Gatwick airport opens new gates for arriving domestic passengers – no more buses

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• Craig says:

  26 Jul26 July 09:11

  OT: The latest limited Amex shop small didn’t appear under my offers, however, I just received an email from Amex with the offer and the link activated it.

  • Lee says:

    26 Jul26 July 10:21

    Got email on my plat.

  • Rich says:

    26 Jul26 July 11:50

    Thanks. Got it on my BA and Plat via the usual offers tab. Saw an email yesterday about Shop Small, and your message prompted me to go back and check it again – it was for my Gold. Signed up successfully but no idea why it doesn’t show up in my offers tab?

• Alex says:

  26 Jul26 July 09:24

  OT – can anyone confirm whether Avios points bookings (long haul) can be cancelled up until the day of departure with just £35 fee?

  • Rhys says:

    26 Jul26 July 09:41

    Must be at least 24 hours prior to departure to get the Avios/cash refund.

    • Alex says:

      26 Jul26 July 10:16

      Thanks

• Dominic says:

  26 Jul26 July 09:32

  Got to say that I agree with the sentiments of one or two others – I’ve had WiFi on flights, but would actually sometimes rather it wasn’t available! One of the few treats of flying internationally on business are those few hours offline – not sure I want everyone knowing that I can be just as alert and available in the air as I am on the ground…

• Tesco Tease says:

  26 Jul26 July 09:42

  OT. My flight for a long weekend (flying back Monday) has just been cancelled. Few questions to the vast knowledge base of HFP:

  1. Where can I find the reason for the cancellation to chase eu compensation
  2. I assume the offered rebooking of Sunday (giving 12 out of 96hrs in resort) would not be deemed acceptable and I’d have a good claim for rerouting on a competitor.

  Thanks in advance.

  • Lady London says:

    26 Jul26 July 10:27

    You could have just been offloaded and the flight still going ahead? Just an outside chance. Why not phone them, ask the reason and ask for a reroute (ie they reticket you, you don’t have to run round buying other tickets) on another airline if there:s not another BA routing that will get you there at acceptably close to your originally planned arrival.

    You could look at going an indirect route also or offering to leave earlier.

    There is a database where you can access reasons for cancelled flight, hopefully someone else will know but meanwhile just ask BA and go to them with what you want instead. Make notes of who you spoke to and what they said.

    • Stu N says:

      26 Jul26 July 11:00

      If you post the route and flight number I can check for you.

      • Stu N says:

        26 Jul26 July 11:03

        Oh, and date of flight.

      • Tesco Tease says:

        26 Jul26 July 11:38

        Hi thanks for looking into this message was BA0974 26Jul LHR-HAM is cancelled You are rebooked on BA974 28Jul LHR 1345 HAM 1625.

        In conversation with the agent they blamed it on the weather, I assume that the positioning flights are up the swanny after yesterday’s storms. Is there an argument that they should have redundancy built into their schedule and therefore it’s jot an forseen circumstance?

      • Stu N says:

        26 Jul26 July 12:02

        Looks like weather – “WEAN” reason code. If you want to try to take it further, have a look at the excellent EU261 thread on Flyertalk.

        DOBA974/26JUL
        * OPERATIONAL FLIGHT INFO * BA 974 0 FR 26JUL19
        CITY INFO HOUR (LOCAL)

        FLIGHT CANCELLED 0322
        WEAN
        LHR ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL 1605 HAM
        *1A PLANNED FLIGHT INFO* BA 974 0 FR 26JUL19
        APT ARR DY DEP DY CLASS/MEAL EQP GRND EFT TTL
        LHR 1325 FR JCDRI/M YB/G 320 1:40
        HKMLVNOQSG/G
        HAM 1605 FR 1:40
        COMMENTS-
        1.LHR HAM – MEMBER OF ONEWORLD
        2.LHR HAM – DEPARTS TERMINAL 5
        3.LHR HAM – ARRIVES TERMINAL 2
        4.LHR HAM – 9/ NON-SMOKING
        5.LHR HAM – ET/ ELECTRONIC TKT CANDIDATE
        6.LHR HAM – CO2/PAX* 99.61 KG ECO, 99.61 KG PRE
        (*):SOURCE:ICAO CARBON EMISSIONS CALCULATOR
        CONFIGURATION-
        320 C 12 M 150

      • Lady London says:

        26 Jul26 July 12:41

        Delay on the incoming aircraft (even if that earlier aircraft’s own delay was caused by weather) does not count as your flight being cancelled due to weather. The airline is meant to have another plane it can use for your flight. So you are defo entitled to compensation under eu261 as well as duty of care.

        The only way BA can claim not to be liable due to weather is if there was a canx or delay due to weather specifically affecting your flight. Just look at Lufthansa’s schedules or any other airline scheduled to fly to HAM from your airport or a near one and I’ll you bet others could fly when BA cancelled.

        So compo case seems secured.

        Practically, find another way of getting to Ham asao and ask them to ticket it and also get their agreement to pay difference in transport costs to get you to Hamburg. There are more flights to Berlin, and trains run hourly to Hamburg taking 2 hours and costing about 80 euro. Simples. Ask them to ticket that.

        Or, just go for 250/EUR compo, stay at home and get a refund. But for me 250eur does not compensate a lost weekend away.

      • Lady London says:

        26 Jul26 July 12:47

        PS I will take a bet that due to weather yesterday BA has a number of aircraft out of position. I do not believe Lhr-Ham on a Friday at end of July is going to be a busy flight. So based on passenger loading I will bet they chose your flight to cancel.

        They have made a commercial decision so you must decide what you want and ask them for it. Please post what you decide to go for and his it turns out.

      • Shoestring says:

        26 Jul26 July 13:06

        this is true – ‘bad weather’ only counts as extraordinary circs [in the airline’s hub] if it is a primary cause of delay/ cancellation, ie knock-on effects from bad weather in another country affecting the incoming flight on the rotation don’t count

      • Alex Sm says:

        26 Jul26 July 13:06

        Last year I had similar thoughts when Norwegian refused to compensate for a delayed flight from LGW after that drone calamity. The drone saga was over but our flight was still delayed by 6.5 hours due to lack of aircraft. Meanwhile other scheduled flights for that morning went out on schedule. The question was whether the airline should prioritise delayed flights and send them out first (thus delaying others a bit as well) or try to stick to the schedule and deal with the delayed flights separately (causing even longer delays. I was thinking the former is more logical while they seem to think the opposite! KPIs and positioning come before stranded passengers obvs. But what does EU261 say about this?

      • Stu N says:

        26 Jul26 July 13:49

        I would add that it’s not _quite_ clear cut. If it is “weather related” because Heathrow have cut flow rates and so airlines have had to cancel flights to manage this reduction in capacity, you won’t get compensation.

  • pauldb says:

    26 Jul26 July 11:19

    You haven’t said if this is Friday of this week, or further out. If you have 2 weeks notice there will be no compensation.
    And check the alternatives outbounds that you could buy yourself. If they are more or less the same cost as you paid for your BA ticket, it will be less hassle (and more flexible) to take a refund and rebook yourself.

    • Tesco Tease says:

      26 Jul26 July 12:25

      Today

      • pauldb says:

        26 Jul26 July 12:38

        Ah! They might push the whole trip back to another weekend if you have the flexibility, in your hotel booking too or through your insurance.

      • Shoestring says:

        26 Jul26 July 12:41

        answering Q2 – yes, it’s completely unreasonable to re-ticket you so far away from original travel time

        which means you’d have a very good case to insist on re-ticketing with a competitor airline or take matters into your own hands ie do it yourself & claim back costs later, if necessary at MCOL.

        • Dale says:

          26 Jul26 July 17:21

          So my 8pm today flight LHR to EDI was cancelled at about 2pm today and my earliest rebooking option was Monday at 0700 – really!

          Not sure of the cause but likely air traffic, who knows, but I’ve had to get a train back up to edinburgh and when I try to cancel BA booking and get refund the site just crashes, tried a few times to call and the phone just goes dead. It’s a complete shambles.

        • Tesco Tease says:

          26 Jul26 July 20:04

          Thanks for all the advice. Looked at rerouting and all direct flights to HAM today and tomorrow we’re sold out. Indirect via Europe were also sold out. Emirates had a seat at £7k for the 2 of us but 1. It only arrived at 2pm Sat and 2. I didn’t fancy a £7k gamble on MCOL. I’ve also filled most of my credit limit with a speculative J for the possible pilots strike.

          Ferries were also booked out apart from Dover Calais and I didn’t fancy 20hrs driving.

          Quick call to Amex Platinum insurance and hotel, parking, and €500 race fee all refunded! I only picked the card up last week for a quick churn!

          As always thanks for HFP comments section, and the HFP team obvs.

        • Lady London says:

          26 Jul26 July 21:28

          Well done Tescotease. I wouldn’t have gone near the £7k either. If there was a race/event involved, I can see why rerouting had no hope. A pity Berlin was obviously full too I spent a big chunk of last year doing that one as relatively there are so much fewer flights to Hamburg.

          Will you still be planning to do the quick churn you had in mind on the Amex now?

• Mark says:

  26 Jul26 July 09:53

  Makes you laugh, super WiFi on one carrier and ba haven’t even got normal WiFi working yet!

  • Rob says:

    26 Jul26 July 10:05

    I THINK (think, note) that BA is actually getting the same system. They claim they wanted to wait until someone could offer something fast enough.

    • Spaghetti Town says:

      26 Jul26 July 10:14

      I could understand why they’ve done it that way if that’s the genuine reason. I remember using wifi on Emirates just over 2 years ago and Delta since, and both times it’s been terrible. Alitalia not so bad though.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    26 Jul26 July 11:09

    Pretty sure they are using this name becuase the original speeds were pants.

    I suspect its not super fast by any non-airline based system standards either.

    • RakishDriver says:

      26 Jul26 July 20:20

      The newer satellites with several, smaller spotbeams, and newer modems onboard actually allow for pretty decent throughput. All depends on how congested it is in terms of number users and their streaming at a given time.

• The_real_a says:

  26 Jul26 July 11:31

  Immersat – British and World leading company. I always find it odd that the UK has so many of these “little” sattalite companies operating so successfully.

  • Alex Sm says:

    26 Jul26 July 13:12

    It’s ImmArsat but satEllite….
    #grammarnazi

    • @mkcol says:

      26 Jul26 July 17:25

      Surely it’s Inmarsat?

      • Alex Sm says:

        26 Jul26 July 18:20

        You are absolutely right, are you not?

  • Spaghetti Town says:

    26 Jul26 July 14:17

    Contrary to popular belief, Britain can do some things well 😀

• Renaud says:

  26 Jul26 July 11:49

  OT: I have USD sitting on a US broker account. Travelling to Mexico next month, what would be the most convenient way to access these funds FX-free for our expenses (assuming we’ll pay in USD)? I’ve looked at the various Revolut, WeSwap, TransferWise cards, but it doesn’t seem they can be loaded via bank transfer from a US account.
  Thanks.

  • Sandgrounder says:

    26 Jul26 July 13:35

    Revolut give you an IBAN, I had no problem sending funds from my Citi USD account and vice versa. It’s not a full functioning account like the EUR yet, but should be able to receive the funds.

  • Renaud says:

    26 Jul26 July 13:41

    Ah, that’s interesting. I had read about the TrasnferWise Mastercard, which they say can’t be loaded from a US bank account, but not about the borderless account, which doesn’t seem to have this restriction. I’ll look at it again, thanks.

• fivebobbill says:

  26 Jul26 July 11:51

  Hi folks, O/T sorry.
  Has anyone any experience of the Hilton Garden Inn Krakow? (Not the airport one)
  Just booked a 4 night trip for the wife’s birthday in August, flights only for now, and am looking at this hotel.
  Rooms are pretty reasonable, but a poor return for points as a Junior Suite is only around £100 per night (35,000 pts), plus the HH Double Points promo will still be running.
  However as we are both HH Gold, I’m wondering if we were to book a King Room would there be much chance of them upgrading us to a Junior Suite? I know suite upgrades are technically not for Golds, but it is next available.
  Not a massive saving if I opt for a King, probably around £80 cheaper for the 4 nights, but hey ho, 80 quid is 80 quid right 🙂
  Alternatively, any other hotel suggestions at that price mark would be much appreciated
  Many thanks once again in advance.

  • Down the Back says:

    26 Jul26 July 12:12

    Hi fivebobbill,

    I stayed there last week for 1 night, booked cheapest room avail and was upgraded to a King room. Everything looked very new, not sure how long it’s been opened. We ate in the restaurant on the first floor and it was ok. It is right beside a very new shopping mall but to be honest we arrived, ate dinner, went to bed and then left the next morning so didn’t really check the area or hotel facilities out. I do remember the breakfast was good, but can’t remember what I had…

    Cheers

    DtB

    • Down the Back says:

      26 Jul26 July 12:17

      Please ignore above comments, just realised the Garden inn was in Rzeszów, not Krakow,

      Sorry

      DtB

      • fivebobbill says:

        26 Jul26 July 12:24

        Yeah DIB, was just typing a reply lol. Thought you’d actually went to the Krakow Doubletree, which is new and has a mall across the street.
        Anyway, if i’m ever off to Rzeszów I’ll give you a shout 🙂
        Thanks

  • Olly says:

    26 Jul26 July 18:57

    I’ve been to Krakow twice in the last two years. If your are also IHG Platinum through their CC like quite a few of us on here consider the HI. Very central and looks after elites. I emailed in advance suggesting the Presidential Suite would be nice and got it as an upgrade from a junior suite for four nights. Also stayed at the Doubletree. A bit out of town but well looked after and easy getting into town on public transport or Uber.

    • fivebobbill says:

      26 Jul26 July 20:29

      Cheers for that Olly, not on IHG’s loyalty ladder yet unfortunately, just got the Amex Plat status at Hilton/Marriott/Radisson etc.
      Been looking at that Doubletree though, decent reviews, so between it and the HGI at the minute. All about trading off the proximity HGI against the newer (further out) Doubletree, where an Exec room comes in same price as a suite at the HGI, but with lounge access.
      Difficult decisions eh… 🙂
      Thanks for the feedback

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