The HfP chat thread – Saturday 11th December

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• Frank says:

  11 Dec11 December 02:29

  Virgin waiting times are 2 hours on average. Even at opening times. Is there a suggested time? Someone said they got through in 10mins?

  • BJ says:

    11 Dec11 December 05:46

    I wish BA were 2h; my last 6 attempts to call them all got cut off after 1h2m.

    Oh Yas … good morning to the HfP GP party crowd.

  • s879 says:

    11 Dec11 December 06:07

    I have been ringing at 6:59am (as they open at 7am) or two days in a row. Day 1 I got through in 28 minutes and Day 2 it was 40 minutes.

    • BJ says:

      11 Dec11 December 06:21

      Thanks, I’ll try my luck with that 1 minute earlier 🙂 Didn’t try before as I figured lines would not open.

      • Michael C says:

        11 Dec11 December 06:30

        Morning, BJ – any sign of that BKK trip?! We’re now clinging on to July/Aug. in HuaHin…

        • BJ says:

          11 Dec11 December 06:57

          Morning Michael,, lot’s of readers enjoying Thailand at the moment. Entry process seems to be working very smoothly given comments I have seen, and situation on the ground and with politics looks good as far as I know. So barring any problems resulting from Omicron or another hopefully your trip will be fine. Our usual Xmas trip abandoned as my partner awaiting a passport. Hope now pinned on spring but it is an open jaw with Japan so by no means certain.

        • Polly says:

          11 Dec11 December 07:44

          BJ and Michael C,

          Wonder if we could risk it for Feb. Even tho BA have now cancelled our HKG and CX J HKT legs end of Jan. Suckers for punishment we are, or not? Great that all these people made Thailand work. The VTL swayed us in favour of SIN, seeing how Thailand was inconsistent with it’s entry stuff. Bummer.

          But hope you both get there, as planned. Keep clinging….

        • Michael C says:

          11 Dec11 December 08:07

          BJ/Polly, at least we’re now talking about trips! Although Polly’s did put entire HfP readership back several months ;o)
          My pals in BKK say everything great – still taking advantage of the 2p staycay offers!
          We have one-way SIN (gulp!) in July, with the idea of a few weeks DPS then BKK. Also looked at HKG/Japan open jaw, but might finally go for Delhi (family connections).
          Having said all that, we were meant to be having drinks in the lounge of the Munich Hilton tomorrow, and instead it’ll be a pint an hour down the road in Wiltshire, so who knows ;o))))))

        • Thom says:

          11 Dec11 December 08:14

          I’m still debating whether to reschedule my cancelled BKK flights to March or push all the way back to October/November next year … If everything is running smoothly in March that would be great, though I’m wondering how things are for visitors outside Bangkok. The flights were booked in the half price Avios sale so don’t want to risk having to cancel them myself!

        • BJ says:

          11 Dec11 December 08:15

          @Polly, if you can live with getting stuck in Thailand for an unspecified time then I’d risk it as book with confidence provides for the usual reward flexibility with icing on top should you need to change plans before departure. Plenty of great rooms for under £20/night in smaller provincial towns and villages to enjoy the real Thailand while you wait if need be, but I doubt you need me to remind you 🙂

        • BuildBackBetter says:

          11 Dec11 December 11:04

          I hope Thailand use this opportunity to clean their beaches and tourist spots. Maya bay was like one big garbage dump a few years ago.

        • BJ says:

          11 Dec11 December 12:24

          @BBB, Maya Bay was closed to tourists for this very reason a few years ago. I understand that clean up and ecological recovery were so encouraging that similar initiatives were going to be rolled out in other locations but then the pandemic set in I guess. Faults lay with both the locals and the tourists, both have to play their parts.

      • BJ says:

        11 Dec11 December 08:26

        @Thom, we are in same situation with our spring trip being 50% avios. I plan to leave it well alone until two weeks before departure as BA cancellation is likely only remaining chance to protect the interest. Even if BA cancel I anticipate a struggle to keep this reservation going to my liking.

        @Michael sorry you missed out on Munich butit’ll still be there in future.

    • BJ says:

      11 Dec11 December 08:03

      No luck for me with that either but I’ll try again during the week.

      • captaindave says:

        11 Dec11 December 08:23

        Hoping to get to BKK in May to see family + new arrival 🙂

        Plan is to spend few days in BKK then couple weeks ( ish) at one of the islands , then couple days back in BKK. Weather-wise in May is pointing me to Koh Samui (although have been before, and ideally would like to try somewhere else ) Considered Hua Hin, but my son ( lives & works in BKK , and been to HH few times ) advised me against , as it stands now.
        Willleave things to after Xmas now, everytime i look at the Thailand trip advisor board, i start worrying about the Thai Pass etc etc

        • BJ says:

          11 Dec11 December 08:31

          How about Koh Samet or Koh Chang for a change?

        • Dave says:

          11 Dec11 December 09:31

          I’m in Bangkok at the moment and I’m so glad I came. So far things are fine with Omicron so it doesn’t feel like lockdowns are imminent. If anything they are extending blue zone destinations. Redemptions are dirt cheap and there’s some really good cash rates.

          Here till mid January and things may well have changed by then but there are worse places to get stuck I guess…

        • Wollhouse says:

          11 Dec11 December 11:46

          Captaindave- The Thai pass process, although a PITA load of uploading, was straightforward. I submitted for 2 of us and we both had approvals in under 24 hours. I don’t believe for a minute they actually looked at the docs- too many applications and too quick a response. All going well, we’re heading to Samui mid Dec and happy to report on process. I think it will be worth the hassle once I’m there. But ask me again AFTER my Thai arrival PCR test comes back negative …. Polly’s experience is enough to make us all nervous!

  • Andrew says:

    11 Dec11 December 08:19

    Learn the numbers you need to press in advance so you can call the moment they open, tap in the number as soon as the menu starts, without listening to it, and you’ll hopefully beat everyone else – I got through immediately a couple of weeks ago doing that.

    • BJ says:

      11 Dec11 December 08:34

      I do, it’s 1 1 1. It’s really frustrating as it would all be do easy if BA would just allow the changes on MMB.

  • Greg says:

    11 Dec11 December 11:27

    Try WhatsApp

  • Sarah says:

    11 Dec11 December 12:26

    I rang on Thursday at 1930 and was through to someone in 2 minutes.

• Ian M says:

  11 Dec11 December 07:01

  New promotion from Marriott. But seems to be targeted. Received this from Marriott via email:

  Exclusively for You: Earn double points on all eligible stays of two or more nights. Register, then stay within 3 months to earn your exclusive bonus.*

  • Matt says:

    11 Dec11 December 14:24

    I’ve got bonus points on my next 3 weekend stays

• Andrew says:

  11 Dec11 December 07:04

  Morrison’s 10% back every time Amex offer has been extended to 12/01/22 – it’s almost continually available now that offer.

  • E says:

    11 Dec11 December 08:23

    Still waiting for cashback from a transaction from 11/11. Odd as I got a payout on a different Amex quicker than on the Bonvoy one which the 11/11 one was.

  • Peter K says:

    11 Dec11 December 09:15

    Not on my cards.

  • Travel Strong says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:24

    Also on natwest and other cards.
    Not using Amex for these offers until they sort their systems out. Waiting on Avis offer credit for 5wks, and no sign of BP credit either.
    Natwest 10% posted in a couple of days each time.

  • Tracy says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:32

    Not for me. Have you used it much to date? I love the Morrisons offer as my son works at Morrisons so I can stack with staff discount (excluding alcohol & giftcards unfortunately 😂)

  • Mike says:

    11 Dec11 December 11:52

    Ooooh that will stack with Blue Light card 10% off which is back until until Jan 22. Also I did very very well out of my Morrisons shares recently too

  • Andrew says:

    11 Dec11 December 13:46

    Got my 1,400 Virgin Pts from the October purchases this morning.

• SM says:

  11 Dec11 December 07:09

  Morning, has any one used NX Healthcare LFT? If so, was it easy to upload image and get certificate back on time? Thinking of carrying one with me to be used for a return journey. Its priced at 11.99£.

• xcalx says:

  11 Dec11 December 07:30

  Seatspy alerted me of upper seats from bgi to lhr yesterday. Did virgin add another flight as the only seat blocked was the bassinet

  • The Savage Squirrel says:

    11 Dec11 December 07:42

    Both BA and Virgin seem to have done a bit of a reward seat dump. Got pings galore from SeatSpy yesterday. Of course I can’t actually get through to make the date changes I want with BA… 🙁

    • ed_fly says:

      11 Dec11 December 08:42

      BA seem to be dropping more seats today as well.

• Elguiri says:

  11 Dec11 December 08:29

  Best lounge for light breakfast in T5 flying CE with PP?

  • Save East Coast Rewards says:

    11 Dec11 December 08:39

    Your options aren’t good. I think the BA lounge might edge it though. If your flight is leaving from B or C go to the B lounge. Gold gets you much better options.

    If you also have Amex Platinum then the Plaza Premium is worth a try

    • Elguiri says:

      11 Dec11 December 08:42

      Do have amex Plat. And a 4 year old.

    • BJ says:

      11 Dec11 December 09:00

      B gates best option at T5 I think.

  • Paul says:

    11 Dec11 December 08:41

    Galleries south. The PP lounge is directly below should you wish to lounge surf!

    • Elguiri says:

      11 Dec11 December 08:52

      Ended up in galleries south, quite busy but space for 3.

• Marina says:

  11 Dec11 December 08:53

  Has anybody had any luck with trying to booking an appointment for a check of having vaccination given abroad ? I tried all yesterday & when you click on search and try to book the times available says appointment already gone and now dares going out into January. Currently only one centre showing for London surely they must be more opening soon? Son is arriving Thursday & worried his overseas vaccine record will not be recognised if visiting his sick grandmother in hospital.

  • iamlost says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:00

    I looked for someone else this morning and there were literally no London options – just Reading (date in Jan!) and Peterborough. I don’t know how they’ve managed to mess this up quite so badly…

• StillintheSun says:

  11 Dec11 December 09:00

  Happy Saturday! I’m thinking of buying an owl for video conferencing. Has anyone on here used one? Are they any good? Preferred alternatives? I know not strictly travel but remote working sort of is at a push 🙂

  • Anna says:

    11 Dec11 December 09:42

    An owl? Are you Harry Potter?

    • meta says:

      11 Dec11 December 09:55

      Owl is all in one 360 degree camera, microphone and speaker. 😀

      • can says:

        11 Dec11 December 10:13

        how do you watch the video from that? with an oculus?

  • ianM says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:10

    Very expensive for what it is, you don’t really need it for a small group.

  • Graham Walsh says:

    11 Dec11 December 21:35

    What’s the use case and location? Owl is mainly for centre of a conference table. I work in this area. What apps will it be used with?

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