The HfP chat thread – Thursday 28th October

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

We are running this daily chat thread on Head for Points during the coronavirus outbreak.

Historically, the daily ‘Bits’ articles were the de facto repository for random comments and questions. With the news flow being lighter, we are running fewer ‘Bits’ articles.

The comments under this article are where you should post questions about travel and, indeed, anything else on your mind.

Please only comment under the main articles on the site if your comment is directly related to the topic of the article. This has long-term benefits as it keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

Old chat threads are hidden from the HfP home page. If you want to look for something in an old thread, click here. This brings up all the articles in our ‘General’ category which includes the chat threads.

Category

General

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

Safety Card says:

28 Oct28 October 15:31

Just checking I’m not being an idiot. For flights to the USA for next month being double vexed I need to do a Rapid AntiGen 3 days before departure and the a rapid antigen on day 2 after returning. So assuming the Chronomics rapid antigen will be fine? It doesn’t need to be observed?
- Andrew says:
  
  28 Oct28 October 15:41
  
  You can indeed use a self test.
  
  *But*
  
  “The testing procedure must include a telehealth service affiliated with the manufacturer of the test that provides real-time supervision remotely through an audio and video connection.”
  
  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html
  - Safety Card says:
    
    28 Oct28 October 15:44
    
    Thanks – so in idiot speak a Lateral Flow is fine as long as it’s observed remotely
    - Phil W says:
      
      28 Oct28 October 18:50
      
      Yes, the Qured ones have worked well for us.
H says:

28 Oct28 October 15:40

Hi – anyone know what the sas lounge in Oslo is like as I have quite a long layover and 27 euros seems sensible given the price of food in the terminal. Thanks
- Niall says:
  
  28 Oct28 October 15:53
  
  It has been a while but used it before and always thought really not great… I would expect much food and would prefer to pay Norway prices for a coffee.
  - AL says:
    
    28 Oct28 October 18:02
    
    +1. It’s… okay, but I’ve never paid for access. I don’t think I would. I like the suggestion of a day trip to Oslo, instead.
- Sina says:
  
  28 Oct28 October 16:01
  
  You can get in using a platinum card for free, if you have one!
  - Mark says:
    
    28 Oct28 October 21:04
    
    How does the (assuming Amex) Platinum card get you in a SAS lounge?
- Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
  
  28 Oct28 October 16:43
  
  If it’s a long layover, I’d go out into Oslo itself. You can be downtown and sightseeing in about half an hour.
  - John says:
    
    28 Oct28 October 18:41
    
    Don’t take the airport train though – the normal train is just as frequent and takes 1 minute longer
Alex says:

28 Oct28 October 15:53

I have an unused PLF arrival test bought from Chronomics in August. I am wondering can this be used as a day 2 test? It has a Passenger locator reference number AP******/**. Can anyone share what is the reference format for current day 2 PLF tests please?
- Darko says:
  
  28 Oct28 October 16:08
  
  My day 2 lateral flow test purchased on 22nd Oct had Passenger locator reference number:
  CHRONxxxxxxx, x being seven digits. It was the same passenger locator number for two passengers on the same order.
  - Graham C says:
    
    28 Oct28 October 16:22
    
    Same format and situation for two recently purchased for my parents. The form does not allow the supplementary numbers from Chronomics.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  28 Oct28 October 17:17
  
  just replace AP with CHRON …
  - Alex says:
    
    28 Oct28 October 18:14
    
    I explored ans I see Chronomics says you cannot Fit to Fly for another purpose: https://help.chronomics.com/can-i-use-any-rapid-antigen-test-as-a-day-2-rapid-antigen-lateral-flow. Of course they prefer to sell more tests but the tests are exactly the same so why should I buy a new one?
    - Alex says:
      
      28 Oct28 October 18:15
      
      Apologies for typos
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      28 Oct28 October 18:40
      
      It’s the same test
      - Mark says:
        
        28 Oct28 October 21:15
        
        That was the point of my post recently, but the crowd wisdom on that occasion was that it would morally reprehensible not to follow the rules to the letter.
Dayle says:

28 Oct28 October 16:37

Was in Kaunas this week and they require the EU Covid Pass to get in every shop / premises

I’m not vaccinated so couldn’t show this so I just updated the date on the F2F every couple days and showed this – which was fine

Just goes to show, if you think logically, there are EASY ways around anything
- bafan says:
  
  28 Oct28 October 20:49
  
  Yikes.
- Char Char says:
  
  29 Oct29 October 00:47
  
  What is f2f?
Cabal of rabid baboons says:

28 Oct28 October 16:43

With thanks to Aston100 I emailed BA holidays and paid the balance of my holiday with an E-Voucher today, I needed change and the balance was paid back to the card I’d used for the deposit.
Therefore I suggest anybody doing similar considers using their biggest voucher.
- Harry T says:
  
  28 Oct28 October 16:48
  
  Yeah, BA aren’t meant to apply evouchers to holiday balances but they totally do. I’ve already applied a BAH FTV and a cash evoucher to my BA holiday.
- Aston100 says:
  
  28 Oct28 October 17:20
  
  👍
  - Anna says:
    
    28 Oct28 October 18:00
    
    Of course I was the was the one who told Aston about that trick … !
    - Cabal of rabid baboons says:
      
      28 Oct28 October 18:03
      
      In that case Anna I’m most grateful to you both.
      - Anna says:
        
        28 Oct28 October 18:15
        
        You are both most welcome.
Tracey says:

28 Oct28 October 17:22

Now that it looks like the UK covid pass will integrate into the EU one, is there any EU country that is giving boosters and including them in the pass?
The booster jab is included on the NHS app under the medicines list but doesn’t feature in the travel pass. If the EU pass did include boosters that could encourage the UK pass to be updated to do the same.
I’m eager to be able to prove I’ve had my booster as my original second vaccine is over 6 months old.
- Andrew H says:
  
  28 Oct28 October 23:07
  
  Austria for one allows 360 days after 2nd jab.
Malte says:

28 Oct28 October 17:27

Is there any way at all to speak to BA these days, apart from showing up at the airport? Hotline just seems to disconnect due to being busy, chat doesn’t connect to an agent, and Twitter team not responding…
- Jamie says:
  
  28 Oct28 October 17:54
  
  I’m on hour 4 of trying to get hold of the Executive Club team today to switch Avios seats for honeymoon flights now that business availability has opened up. It doesn’t help that you get disconnected every hour.
  
  I got through once on web chat only to be told that the representative hadn’t been trained in anything other than general enquiries.
  
  I actually live relatively close to Heathrow – is there a desk in Terminal 5 which can help? I’m at the point where I’d rather drive there and pay for parking at this stage.
  - Anna says:
    
    28 Oct28 October 18:18
    
    What else would “general enquiries” be for a company which sells flights?!! However, they can’t take payments on chat so would probably not been able to help.
    I assume there is some sort of ticketing facility at LHR but am dubious that it would be able to process avios transactions?
  - John says:
    
    28 Oct28 October 18:39
    
    Not for avios tickets, unless you are flying that day
  - Malte says:
    
    28 Oct28 October 19:41
    
    Don’t know about Avios bookings, but I have actually sorted an issue at LHR before when desperate as I live a 20min drive away. However, this was about 10 years ago, so it may well have disappeared.
- Colin MacKinnon says:
  
  28 Oct28 October 18:00
  
  I use the 020 7949 3086 number that they give when you call the 0191-xxx number on the web page for a lowly Blue and get told this number is no longer in use, please dial 020 xxxxxxxx
  
  Have got through in the past week three times in 10-20 mins.
  - Malte says:
    
    28 Oct28 October 19:39
    
    Thanks – this worked! Got a helpful agent who sorted everything quickly.
John says:

28 Oct28 October 18:05

Anyone moved a curve transaction from a Virgin Atlantic card within a couple of days and know if the initial transaction is still counted as part of the monthly limit for points to be awarded?
Thanks