The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 2nd November

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• ChrisC says:

  2 Nov2 November 10:59

  Had a call from BA Customer Relations yesterday after my complaint about waiting 3 hours in chat, getting to number 1, waiting as number 1 for 20 mins and then getting booted out a couple of weeks ago.

  Person I spoke to seemed genuinly interested in my experiences and did appreciate how frustrating it is at the moment for people trying to contact BA which is obviously a combo of a number of factors.

  I made the point that when you can get through the staff are great but getting through is the issue. I did mentioned the daily comments about getting through to BA on HfP so mybe she’ll start reading!

  We talked a little bit about BA IT and I said that had been an issue for years and needed improvements so people can self serve more rather than call.

  I mentioned things like being unable to make flight changes on BA Hols bookings when a flight had been cancelled.

  She said Sean (that’s what she called him) recognised IT needed to be improved for everyone.

  She said the pandemic had changed the way people interact with BA but the staff needed to make changes – such as having a better filter on the chat bot to direct us the right team – were only now coming back to work to be able to analyse and then do something about that.

  She also mentioned they are doing their utmost to stabilise the schedule as much as possible in advance.

  She said more staff are being cross trained but that takes time as there are a number of different systems to learn each with their own rules.

  This wasn’t a ‘sorry you feel that way’ call from a call handler.

  She was clearly at a much higher level but I didn’t ask her exact role. She was genuinly interested in what I had to say and was knowledgable in her responses to the issues I raised and wasn’t making stuff up.

  Is the BA world going to change all this today or next week then clearly not. But I did feel listened to.

  A good – but unexpected – call.

  • Pete M says:

    2 Nov2 November 11:10

    I’ve got to say, ChrisC, I am having the exact opposite experience.

    If you fancy a little chuckle this morning, have a read of my fight with BA over availability of fast track security at BER.

    Their reasons on why BA premium passengers cannot use it changes by the day and even the executive complaints team have no idea: https://twitter.com/petelondon3214/status/1455135114825019393?s=21

    • meta says:

      2 Nov2 November 11:39

      I had staff who have no idea how to type let alone make a booking. The only staff that has been consistently good is YouFirst.

      • Harry T says:

        2 Nov2 November 12:18

        BA holidays have been very good for us too.

      • Whisper says:

        2 Nov2 November 16:50

        +1 for BAH. After the long wait BA Holidays call centre staff have been excellent for me.

    • Aston100 says:

      2 Nov2 November 13:42

      That’s pretty bad, but not surprising.

• D R G says:

  2 Nov2 November 11:00

  Hi all. I’m trying to hit my spend target for the ‘10,000 avios when you spend £5000’ offer on my BAPP card and I just noticed that one of the terms states “Purchases made through “payment facilitators” are not eligible and will not count towards your spend for the purposes of the offer”.

  Does anyone know whether Amex usually regard PayPal as “payment facilitators”? Like many people, I regularly use PayPal for retailers that don’t accept Amex cards directly, so this would make a substantial difference to the amount I still need to spend before 30th November.

  • Aston100 says:

    2 Nov2 November 13:44

    Any money I send through PayPal friends & family always counts towards any offers.

    • Liz says:

      2 Nov2 November 16:34

      I went over the £5000 threshold yesterday but didn’t receive the email confirming this. I kept a note of my paypal, izettle and sumup transactions which total around £300 so I will keep a track of my account over the next few days to see if I get the points or if I have to keep spending. I asked this question a while back too and the consensus of opinion was they should count.

  • Peter K says:

    2 Nov2 November 16:36

    I used paypal purchases to hit my £5K successfully.

• Igloo says:

  2 Nov2 November 11:09

  TAP are working out a lot cheaper than the alternatives for some flights to the Dominican Republic we are thinking of booking. I was wondering if anybody has flown with them long-haul and if so, what the experience was like?

  • Richie says:

    2 Nov2 November 11:47

    I had a good experience with TAP long haul in Y, no problems.

  • Ikaz says:

    2 Nov2 November 11:50

    It is a decent offer when things go well, difficult to work with when there are issues though

• JohnT says:

  2 Nov2 November 11:22

  For anyone wondering about booster covid jabs and NHS passes – hope they sort it before any countries insist on within 1 year validity!
  “A domestic COVID Pass is generated for all users who have received a full course of an approved COVID vaccine -irrespective of whether or not they have received a booster vaccination. It is not necessary to demonstrate that you have received a booster dose as part of a domestic certification policy.
   
  We are currently exploring whether and how boosters should be incorporated into the COVID Pass for Travel.”

  • stevenhp1987 says:

    2 Nov2 November 11:26

    Had my 3rd jab a few weeks ago (not booster, immunosuppressed). Not in the Covid Pass section of the app.

    I, too, expect it gets added as some countries require the last jab in the last x months. If it doesn’t get added, and I need it, I will certainly be moaning to my GP for some sort of evidence!

    • Gary says:

      2 Nov2 November 12:41

      GPs have no control over how COVID jabs are reflected on the app & paper certificates could be requested online.

    • Andrew says:

      2 Nov2 November 14:23

      It’s not in the Covid pass section, but if you have the app, you can still evidence a booster if you choose to.

    • Tracey says:

      2 Nov2 November 16:28

      It’s listed under medicines on the NHS app, rather than in the covid pass section. Downside is that it shows the brand and date but not the batch number, plus it’s on a screen that doesn’t show your name – so a screen shot won’t prove it’s you. Matching it alongside your easily fakeable card will show a match on date and brand, but that’s about it.
      Already a couple of countries want a vaccine within xxx days, I understand that the NHS IT isn’t primarily to satisfy overseas travel requirements, but sorting it out would keep the calls away from GP surgeries.

• Adam says:

  2 Nov2 November 11:26

  I remember there was a possibility to buy membership rewards directly from Amex. Does anybody know the price?

  • JohnT says:

    2 Nov2 November 11:37

    Think it’s same price £15/1000 but no oneoff fee?

  • Rob says:

    2 Nov2 November 12:30

    £15/1k, max 10k, unless it has changed.

    • Kevin C says:

      2 Nov2 November 13:31

      Yes, it still costs that. I did it a couple of weeks ago. The UK agent I spoke to had never heard of being able to buy points but was very helpful and able to do it.

• TedL says:

  2 Nov2 November 11:32

  DP on ticket validity. Just made a booking for August 22 and in the e-ticket email under Payment Information it has a new entry “Ticket(s) valid until” and it states xx August 2023. So is ticket validity once again a year from date of first flight?

• Karl says:

  2 Nov2 November 11:37

  DP – £200 restaurant credit successfully added to a new Amex Plat today

  • Jason says:

    2 Nov2 November 12:08

    cheers Karl when did your card arrive?

    • Gareth says:

      2 Nov2 November 12:47

      Managed to get them to add via chat for me when card was 1 day old last week.

    • Karl says:

      2 Nov2 November 12:54

      Applied last Monday, card arrived Saturday.

• Jason says:

  2 Nov2 November 11:41

  Anyone got any data points on supp card bonuses points being added? cheers

  • Yuff says:

    2 Nov2 November 11:56

    Also, on supps, Is there a link on the personal platinum for the supp card bonus. On the business it’s in the offers and you click on the apply button but can’t find any link in the personal plat menu?

    • Rob says:

      2 Nov2 November 12:28

      https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/benefits/supplementary-cards

  • Anna says:

    2 Nov2 November 11:59

    As per daily comments, they are very delayed atm, 60 – 90 days being quoted by Amex!

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