The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 27th October

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• Andrew says:

  27 Oct27 October 15:36

  Rhys – this page isn’t showing on HFP homepage, yesterday’s chat thread is.

  • Neil says:

    27 Oct27 October 16:03

    Think he’s flying Aberdeen to Newcastle so may take a little while to respond but as long as there is a recent comment you can go via the latest comments links to get here

  • Super Secret Stuff says:

    27 Oct27 October 16:11

    Noticed that earlier too, thought it was just me

    In Chrome if that matters

  • Tracey says:

    27 Oct27 October 19:51

    Shows on an iPad

• Amy C says:

  27 Oct27 October 15:43

  Ok so BA have royally screwed me over and I am spitting blood. Is there anything I can do?
  Booked a CW return to CPT in their 747 promotion a year ago for travel on Feb 8th this year which was obviously cancelled. I know they changed their policy on rebookings within ticket validity over the summer but I didn’t rebook as SA wasn’t open and assumed they’d not change it again. Asked Twitter team on Sept 13th what the situation was and they confirmed I had until Feb 7th 2022 to depart. With this in mind I felt reassured put off rebooking. Cue October and SA off our red list my mind came to rebooking. I rang BA on 19th to check the situation and initially the guy said no, your ticket isn’t valid any more. I kicked up a fuss, explained about twitter and he went off for ages to speak to someone and confirmed I did indeed have until Feb 7th to fly. I then fired off an email to their customer relations to complain about contradictory information & constant changes of policy.
  Heard nothing more until just receiving this email. I’m fuming. Is there anything I can do? I would have gone first week of October if they hadn’t told me on Twitter that my ticket was valid until Feb!

  “ Thanks for your reply, and apologies for the delay.

  I’m sorry for the confusion, your ticket is valid for 12 months from the day of purchase, which means the last day to travel was 07Oct 2021. Your ticket is no longer valid for any rebooking options.

  Due to your original flights being cancelled, we’ve refunded your booking in full to payment card ending 1018, please allow 10 working days to show in your account.

  I’m sorry if this wasn’t the outcome you were looking for.

  Please feel free to let us know if we can help you with anything else.

  Kind regards
  Janice
  British Airways

  • Charlieface says:

    27 Oct27 October 16:03

    This is a limitation in British Airways’ systems, that by default the ticket has 12 month validity.

    In the event of IRROPS (cancellation etc) they are supposed to override it. They are perfectly capable of doing so, you just need to get the right agent. For some reason, most are trained not do this.

    It’s even in the IATA Handbook

    • Babyg says:

      27 Oct27 October 18:15

      the 12 month “rule” can be bypassed (ive had this done for 2 of my tickets), but i suspect the OP needed to have something done with the ticket before the 12month validity, one of my bookings (dubai) was temporarily booked to somewhere weird (cant remember where) to “hold” the ticket… , I think the OP was poorly advised, potentially he could “fly” until feb7th, assuming ticket was edited/re ticketed before 12months after ticket was issued… i would keep pushing and then take the more formal route…

      • Amy C says:

        27 Oct27 October 19:01

        They did do something with the ticket to keep it ‘open on the system’. What would the more formal route be? Is it letter to legal department then CDER or should I go straight to CDER? My concern is they say they have refunded me now. Although to a card I can doled two months ago 🙄

        • Amy C says:

          27 Oct27 October 19:02

          *Cancelled

  • Simon says:

    27 Oct27 October 18:50

    Email the ceo … that will then go to the global exec team who might be able to help

    • Pete M says:

      27 Oct27 October 20:20

      I’ve been corresponding with this team for days. As useless as the regular team.

  • Lady London says:

    27 Oct27 October 20:50

    Just MCOL and above all send a note saying you reject the refund and will be taking action to exercise your EU261 (/UK equivalent rights instead.

    They literally cannot, cannot do this. It is your choice amongst refund or reroute the worda in the law are crystal clear on this. But they are trying to do an “assumptive close” so you must be seen to reject their refund promptly. Do it by a method that proves receipt

    • Lady London says:

      27 Oct27 October 21:00

      Letter Before Action – meta has said post to Legal Dept at BA Waterside address. Signed-for or other proof of delivery gjve them 14 dsys to ticket your reroute (state flights and dates) failing which legal action will be taken and all costs and interest recovered. If you can do it promptly enough enclose your rejection of that refund in same envelope, a cheque if you use them otherwise tell your cardco to reject it.

      • Amy C says:

        28 Oct28 October 07:11

        Thank you Lady London. Have done all this this morning and BA will be receiving my refund rejection and 3 page letter explaining they can’t do this by recorded delivery tomorrow! Many thanks again.

      • Amy C says:

        28 Oct28 October 09:08

        Further update. Have rung Amex who were really perplexed and said they canned reject a refund once it’s sent.

        • Lady London says:

          28 Oct28 October 13:03

          You could send them a cheque (photograph and signed-for) but if you’vr told them immediately by a recorded method that you can prove they received, that you reject the refund as you didn’t ask for it as you chose to exercise your rights under EU261 / UK legislation equivalent (sorry I forget the UK name) by making a different choice that that legislation makes available to you, that’s probably enough for now.

          BA seems to like unilaterally refunding people suspiciously promptly and without them asking when they walk away from flying a route (as in reports we saw when they stopped flying LBA and suspended IIRC, Mauritius). I believe they do that solely to prevent people claiming their EU261 rights which often provide more valuable (and potentially costly) options to the customer on a cancelled flight.

• Phil W says:

  27 Oct27 October 15:48

  My wife and I are travelling to Estoril on 18th November. My understanding is that as we are both double vaccinated (actually my wife will be triple jabbed by then), all we need to complete is the Portuguese Passenger Locator Card prior to departure.

  However, I tested positive for Covid on 17th October. My understanding is that once my period of self-isolation is over, I am free to travel. There are no additional restrictions following Covid recovery.

  Just thought I would check, just in case I am missing anything. Have to say Covid has left me pretty exhausted and lacking concentration, so appreciate the reassurance this group can provide.

  TIA

  • Tracey says:

    27 Oct27 October 19:53

    Check the covid rules in Portugal, I know Spain require you haven’t had covid in the last 14 days not 10.

• George says:

  27 Oct27 October 16:21

  I’m glad I waited until today to make a trip to Morrisons (Mozzers?) for make use of various opportunities. A ‘personalised offer’ has appeared in my My Morrisons app for £5 off a £50 spend. Yippee! I also have 10% off on Amex and 10% off on VACC plus 8 points/£ on Shops Away. I hope I’m not missing any further stacking. My only question is should I spend on Amex or VACC?

  • Reney says:

    27 Oct27 October 18:48

    Do you have anything on Airtime or Perks at Work? If so Virgin, otherwise what points do you want more?

  • Harrier25 says:

    27 Oct27 October 20:56

    The question is, where would the spend sit best for you personally? Any Amex or VACC targets that need hitting?

• Joe says:

  27 Oct27 October 16:40

  Hoping to fly to Frankfurt for a weekend in a couple of weeks on one of the A380 flights – is the JAL lounge the only one available for BA passengers as the opening hours are pretty useless?
  If so is it worth asking for some avios as compensation or is that a non starter?

  • Blenz101 says:

    27 Oct27 October 16:41

    Zero chance of compensation.

  • Babyg says:

    27 Oct27 October 18:17

    non starter

• James says:

  27 Oct27 October 16:53

  I’m going to be 705 Tier Points short of 2,500 for the BA Gold Upgrade Voucher. What would be the best/cheapest/quickest way to acquire these before December 8th? Is there much point in chasing it financially? I can fly from any London airport. Thanks in advance!

  • Guernsey Globetrotter says:

    27 Oct27 October 18:12

    A CW return trip from Manchester or similar in a BA holiday booking with a CE flight from London on each end to connect would give you 720 tier points using the double points offer currently running:
    https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2021/08/28/british-airways-holidays-double-tier-points/
    Shortest J hops would be to Caribbean or Middle East to earn 140 x 2 TPs for each leg per the tier point table:
    https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2021/05/01/how-many-tier-points-does-british-airways-flight-earn/
    There’s also a BA Holidays sale on at the moment so good luck!

  • Mr. AC says:

    27 Oct27 October 18:35

    You’re very unlikely to spend less than 1000£ chasing that (partially offset by Avios accrued). So unless you have some idea where you’d get much more of that in value from the voucher, I wouldn’t bother. Especially during these COVID times when you’re likely to spend extra $$$ on tests!
    However if you were planning to go on vacation before November, it might change your calculus – e.g. flying Qatar return in business to BKK will give you 560 TPs.

  • Niall says:

    27 Oct27 October 21:44

    Did you hear back from BA then to confirm no reduction in the tier points needed?

  • Babyg says:

    27 Oct27 October 22:21

    I did a TLV first class for £1100 (its currently pricing around £1400), with BA Holiday double TP there are flight in December…. its 210tp each leg.. so 840tps with BA holiday… not sure if they are letting tourist in yet…

• stevenhp1987 says:

  27 Oct27 October 17:03

  Creation seem to have restricted my account early?

  “Your account has restricted functionality, Please call one of our service representatives on 0121 712 5703 for more information. Opening hours are Monday to Friday 9:00am – 5:00pm.”

  The sheer level of incompetence is staggering.

  Happening to other people? I don’t use Che for what it’s worth but did use Bendy previously.

  • Genghis says:

    27 Oct27 October 17:09

    Don’t worry – the regulator is apprised of the situation.

    • stevenhp1987 says:

      27 Oct27 October 17:13

      On hold. My account was fully closed an hour ago.

      Total joke. They’re not sure why it was closed or by whom!

      • stevenhp1987 says:

        27 Oct27 October 17:26

        Update:

        No notes on the account to say why it’s been closed.

        There is a note to request my current full balance of £63.35 be wiped which is odd as I’ve not requested that…

        The agent couldn’t explain it. All they said is the type of closure block can’t be reversed.

        I’ll try that number in the morning but they’ve very much breached the T&C by closing me early.

        The time of account closure roughly matches the time they finally logged my formal complaint regarding lack of free night voucher & pro-rata refund. I can guess it’s an over-zealous complaint handler who didn’t quite understand the nature of the account closure?

        • Aston100 says:

          27 Oct27 October 17:37

          I was on the phone to them earlier about points not transferring.
          They’ve advised to send an email to “the admin team” cce@creation.co.uk

        • Anna says:

          27 Oct27 October 17:50

          Aston100, I’ve emailed that address and not received any sort of response – the only department which seems to reply is customer care.

        • JDB says:

          27 Oct27 October 19:53

          When did you ask for the pro-rata refund to be effective from? Might they have mistaken your request? People need to be careful with acting too precipitously with complaints; wait and see what happens, so the complaints will be more specific, based on actual facts.

        • stevenhp1987 says:

          27 Oct27 October 20:01

          @jbd

          They told me they wouldn’t honour a pro rata refund when my account closes.

          I requested a pro rata refund from when the account is closed in December.

        • stevenhp1987 says:

          27 Oct27 October 20:02

          * sorry, JDB

        • Lady London says:

          27 Oct27 October 21:07

          Can I ask have you actually breached t’s snd c’s and if so to what extent?
          Did this just come out of the blue or were there previous warnings

        • stevenhp1987 says:

          27 Oct27 October 21:29

          @LL

          No T&C breaches.

          I’ve used Bendy much the same as most people… No Che on the card ever. Last months statement spent just over £10k without either (after Curve block).

          I’m thinking it’s a mistake on the complaint handler. I got an email acknowledging my complaint (regarding pro rata refund and free night voucher) around the same time the agent told me my account was closed. 4pm, rang around 5pm.

          He said it was odd there were no notes as to why it was closed as there would normally be some. He had never seen it before.

    • Harrier25 says:

      27 Oct27 October 20:57

      Lol 😆

      • Harrier25 says:

        27 Oct27 October 20:59

        That was directed at Genghis comment further up the thread.

    • Lady London says:

      27 Oct27 October 21:04

      Can you say more on this?

  • Aston100 says:

    27 Oct27 October 17:17

    Is that a special team?
    The number on their website is different and the hours of operation are 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM

  • SteveJ says:

    27 Oct27 October 17:25

    Where were you seeing that message, on App or on the web portal?

    • stevenhp1987 says:

      27 Oct27 October 17:31

      Both. Red banner in app and web portal.

      • avstar says:

        27 Oct27 October 18:10

        they are closing accounts prematurely ahead of the 60 days if you top up REV.

        • Anna says:

          27 Oct27 October 18:12

          How do you know this?

        • stevenhp1987 says:

          27 Oct27 October 18:23

          I don’t use revolut.

        • Aston100 says:

          27 Oct27 October 18:34

          I fund Mr Guevara now and then and haven’t yet been shut down.

      • Lady London says:

        28 Oct28 October 13:06

        Please pursue this. You sound like the ideal case. Creation really, really need to wake up and smell the coffee.

  • Benilyn says:

    27 Oct27 October 17:49

    Sorry to hear! I’m sure me and others will be next….

    • Anna says:

      27 Oct27 October 17:51

      Sounds like a case of giving Creation enough rope. Don’t they have to give 60 days notice of anything like this?

  • Char Char says:

    27 Oct27 October 18:26

    Wow, they stooped to another low, what a joke, I can’t wait for some justice!

    • Tw33ty says:

      27 Oct27 October 19:34

      There won’t be any justice.

  • Yorkie Aid says:

    27 Oct27 October 19:02

    Well if this is a new thing rather than a one-off perhaps we should all spend right up to the credit limit and hope they wipe the balance out! I’d be more than happy with that instead of the free night! 🙂

• Andrew says:

  27 Oct27 October 17:30

  Anyone know if Flyingclub Golds can use the Upper Class drive-thru check-in, or is it just the desk downstairs and fast-track you can use (if not flying Upper obviously).

  • Babyg says:

    27 Oct27 October 18:18

    yup, you can…

    • Babyg says:

      27 Oct27 October 18:19

      ** well you could pre-covid

    • Andrew says:

      27 Oct27 October 18:40

      Great thanks, hopefully still the case as it has reopened now.

      • Babyg says:

        27 Oct27 October 22:22

        msg them on whatsapp to confirm.. cant imagine them turning you away at the gate anyway… +44 344 874 7747

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