The HfP chat thread – Monday 22nd November

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Matthew says:

22 Nov22 November 02:37

Just noticed Avios and Tier Points have appeared on my BA account and were marked as “credited” on Nov 21 and 22 for flights that were taken on Nov 12th and 15th, repsectively. Good to see that those didn’t get lost or held up too long in the transition and hopefully means not too much longer till it’s fully operational again *knock on wood*
Anna says:

22 Nov22 November 04:23

Good morning fellow insomniacs!
Polly, I hope you get out today 🤞
Booking is now open for the 2nd jab for 16 and 17 year olds. They have to wait a minimum of 12 weeks after the first dose though, so for a lot of them it won’t be until after the Christmas family gathering period.
- Polly says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 04:48
  
  Anna, you are up early! Or up late! Tnx for good wishes…
  
  Sadly no is the answer.. PCR today and serology bloods tomorrow so now earliest escape day is Wednesday. But seeing how deep they sent the swab up into my brain today, afraid it may come back positive now…but, ever hopeful. 30 degrees, sunny, breakie and lunch on the balcony.
  
  They asked me today how l intend to pay. They take Amex, small light in the tunnel there, and hopefully insurance picks up that bill…nurse let slip about 400 travellers here atm, that’s a huge no, when the VTL flights are quarter full…our BA11 only had 86 in total on a 777. Could be nabbing 1:10 pax for extra tests…Fingers crossed.
  - Cat says:
    
    22 Nov22 November 06:40
    
    Oh no! I haven’t been reading posts this weekend. Am I right in thinking you’ve flown to Singapore, but got a temperature / sat near someone else who became symptomatic, so have been stuck in a quarantine hotel?
    
    I hope everything comes back negative, and you can go and have a lovely time eating all the food soon! X
    - BJ says:
      
      22 Nov22 November 07:13
      
      +1, sorry to hear this Polly, I’ve been out all weekend and didn’t see HfP. Hope you are OK and you get free Wednesday and can fully enjoy trip. Situations like this with testing is why I’ve been reluctant to travel even after bans and quarantine lifted, the testing, certificates etc and associated risks are still a lot of hassle.
      - Polly says:
        
        22 Nov22 November 11:53
        
        Wise decision BJ, wish we had just done the same, but so tempting to risk it, warnings or not. The VTL made it very easy to manage, but there we are, lessons learned..not long now til your big trip too…
        It’s really great reading about people’s travels, what this site is about really.
    - Anna says:
      
      22 Nov22 November 07:27
      
      Hi Cat. the whole story is on the chat thread yesterday, poor Polly!
    - Polly says:
      
      22 Nov22 November 09:53
      
      Hi Cat,
      
      Nice to see you back…It’s fun NOT! Read chat yesterday, fingers crossed pls. Asymptomatic. Neg tests, but they hauled me in..bad luck, all of us neg on the plane, spot checking on viral loads, we think. Clued in hotel manager was told why, we were not! Gen consensus from the elders and knowledgeable on here is, their PCR readings are more sensitive. MOH say if viral load over 30, deemed positive, even if the test result is neg! Try that for logic..then quarantined. Moving goalposts, unfairly.
      
      Serology to check shedding, none the the wiser…pointless, following protocol ..
      Just happy to enjoy the nice resort, w balcony, sea view, but NO MILK for my tea. Have had to dilute the carton of milk l quickly threw in from our room fridge…diluted milk, sacrificing for the sake of travel.
      
      Shame, was our 1st big Asia trip, but not risking it again now til god knows when…all those lovely 241 in F we have booked, now will use on Bordeaux or Toulouse in CE …simply in shock, but chin is up, and will wait it out. 1st world problems. Not complaining.
      
      BTW, putting up all the travellers in the wealthy resorts..6 of them up here, who is paying? might explain! most locals in cheap downtown places??? Driver in hazmat, hilarious! was very chatty! Told me inside info…really good to know we have such a supportive crowd on here tho, cheers me up no end…food so basic, indescribable!
      - Michael C says:
        
        22 Nov22 November 10:14
        
        Polly, I missed out on yesterday’s chats, but sending you massive best wishes. I would have a mantra of “I’m not in the Euston Travelodge” (a recent nightmare experience of mine!), and ….any chances of massively over-order some stunning Singaporean food on a delivery app?! xx
      - Cat says:
        
        22 Nov22 November 18:22
        
        Oh no Polly, I’m so sorry, that sucks!
        
        Especially the lack of milk for tea, I’d be properly spitting my dummy (politely, with a smile) about that one! The driver with the hazmat suit must have been an experience though!
        
        Do you have lots of Jack Reacher books downloaded onto the Kindle?
        
        I hope they let you out soon Polly! X
      - Track says:
        
        22 Nov22 November 19:58
        
        I think Polly might be guinea pig (sorry!) to show that all us vaccinated, can simply carry the virus and COVID-19 virus can co-exist in humans, under controls of the immune system.
        
        Then, its perfectly possible and likely that in the countries with a strict test regimes (HKG, SIN, AUS, Thailand, Vietnam and on) one is likely to encounter all these problems. Let alone that indeed, can be a passenger on the plane shedding a virus, and it held on to new hosts temporarily unable to infect them though.
        
        Also relevant here, that vaccinated and recovering people shed virus which is likely to be damaged and not the same RNA that the virus which infected in the first place. These shedded virus copies are weak and possibly can’t penetrate an immune system with a developed response.
        
        But tests, especially PCR do not care about these nuances, which makes all the difference in practice.
      - Track says:
        
        22 Nov22 November 20:09
        
        E.g., “unable to infect” means the virus penetrated some cells and even managed to shed copies from them but 1) those virions are not as vital, and 2) amount of penetrated cells not warrants rising temperature and strong visible immune responses.
  - Tracey says:
    
    22 Nov22 November 08:11
    
    Why do they need serology tests? Why does it matter whether you have antibodies or not?
    - Gary says:
      
      22 Nov22 November 09:31
      
      At this stage, MOH probably covering all bases (ie do all test at one’s disposal albeit the tests not considered gold standard). Serological IgM and IgG could give further insight whether there was recent infection or Covid immunity, but these results are far from definitive. Polly hope you get out on Wed!
      - Polly says:
        
        22 Nov22 November 11:59
        
        Gary, Tracey, all a faff, all that matters is that it’s negative and l escape…That test will make no difference in the end. Grateful to have antibodies. Good learning curve, tho.
  - Spurs drive me mad says:
    
    22 Nov22 November 08:17
    
    Hope your tests are negative polly what a nightmare for you and presumably anyone your travelling with. On a positive note at least you aren’t stuck in a crappy Britannia hotel in a dreary Uk city in November being prodded.
    - Polly says:
      
      23 Nov23 November 01:02
      
      Tnx, exactly, feels v tropical out there, actually reminds me of the Andaman resort in Lankawi years ago, but without the monkeys! Birds, sunlight, lovely, so not all bad.
      
      Just been told by the nurse, today Tuesday, you will have your day 6 swab and blood test! That PCR is awful! Dreading it. But won’t let me out now til day after the results come in…that is hard to take now.. so now it’s Thursday. Following protocol, she says, that PCR from yesterday doe not count she said. $150 !
      
      Hard not to believe this is a cash grab….
  - Sam G says:
    
    22 Nov22 November 09:25
    
    Fingers crossed on the result! I think they do the serology test to confirm if it’s a case of recent prior infection + shedding. So if it came back negative again I don’t really know why they’d need to do this. What a pain
    
    I don’t think it’d be 400 travelers in the same situation as you – that resort is/was being used for community recovery of low risk positive patients who couldn’t isolate at home. I believe they also relocate positive passengers serving the govt quarantine “SHN” there too. The official numbers of positive VTL entry travelers is about 1:1000 and a few 1000 come in per day max.
    - Polly says:
      
      22 Nov22 November 11:33
      
      Agree, was hoping the PCR would come back before l needed the serology, but they want it done either way, so no escaping that one… and yes, l know there are other recovering people staying here too. It’s really well run.
      Tnx All up above for good wishes.. Grab busy round this place . atm…got my milk delivered! Relief😃
      - Anna says:
        
        22 Nov22 November 11:40
        
        Polly, I always take a tin of dried milk when we go anywhere where luggage allowances permit (so any BA trips) as I need my brews to be very milky. Not as nice as the fresh stuff but definitely better than nothing! I make some up with boiled water to my required consistency and store it in the fridge so it’s sufficiently chilled when I want it.
        Also a must on our GCM trips where fresh produce is 4 times the price it is here!
    - Polly says:
      
      23 Nov23 November 01:04
      
      Sam,
      
      Nurse just told me, most of the stayers here are in the exact situation as me, so that was interesting. Travellers. A few locals in isolation for a couple of weeks. So, read into that what you will….
  - Lyn says:
    
    22 Nov22 November 16:50
    
    Fingers crossed for you Polly. What a let down for you after getting to Singapore at last! Hopefully all the HfP support is helping. You sound remarkably resilient and cheerful about it, and as you say there is nothing wrong with Toulouse or Bordeaux for the next couple of trips after you get to finally enjoy this one.
    - Polly says:
      
      23 Nov23 November 00:35
      
      Hi Lyn, Tnx for your cheery note. Yes, am definitely cheered up by all the positive support coming my way, from you regulars. As you, say, plenty of nice places left to visit, thank goodness.
      
      @Track, def useful analysis, Tnx for that. Agree, def am a guinea pig here, fully accept that! Anyway fingers crossed for neg result today, it’s 08.30 here Tuesday D day.
      
      Worrying tho @Sam described friends having repeated positive tests, due to high sensitivity tests used…
Diydegsy says:

22 Nov22 November 06:31

Manchester airport T2, does anyone know if Qatar business class passengers can use the 1903 lounge or is it only Aspire and Escape lounge? Also do we need to allow 4 hours like Heathrow to get through check in / security any help appreciated thanks.
- Andrew says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 06:46
  
  1903 if you’re in business class.
  https://www.qatarairways.com/en-gb/lounges/worldwide.html
  
  Why would you need 4 hours? Heathrow is 60 minutes before departure.
  - Diydegsy says:
    
    22 Nov22 November 07:32
    
    Thanks Andrew, I’ve just heard there have been a lot of delays at the airports due to checking covid documents etc
    - Andrew says:
      
      22 Nov22 November 07:42
      
      No issues that I’ve experienced. Checkin to lounge in 10 minutes as normal. And equally at the border on returning, straight through e-gates, no queues or additional checks.
  - Save East Coast Rewards says:
    
    22 Nov22 November 08:05
    
    I was wondering whether the 4 hours guidance was on the Heathrow website as they’ve always advised getting there ridiculously early, but they currently recommend 3 hours before the flight.
    
    Remember it’s in the airport operator’s best interest to get you there early so you have time to shop
    - Andrew says:
      
      22 Nov22 November 08:15
      
      Remembering that the departure Covid checks are done by each airline at checkin – nothing to do with the airport operator or U.K. Border Force.
    - John says:
      
      22 Nov22 November 08:16
      
      Because if everyone aimed to arrive 90 minutes in advance all flights would be delayed
      
      HFP readers should be savvier than most travellers though
  - Mike says:
    
    22 Nov22 November 12:11
    
    Since 9/11, the recommendation has been 3 hours for international flights (in the old days it was 2 hours). 1 hour before is when the check-in CLOSES. If you rocked up at Heathrow with 1 hour before your flight then wondered down to the check-in desk, you ain’t getting a flight. I suspect you’ve misread, misunderstood, or misremembered.
    - Nick says:
      
      22 Nov22 November 15:57
      
      Until very recently, BA at Heathrow was check-in until 45 minutes before departure. You were fine rocking up an hour before your flight.
- Dan F says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 08:42
  
  We were at MAN travelling Club Europe a few weeks ago- checkin was somewhat long and chaotic (for no apparent reason…). No fast track security on the BA boarding card at MAN however we asked at the priority security if we could use it as we were flying business and a friendly guy let us through. Queues for normal security were huge and our plane was delayed due to ‘delays in getting passengers through security.’
  - Mr(s) Entitled says:
    
    22 Nov22 November 12:35
    
    BA don’t fly from T2 so they won’t be messing up this journey.
    
    The 1903 lounge is very nice. If you are planning on spending 60/90 mins there then I’d say you have already built in plenty of contingency to clear check in and security.
- Mr(s) Entitled says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 09:24
  
  I went through T2 for a 4pm flight in Oct half term and breezed through. I wouldn’t recommend cutting it fine, but 4hrs is overkill.
  - Tony1 says:
    
    22 Nov22 November 11:51
    
    Better to chill in the lounge than sweat in the security que ….
- David says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 16:52
  
  Flights are not near anywhere full, airport relatively quite. If you’re worried but fast track for £5 and skip any queue though imagine you get that included if you’re flying business.
  Used fast track last week for the Emirates flight to DXB and if I’d paid for it, what a waste, there were more people in the fast track queue than standard. Admittedly this was T1 and towards the end of the day.
Roger says:

22 Nov22 November 06:50

T5 pod parking
In absence of pods to / from T5, I assume I can take the TFL buses and can pay the fare using any contactless cards?

Haven’t used London public transport in a while hence the query.
- ChrisC says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 06:52
  
  Yes but I’m sure I read that HAL have put on their pwn pod repplacement bus service.
- Blenz101 says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 06:55
  
  They are laying on a free replacement busses so no need to pay anything.
  
  If for some reason you did want to use a TfL service you are correct that you can touch in and pay using a contactless credit, debit or Oyster card.
  - Roger says:
    
    22 Nov22 November 07:13
    
    Well my booking is with your parking space posted by someone here so the pod fare was not included so I assume I may have to pay for the replacement buses or take TFL BUSES as noted bothered with couple of quid in either direction.
    
    Anyone with recent your parking space feedback?
    - John says:
      
      22 Nov22 November 07:50
      
      The pods were free though, you only had to pay to pass through a gate to the hotel (or pay for parking)
    - Tariq says:
      
      22 Nov22 November 08:08
      
      If you are just parked in the Thistle under that deal then I would just get the 423 from outside rather than bother with the overpriced non-POD replacement bus.
    - Tracey says:
      
      22 Nov22 November 08:09
      
      Used it many times in Watford, usually features the Holiday inn hotel that offers cheaper and nearer parking than Watford Junction train station.
      - Paul Pogba says:
        
        22 Nov22 November 08:49
        
        I think its the 724 (Greenline) that runs from Watford J, the only TfL buses in that part of Herts are 258 and 142.
    - MrHandBaggageOnly says:
      
      22 Nov22 November 09:52
      
      Hi Roger, had a YPS at the Thistle last week. Take the ticket at the entry barrier, go to reception to get them to stamp the ticket (they wanted to see the booking, so if you don’t want them handling your phone take a print out). Then the 423 from just outside the hotel is easy (£1.55 contactless). On your return go back to reception to get them to validate your ticket before you try to leave.
      
      Note though, on the return journey the 423 is still on diversion snd running along Bath Road, so does not stop near the Thistle. This means you can choose either the first or the second stop on the route, but I estimate either are a good ten-minute walk from the Thistle and involve crossing Bath Road. It’s a bit of a faff, so you might want to either taxi/Uber or try the replacement bus to POD parking on the way back to make it easier, especially if you have luggage.
      - Will_ says:
        
        22 Nov22 November 10:25
        
        This was pretty much my experience a couple of weeks ago, although I took the POD on the way back and hotel reception never answered the phone at the gate to let me in so I needed to go back to the terminal. In future, I’ll probably park at the regus using yps rather than the thistle as it’s closer to the bus stop on the way back.
ChrisC says:

22 Nov22 November 07:25

Just rebooked my covid booster (able to bring it forward by 2 weeks)

Much better that you can see the replacement options before you cancel your oiriginal booking which you couldn’t do when I booked my 1st 2 jabs.
Anna says:

22 Nov22 November 07:41

DM (sorry, couldn’t find another source!) saying that holiday firms are going to stop issuing vouchers in lieu of refunds on December 19th, not sure if this will impact the 241s.
C says:

22 Nov22 November 07:49

Where should the 241 voucher show in my executive club account (it’s been a couple of years since I last earned one!)? Upgraded to BAPP 2 weeks ago and Amex account says I’ve qualified for the voucher but I can’t see anything yet! It wasn’t there before the IT problems either. I’m guessing Amex would be the first port of call to check if it has been sent to BA yet before I join a long phone queue?!
- Anna says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 08:10
  
  If you can get in your BAEC club, either on the avios booking page or in “My Executive Club” there’s an option to select e-vouchers to the left of the page.
Nate says:

22 Nov22 November 07:59

My BA 2-4-1 voucher expired yesterday. I had left it late but tried to login yesterday to do a dummy booking (to cancel for later and therefore keep 2-4-1 active) but could not log into executive website. Checking head for points today it appears it is a known issue (I have been hiding under a rock for the last week so was unaware!).

Do I have any recourse to call BA to see if they will allow me to still book/reinstate 2-4-1 given events over the last week?
- Rob says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 09:27
  
  BA will claim that you were emailed about the downtime – on the other hand, BA promised it would be back by the 17th so I reckon you have grounds, albeit you might need to go to arbitration.