Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 17th November

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

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Comments (445)

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

  • Anna says:

    Anyone used PP at MAN T1 recently? I wouldn’t even contemplate trying it at the moment except that it will be 5 am when we get there!
    Might just forget about it and ask the Hilton Doubletree for a picnic breakfast to take away, though MAN security is bound to find something wrong with that 🤣. I guess we could have the yoghurt and orange juice while queuing and hope they don’t take issue with hard boiled eggs and croissants on this occasion.

    • Lee says:

      I was refused to enter for both lounges two weeks ago. Advance paying booking only

    • Shaw West says:

      Used Man T3 in October. Lounge for PP open only till 5PM

    • Guernsey Globetrotter says:

      Got into T1 Aspire Lounge end of October with my son at 7am with no wait time for brekkie – wasn’t too busy and food was OK.

    • Cathy says:

      Used Aspire twice in last few weeks at T1 no problem. Even used it rather than Escape through BA. Both mornings were very quiet

  • Babyg says:

    not sure its mentioned, but – ba.com working(ish) again…

    • Anna says:

      Still saying no access to BAEC for me.

      • Anna says:

        Though on the second try it has let me in and my avios are all still there, yay!

        • Anna says:

          Can’t see any changes, though still trying to convince me to book a flight to Lagos in PE 🤣

        • Babyg says:

          errors tyring to book a reward flight…

          Error
          There is currently no access to your account while we upgrade our system. Please visit the information page to find out how this may affect you. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your patience.

          Find out more. (which logs you out)

    • Jo says:

      Woohoo….just managed to book our Avios flight, only took 14 attempts/error messages! Good luck folks 😊

  • ianM says:

    Anybody got experience of using Oncologica for outbound LFTs to US? Look like the cheapest at £18.50 and gov approved?

    https://covid19.oncologica.com/

    • Graham says:

      It says at the bottom that their LFTs aren’t for the USA but they can offer PCRs.

  • Andrew H says:

    BA working

  • Peggerz says:

    Hi.
    I am in initial stages of planning return flights to ICN next year, either April or September with Mrs P to visit young Miss Peggerz who is working there. Presently Sth Korea is not open for general tourists and those arriving in the country full vaxed still need a PCR before arrival, a PCR on arrival and 10 days quarantine. Hopefully this will change in the new year.
    I want to be sure I have the right strategy to get cash flights in sales etc. I use Skyscanner/Momondo/Kayak and can get my way around ITA Matrix/Google flights. But I often see on HFP details of deals from UK or mainland Europe of cheaper J flights to the Far East etc. i.e. recently ARN-BKK, LHR-BKK and there was an AMS flight too (can’t remember the destination). Where is this info coming from (Flyertalk?) and where should I be keeping an eye on?
    Thanks.

  • Laura says:

    sorry if it’s been mentioned before, but I got a sponsored ad on FB for a free hot chocolate at Somerset House ice rink. Just show your AMEX when ordering.

    I don’t think you need to be skating to access the offer, certainly a couple of years ago I had a drink in the pop-up cafe without skating

  • NvT1115 says:

    Iberia Plus has just emailed members to announce status extension to March 23. Is there a surprise coming from BAEC once systems back up and running???

  • Anna says:

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/we-booked-ryanair-flight-to-spain-but-it-sent-us-to-greece-and-now-won-t-say-sorry/ar-AAQORuR?ocid=msedgntp

    I don’t know what’s more baffling – Ryanair’s attitude to security or the couple not noticing that all the signs in the airport were in a different alphabet!

    • John says:

      There wasn’t any security risk as they would have gone through security screening (at least in theory – in practice we know it’s mostly theatre)

      • meta says:

        @John well it could have been. Just going through the search security is not enough. Lots of things can happen in between that and boarding the plane. Also it’s a security risk from the flight manifest perspective and let’s not get started on flight attendants who obviously didn’t bother to count the passengers and compare it and the pilot too who didn’t spot they have to extra passengers.

        • Chrisasaurus says:

          Well the point John is making is that the screening up to the gate is the same for either direction

      • Anna says:

        They boarded a flight without a ticket or boarding card for that flight. I’m surprised they didn’t get pulled in at Zakynthos because Greece wouldn’t have had their APD details.

        • John says:

          Greece doesn’t require API.

          The UK does, which is why we always have to fill it in to check-in online for flights to and from the UK.

          If you have a flight between Greece and somewhere else that doesn’t collect API you should be able to check in without entering any passport information. In practice this is only for Schengen countries as the airline would still need passport information to verify that you can enter the destination

          • meta says:

            But there is Greek PLF to check as well, so neither Ryanair checked it nor the Greek officers. I can also think of a situation where the Ryanair check-in agent checked them in for a flight to Zakynthos instead of Seville by mistake and told them the gate or something. However, it does sound really odd all around. Probably just down to bad journalism, so difficult to get the whole picture.

    • ChrisC says:

      Or that they would have missed several announcements of the name of the destination.

      • meta says:

        What to say about Ryanair security? My partner flew with them back to UK on Monday (as BA pulled the route for November so no other option and it was a business trip.)
        They took off his checked-in bag even though he was sitting on the plane in his selected seat. The flight was 20 minutes late as a result, but nobody bothered to count or check the flight manifest or even inform the passenger. It was only at Stansted that he realised that it was his bag when it didn’t arrive.

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