The HfP chat thread – Sunday 24th October

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• Sam says:

  24 Oct24 October 11:24

  Does anyone else know how long it takes for offers to show up on a new amex platinum? Card arrived on Thursday and want to take advantage of the £100 off travel spend offer but no offers are showing in the app

  • AndyW says:

    24 Oct24 October 11:36

    Recent experience on a new Plat. First spend 14th Oct, been using it regularly since. Had a couple pop up yesterday, but they seem to be properly arriving today, inc the Amex travel £100

    • Sam says:

      24 Oct24 October 12:01

      Great, thanks for letting me know.

  • Super Secret Stuff says:

    24 Oct24 October 12:37

    On BAPP my first spend was Wednesday, had offers by the Friday

    • Reney says:

      24 Oct24 October 13:52

      On my BAPP sup, waited a whole month from the first spend to offers appearing. That was the longest I ever waited, much less for other cards in the past.

  • Alekun says:

    24 Oct24 October 14:51

    When did you apply as I am looking to apply this evening and hope to have the card by Tuesday/Wednesday.

• H says:

  24 Oct24 October 11:24

  Hi, I’ve booked flights with BA operated by Aer Lingus.

  The flights were for Dublin to Boston and were cancelled. I’ve had a lot of back-and-forth between BA and Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus have correctly advised that be I need to re-book the ticket with BA and that BA can contact them for a waiver code if necessary. When I spoke to BA before they said to just let them know when I’m ready to give them dates. Now they’ve come up with an usual nonsense about Ticket validity. BA are refusing to speak to Aer Lingus and I’ve emailed them. The response I received from BA is that they’ve looked into it and I was correctly advised about ticket validity, the only option they can offer is a full refund.

  So I want to be rebooked and his flights were booked with Avios. I’ve gone down the CEDR route successfully before, however, I think this time I would like to go down the MCOL route. I think the CEDR route takes far too long with BA providing nonsense responses delaying the case going for adjudication.

  I know it’s been discussed here quite a few times, but a few questions please @LadyLondon @Meta and anyone else with experience of this..

  1- Am I correct in thinking that both Ba and Aer Lingus should be stated as defendants on the claim?
  2- Do I quote for a fully flexible ticket as this was an avios booking? Do I need to book this ticket now as it would be about £5k?
  3 – any risk of being banned from travelling with BA or my exec club account being closed as a result of MCOL action?

  Thank you All 🙂

  • Anna says:

    24 Oct24 October 11:48

    I think both of the above posters would advise you to get something from BA stating that this is their final position and also send a letter before action to their legal department. @meta does seem to have galvanised them into action of late!

    • Nick says:

      24 Oct24 October 12:35

      Anna is right. You may have a choice of route but MCOL should not be considered a waiver from having to do any leg-work first. Write a very clear letter stating exactly what you want (e.g. rebooking on X date), including any previous correspondence with EI. Then say if they don’t deliver (give them time, I think 14 days is standard) then you will take further action. You have to be seen to be reasonable, and a court can find against you if you’re not. Asking for a ‘final position letter’ from BA is a big part of that. Good luck.

  • Lady London says:

    24 Oct24 October 12:44

    After being treated like that I dont think I’d want to travel on either of those airlines.

    So I think I’d get 3 or so quotes from UA, say, KLM, Delta to prove market pricing. Ideally book one that’s cancellable if you can and add the booking fee into your claim. If it’s huge money you take a risk that by the time your case is heard prices could leave you with not enough but may be all you can do.

    LBA say you are seeking replacement ticket under EU261 / UK equivalent (look up its name) however if you are forced to mcol your moneyclaim will be based on the attached (don’t refer there to what exactly the attached is, just let them see it and work it out).

    You haven’t said what your replacement date is nor why you aren’t able to reroute within what BA would prefer but for all our sakes i hope you’ll have reasons ready “just in case” that are reasonable even if technically not required.

    Rob might have a view on potential victimisation by BA but as far as reported here not seen any. IMV BA seems to be victimising innocent passengers more by imposing legally baseless restrictions on reroutings caused by BA’s own cancellations.

    • Lady London says:

      24 Oct24 October 12:47

      Sue both jointly, and write an LBA to both jointly at the respective legal department of each. I’d give them 21 days.

    • H says:

      24 Oct24 October 12:59

      Thanks all.

      @LadyLondon – I’m unable to reroute with BA as they are refusing to do so, because of ticket validity. I think they have changed back to the previous ticket policy they had, not the amended one in July.

      My flights were supposed to be in June this year and I asked to be rebooked for November, they are refusing say the ticket already expired in September which they failed to mention to me before when they advised me to get in contact with them when I have dates. They have also mentioned they won’t contact EI as it’s a BA issued ticket and EI cannot waive ticket validity. As usual it’s a headache with BA. So as I understand it correctly I need to pay for the replacement flights to be able to proceed with MCOL?

      I did write back to BA mentioning passenger rights under EU261, I’m awaiting their response. If they come back (which I’m sure they will) and refuse… then I can mention MCOL/LBA.

      In terms of EI, do I need to find a UK address for them?

      • meta says:

        24 Oct24 October 13:12

        I agree with everything @LadyLondon said above. Yes, try to find EI’s UK address on Companies House. Write to BA Legal department at Waterside. At this stage, I’d go for straight to LBA. Good luck and please report back.

        • H says:

          24 Oct24 October 13:15

          Thanks Meta, LadyLondon and everyone else… I will report back with an update soon.

        • H says:

          24 Oct24 October 13:15

          Thanks Meta, LadyLondon and everyone else… I will report back with an update soon. Is there any email for Ba legal?

        • Lady London says:

          24 Oct24 October 15:14

          Write to both addressed jointly. And same put them both on the mcol as defendants. Dont fall into the trap of being pointed by one to the other, let the court sort it out by doing it this way.

          BA’s policies and incapacities and illegal restrictions don’t matter a d*mn. There is no such limitation in the governing statutes (EU261 and the UK equivalent). Statutes override contract (eg BA’s terms or anything BA says).

          Let us know the outcome.

• Olivia says:

  24 Oct24 October 11:24

  2 questions re. Abu Dhabi –
  1) Has anybody been to Abu Dhabi recently and have reviews on registering for the Al Hosn App and maintaining green status as an international visitor (we’re fully vaccinated)?

  2) We’re going to the F1 in December and have to have a valid PCR test 48hrs before each day (therefore 2 tests for the weekend!) and concerned about lack of testing on Yas Island. Are they fairly easy to come by given UAE is requiring all non vaccinated residents to test every 3 days?

• Junior says:

  24 Oct24 October 11:27

  Anyone have any strong opinions on whether JAL or ANA is better for LHR-HND? Flying PE.

  • Nick says:

    24 Oct24 October 12:40

    No ‘strong’ opinions as they’re both excellent. JAL is oneworld if that matters to you, ANA has slightly more consistently good reviews. But I wouldn’t hesitate booking either. I’d probably pick based on schedule and price.

    • BuildBackBetter says:

      24 Oct24 October 12:59

      +1. Also consider the miles or avios you get. Otherwise, both are excellent.

• Andrew M says:

  24 Oct24 October 11:31

  Does anyone know if it’s possible to get a free UK domestic flight when using the Lloyds voucher and starting outside the UK? I want to fly GIG-LHR-EDI and open jaw return INV-LHR-CPT but the agent said the flight didn’t qualify for a free domestic as it started outside the UK. Long haul flights booked on BAEC with Avios do get a free UK domestic even when the starting point is outside the UK so it’s a bit odd that the Avios.com agent wouldn’t do it. Has anyone been able to book something like this?

  • Anna says:

    24 Oct24 October 11:52

    I thought Lloyds voucher have always been able to be used for flights originating outside the UK? I can’t see how that would affect avios.com’s ability to ticket this anyway. However, do GIG and CPT fall within the distance criteria for open jaw? Just wondering if there’s some block in the system and the CSA is wrongly attributing it to the domestic leg.

    • Andrew M says:

      24 Oct24 October 12:02

      There was no problem using the Lloyds voucher and originating outside the UK or meeting the open jaw distance criteria between GIG and CPT. I actually ended up booking GIG-LHR-CPT with no issues but I’d still like to get the domestics added on, especially Inverness to save on APD. The agent spoke to their manager who insisted it wasn’t possible to add a domestic to that routing. Apparently the system allowed it but the agent insisted it would be rejected by ticketing.

  • Lyn says:

    24 Oct24 October 13:13

    Even without the question of free domestic connections, or the mileage distances of the individual legs, this doesn’t actually look like a normal open jaw route.

    You would normally need to either start or end in the same city. E.g. GIG – LHR and LHR – CPT with LHR the common denominator. Or GIG – LHR – INV and INV – LHR – CPT with INV the common denominator.

    • Andrew M says:

      24 Oct24 October 13:24

      You’re right, its a double open jaw which complicates things a bit. I did ask the agent if GIG-LHR-EDI-LHR-CPT or GIG-LHR-INV-LHR-CPT would be possible and they said no. They said it was the domestic add on that caused the problem, not the open jaw.

      • Lady London says:

        24 Oct24 October 15:18

        If BA has published a fare from your origin to your domestic destination then it should be ticketable.

        Try again a time or two in normal working hours. Don’t ask if possible with voucher just ask to change the ticket then wait and see

        • Andrew M says:

          24 Oct24 October 18:18

          Thanks LL, I’ll give them a call tomorrow and see if I get a different answer. I don’t see why it wouldn’t be possible to book that routing but I was hoping someone on here had actually done something similar so I would have some evidence to use when I call.

  • John says:

    24 Oct24 October 16:13

    It’s not really free as the carrier-imposed charges will increase as well as APD on LHR-EDI

    • Andrew M says:

      24 Oct24 October 18:27

      There will certainly be some extra APD and possibly some other bits and bobs but there shouldn’t be any carrier imposed surcharges on the domastics. Departing from Brazil means no carrier surcharges to pay on the flight and that includes the LHR-CPT segment even though I have a two month “stopover” in LHR. I’ve often wondered how far the no surcharges rule for flights departing Brazil can be extended. Would a multi sector RTW ticket have no fuel surcharges as long as the first flight departed Brazil?

      • JDB says:

        24 Oct24 October 18:32

        @AndrewM – as you have obviously looked into the APD issue carefully, am I right in thinking that if you fly say LHR-MAD-GIG and your stopover in Madrid is 24hrs+ you only pay the £26 APD rather than £180, even if it is on one ticket?

        • Andrew M says:

          24 Oct24 October 18:37

          That’s my understanding but I haven’t tried it. Surprisingly the +24 hour loophole doesn’t get discussed much with most people preferring to book separate tickets, even if they are spending more than 24 hours in MAD (for example).

• Vit says:

  24 Oct24 October 11:32

  Hello, sorry in advanced if this has been asked before. Quiet Sunday and just trying to catch up a bit with my expenses. Two questions please:

  1. Anyone knows when, roughly, the spend “£2000 get 2000 Avios bonus” came out?
  2. I assume this offer only take into account of the expense made by the main card and not including any expense made using the supp. card?

  Cheers,
  Vit

  • Reney says:

    24 Oct24 October 11:46

    previous comments suggest if you click into the offer it will let you the start date.

    • Vit says:

      24 Oct24 October 12:30

      Thanks Reney. Found it: Offer valid from 23 August until 30 November 2021. 🙂

      • Reney says:

        24 Oct24 October 13:54

        On your second question. It only counts spending on the card where the offer appeared.

        • Vit says:

          24 Oct24 October 14:52

          That’s clear. Thanks Reney.

• Gary says:

  24 Oct24 October 11:33

  Got through to overseas Amex Plat CS early morning who advised £200 dining offer can only be added once account has been open for 10 days (mine is 3 days old). Does this sound right?

  • Andrew says:

    24 Oct24 October 11:40

    I hope they extend the offer if we go into lockdown and restaurants close. Might need to get it used in the next couple of weeks.

    • Jay says:

      24 Oct24 October 13:26

      Where do you get your lockdown information? I thought it’s plan B which is facemasks. No suggestions of a lockdown

      • Andrew says:

        24 Oct24 October 14:29

        Unless we leave it too late to implement plan B and go straight to plan C. SAGE advisor yesterday saying unless we adopt plan B now, Christmas will be cancelled again. And we know from history, hoping for the best is the usual strategy…..

  • Munch says:

    24 Oct24 October 16:39

    Advised the same 10 days but appeared on my card after 5 days.

  • GillyDee says:

    24 Oct24 October 17:27

    Nope – applied on 15th Oct, received card on 19th, offer appeared on 22nd, booked Ivy Cardiff on 23rd…

  • Marina says:

    24 Oct24 October 19:29

    I received card last Saturday & used chat function on Sunday morning to speak to CS they added offer while I was still chatting – within 5 mins – (3 days after applying 1 day after receiving card in post )

• Jim says:

  24 Oct24 October 11:44

  I still haven’t received a companion voucher that was triggered in the beginning of September, and both BA and Amez customer service have been useless. Anyone else had similar experiences?

  • Peter K says:

    24 Oct24 October 12:32

    I’d have thought this is an Amex issue, as they produce the voucher. I’d make an actual formal complaint.

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