The HfP chat thread – Monday 6th December

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xcalx says:

6 Dec6 December 08:30

With storm Barra to hit the north tomorrow an us having a flight from MAN to LHR with a night over before a 1035 flight to BGI (all one ticket.). My mind has started to work overtime about the things that could go wrong and how to plan for any mishaps.
These are my worries.
Train gets cancelled.
BA cancels MAN-LHR flight. (Should I try dropping this flight and make my own way to LHR).
PCR RT is only valid until Wednesday.
Will BA get us to LHR by alternative transport for the BGI flight.
My head is spinning, I am usually very laid back with travel disruptions but this time I am edgy, could be because it’s 25 month since our last holiday.

Any advice would be much appreciated.
- Tracey says:
  
  6 Dec6 December 08:37
  
  Ask BA to fly you to LHR the night before.
  - Tracey says:
    
    6 Dec6 December 08:40
    
    Oops, didn’t see you already had a night over. Can you go earlier in the day?
    
    When the line to Euston has been down, taking the train from Piccadilly to Sheffield and then to St Pancras from there is a good back up.
  - xcalx says:
    
    6 Dec6 December 08:41
    
    Thanks. Would I contact BA or Avios who I booked with.
    - Polly says:
      
      6 Dec6 December 08:50
      
      Phone BA asap, is there an earlier flight? We got an email saying we can change flights now on MMB. Have you tried yet, before phoning? Hope you make your well earned holiday…what a barny this all is…
- Jitesh says:
  
  6 Dec6 December 08:53
  
  Not sure on the policy of same day change if you have international legs, but try that if earlier in the day is possible
- Sam G says:
  
  6 Dec6 December 09:05
  
  with the state BA phone lines are in at the moment on a clear sunny day if BA cancels the Manchester flight just get yourself on your way to Heathrow first of all. call centre will be able to delete the MAN-LHR sector if you can reach them or worst case the airport will fix it. Keep your train tickets and send them to BA customer relations for refund under UK/EU 261 when you are back
  
  One good thing about the pandemic is LHR is less busy, so there isn’t the immediate need to thin out the schedules like there used to be in bad weather so might be OK. Good luck – enjoy the holiday!
  - Super Secret Stuff says:
    
    6 Dec6 December 16:20
    
    You can’t ask BA for a refund if the flight isn’t yet cancelled!
- davef says:
  
  6 Dec6 December 09:09
  
  After what I went through on man-lhr yesterday the storm is the least of your problems. 75 mins delay on a 40 min flight due to 7 people having to disembark by the assistance scissor lift, one at at time, no cleaning crew because they were busy doing an emirates plane, offloading a ‘not fit to fly’ passenger and then having to wait 25 mins because there were no ground staff to offload their luggage.
  
  And then when we got to LHR, 20 mins on the taxiway because there were no gates available. Then told no gates for a further half hour so parked at a remote stand and waited a further 15 mins for busses to T5.
  Lots of people missed their flights, I just made mine with 10 mins to spare
- Anna says:
  
  6 Dec6 December 09:14
  
  As you’re flying the night before, you’re in a pretty good position. If your MAN-LHR leg is cancelled, BA will put you in a taxi to LHR, at their cost (this has happened to me so I know they will do it).
  - Anna says:
    
    6 Dec6 December 09:18
    
    If your flight is cancelled on the day, don’t mess around trying to call BA, get yourself to MAN and speak to the ground staff. Tell them you are aware that they are obliged to get you to your ultimate destination (BGI), so you want re-routing on another airline from MAN, or they can pay for a taxi to LHR.
    - xcalx says:
      
      6 Dec6 December 10:22
      
      Thanks for all the comments.
      Anna was it as easy as just asking or would I have to be firm to get the taxi. Thanks.
      
      A bit more relaxed about it now but hardly slept a wink last night.
      - Anna says:
        
        6 Dec6 December 11:59
        
        Long story short we got a message at 4 am that our MAN-LHR was cancelled and that we should call BA. We were already at the airport so instead went to the BA service desk to find out what was going on (plane had gone tech at LHR). OH on cash booking was going to be re-routed via LHR and MIA, me and son on 241 were told to come back in 2 days! We told them none of that was acceptable and they could either send us via the US but direct from MAN (which would have been with Virgin) or get us to LHR in time for our long haul connection. They went for the latter option and it became obvious that they have an agreement with one of the taxi companies at MAN because there was no issuing with taking us on a £300 journey with no up front payment!
        Fortunately it was very early on a Saturday when this happened and we made it to LHR in time for our connection to GCM. But if we’d done what they said and tried sort it out on the phone rather than at the airport we’d probably have been delayed by several days!
      - Anna says:
        
        6 Dec6 December 12:05
        
        Also they then started putting other pax in taxis after us so they can clearly authorise this kind of expenditure.
        We also got 10k avios each for missing visiting both lounges – the carefree whirl of pre-pandemic travel 🤣
      - xcalx says:
        
        6 Dec6 December 16:51
        
        Booked new train tickets for tonight and a night in HEX MAN airport . Living the dream 🙂
      - xcalx says:
        
        6 Dec6 December 16:52
        
        HIX
Cranzle says:

6 Dec6 December 08:44

eBay 50x Black Friday Offer – mine hasn’t tracked correctly. Has anyone successfully complained, if so, to who?
- Jitesh says:
  
  6 Dec6 December 08:51
  
  I tried livechat. No avail apart from wait 28 days (Xmas Eve!)
  - Justin says:
    
    6 Dec6 December 09:07
    
    Yes. I was told the same. My order shows as having taken place at 1pm (after the deadline) even though I’m sure it went through about 5 minutes before.
    The LiveChat guy reckoned that it would be ok and I just needed to wait 28 days.
- Andrew says:
  
  6 Dec6 December 09:23
  
  Mine didn’t track correctly either. It was only valid for one item, but I bought two items at £25 each and got the credit for £50x50pts.
  
  I’ve tried complaining when I’ve been miscredited with points before though and it’s a hopeless task.
- Syalith says:
  
  6 Dec6 December 11:23
  
  I ordered a few minutes before 13:00 and my order shows in my ebay account as placed at 13:01. I’ve been told to wait 28 days. I went back through my browser history and found the order confirmation page showing 15,000 points collected. I’ve taken a screenshot of that page ready for when they inevitably refuse to credit the points after the 28 days is up.
  - Jpa says:
    
    6 Dec6 December 13:03
    
    Same with me, I tried again and they have supposed to have raised a case, but they might have tried to get rid of me. Has the same line about 28 days, but they have already transferred the wrong points. It used my 5x point offer so my next order didn’t get that (that helped prove the case that something has gone wrong). I had it confirmed that that the order was at 12:55 and paypal transaction time of 12:57. Final page was correct but myebay/nectar section has the wrong points.
Tom says:

6 Dec6 December 08:57

Morning all, sorry for the rudimentary question, but what is the latest a BA flight (Avios redemption using a 241) can be cancelled?
I was under the impression it was -24hrs, but I’m sure I saw reference to -3 hours quoted here recently… thanks!
- Sam G says:
  
  6 Dec6 December 09:09
  
  cancel is officially 24hrs. You can get a FTV up until 1hr before though (which can then be unwound later for the same £35 fee) – so effectively it’s 1hr !
  - Tom says:
    
    6 Dec6 December 09:20
    
    Thanks so much, Sam! Can I check, respectfully, that you’re fairly certain?
    
    I ask for two reasons: one, I can’t find any reference to the deadline anywhere on BA.com, and two, in our circumstances, our earliest opportunity for a PCR test is two days before we travel, with the results guaranteed by 22:00 one day before travel.
    
    Our flight departs at 20:30 on the third day, so effectively our PCR results are ‘guaranteed’ by -22.5 hours prior to departure. (And I’m not even sure I’d know how to get hold of BA at 22:00 to cancel if one of us does test positive).
    
    A 3hr PCR test is of course a possibility, but would add complexity, travelling and cost, so we’re trying to avoid it if possible.
    
    Thanks for your advice!
    - Sam G says:
      
      6 Dec6 December 09:24
      
      “Flight only bookings can be exchanged up to the close of check-in. ”
      
      https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/incident/coronavirus/vouchers-refunds#faqvoucher
      
      Not sure where it says about 24hrs for an official cancel, (maybe try a dummy booking?) but that is 100% the rule (as I’ve fallen foul of it before!)
      
      If you want to speak to them to cancel then you can call the US numbers (via Skype)
      - Tom says:
        
        6 Dec6 December 09:35
        
        Mind officially at rest, thank you Sam!
Neil SouthCoast says:

6 Dec6 December 08:57

Does anyone have a contact email for Accor Live Limitless please? Can’t seem to find one on their website at all
- Dubious says:
  
  6 Dec6 December 09:44
  
  CustomerCare@welcome.accorhotels.com
  - Neil SouthCoast says:
    
    6 Dec6 December 11:51
    
    thanks so much. Also have found customercare@accor.com
stevenhp1987 says:

6 Dec6 December 08:57

Downgraded Curve (from Metal to Blue) yesterday.

Surprised that they did this within a few hours of the request effective immediately and they refunded me pro-rata for the remaining part of the month (monthly payment schedule).

They also kept the Metal card active or I could pay £5 for a new blue card.
- Nigel W says:
  
  6 Dec6 December 11:40
  
  Good to hear as I need to do this soon!
Robin says:

6 Dec6 December 09:08

Please can someone help me, I have tried to check the gov.uk and ba website but have not found anything definitive that helps. We are flying from Mauritius at 23:00hrs on 6th Dec, arriving 07:00am on 7/12/2021. As arrival is after 04:00 on Tuesday, do I need to have a negative pre-departure PCR or antigen test before I leave Mauritius or does the fact that I am leaving on 6th Dec at 23:00hrs mean that we do not need to complete any pre-departure tests?
- HH says:
  
  6 Dec6 December 09:13
  
  I read the gov.uk wording as time of departure after 4am Tuesday, not time of arrival.
  
  “From 4am, Tuesday 7 December all people aged 12 years and over must take a PCR or LFD COVID-19 test before they travel to England from abroad.”
  - chris1922 says:
    
    6 Dec6 December 09:17
    
    General consensus is that it is arrival time, so you’ll need a test.
- Polly says:
  
  6 Dec6 December 09:16
  
  No, you do not. Relax and enjoy the flight. We are the same arrival at o5.30.
  Gov states now quite clearly it’s based on departure time, not arrival.
  - Robin says:
    
    6 Dec6 December 09:22
    
    Thanks Polly, I will go with your advice and keep fingers crossed.
    - Rob says:
      
      6 Dec6 December 18:32
      
      45 minutes arguing with check in staff at Mauritius airport after not being able to present negative PCR test or LFT. About 20 other passengers affected. After 4 phone calls to UK Border Control by the BA Supervisor, we were allowed to board, but such massive confusion over the wording of the uk gov website. Now next battle at LHR.
      - Polly says:
        
        7 Dec7 December 12:14
        
        Rob,
        
        Lucky lucky you, our problem was, no BA rep at Singapore to argue our case. It was an utter disgrace there last night. Shameful way to treat travellers.
        
        Robin, hope you got on…
Jamie says:

6 Dec6 December 09:11

Anyone know if France are accepting Qured video test for entry? It says “Self-administered tests are not accepted” but I’m not sure.

If not, any recommendations for cheapest? Thanks!
- soloflyer1977 says:
  
  6 Dec6 December 10:12
  
  Ireland has similar rules as France with regard to not allowing self administered tests for rapid antigen tests.
  Boots are £30 and Dam Centre are £29 – both in-person rapid antigen tests. I am using Boots later this week for a trip to Ireland.
  - soloflyer1977 says:
    
    6 Dec6 December 10:12
    
    *Dam Health even 🙂
Nicky says:

6 Dec6 December 09:19

Any hpf’ers able to assist? I am still waiting for a refund from Crystal Cruises after they cancelled my cruise (notice of cancellation January 2020). Should I send a letter before action asking for refund and response and go to small claims court (also requesting interest etc) or is there another route to go down first?
- Anna says:
  
  6 Dec6 December 09:40
  
  What is the cruise company’s excuse for taking so long? Have you tried to claim via S75 or chargeback?
- Craig V says:
  
  6 Dec6 December 09:47
  
  Issue proceedings @ MCOL. Do it on Monday 20th when they’re busy having their Christmas parties etc., and then watch them scramble to respond! 🙂 You’ll likely get judgment by default.