, or am I mistaken? Anyone else see the offer reappearing?

  • Anna says:
    21 Oct21 October 10:29

    BA not selling Alicante beyond this month – have they pulled the route all together? Planning a trip to that area next autumn and was wondering if I could use up a FTV.

    • Mikeact says:
      21 Oct21 October 16:28

      All BA flights from Southampton including Alicante, finish in a couple of weeks time for the Winter until next Spring. Planes are returned to LCY.

  • Chrism20 says:
    21 Oct21 October 10:32

    Airtime promo “OCT3”

    Spend £5 before midnight Friday and get £1

    Limited to 1,000 posted 20 mins ago

  • Howard says:
    21 Oct21 October 10:42

    Hi all – does anyone know if i cancel a BA holiday (more than 3 weeks out) do I get an FTV or an eVoucher? I’m sure there was an article on it but can’t find it.

    Thanks!

    • Anna says:
      21 Oct21 October 10:45

      It doesn’t actually matter that much because the voucher can be applied to a new booking by emailing BA holidays.

      • Howard says:
        21 Oct21 October 11:07

        But if i want to book flight only, i can do it online with evoucher but not FTV. Also, i think with FTV new booking needs to be same names as old boking but not with evoucher.

        • ChrisC says:
          21 Oct21 October 11:24

          Holiday vouchers are always generated as FTVs

          So if you want to book flight only and use the FTV

          1. Book and pay for the flight
          2. Reply to the BA Hols voucher email saying ‘please apply to my new booking ref’
          3. They then send you a refund back to the card you used for the flight booking.

  • Dr Lee says:
    21 Oct21 October 10:56

    Best number to reach BA on to cancel an Avios booking? I’m Silver. Thanks in advance!

    • ChrisC says:
      21 Oct21 October 11:04

      The silver line number.

    • Sam G says:
      21 Oct21 October 11:28

      Got straight through to Avios last night at 7pm on 02079493086 (using my OH companion voucher, he’s a blue)

    • Lee Thornton says:
      21 Oct21 October 12:11

      Thanks everyone. To provide a data point I dialled the silver line three times and was cut off each time after a few minutes as they claimed they were too busy. I tried You First who made the cancellation as a ‘one off’ and got through in under 10 minutes.

    • Andrew H says:
      21 Oct21 October 12:42

      Or use chat

      • Dr Lee says:
        21 Oct21 October 13:08

        I couldn’t find the chat function anywhere on the website. Do you have a direct link to the page you could share? Thanks!

      • Hbommie says:
        21 Oct21 October 16:18

        Chatbot is useless, I never manage to get a human life form.

  • Mco says:
    21 Oct21 October 10:58

    Applied for a VA credit card and got a credit limit of 2k. Had a limit of 12k when I had it a couple of years back. No changes in my circumstances. Anyway to appeal this?

    • Andrew H says:
      21 Oct21 October 11:00

      Someone a couple of weeks ago said that they rang – Virgin said can’t be done for 6 months, but a few days later his limit had been increased.

      I have £4,000* limit and unfortunately twice I’ve maxxed out the points at 6,000

      (*lower than any other card I have – they seem to do low limits)

      • lev441 says:
        21 Oct21 October 14:13

        Just gave me £14,900 which i’m happy with – Last time around I got £2,600 which was fine because it could be paid off mid month and earn points.. but not anymore!

    • Mrs_Fussy says:
      21 Oct21 October 13:02

      This is so random – VA gave me a limit of 25K !!!

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