New World of Hyatt benefits from January, including ‘milestone awards’

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• Sam says:

  21 Dec21 December 12:54

  O/T, the e-mail that Rob sent around after the HFP Xmas party with the Flybe offer – if you book flights with Flybe between 11th Dec – 31st Dec, you will receive 1k bonus Avios points. Looking to book a couple of short European breaks for Spring 2019. My question is, the 1k Avios points with Flybe – can they be transferred to BAEC or am I just stuck with Flybe? Has anyone used this offer yet and if so can it be used multiple times? Thanks.

  • Sam says:

    21 Dec21 December 17:28

    Perfect thanks Rob

• Alex Sm says:

  21 Dec21 December 12:59

  My partner and I are flying to Sweden with D8 today. The flight was delayed by 6hrs but we are taxying now. The situation at the airport is not that dire and everyone is very helpful. Tip: download MyGatwick app and get 1 hr free pass to Regus lounge with nice seats, plugs, free tea and coffee (it’s literally empty!)

• Alex Sm says:

  21 Dec21 December 13:00

  Rob, it would be a good idea to run a detailed article on how to claim a compensation for delayed/cancelled flights – many readers will be grateful, I’m sure

  • Anna says:

    21 Dec21 December 13:30

    I think someone has already pointed out that no-one is going to class the drone incident as foreseeable!

    If you google EU261 there are numerous articles on the subject of general delay and cancellation rights.

    • meta says:

      21 Dec21 December 16:12

      Actually you might be able to claim for knock on effect. I successfully claimed a compo from BA on weather related knock on effect 3 years ago. Initially BA refused, but I persisted and finally got a compo. Can’t find the link to exact EU ruling on this (it was some Easyjet flight). In my case I was flying Dublin – London City with the last flight of the day and there was heavy snow all over UK. Dublin had issues earlier in the day as well as City and other airports. Then they opened all airports normally maybe around 4-5pm. My flight departed with a 2-hour delay and then diverted to Southend due to LCY being closed (5 hour delay total). BA initially claimed knock on effect due to weather, but most airlines departed on time or with shorter delays. I spent good 3-4 months back and forth with BA and then sent a letter before claim, then they finally relented. So if you have a flight scheduled to depart today now that the airport is open, I believe you can claim if there is a delay today. It might involve a lot of persistence though to claim from an airline.

    • Shoestring says:

      21 Dec21 December 16:30

      Different knock-on effect scenario completely

    • Rob says:

      21 Dec21 December 16:59

      Virgin has a good page on their website explaining what you get:

      “The EU regulation 261/2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to customers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights requires us to offer affected customers on cancelled flights or flights that have been delayed overnight the following care package for customers travelling on a Virgin Atlantic operated flight.

      – Meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time
      Plus
      – 2 telephone calls, or telex, or fax, or e-mail messages.
      Plus
      – Hotel accommodation if the delay goes into the following day
      Plus
      – Transport to and from the hotel.

      This care package is offered to customers who are away from their usual residence/home and is usually arranged by our airport staff. However, if your flight was cancelled or delayed overnight and we have been unable to find accommodation for you, you may claim reimbursement of costs for your hotel accommodation and meals for the number of days you were delayed, as well as transport to and from the airport.

      We respectfully remind all customers that we will not reimburse accommodation or meal costs if you declined to travel on the first available flight we offered you.”

      Good to know your telex bills are refundable.

      More worrying is that Virgin has hired Hi-Fly and Wamos to run services today!

    • Alex Sm says:

      26 Dec26 December 00:29

      It’s still a lot of confusion around the whole thing…

      Also an ambiguity re the compensation. I filed my claim through Compensair in the end. These companies could accumulate similar claims and have more negotiating power and knowledge than individual customers. So if there is a slim chance of getting something out of airlines, they will go for it. I don’t mind giving them some of the claimed money if they succeed..

      I guess the main line of argument will be the delays on Friday when the airport was open and these were already within reach of airlines. Norwegian sent 09.20 flight to Oslo almost on time (as well as several others), while our 06.55 flight was delayed by 6 hours and information was patchy, no food vouchers etc. I will keep you posted.

    • Shoestring says:

      26 Dec26 December 07:27

      Probably the best strategy in this case. I’d rate anybody’s Gatwick compo chances for delayed/ cancelled Friday flights as close to zero – but no harm in trying if it’s not going to take up any of your own time. Do you know what Compensair take as their commission? I think Bott & Co take 25-30%, which is pretty reasonable in a complicated case or where you are going to have to argue at length to get the airline to give anything, ie extraordinary circs look obvious.

    • Shoestring says:

      26 Dec26 December 07:38

      All the duty of care refunds should be payable, though – food, drink (not alcohol), hotel if necessary & transport there & back, 2 phone calls – & re-ticketing – though you didn’t need to use an intermediary to get those provided they were reasonable.

      Not what anybody would call compo, however.

      Once 2hrs have gone by and it’s obvious nobody is going to give you food & drink vouchers (or if they’re inadequate), with your flight further delayed just take matters into your own hands and get a restaurant meal, keep receipts.

• TM says:

  21 Dec21 December 14:03

  Can anyone confirm that they have made a FHR booking through Amex Travel, which counted towards the spend target of £600 last time this offer ran?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    21 Dec21 December 14:15

    It won’t count. FHR bookings are paid at checkout directly to the hotel not to Amex.

    • TM says:

      21 Dec21 December 14:36

      Ok thanks. The non-FHR version of the same hotel on Amex Travel will work fine I assume?

      • Russ says:

        21 Dec21 December 14:51

        Thought the same myself and probably a one off but the hotel I was looking at didn’t take Amex??!

      • Alan says:

        21 Dec21 December 20:55

        Yep as long as prepay & non-FHR booking should be fine.

• Tony says:

  21 Dec21 December 16:49

  Very OT: Have flown LHR-PEK in CA F via the VS miles. Can I refund the inbound (PEK-LHR) leg? If so what can I get back, just half of the miles or some taxes as well?

  • Rob says:

    21 Dec21 December 16:52

    Probably not if it was booked as a return – I doubt there is much in the way of taxes either. You can call VS to ask but I’m not hopeful. One option would be to move the return forward if you are planning to go back.

    • Ali says:

      21 Dec21 December 21:08

      They allowed me to do exactly this in the summer. I got the impression that it was discretionarily rather than statutorily allowed, it had to be done more than 24h prior to the flight, and the rep had to go and ask for a manager’s approval. I got 37500 miles back instantly and £160 back in taxes/fees after a few weeks. Probably worth HUACA if the first person you speak to isn’t willing to do this.

  • Tony says:

    22 Dec22 December 07:04

    Thanks both. Eventually called Shanghai contact centre and moved my booking. Was told the refund is in taxes only.

• Optimus Prime says:

  21 Dec21 December 17:24

  I’m in Gatwick. They have just shut it down again.

  • Shoestring says:

    21 Dec21 December 18:09

    Yep until 9pm (earliest) apparently.

    • bosco79 says:

      21 Dec21 December 18:35

      no, they’re going again now mate

      • Shoestring says:

        21 Dec21 December 18:42

        Yep that’s good. Could be that the military zapped it – apparently all mobile networks went down briefly.

        This should have been in place from shortly after 6am yesterday, of course.

      • Optimus Prime says:

        21 Dec21 December 19:13

        Yeah – our flight has a 2-hour delay. Not bad.

  • CV3V says:

    21 Dec21 December 19:17

    Flights have started but there is a big knock on affect. I’m now booked on a GLA – LHR then an Uber to Gatwick. The GLA – LGW could be departing at about 2 am instead of 2050!

    • CV3V says:

      21 Dec21 December 20:23

      booked back on the LGW flight, seems to haven’t incurred extra delays. 3 different boarding passes tonight (LGW, LHR then LGW again), some luggage receipts would be nice though! BA staff have been a helpful bunch.

• Peter K says:

  21 Dec21 December 19:14

  To those interested (Liz?), the E-Rewards points have finally posted to Hilton today for both my and Mrs K’s account. I actioned the request with E-Rewards on 17th November and 19th November respectively and both posted today.

  • Liz says:

    21 Dec21 December 21:45

    Thanks – yes mine have posted too. Now waiting for my MR pts to post from a few days ago.

• Optimus Prime says:

  21 Dec21 December 19:50

  This is the first time we come to Clubroom and we decided to prebook expecting it to be packed. It’s actually empty. Is this always the case or just a one-off? There is a queue for No1 though.

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