Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

The HfP chat thread – Saturday 27th November

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Comments (322)

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

  • Andrew says:

    PCR required by day 2. Self isolate until negative result.

    • Matty says:

      That’s going to hurt those planning to travel at Christmas.

    • James says:

      Sensible but Covid providers will be celebrating £££££

    • Niall says:

      No mention of the date from which this will apply though, right?

    • Nicky says:

      So am I getting this right…if I still get to go to USA for Christmas/New Year then the two lateral flow tests and PLN number that came with them are no longer usable and now I have to re-purchase PCR tests and n PLN’s?

      • stevenhp1987 says:

        This is why you should leave buying tests to the last minute. Rules have been changing constantly.

  • Rob says:

    The Amazon £20 trick does indeed work.

    Deleted all payment methods except for a Visa credit card. Did an order. Home page now offering a £20 voucher if I added a non-Visa credit card.

    Note that this is a one-off £20 voucher it seems, so you need to spend over £20 to apply it.

    • StevieKicks says:

      Worked across two sub £20 orders for me. Note it’s not a gift card balance, only applies to items sold by Amazon and appears in checkout

    • Alex says:

      Rob, how long after you removed your other cards from the account did you make the purchase on the Visa CC? Whereabouts does the voucher appear on the home page after? Just tried the same, but don’t see a voucher prompt anywhere after the purchase.

    • Gavin says:

      Amazon are helpfully showing me which products are eligible for it.

    • Keith says:

      I did this few days ago as well. Where on the home screen does this come up please?

    • Jody says:

      Not for me, tried it earlier, nothing showing on the home page.

      • Rob says:

        May take a while. I ordered on Thursday. Didn’t check until today if I had the message.

        • Jpa says:

          It worked on my prime account, but doesn’t seem to on my others. I didn’t even make a purchase on my prime one. Just added a visa as my default and left a load of expired amex cards.

          • Jpa says:

            Had a number of other random MasterCards as well which were still active. Just making it default worked. The other accounts I get a message about visa cards but no offer of cash!

    • Js says:

      Just noticed out of all my cards non of them are visa credit?

    • Sam says:

      Remind me, was it remove all cards associated with your account and then add a visa debit card? What if you don’t have a visa credit card currently added (I just have MasterCard and Amex). Thanks!

    • Anuj says:

      I can’t even think of anyone who offers a visa credit, what cards are these?

  • Paul Pogba says:

    Can I be the first to ask, where can I get the cheapest Day Two PCR tests?

    • Matty says:

      Ideally you want one with same or next day results. Probably best to look at those based at the airport.

    • James says:

      Randox do next day for £30 at airports might be able to get discount code as well. Wonder if that will go up soon though 🤔

      • Andrew says:

        Do they have a walk through site at LHR?

      • Paul Pogba says:

        I’ve not been paying attention (thinking I just had to do a postal Day 2 LFT). You can pick up the PCR test at the Raddison Heathrow, can this be done on your way home after arriving back or do you need to collect it and carry it with you so you minimise contact on your way home?

        • Anna says:

          Are they going to start checking that people have actually done them now?!

        • Joe says:

          I’m planning to do this – and drop in the “golden box” at Watford to have results by 9am next day.

  • MilesOnPoint says:

    Is anyone else still struggling to see existing bookings on BA Executive Club, both via BA.com and also on the BA Android app?

    Have logged in and out, uninstalled/reinstalled app and also tried adding manually with PNR but to no avail. Any suggestions?

    • MilesOnPoint says:

      Further to this, the option of changing frequent flyer number via Finnair website also seems to have been removed (handy if you have partner Oneworld status and want to add #FF to Avios booking without having to call)

      • ChrisBCN says:

        Royal Jordanian site works

        • MilesOnPoint says:

          Good tip, thanks @ChrisBCN

          Nb. Royal Jordanian site won’t accept BA Exec club number until you put 4 zeros in front of it, eg: 0000XXXXXXXX

          It then removed the number from booking but going back on MMB on ba.com I was then able to enter afresh.

  • Craig says:

    Good evening from the Kinpton Fitzroy. No upgrade but enjoying the free vino, hic. Remarkably, despite all the dire warnings the train service was spot on. Arrived 7 minutes early, dumped the bags, Mousetrap matinee and off to The Ninth later.

  • Charlieface says:

    Not sure if this has been posted before:

    Story on MSE about somebody winning MCOL against BA for refusing to change up a voucher for cash refund.
    https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2021/11/british-airways-refund-court-win-cash-vouchers/

  • Boi says:

    JDB how is Mexico?

    Omicron has messed up our travel plans…. family were going to join from Botswana. Now we are thinking of booking simple 10 days in mexico as they seem less restrictive.
    Did I mention I am sad?

    • JDB says:

      Mexico is great. We were here, in the Zihuatanejo area, for a month in January and again from the beginning of this month. It’s 30C, bit of a breeze, mainly Mexican tourists (a few Americans and Canadians) so more local feel and prices than the big resorts which is what we like. The sea is warm, lots of deserted beaches, some with rougher open sea, others sheltered lots of dolphins, whales, pelicans and wildlife visits on lagoons with crocodiles and teeming with birds. Food, especially fish, shellfish amazing. 2 x golf courses etc. Will be sad to leave next week and already planning to return next year.

      • Boi says:

        Thanks. Sounds good. We are now hoping to have Christmas there then back to Canada. No elaborate routings. I will wait until Monday/Tuesday to book coz I am so tired of sudden changes (not that waiting will help, lol).

  • Aston100 says:

    South Africa Xmas 2022 too risky?
    Would probably be booked with Avios so there should be flexibility I imagine.
    Can’t think of anywhere else that BA fly to that doesn’t carry some risks and is still hot enough at that time of year (Not Maldives).

    • Harrier25 says:

      Too risky? You’ll never know, because you won’t be able to get there!

      • Harrier25 says:

        Ahhh, silly me, didn’t click that you’d typed 2022. You may be okay, but you may not be.

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