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The HfP chat thread – Friday 29th October

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Comments (484)

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

  • Paul Jarvis says:
    29 Oct29 October 07:47

    Morning. Does anyone know the rules regarding being able to “choose seats” on a reward flight if a BA Silver card holder. Got some Club reward flights in January booked back in June. Recently attained Silver. Am able to choose seats at time of booking on another couple of standard tickets, but not either of two reward bookings. Are the rules different for Reward?
    Regards Paul.

    • Andrew says:
      29 Oct29 October 07:48

      Rules are the same for award or revenue tickets. Give them a call.

    • Aso40 says:
      29 Oct29 October 08:10

      Usual recommendation for this is to try removing your exec club number, exit the booking, then go back in and add it again. Can use one of the other oneworld airline websites to do this.

    • Paul Jarvis says:
      29 Oct29 October 11:17

      Thanks for everyone’s advice.

  • Jamie says:
    29 Oct29 October 07:56

    Hello, I can’t find the information about limits on curve metal for HMRC. Is it now 10k a month fronted before fees? And is that rolling 30 days as usual? Thanks

    • Mike says:
      29 Oct29 October 08:16

      So we can definitely do £10k month into NSI paid for by Virgin card to get 15,000 virgin mikes and the yearly 241 triggered that is my plan going forward – all seems to be legit now that the max of 10K fronted has been declared

      • John says:
        29 Oct29 October 08:27

        Curve may request proof that you are not recycling the cash

      • Reney says:
        29 Oct29 October 08:34

        Well Curve says you can, not clear the underlying card feels the same…

      • Anna says:
        29 Oct29 October 08:34

        Curve might be ok with it, but who’s to say that Virgin would be?! Look what’s happened with Creation.

        • Harrier25 says:
          29 Oct29 October 08:44

          Exactly, value your credit cards and don’t introduce new ones to Curve, is my new rule.

          • Rui N. says:
            29 Oct29 October 08:50

            Well, the value of £10k per month over a couple of months might be a lot more than a couple of years without being able to spend on Ernie.

          • Harrier25 says:
            29 Oct29 October 08:56

            Greed is a dangerous game. Lots should’ve been learned by all after the Creation mess, but I fear that some have learned nothing.

          • xcalx says:
            29 Oct29 October 09:24

            What limit do you suggest the greed police should set monthly spend 🙂

          • Harrier25 says:
            29 Oct29 October 09:28

            £0

          • Rui N. says:
            29 Oct29 October 10:04

            Basic math is not greed. It’s… basic math.

        • Melonfarmer says:
          29 Oct29 October 10:19

          I had a curious message from Creation saying that the IHG situation was due to Section 75 protection. Probably the random excuse generator.

    • The Savage Squirrel says:
      29 Oct29 October 09:52

      “Is it NOW 10k a month fronted before fees?”

      The accurate answer to this question is … no.
      It starts on 1st December (so I presume will roll by calendar month).
      HMRC may be surprised to receive a significant amount of self-assessment payment in November this year…

  • JohnT says:
    29 Oct29 October 08:11

    Anyone been to Geneva lately and whether you need a “covid pass” for venues. Seems to be a Geneva canton one to apply for?

    • John says:
      29 Oct29 October 08:32

      NHS vaccine records are now accepted as equivalent to Swiss covid passes – so you only needed to apply for a (paid) Swiss covid pass for 4 days (transition period where all foreign vaccine proofs were accepted ended 24 Oct)

      • JohnT says:
        29 Oct29 October 08:37

        Thanks, Just seen about EU Digital COVID-19 Certificate (TLFL).. Going in 10 days so looks good for then!

    • Sandgrounder says:
      29 Oct29 October 08:34

      The UK is now on the EU Covid-19 Certificate scheme.

      No doubt the IT won’t work properly yet, but NHS certs should soon be accepted in Switzerland.

      • Rhys says:
        29 Oct29 October 08:42

        I’d be interested to know what IT is involved. I don’t think I’ve had my certificate scanned once, except for the UK PLF – people just read it.

        • Sandgrounder says:
          29 Oct29 October 08:56

          Some countries do scan the passes, Latvia certainly do. Without one, a period of negotiation with the paper NHS certificate was required. Most accepted it, but we were denied enter to one venue. Anyone can download the app ‘Covid19Verify’ from SPKC and check an EU compatible Covid pass is valid.
          No doubt it’s easier in other countries, but having a compatible pass will be a help where they are routinely scanned.

        • Roy says:
          29 Oct29 October 16:12

          The IT is very simple AIUI. The EU publish a list of trusted signing keys. Once the NHS keys are added to the offically acceptable list, the verifier apps should recognise the NHS QR codes as valid.

          The rest is politics/data protection, etc.

    • Toddy says:
      29 Oct29 October 09:09

      I was there 3 weeks ago and every venue (hotel, bar, restaurant) wanted to scan my Covid pass.

      Upon scanning, their device went ‘red’ and I just told them it was the UK pass, so they usually shrugged and let me in.

      • Sandgrounder says:
        29 Oct29 October 09:24

        My wife being Latvian might have made things more difficult for us! As I said they did usually relent but an integrated working pass will be a good thing.

  • Green Plastic says:
    29 Oct29 October 08:15

    Completely and utterly unrelated to miles/points/loyalty but thought it’s worth posting here as I know there will be some successful business owners reading this. Can anyone recommend a third party firm to outsource customer service work to? Asking from the perspective of a small business experiencing a sudden explosion in growth. Expecting about 500-1000 customers from January (from five at present).

    • Mike says:
      29 Oct29 October 08:17

      Are you looking for any investment capital ?

      • Green Plastic says:
        29 Oct29 October 08:31

        Already got that. Need to get the customer side of things sorted now

    • Chrisasaurus says:
      29 Oct29 October 08:33

      What sector?

    • The Savage Squirrel says:
      29 Oct29 October 10:04

      Maybe not what you wanted to hear but …. don’t.

      As, still, a relatively small business, one of your BIG advantages over any big players in your field is being personal; not sounding like a call centre or having different departments that don’t talk to each other. Don’t give this up. Outsourced CS means a different person answering the phone every day or even minute by minute – who knows nothing about your biusiness and can’t really answer questions beyond the simplest stuff they can read off your website; opening hours, prices and the like. The real problem here is that all queries beyond this still just get passed on to you – it doesn’t reduce your workload; just acts as a holding pattern so you answer queries later rather than immediately.

      You need a sales coordinator/receptionist/CS/whatever. you want to call them. Your own.
      These days they can even work from home with minimal setup – you don’t even need an office space.
      There is no substitute for training them personally and having them work alongside you (figuratively, maybe not literally). They will have detailed knowledge of the business and can follow queries through – will remember people who called last week so they don’t have to explain their query AGAIN, etc etc. All this takes the load off your shoulders so is definitely worth doing; the week or two of training/setup will pay for itself within a month.

  • Anna says:
    29 Oct29 October 08:20

    Looking for an alternative hotel in Berlin in December now I’m re-thinking my long term relationship with IHG. Narrowed it down to the Hilton, Marriott and Westin Grand for location. Is it worth getting lounge access? It would be good to be able to pop in for drinks and snacks between sight-seeing but I’m only gold so not guaranteed to get entry as a perk. The Hilton is offering lounge access for 50 euros per night but as we’d get free breakfast anyway I’m not sure it would be worth paying extra, though it’s the best option in terms of where we want to be.
    There’s also a new Autograph (?) property called Hotel Luc supposed to be opening in December but not available to book yet, shame as it’s in a great location and looks rather nice!

    • John says:
      29 Oct29 October 08:37

      Lounge snacks are poor compared to before covid. Breakfast is still excellent. Maybe they will up their game by December but I’d spend €50 on Christmas market stuff instead.

    • Anna says:
      29 Oct29 October 08:40

      2 nights at the Marriott with lounge access can be had for 80k points plus 140 euros which looks like a decent deal (I found Rob’s very positive review from 2018).

    • MD says:
      29 Oct29 October 09:38

      Have you considered the Waldorf Astoria?

    • Stu N says:
      29 Oct29 October 09:53

      Berlin is quite spread out – there’s two main hubs, Mitte around Unter Der Linden (old pre-wall centre) and KuDamm (old West). Alexanderplatz (old East) is a huge plaza and only really the TV tower as a visitor attraction. I’d prefer staying around Mitte for a winter city break, so Hilton and Westin would be best locations.

      Marriott is at Potsdamer Platz which is well connected for the U-Bahn and right next to Tiergarten so would be my preference in summer, but a little away from either of the centres for a dark, cold winter. (It’s the old no-mans land so 90s-00s office developments and a bit soulless).

      It is a fantastic city and very high on my list to return to…

      • Anna says:
        29 Oct29 October 09:58

        Yes, it’s been on the list for a long time! We want to see the Brandenburg Gate/Reichstag/Checkpoint Charlie (we were at uni when the wall came down so remember it well!) but also want to visit the Neues Museum as I’m an Ancient Egypt nut (among other things!) and am making my way through the major European collections.

        • Stu N says:
          29 Oct29 October 10:19

          You can book tours of the Reichstag, or you could pre-Covid anyway. They are free and really interesting, as long as parliament isn’t sitting you can get into the chamber and everything. You can also book a slot to visit the cupola which has cool views over the city.

          Checkpoint Charlie is a bit of a tacky tourist trap but worth a wander past, the Mauerpark gives a much better feel for what the wall was like, also have a look at the DDR Museum beside Museuminsel which tries to give a view of life in East Berlin.

        • Anuj says:
          29 Oct29 October 12:42

          I recommend the Pergamon Musuem (even just to admire the building) but the place is huge so not to be rushed !

          • Magic Mike says:
            29 Oct29 October 18:17

            Stasi museum is also very interesting, and in some ways disturbing…

    • Mike says:
      29 Oct29 October 10:07

      You may find the lounge is closed due to COVID. May be worth checking with the hotel. When I was in Germany last month, the Hilton I stayed at had closed its lounge but allowed free use of the room mini bar to compensate.

      • Anna says:
        29 Oct29 October 11:11

        They’re selling executive rooms with lounge access so you’d hope it would be open!

    • Rhys says:
      29 Oct29 October 10:40

      I was just at the Waldorf Astoria – review should pop up very soon.

    • MJ says:
      29 Oct29 October 11:09

      Marriott, Berlin is excellent have stayed numerous times this year and last year. Lounge access is very good. Great buffet breakfast. During the day no food offering just non alcoholic drinks. Evening buffet is very good, wine, Prosecco, beer etc.
      Waldorf Astoria Berlin has the best buffet breakfast in Berlin currently (help yourself)

    • Rosie says:
      29 Oct29 October 11:13

      I have just stayed at the ritz Carlton berlin for 4 nights checked out yesterday , am a plat member , breakfast given foc, upgrade given … rooms very nice and in very good condition , lovely hotel . hotel right next to the U and S station , check point Charlie and brand gate walking distance

      Marriot is directly behind the ritz Carlton , also stayed there 1 night , rooms looked recently really done .

      Westin is in a great location however rooms are old and in need of an update

      Eating in restaurants they wanted to see proof of vaccination just showed on the phone , they didn’t really look at the details as I showed husbands the Majority of the time

      On arrival at berlin took around 30 mins to get through immigration , they wanted to see covid vaccination and the German locator form , again they didn’t look in detail just a quick glance

    • r* says:
      29 Oct29 October 13:57

      Stayed at berlin hilton the christmas markets in 2019 before covid (also have a reservation for this year), it was fine, tho the lounge was accessed via the lobby and was very busy during happy hour (im suspect half the ppl had tailgated in rather than shouldve had access), as in ppl were having to stand up or lean against the furiature while eating). I was a decent location tho, opposite one market and clise to the train to alexanderplatz.

      Stated at the marriott in 2018 and it was great, lounge was really good.

    • TJ says:
      29 Oct29 October 14:05

      Might also be worth considering the Grand Hyatt. Very well located and has a pool. Emyr has booked me in for the beginning of December with the usual additional perks. Plus I’ll be using the Hyatt offer which I have saved across various Amex cards.

  • Niall says:
    29 Oct29 October 08:27

    A change perhaps from the usual ‘best number to call BA’ question. Anybody have any tips for getting through to Iberia? Need to change an Iberia avios booking and the number just kicks you off after 5 mins each time.

    • Niall says:
      29 Oct29 October 08:34

      Looks like the availability for the flight I wanted to change to disappeared while trying to get through to Iberia. This whole not being able to contact airlines thing is getting quite irritating.

    • JDB says:
      29 Oct29 October 09:05

      Call the London number 020 36 843 774 which gets you through to the call centre. You will get through much quicker if you press the option for Spanish. Tried the English option a few times with no joy last week, then the Spanish one. Got through to cancel a booking and Avios back in 2 days + cash five days later.

      • Niall says:
        29 Oct29 October 09:27

        Got through to this call centre eventually and even though I said ‘avios booking’ in the automated section, I still got through to non avios team who couldn’t not amend the booking. They’ve now given me an iberia plus number who I got through to once and they hung up.

    • Sam G says:
      29 Oct29 October 12:25

      I did eventually get through on +34 917 742607 (skype) recently one evening – but I think they all end up in the same queue anyway so not sure any advantage over the London number. I don’t think they let many people in the queue so you just have to keep trying. Once through the guy processed my refund in a couple of mins and it turned up couple of days later as JDB says

      • Niall says:
        29 Oct29 October 12:49

        Well, thought I would report back as finally sorted. Since my first post I was trying non stop.

        The Iberia plus number they gave was not correct. Eventually I got a new number of +34 917 742 607

        Hung up on twice (this thing Iberia are known to do used to be almost amusing to me, but after waiting hours to get through it was harder to take).

        An operator eventually was able to help. They couldn’t change the booking (PMI – IBZ – LHR to PMI – LHR direct) as it’s a change in routing. So I had to cancel and book the new flight with BA, this had to be done on the phone as not an option online.

        Over 4 hours to resolve. I was ready to marry the good agent I eventually got. It will be some time before I’m ready to book with Iberia again.

  • memesweeper says:
    29 Oct29 October 08:31

    I’m on the lookout for an esim (or a physical travel SIM, I guess I could get my carrier to swap my British SIM for an esim). Features required:

    – US inbound number for calls and SMS
    – roaming in US, UAE and Costa Rica, with reasonable data rates

    TIA

    • Amy says:
      29 Oct29 October 08:47

      Freedom pop

      • memesweeper says:
        29 Oct29 October 09:27

        Their US site seems to offer no international calling plans at all. Not much about international I can find on the UK one either.

        • John says:
          29 Oct29 October 11:30

          UK one has been dead for 3 months – not sure what happens if you pay them now, they will probably take your money and not send anything

    • Sam G says:
      29 Oct29 October 12:29

      https://www.truphone.com/consumer/esim-for-smartphone/ I used to use these guys in their infancy and they did US numbers in those days but seems like only data now. But a US number is pretty easy to get (I think skype does 2 way SMS on a US number ?)

    • A says:
      29 Oct29 October 13:53

      Google voice account – which gives you a US number – and the google voice app.
      No sim or e-sim required

      • Fur Fox Ache says:
        29 Oct29 October 16:58

        Is Google voice now do-able from the UK? Last time I checked it seemed like you needed to have a US phone number as a starting point?

        • A says:
          29 Oct29 October 17:05

          Originally you did, as it was primarily for forwarding, but no idea if that is a requirement now. I still have mine and use mine as a standalone business number using the app.
          Even if you still do, it will only be for a text/call for initial verification purposes, it won’t actually be used beyond that.
          It definitely works when in the UK, as I use mine when visiting family.

  • StillintheSun says:
    29 Oct29 October 08:55

    Morning all! About to start the Amex card shuffle but in the meantime I have received my deadlock letter in response to BA’s refusal to provide me with a replacement flight beyond the one year ticket validity following BA’s cancellation of the original flight. I have sent a letter of claim. Turning to CEDR does anyone have experience in using this arbitration service? In particular; (i) How long was there before submitting initial online application and adjudication (website ambiguous)? (ii) Did BA follow the adjudicator’s decision as they are contractually required to do? (iii) Any views on the quality of the adjudication (I’m skeptical but have not direct knowledge thereof)? (iv) Anyone ran this point before CEDR and won or lost (not binding but of interest to me)? I hope everyone else’s claim is moving along 🙂

    • Anna says:
      29 Oct29 October 09:06

      I’ve used CEDR for a denied compo claim, very quick and efficient (sorted in 4 weeks) but I imagine they are much busier atm. People on here have said MCOL is better for claims like yours but I can’t remember why!

    • Mouse says:
      29 Oct29 October 11:30

      I took my case to have a cancelled flight rebooked more than one year after the ticketing date to CEDR and won. To answer your questions (i) Around 4 months – the main part of that being that BA has 60 working days to respond to your case; (ii) BA have followed it – I wanted to be rescheduled for a date 14 months after my victory so BA asked for an extension to the normal compliance period since tickets weren’t on sale yet and then pro-actively contacted me the very day tickets went on sale to confirm I still wanted to travel on those dates (well done, BA!); (iii) Hard to say, but it was the right result so I can’t complain; was done by a solicitor; (iv) See above.

      • StillintheSun says:
        29 Oct29 October 16:20

        @mouse Thank you! You have given me food for thought! Frankly, I thought CEDR would simply lead to a lengthy delay in getting the matter resolved but it seems not!

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