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The HfP chat thread – Monday 6th December

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Comments (540)

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

  • MilesOnPoint says:
    6 Dec6 December 14:53

    Any idea what I can do with 250 Shangri La Gold Circle points that are expiring in 3 weeks time?

    Online it says you need 500minimum for $50 restaurant voucher but I think I recall someone saying you could swipe membership card at one of the Shard’s bars and get money off bill using points?

  • paulm says:
    6 Dec6 December 15:11

    Just noticed that collinson are now offering a premium day 2 pcr with results back same day if taken before 6pm. Available at some locations now and at LHR from later this week. £80 after promo code.

  • Bob says:
    6 Dec6 December 15:19

    is the ba website down

    • e14 says:
      6 Dec6 December 15:20

      Error 403 – You don’t have enough permissions to proceed further

      Error 403 – Sie verfügen nicht über die erforderlichen Berechtigungen zum Fortfahren

      Error 403 – Vos autorisations sont insuffisantes pour continuer

      Error 403 – No tiene suficientes permisos para seguir adelante

      Error 403 – Non disponi di autorizzazioni sufficienti per procedere ulteriormente

      Error 403 – Não tem permissões suficientes para prosseguir

      I would say so (but not in as many languages)

    • Paul Pogba says:
      6 Dec6 December 15:22

      I couldn’t log in earlier now the whole site appears to be offline: https://downdetector.co.uk/status/british-airways/

    • Bob says:
      6 Dec6 December 16:52

      back up

  • Rob says:
    6 Dec6 December 15:48

    Afternoon All

    Utter finger in the air question, but I have 2 reward seats in J confirmed from HKG to LHR for the 2nd March 2022.

    Obviously at the moment I think there’s more chance of me actually growing wings and flying home myself than Hong Kong allowing foreign tourists in. However, I’m torn on whether to keep the seats in place in case of a miracle, or free the Avios up for a more suitable seat from elsewhere in the region if it suddenly comes up?

    Any advice?

    • JDB says:
      6 Dec6 December 16:35

      It appears to depend on what China does, as the focus of the HK authorities is on reopening that border which looks as though it may now happen in a small way later this month. If you think China will continue to attempt its zero covid policy, then HK is unlikely to reopen to tourists and if it does, probably with lots of strings attached.

    • Polly says:
      6 Dec6 December 16:46

      Ba might cancel, they did ours for late January.. don’t think any of us are going to hkg any time soon…certainly not after tonight’s performance at Singapore check in…

      Singapore nightmare at check in..many of us no tests, so denied boarding. Lots left behind. I suggested a party…insisted that it’s arrival not departure that the gov want! More money grabbing we thought.
      Suddenly our friends Raffles medical over in terminal t3 teain ride, might have space to test some of us..had already turned 40 pax away, just antigen not pcr. Raced over, hearts not the better for it..barely touched our noses w the swabs, a joke! 30 pp..such easy dosh! results in 15 mins, but the anxiety levels were so high at this stage in case false positive again. Lot of paper work. Main bloomin reason we changed to tonight as No test needed. Needn’t have bothered. Should have stayed put instead of this charade…got back to the desk literally 5 mins before they closed the flight. With our neg rat certs. We got on, with mins to spare, still had immigration and security to clear. Jordan the csa on board was so good. So many upset pax, and empty seats. Just awful for all those left behind. So so unfair. U just. If ever we needed a shower and a calm lounge it was tonight…am using F wifi now, pretty good, so can update.

      BJ, in answer to your plaintive q last week, will we ever go back? not sure ever want to risk this place again. So sad as we love it. They just change rules in an instant and disregard other gov directions to suit themselves…again l say nerves of steel needed for Asia right now.

      Am really worried about these other folks who think they’re ok without a test. Wish them luck and hope they made their flights.

      Just get a test just in case…
      And safe travel all.

      Cheers all, glass in hand, calmer now…

      • BJ says:
        6 Dec6 December 17:06

        Time will pass, things will change, you’ll be back I’m sure, and this will just become one of your great travel
        stories 🙂 Sounds like a bottle not a glass is the order of the night, or just a good sleep. Take care and get home safe.

        • Jill (Kinkell) says:
          6 Dec6 December 17:12

          2 bottles…. then the sleep! Glad you’re on the plane….what a fiasco

          • Polly says:
            6 Dec6 December 17:44

            Tnx you two, just waiting for some nice beef and red wine, then hopefully some sleep. Was watching crazy rich asians on way out, must finish it tonight…anyway, it’s been an adventure and we will survive!

            Lady London..just loving the food..hope we all can get back to a Normal Asia in the future!

      • AJA says:
        6 Dec6 December 17:42

        @ Polly, glad you got on board. Enjoy the flight home!

        So it definitely is the arrival time that counts for the requirement to have a pre-departure test. This is consistent with all other announcements of changes happening at 4am – land in the UK after that time and the changes apply.

        • Polly says:
          6 Dec6 December 17:46

          Bit not what .gov says…anyway trial and error at this point

          • meta says:
            6 Dec6 December 18:06

            Glad you managed to sort it out!

          • Sam G says:
            6 Dec6 December 19:20

            As I said a few pages back , it was a very confusing announcement vs usual and I bet scenes like this play out round the world today!

            Glad you got on though, def a dinner party tale for years to come!!

      • Lady London says:
        6 Dec6 December 21:42

        So… all your proofs of your chat with YouFirst and the note they put on your PNR that they had advised you UK government requirements had been checked and no you would not be asked for a test to board the flight….

        ALL That Was a Waste of Time……!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GGGrrrrrrr Polly.

        I think BA needed to have a word with its ground handling agents in SIN who were incorrect. And I would expect any passenger to be able to claim the Raffles Medical cost back from BA (as it was their ground agents that incorrectly denied boarding) plus have all their extra expenses covered, by BA.

        This is a denied boarding EU261 case – quick anyone that got denied boarding – submit your screenshots to BA to claim your £520 denied boarding compensation (is it that much?) due under UK261/EU261 plus all of your hotel, transport, meal expenses till they get you home under duty of care part of EU261/UK261.

        Perhaps then BA will train and inform its outsourced ground agents better.

        • Polly says:
          7 Dec7 December 12:03

          Very good point, LL
          It was awful, seeing and hearing these people saying the same points as us. When l spoke to U 1st near the desk, they wouldn’t clarify with desk staff..then the call dropped. Next call, equally useless…

  • TJ says:
    6 Dec6 December 15:50

    Has anyone ever tried booking a first or business class flight with easypoint.me? Looks like an interesting concept if you really can achieve the advertised savings but not particularly flexible.

    • Asim says:
      6 Dec6 December 23:14

      Maybe late but from reading reviews online looks like they buy points and then use them to book a ticket for you.

      Now if the airline found out that you’d actually paid for your ticket, and violated the frequent flyers Ts and Cs they could cancel your ticket.

  • AK says:
    6 Dec6 December 16:21

    Looking for some clarity re testing requirements to France. As per the embassy website:
    Self-administred tests, whose results are not certified by a laboratory (e.g.: tests provided free of charge by the NHS) are not considered valid for travel.

    While it is obvious that NHS test isn’t valid for travel, I am not so sure how to interpret “not certified by a laboratory”. Can I still use say Chronomics who “certifies” the picture of the test casette?

    • ianM says:
      6 Dec6 December 16:25

      I think the NHS test itself is valid, it’s just that the government doesn’t trust you to test yourself and tell the truth about the result.

    • Harry T says:
      6 Dec6 December 17:21

      I think something like Chronomics would be fine tbh. I’ve used one for Amsterdam, which has a similar requirement.

  • N says:
    6 Dec6 December 16:31

    thinking of what to do with my remaining £75 credit with dell.com. The stuff on the website doesn’t seem that useful to me, so i was thinking about buying something and selling it on ebay (which i haven’t done before). has anyone done this or similar to it? i would assume it is fairly straightforward to sell a brand new item on ebay but not sure if that’s quite naive

  • gary says:
    6 Dec6 December 16:31

    Hi Alll. Does anyone know whether buying World of Hyatt points on Amex and spending over £250 in doing so will release the £100 back on the Amex card?

    Or is the deal for Hyatt hotel stays only?

    many thanks

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

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