The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 1st December

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Category

General

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Anna says:

1 Dec1 December 12:25

Just looking at the new rules – so I have to wear a mask while having my haircut but not in the pub? What kind of lunacy is this?!
- SteveJ says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 12:27
  
  You can’t eat or drink with a mask, so not that crazy?
  - meta says:
    
    1 Dec1 December 12:32
    
    But not wearing it while you’re walking around or ordering… You can be in an office full of people without a mask, children in schools are without masks… It’s all lunacy alongside with the need to stress each and every time ‘unless you are exempt’.
    - SteveJ says:
      
      1 Dec1 December 12:48
      
      IMHO masks stop the spread, but not worth getting into debates about it.
      
      Just feels like people will complain either way, the rules can’t possibly catch all scenarios, so it’s just a matter of trying to wrap around all the obvious ones without having a ridiculous long list of rules.
      - Anna says:
        
        1 Dec1 December 13:39
        
        How am I more of an obvious risk to my triple jabbed hairdresser than a pub full of strangers, exactly?
      - SteveJ says:
        
        1 Dec1 December 14:30
        
        You’re not. But the more places you mask up the better. The rules are to maximise the places you mask up without making it onerous.
- Will says:
  
  2 Dec2 December 00:14
  
  Wear a mask in the supermarket but go snog everyone on the dance floor in a nightclub then go round to see your gran on Sunday.
  
  Either omicron is worthy of caution in which case should have restricted hospitality to table service, group sizes and early closing etc or it’s not in which case PCR testing at borders and masks in shops are drop in ocean.
  
  PCR tests for day 2 when you already have community transmission are a bit silly really.
Craig says:

1 Dec1 December 12:26

Nectar points just posted for the 50x power hour,
- Can says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 12:32
  
  me, too 😀
- stevenhp1987 says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 12:45
  
  +1
  
  Extra £30 of Nectar points for something I was going to buy anyways for the same price Amazon were offering it at.
  - Gavin says:
    
    1 Dec1 December 13:10
    
    Same
- Peter K says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 13:03
  
  Not yet for me.
- John says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 13:26
  
  Thanks. Well I would have checked in 3-4 hours anyway
- Mikeact says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 14:06
  
  How many..the maximum or just a small amount?
  - Mikeact says:
    
    1 Dec1 December 14:09
    
    Mines just popped up…the maximum, and not a wasted spend either…..wife’s Christmas present !
- Reney says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 14:26
  
  +1
  - Spurs drive me mad says:
    
    1 Dec1 December 15:44
    
    +1
- Scott says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 14:50
  
  Same here. Not a massive amount, but to quote Tesco, “Every little helps”.
pavpav says:

1 Dec1 December 12:34

Does anyone know if it is possible to buy duty free items in the airport , do not take flight and get out of the airport with items? Are they checking each passenger? I know it sounds silly but there are some limited whisky editions in duty free shops and cannot fly due to work commitments. Thank you
- Phil W says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 12:39
  
  At Edinburgh Airport that should be easy as incoming Domestic Pax get deposited into the main terminal so it wouldn’t be difficult for you to exit.
  Unsure about others in the UK.
  - Blenz101 says:
    
    1 Dec1 December 12:55
    
    The lack of an international boarding card will surely be an issue when it comes to making a purchase though?
    - pavpav says:
      
      1 Dec1 December 13:04
      
      I am thinking about having cheap international ticket which should allow me to buy items. Only issue is whether they will let me out
      - Blenz101 says:
        
        1 Dec1 December 13:08
        
        Yes you can be escorted out. Getting out of T5 at LHR is pretty well documented on FT.
        
        If you will be allowed to carry a bag of duty free or obtain a refund on your international ticket having checked in is not something I know the answer.
      - Lady London says:
        
        1 Dec1 December 20:06
        
        The person who escorts you out will be instructed to have you return any duty free.
        
        It’s a massive pain for them to have to escort you out and I wouldn’t do it for this sort of reason.
      - Pablo says:
        
        1 Dec1 December 22:08
        
        There seems to be a way to get into arrivals stream via lifts in B or C gates as this guy found out: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2058800-heathrow-terminal-5-missed-flight-gate-confusion.html
        I’m not familiar with T5 so can’t comment but maybe someone can elaborate further. This way you’d be able to take your shopping out.
    - Lady London says:
      
      1 Dec1 December 20:07
      
      The person who escorts you out will be instructed to have you return any duty free.
      
      It’s a massive pain for them to have to escort you out and I wouldn’t do it for this sort of reason.
- John says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 13:28
  
  I thought duty free doesn’t exist in the UK anymore?
  
  Anyway if those are the only places that sell the items and you really want to have them, surely you would be happy to pay any taxes required?
  - Rui N. says:
    
    1 Dec1 December 13:42
    
    It doesn’t seem that pavpav is interested on saving money, just getting access to items not sold outside airports.
  - HH says:
    
    1 Dec1 December 14:11
    
    Duty-free alcohol very much still exists. VAT-free shopping, sadly, is gone.
    - Greg says:
      
      1 Dec1 December 14:34
      
      I got a bottle of Gordon’s Gin and Famous Grouse Whisky for £10 at LHR (departures and arrivals) and Euro-Tunnel so it very much exists
      - Mikeact says:
        
        1 Dec1 December 15:18
        
        You mean 2 for 1, or each bottle ?
- Jonathan says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 15:53
  
  Depends on airport. I did a B2B LHR to Inverness a couple of years ago to start a cheap INV-LHR-ORD. Scanned my LHR-ORD boarding pass at First Wing security by mistake so was auto offloaded from flight to Inverness. Gate staff were happy to rectify that issue but I did have to wait at the gate until a customs guy could come & confirm I wasn’t travelling to Inverness with any Duty Free that I’d bought with my ORD boarding pass. It surprised me how seriously they took it so would imagine you’ll get a grilling if trying to leave LHR departures without travelling.
rams says:

1 Dec1 December 12:36

Airtime rewards – just switched from O2 to Vodafone. I don’t see an area in my Vodafone account to apply the credit in the same way I could for O2. Any tips? When I send from Airtime directly it seems to reject. My number only ported yesterday.
- Char Char says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 15:53
  
  It rejects if your vodafone balance is below £10
- Pablo says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 22:24
  
  Did you change network in Airtime app to VF?
  - rams says:
    
    1 Dec1 December 23:05
    
    Thanks both. Yes changed to Vodafone and still rejected.
The Canuck says:

1 Dec1 December 13:11

Canada has reimplemented arrival PCR testing and self isolation until the arrival test returns negative. Just in case any of you have ski vacations planned….
- Mel T says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 13:47
  
  AAAAHHHHH where does it say this I can’t find it on the website?
  - Mel T says:
    
    1 Dec1 December 13:49
    
    never mind, found it….
Yuff says:

1 Dec1 December 13:22

I see WHO official says most cases of omicron are mild and no evidence current vaccines aren’t effective. Sounds like the opposite of what the Moderna boss said yesterday, I wonder why he would say such a thing 🤔
- Phil W says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 15:00
  
  I guess this is a symentics point. The vaccine is likely to be less effective against Omicron but still reasonably effective.
  - Luke says:
    
    1 Dec1 December 15:08
    
    and more importantly mild.
    
    So all sounds like a storm in a teacup.
- ChasP says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 16:28
  
  of course there’s no evidence – yet !
  
  it wll take a while to see how the changes affect immunity but if you choose to wait for the evidence it mght be too late to slow it down – its already too late to stop it
- Magic Mike says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 18:46
  
  That’s the “no clear evidence of human to human transmission” WHO right?
Maria says:

1 Dec1 December 13:29

I wonder if someone could invite me to join eRewards please, was thinking to grab some avios
- Paul Pogba says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 14:28
  
  I’ve not seen any invites since Dynata launch various white label sites (Club Opinions, Nectar Canvas, etc). You could join the British Airways version, Rewards for Thoughts: https://www.rewardsforthoughts.co.uk/ or Nectar for transfer: https://www.nectar.com/brands/nectar-canvass
  - David D says:
    
    1 Dec1 December 21:50
    
    Or both with different email addresses.
Andrew H says:

1 Dec1 December 13:30

Buying Virgin Points – 60% bonus

https://flywith.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/flying-club/earn-points/buy-points.html
- Shaw West says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 13:41
  
  70% for Gold 😛
- Anna says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 13:42
  
  But you’ve got to spend at least £1800 to get the 60% bonus.
  - Mark says:
    
    1 Dec1 December 18:00
    
    Yeah, I’ll pass… Was hoping for an offer on Points Booster at some point from flights just completed and another set we have booked for September next year but to be honest I’m a bit wary of throwing a lot of money at it just now. Hopefully in a couple of weeks we’ll see confirmation that Omicron is indeed milder and things will settle.
- Phil W says:
  
  1 Dec1 December 14:07
  
  Short term interest free loan from their customers. An ingenious way to tide them through a difficult winter.
  - Will says:
    
    1 Dec1 December 14:14
    
    Can an expert elaborate on the risk of virgin Atlantic either devaluing points next year or worse going under?
    - Rob says:
      
      1 Dec1 December 14:40
      
      Higher than they were last week although Branson is likely to keep plugging in cash from Orbit and Galactic to keep his baby alive.
  - ken says:
    
    1 Dec1 December 15:54
    
    and to think that just over a year ago some on here wanted the taxpayer to squander £1bn + on Virgin Atlantic.
    
    The mind boggles.
    
    Love to know what has been put in as equity, rather than loans, fee deferrals, royalty postponements & creditors stretching terms.