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The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 3rd November

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Comments (464)

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

  • Tony says:
    3 Nov3 November 09:59

    Thought I’d share my BA Amex experience here. Upgraded to BAPP to trigger the new style companion voucher around mid September. (My spend at that point was conveniently below the threshold for standard, but above the new threshold on BAPP). Voucher triggered immediately, new card arrived in post, annual fee charged to card. Rang to downgrade last week. All fine, no questions asked. New standard card arrived today, fee has been refunded pro-rata.

    So, all as expected with no issues if anyone was considering doing the same thing. Not sure this is something to be done every year, but it worked OK.

    • C says:
      3 Nov3 November 11:22

      Thanks for sharing. What validity did your voucher have? Just about to do this having spent just over 11k but worried the voucher that comes through will be the one with shorter validity (as often reported here) and will have to contact BA to get it changed and that will be a bit of a faff given current wait times and the upcoming outage!

    • AL says:
      3 Nov3 November 13:01

      Perfect – thanks for sharing! This is exactly my plan with that card, so good to hear that it’ll work. Hadn’t considered doing it each year – any HfPers do that and got a DP?

  • Toby says:
    3 Nov3 November 09:59

    Travel insurance which includes business travel: any tips?

    My existing cover (HSBC prem) doesn’t cover this business trip (within the EU), so I need something sorted by this weekend.

    • Anna says:
      3 Nov3 November 10:16

      Generally travel insurance only covers leisure trips. You might get something through a specialist provider but it’s likely to be expensive. Employers usually cover this, though, or are you self-employed?

    • MW says:
      3 Nov3 November 10:21

      Generally, your employer would have the right business coverage.

      If you are a small business/self-employed, look at Business Platinum coverage – it applies to both personal and business trips (“business reasons” cancellations are not included)

    • Toby says:
      3 Nov3 November 10:41

      Thanks: I didn’t give enough info did I! I’m self-employed indeed. Good shout Anna, I’ve been looking at forums too.

      MW: that’s a good idea. Except: I’ve already booked the travel and noticed the Platinum says it must be booked on that card.

      Hmm, maybe I need to get a one off travel insurance for this trip, then take out Platinum, and use that in future. I’d love to have Platinum!

  • Roger says:
    3 Nov3 November 10:12

    No priority pass lounge at LHR T2
    Only shows shop option on the app.

    What happened to plaza premium?

    • Andrew says:
      3 Nov3 November 10:12

      I think they left Priority Pass – access directly with your Platinum card if you have one.

      • Roger says:
        3 Nov3 November 10:22

        Gotcha.

        Will have AMEX PLATINUM when I travel on non BA flight from T2.

        • Sandgrounder says:
          3 Nov3 November 10:49

          Best searching on the Amex app for lounges, includes others such as Lufty you don’t get with PP.

  • VickyTM says:
    3 Nov3 November 10:24

    Is anyone else experiencing delays in transferring amex points to Avios?- sent mine through a couple of days ago and still not showing.

    • AL says:
      3 Nov3 November 12:32

      Is it your first time doing a transfer? If so, they’re always a bit slow. Give them a call and they should be able to kick it through. After the first time, they’re near-enough instant.

  • BJ says:
    3 Nov3 November 10:30

    BAPP spend £5k get 10k avios offer: is it sonetimes slow to trigger? My partner got his immediately after the transaction taking him over £5k cleared. However, my dad has not received his 10k despite crossing the target Monday and adding a further two transactions the same day that have cleared this morning. Thanks.

    • Andy says:
      3 Nov3 November 10:33

      I’m finding it difficult to work out exactly how close I am! From my calculations I seem to have only spend around £2800 once refunds during the period and spend on my wife’s card which isn’t eligible i think are counted.

      However I asked Amex yesterday and they told me I’d already spent £6000 so the bonus should be triggered in the “next 90 days”. Hmmmm.

      Do refunds of old spend (couple of flights from last year) coming back during this period affect the spend requirements. Amex told me no but it seems they do…

      • BJ says:
        3 Nov3 November 10:51

        That will be official line if you ask but my partner’s triggered with the immediate qualifying spend. I am wondering if that is the norm or if many people,e have similar experience to you and my dad.

        • Andy says:
          3 Nov3 November 11:04

          I was working under the impression that because I’d had refunds during this time that it reduced the target although I suppose i’ll wait and see. But if I had hit £5000 that would have been a few weeks ago and no sign of email or bonus..

      • meta says:
        3 Nov3 November 11:11

        Old transactions that are refunded will not count against you. I had hotels.com transaction plus a BA refund from a year ago refunded and I still triggered. I thought I will have to spend extra, but triggered it.

        @BJ Mine took over a week to show in the account. Amex offers very slow these days.

        • Andy says:
          3 Nov3 November 11:23

          Thanks @meta, that’s good to know! I’ll recalculate without the refunds!

    • MW says:
      3 Nov3 November 10:58

      Crossed the threshold about a month ago, but got an email just a few days back (points still haven’t posted)

      • Pete M says:
        3 Nov3 November 11:19

        Similar experience to MW – best not stress about it and wait, it’ll show up in due course.

      • BJ says:
        3 Nov3 November 13:13

        Thanks everybody for feedback, I guess old dad will just have be patient a while longer but approaching mid 80s he feels he doesn’t have the time for that 🙂

    • Ja says:
      3 Nov3 November 11:20

      I got mine after I had spent £9500. Which was £10000 less refund of £500. I wasn’t expecting to reach it until a week later.

      • will says:
        3 Nov3 November 13:58

        it’s a mystery how this works – call centre confirms supp spending doesnt count, but mine triggered only with including supp spending or an earlier start date than the date I added the offer. However seems wiser to flip the cards to use up the referral bonuses for 2021 if the £5k spend is a stretch by month end. 90k per annum is not too hard to reach with a family of 4 and gold/bapp/blue/second gold to choose from

  • TheOtherN says:
    3 Nov3 November 10:40

    Double checking to be sure:

    Amex Plat will get you — but no guest — into the Eurostar lounge at St Pancras station. And unless you are travelling Business Premier, or have Carte Blanche, there’s no other way to buy access?

    • Rob says:
      3 Nov3 November 10:47

      Correct.

      The holder of your supplementary Platinum card gets free access too of course. I have found they are willing to let kids in off peak.

    • Lady London says:
      4 Nov4 November 18:26

      Holders of one of the Deutsche Bahn discount cards also get in. It’s one of the higher level cards but would be worth it for a handful of visits to the lounge, cost is not outrageous for the DB one. Also gets access to reasonable railway lounges in a few other places like Munich

  • Vit says:
    3 Nov3 November 10:43

    Hello, anyone stayed at Conrad Bangkok before? We are going to do 1-day quarantine while waiting for the PCR test and thinking we may just extend the stay using hilton points. We only book basic (deluxe) room. We are gold hilton from cc but surely that does not matter at all. Cheers, Vit.

    • BP says:
      3 Nov3 November 11:10

      Yeah, a well located hotel. A little older but nice. Lumphini park is close by, some local food markets are also on Wireless road and you aren’t too far from from some nice shopping centres at the very top of the road.

      • meta says:
        3 Nov3 November 11:29

        Check cash prices. I booked Conrad Suite (two categories below top room) for only £100 in January. It was only 54k points as well, but it really doesn’t make sense to use points there unless you just want to get rid of high balance.

    • Vit says:
      3 Nov3 November 11:41

      Thanks both. Currently deciding between Conrad and Landmark at the moment. If going with Conrad, we are opting for Corner room with a tenner more. 🙂

      • Andy D says:
        3 Nov3 November 11:50

        I spent a week there in 2017 and liked it. I usually stayed further away from the centre in Si Lom but found it interesting to stay in the city. Proximity to sky train is good. Local decent cheap food a-plenty.

    • Clive says:
      3 Nov3 November 17:36

      Stayed a couple of years back and was upgraded from the standard room to a Conrad Suite. Staff are great and lounge offering excellent although it can get busy. Location is OK and they offer a shuttle bus to the nearest BTS station.

      We have actually booked our Test Package there for next month and then extended our stay as well.

      • Vit says:
        3 Nov3 November 17:58

        Hi Clive, good to hear we are not alone! Yes, we are doing the test-and-go as well. Staying from the 9th Dec. Would be interesting to actually meet up with HfPer for a drink or two! 🙂

  • Mark says:
    3 Nov3 November 10:51

    I’ve just had a flight to Bahrain cancelled in Feb and moved 24 hours later. I think I’ve read previously on here that it means I can re-route my destination and go anywhere within 500 miles – is this correct? Many thanks.

    • H says:
      3 Nov3 November 10:56

      It’s 300 miles not 500

      • Mark says:
        3 Nov3 November 11:10

        Thanks H. So it is something I can request?

        • H says:
          3 Nov3 November 11:15

          Yes but are you looking to change your dates also?

          • ChrisC says:
            3 Nov3 November 11:21

            Yes but if I remember you can only invoke that rule if you are changing -3 to + 10 days of your original departure.

          • Mark says:
            3 Nov3 November 12:38

            No, keep the original dates (for which they have now cancelled the outbound and moved it one day later). Do I need to quote EU261 to them, or I can just ask for the move to an airport within 300 miles?
            Many thanks for your help on this.

        • H says:
          3 Nov3 November 12:50

          You shouldn’t need to quote EU261 to change within 300 miles as this is a BA policy. EU261 is for rerouting to the same destination anyway.

          • Mark says:
            3 Nov3 November 14:07

            Many thanks. I guess the final question is: they are Avios seats so does there need to be Avios availability to the new destination on the dates, or because it’s a cancellation there doesn’t need to be?

          • AJA says:
            3 Nov3 November 15:11

            I’m not sure but I think you need Avios availability if you are invoking the 300 mile change of destination rule. Definitely no Avios needed if you are simply rebooking to original destination as a result of a BA cancellation

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