The HfP chat thread – Sunday 28th November

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• r* says:

  28 Nov28 November 16:58

  Are amex travel hotels (not fhr) prepaid and so would trigger the £100 off?

  • Rob says:

    28 Nov28 November 17:09

    Usually, yes.

• s879 says:

  28 Nov28 November 17:00

  Can Virgin Flying Club reward bookings be changed for free? I can see PE availability on my dates so want to change it and the dates are the same.

  • Sean says:

    28 Nov28 November 17:39

    normally 1 or 2 changes for free

    • s879 says:

      28 Nov28 November 18:31

      Thanks. That’s what it said but I wasn’t sure if I could keep the same dates but change the class for free and if it needed to be a date change.

      • s879 says:

        28 Nov28 November 18:32

        Also, can the changes be made online or do we need to call. 10 days ago wait time was an hour when calling.

        • Sean says:

          28 Nov28 November 19:09

          in my experience have to call to do almost anything with virgin.

  • Harry T says:

    28 Nov28 November 19:21

    You can change via WhatsApp. Last two bookings I changed via WhatsApp were for free.

• Tim says:

  28 Nov28 November 18:13

  Quick question that I’m going to check with Amex tomorrow.

  I had to book a last minute flight out of SA on Friday to get back before red list hotel quarantine requirements.

  Qatar said they have refunded my original return leg (actual refund amount still pending) but this won’t cover what I had to pay to book a new flight home.

  Would Amex travel insurance cover the difference between the one-way ticket I booked and the refund from Qatar?

  Cheers!

  • TGLoyalty says:

    28 Nov28 November 19:11

    I imagine SA has been placed on the FCDO essential travel only list so they should. You need to read your insurance docs.

    I’m assuming you did the maths and you still came out ahead of a £2k hotel quarantine bill.

    • Tim says:

      28 Nov28 November 19:28

      Exactly did the maths and it worked out compared to a £2k hotel quarantine. 10 days self isolation at home also beats being stuck in a hotel.

      Looking at other comments I may not be covered but will be giving the plat insurance docs a read prior to speaking to an agent.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        28 Nov28 November 20:11

        I agree having heard tales of the operation over the past 6-7 months.

        Much nicer to be in your own home (with the comforts that brings) I’m sure the next 10 days will be tedious but youll get through it.

  • Sean says:

    28 Nov28 November 19:12

    No – there is “no insured” event – you chose to take a different flight.

  • Manya says:

    28 Nov28 November 19:18

    It’s worth querying yourself but I was told that such an event wasn’t covered under the card policy (plat and premium card holder) when I had to travel back from Mexico ahead of it being added to red list in August.

    Thankfully BA added some additional flights which meant we arrived ahead of curfew at no additional cost. Hope something similar can work out for you.

    • Tim says:

      28 Nov28 November 19:33

      Thanks Manya same situation it seems and also plat + premium card holder.

      Managed to get back just fine via QR JNB-DOH-MAN which was my original plan just a day later. QR couldn’t change my flight over the phone but could refund the original return leg, so I just booked a one-way to avoid it selling out and leaving me no option.

      sounds like I might be out of pocket if insurance doesn’t pay but we are not talking huge sums (and cheaper than the mandatory hotel bill I was faced with).

    • Blenz101 says:

      28 Nov28 November 19:33

      Doesn’t help that Qatar offer unlimited changes right now and the rules don’t apply until Tuesday 4am.

      Claiming a refund on your original ticket and just buying a new one way on a different doesn’t appear at face value to be an insured event or minimising costs incurred.

      • Blenz101 says:

        28 Nov28 November 19:37

        Ah. Just seen the above. Sounds like maybe you could try to recover from Qatar given they should have been able to offer you the flexibility to change your original flight under their policy.

        Still worth trying your insurance as well but you may have another option via Qatar itself.

        • Tim says:

          28 Nov28 November 20:04

          Good idea on getting hold of QR as they told me over the phone that they were unable to book me on the flight I wanted, but when I told them I can see the flight on the website the advice was to just book online, and they would partially refund my original ticket.

          As for SA red list rules I thought these came into force Friday midday and mandatory hotel quarantine was for anyone who arrived into UK after Sunday 4am. My original flight got me in at 6am Sunday hence my decision to get home earlier.

• Air Crash Investigator says:

  28 Nov28 November 18:36

  Stay there pls. Thanks.

• Marco says:

  28 Nov28 November 19:26

  This past week, I have always been having a transaction failure when I tried to move Avios from Iberia to AerClub/BA using ‘Combine my Avios’… anyone else having these problems?

• Geoggy says:

  28 Nov28 November 19:38

  Got a strange problem trying to book some Avios seats in F.

  If I search direct from LHR I can see availability (and seatspy confirms they are there).

  If I try to book from MAN via LHR it says no availability.

  IT glitch?

  • Blenz101 says:

    28 Nov28 November 19:42

    May sound a silly question but have you checked seats are available on the domestic leg?

  • Jim says:

    28 Nov28 November 19:45

    Yes, I had the same for MAN-LHR-BGI. I booked the LHR-BGI to ensure I didn’t miss out on the F seats and then called to add on domestic sectors.

  • Harry T says:

    28 Nov28 November 19:47

    Search using the stopover function. But your stopover in London and your onward legs for the same days.

    • Harry T says:

      28 Nov28 November 19:47

      Put

• Rosie k says:

  28 Nov28 November 19:41

  I see virgin have brought back there status match , will they accept my BA letter which I received last week advising me that I have received gold status

  • Andrew says:

    28 Nov28 November 21:42

    They will take your BA app screenshot.

• Andrew Biggs says:

  28 Nov28 November 20:22

  Airbnb gift cards are currently 15% off on Amazon. No hotel points, but some nice points on the spend, and I’m sure Rob will be pleased with the commission if you use his link 🙂

  Looks like they can’t be applied to an existing booking, but also don’t expire once applied to your account.

  • meta says:

    28 Nov28 November 20:42

    You can get Avios on Airbnb.

    • Andrew Biggs says:

      28 Nov28 November 20:44

      Thanks… I did not know that!

  • Will says:

    28 Nov28 November 21:16

    What’s the expiry on Airbnb gift cards?

    • Andrew says:

      28 Nov28 November 21:46

      Apparently they don’t expire

  • will says:

    28 Nov28 November 21:58

    Presumably if you shop in morrisons and have an amex and see some Amazon gift cards things get even better 🙂

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