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The HfP chat thread – Thursday 18th November

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Comments (431)

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

  • Sean says:

    Viva from las vegas

  • Mike says:

    So long as it is not visa from las vegas as apparently Amazon don’t like that now

  • Ian M says:

    BAEC still down. What a surprise!

    • James says:

      Its outrageous!

    • Jimbob says:

      They didn’t state which time zone!
      It’s just the 17th on the West coast of the USA

      • BJ says:

        They didn’t say what year!

        • Ian M says:

          No, but they did say Wednesday 17 November. The next Wednesday 17 November will be in 2027. Lets hope they didn’t mean that one.

    • CarpalTravel says:

      “Everything should be back up and running for Wednesday 17 November”

      Should / Could / Might be / Probably won’t… etc..

      Hand’s up anyone who genuinely thought it would be back by this morning. {GMT-0} 👇

      • Rhys says:

        It was meant to be back up and running by yesterday morning!

        • CarpalTravel says:

          Oh was it?! I didn’t see a time so assumed they were being ambiguous, leaning towards a 2359hrs return. Spectacular.

    • Craig says:

      Amazing how 5 days is still over-promising and underdelivering.

  • Ben says:

    You think BA IT can be relied upon? I’m amazed they took it offline; thinking they could bring it back online. Good luck to everyone. Genuine hope it all works out ok.

  • Michael C says:

    Morning all: anyone any experience of Woolley Grange in Wiltshire, especially with kids?
    Looking for alternatives to my Munich/Austria Xmas market trip that was planned and booked 10 months ago *massive eyeroll* !!

    • Olly says:

      We stayed there when our eldest was a couple of months old. Building is nice if a little dated and rooms are on the small side. The spa and kids facilities are excellent but the food is average (and nowhere near as classy as they like to think it is) and at that time (2016) the service in the restaurant was woeful (even things like replenishing the breakfast buffet). It may have improved since but with hospitality staff shortages I’d be a little doubtful.

      Overall, it’s a bit pricey for what you get IMO, but if your priority is entertainment for the kids it may work for you

      • Michael C says:

        Thanks, Olly – had sorted of gathered the same. Kids’ stuff def at top of list. Will probably eat with friends in Bradford-u-A, it has an indoor pool and must be surrounded by pubs, so I’m thinking Okay!

    • Anna says:

      Have you given up on Xmas markets altogether, Michael C?!

      • Michael C says:

        I’m on the plan B/C/D, Anna!
        Looks like the smaller Munich markets are on “for now”, if they have controlled entry. But that also makes me think of mile-long queues in the freezing cold! No word on Salzburg/Innsbruck yet…
        Suddenly, popping across to Wilts. in an hour to a place with roaring fire + kids’ stuff seemed quite attractive! Hope Berlin is still ok for you.

        • Anna says:

          I’m a bit torn – don’t want to add to Germany’s current woes in any way but at the same time they are giving out the message that fully vaxxed (and boosted) people will be allowed to carry on as normal. There’s so much we want to do in Berlin it wouldn’t actually matter if we couldn’t get into the markets, though of course it would be a shame to miss them.
          Roaring fire in Wiltshire definitely sounds appealing – especially if you could visit Stonehenge or Avebury on a crisp winter day!

  • Dominic Barrington says:

    It is 5am on 18 Nov in the UK and BAEC has yet to come back to life I see…

    • Sandgrounder says:

      ‘What?’
      ‘The balances aren’t lost, they must be in a backup’
      ‘You’ve lost every member’s balance?’
      ‘Give me 24 hours, I’ll sort it out I promise.’
      ‘Oh Christ’

    • southlondonphil says:

      I was able to log in to my account yesterday evening, so it seems they’ve taken it down again.

      • Always_in_the_air says:

        I logged in to my account around 1430, then half an hour later was booted out. Have been able to log in since! I was hoping to book and fly today, looks like that won’t be happening!!!

      • CarpalTravel says:

        Did the numbers look right?

        • Always_in_the_air says:

          Yep, they appeared to be correct, but I didn’t check in detail, I was trying to organise a redemption booking for today, but got kicked out before I could complete.

        • Anna says:

          My pointes were all present and correct when I managed to log on yesterday. Couldn’t get beyond the home page of my BAEC account though.

    • Paul Sowden says:

      It always felt certain to me that They’d not get this done in time. I reckon we’re 1-2 days off them sorting out what ever issues they have

      • CarpalTravel says:

        It is incredible to me that as a bluechip business they manage the most basic of customer management fails which is to over promise, and shock of shocks, under deliver.

        It reminds me of when Virgin launched their new website which impressively, wouldn’t allow you to add to children to a flight. Do they have any idea of what they are doing? Extraordinary.

    • Julian says:

      Just got once it’s not BA IT screwing up. It’s IAG Loyalty to blame for this shambles.

    • trader363 says:

      It sounds like I was the only one that was able to make an avios redemption yesterday! Singapore here I come!! . . In economy 🙁

  • Rui N. says:

    Can anyone confirm that there are no FX fees on an online purchase in euros made with a Virgin Atlantic CC? Need to buy something costing a few hundred euros and would like to get S75 protection.

    • Motormike says:

      No FX fees as long as the purchase is made/billed inside the EEA in Euros

      • Rui N. says:

        Thank you. Unless this store runs a front somewhere outside the EEA I should be fine then!

        • Motormike says:

          I was a cropper the other week when I purchased through Viagogo in Euros, who trade out of Switzerland

  • Always_in_the_air says:

    BA have been very tight lipped about exactly what they are doing, they say back end “upgrades” but does anyone know what they are actually doing?

    Migrating to/from multiple different databases in multiple systems is my guess, but I haven’t seen anything official.

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