British Airways moves its Maldives flights to Heathrow Airport

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• Mr William Kerr says:

  4 Mar4 March 08:01

  What an ordeal for you in front of that highly off-putting presenter who was a total distraction – same applies to BBC weather presenters – particularly on the radio whose “attitudes” overpower the content

  • KBuffett says:

    4 Mar4 March 08:07

    ITV’s Lucy Verasamy is also extremely distracting!

    • Oliver says:

      4 Mar4 March 08:11

      +1

  • Rob says:

    4 Mar4 March 08:46

    Aaron is a long term HFP reader and a total AV geek, as he says in the interview. Always good to chat to him. He is (marginally) less hyper off camera 🙂

    There was also a guy on after me who works on virtual reality simulators and is currently doing a project for BA. You always meet interesting people.

    PS. That is the same studio used for Newsnight – they just swap the desk and the back projectiom.

• Shoestring says:

  4 Mar4 March 08:14

  Great find. Currently only Solomon Islands banning the Brits [SOLOMON ISL. – published 28.02.2020
  2. Passengers who have transited through or have been in Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, India, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Russian Fed., Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, USA, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom or Viet Nam are subject to immediate quarantine and/or isolation as applicable.}

  But as UK number of coronavirus deaths is sure to double soon-ish (most from people travelling back to the UK from affected countries), you can anticipate a few more countries to add UK to their banned/ must quarantine 14 days lists.

  • Paul Pogba says:

    4 Mar4 March 10:25

    After presenting at a hospital with serious flu-like conditions it will take 24-48 hours to confirm a Wuhan Flu/Coronavirus infection, it can take 1-4 weeks to completely succumb or recover from the illness so there is a lag between diagnosis and final outcome.

    The 0 deaths in the UK would be better viewed against the 13 cases on 23 Feb (thats the closest number I can find for around a week ago). If this were just the flu you wouldn’t have the quarantine of millions of people, emergency rate cuts, stock market corrections, NGOs holding meetings via “Skype”, cancellation of sporting events, among many things.

• JoshO says:

  4 Mar4 March 08:27

  Hi all – hopefully the regulars can help me out. I’ve been charged interest by IHG for Rev topups- any advice? I guess this may have been covered in the comments somewhere? I’ve tried to call them but the they are refusing to refund thus far. They are blaming Rev, who they claim told them to put these as cash adv. I don’t see how they can change the rules without notice but maybe I am wrong? Appreciate any advice – thank you

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    4 Mar4 March 08:50

    Did you see the fees immediately after the transactions or found them on your monthly statement?

    • The Urbanite says:

      4 Mar4 March 08:55

      With Creation, interest only shows up on the statement date. However a clue is given that a transaction is attracting interest through an odd balance segment transfer debit then credit for the same amount following the transaction.

      • Lady London says:

        4 Mar4 March 13:20

        Feb have caused this by changing MCC code. If they didn’t give you ts and C’s change notice, iirc 60 days, then claim at extra charges by them or any other card you hold off them until 60 days after they give you notice.

        • Lady London says:

          4 Mar4 March 13:22

          Feb=Rev(olut). D*** text editor I corrected it then it still overwrote.

        • Lady London says:

          4 Mar4 March 13:34

          Depends if you would be disappointed if Rev decided to close the acc in revenge, regardless of rights and TS and C’s am guessing a lot of people are holding off from challenging them.

  • Jonathan says:

    4 Mar4 March 09:52

    Can’t see you’ve got any real grounds for a refund. It is after all as close to a cash advance as you can get short of using your card in an ATM! Some people got refunds off Virgin for transactions in a brief period after the change but based on Creation’s customer service record I wouldn’t waste my time writing the letter. They are also correct in blaming Revolut as they are the ones who changed the MCC code under pressure from MasterCard as they had been essentially deliberately using an incorrect MCC to disguise cash like transactions in order to fuel manufactured spend and drive transaction volumes to make their growth look more impressive. The loop hole was always going to close at some point.

  • @mkcol says:

    4 Mar4 March 21:58

    Same boat. Thankfully only the one £200 transaction attracted 20p interest.

    I’m letting that one go.

• Nelson says:

  4 Mar4 March 08:47

  OT Amex business gold to plat upgrade. What happens if I got 2 supplementary cardholders and would like to upgrade? Are they going to charge me for second supp or can I choose which one to keep? Does 20000 points Spend bonus still apply? Anybody got a link?

  • jc says:

    4 Mar4 March 09:10

    Website says yes to the 20,000: https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/benefits/upgrade/platinum-charge/

    Supplementary – platinum allows 4 free gold supplementary, so you should be able to end up with one as a free platinum supp and the other as a free gold supp, but I have no idea whether you can get there automatically or you have to figure it out manually after upgrade. What did they say when you asked them?

    • Nelson says:

      4 Mar4 March 10:08

      Thanks JC. I am just waiting to get my gold spend bonus. Will upgrade within 2-3 days. I haven’t asked them. Will see what will happen

      • Sandgrounder says:

        4 Mar4 March 11:38

        Maybe terminate the supps before you upgrade, you may well get the plat supp bonus then? Or maybe not, anyone got any experience? I have only upgraded from green, didn’t add a supp until after the upgrade.

        • Genghis says:

          4 Mar4 March 12:02

          Not done it in a while but after upgrading the IT was such that adding an additional (Gold) supp, even if existing supps, got the 5k.

    • Gerald Hubert says:

      4 Mar4 March 15:31

      Could I upgrade to platinum, hit the spend then downgrade/cancel for a pro rata refund and keep the bonus?

      • Rob says:

        4 Mar4 March 15:54

        Yes

• Chelseafi says:

  4 Mar4 March 08:53

  O/T. Might help someone Grand Prix tickets for Spain and Monaco available to redeem on Marriott Bonvoy Moments now I know these usually go quickly. I went to Milan last year and had a great day.

• Don says:

  4 Mar4 March 09:03

  OT – Booked one of the BA holidays to Nice which included the helicopter transfer to Monaco. They’ve told me the return flight has been cancelled so they’ve put me on an 8am flight back from Nice instead. This means I can no longer take the helicopter for the return journey as it only operates during limited hours. Very annoying as it’s the main reason I booked the trip! What are my chances of getting some sort of compensation/refund from BA?

  • Anna says:

    4 Mar4 March 09:09

    You don’t say where you’re flying from or when but the easiest solution would be to ask them to move you to a later flight if there is one? Otherwise you should definitely be refunded the return helicopter transfer as you will presumably now have to get to NCE by alternative means?

  • Jill (Kinkell) says:

    4 Mar4 March 09:47

    We have a similar trip booked for OH birthday in a couple of weeks. So far, all is good , but plenty of time for things to go pear shaped. There is something in T&Cs about significant changes to your package might allow cancellation, but whether the helicopter element is viewed as significant is another matter. Obviously to you it is. Hope it works out for you

    • Jill (Kinkell) says:

      4 Mar4 March 11:47

      Our return is aTuesday 16.15 flight from NCE., connecting to INV at 19.35. I would be mightily cheesed off if we were put on an earlier flight and lose holiday time.

  • Andrew says:

    4 Mar4 March 09:59

    Just back from Monte Carlo having used the offer – I would never have known about it if it weren’t for Rob and HfP.

    Definitely try and get a later flight if you can, it’s well worth it for the experience. There’s no Avios or Tier points on the Helicopter flights in case you are wondering, but it’s great to be able to check your bags through all the way from the Heliport (be mindful of the maximum size of luggage at 60x45x25 and soft sided preferred for the transfer).

    We stayed in the Novotel, which was ok, but the aircon cooling is switched off in the “winter” so the rooms were quite hot and no opening windows. Not sure if it was because it was a twin room (went with a mate), but the mattress covers on the single beds were quite crinkly, sheets came undone during the night and pillows were poor. Breakfast was excellent.

    • aDifferentSimon says:

      4 Mar4 March 10:48

      helicopter to a novotel 😀

  • tony says:

    4 Mar4 March 10:12

    If your flight has been retimed, BA Holidays have lots of flexibility. Even a mere change of the flight number (no time change) was sufficient for BAH to permit changes to the outbound and return legs of my journey a few weeks back.

    Also, I believe a change like this will allow you to tell BAH that the whole thing is unsuitable and they will make a full refund. I know this doesn’t tally with the BAH terms but I’m sure it’s an option.

  • Jill (Kinkell) says:

    4 Mar4 March 13:52

    The blurb does state Monacair will provide private minibus transport if the helicopter doesn’t fly due to weather. However, Don needs to get himself on a flight leaving NCE between 10- 16.45. Hopefully BA will accommodate a more suitable flight time , and then it’s in the lap of the gods that the weather is good!

  • Don says:

    4 Mar4 March 18:03

    Thanks for all the helpful replies guys. There’s a 4:15pm flight that day according to Google flights so will aim for that. Been trying to get a hold of BA all day but been hopeless. Just get cut off saying their call centres are jammed….

• SteveD says:

  4 Mar4 March 09:15

  OT

  Spend £100 get £25 back at Blacklane just popped up on my BAPP.

  • Alex M says:

    4 Mar4 March 09:25

    is it cumulative?

    • Alex M says:

      4 Mar4 March 09:31

      Just checked their price and they are 55% more expensive than Wheely for SW London…

      • Rob says:

        4 Mar4 March 10:08

        You don’t use them in the UK. You use them in countries where you don’t trust the taxis!

        • J says:

          4 Mar4 March 10:21

          The offer T&cs for me says offer only valid on journeys within UK 🙁

        • Rob says:

          4 Mar4 March 10:35

          In that case it’s not a great deal.

        • RussellH says:

          4 Mar4 March 16:26

          I do not trust taxis in the UK! I am not saying that that is justified, but I if I am persuaded to take a UK taxi (not easy) I expect to be ripped off!
          I think the only place I really feel safe in a taxi is Germany…

  • Alex M says:

    4 Mar4 March 11:19

    I may use it when my employer is paying and when ordering transfer FROM airport (oddly, it’s cheaper than TO airport and more comparable with Wheely, maybe because of different timing) – still interested on other people’s opinion on whether the spend is cumulative.

• Luckyjim says:

  4 Mar4 March 09:46

  OT: I don’t think this had been mentioned already. Virgin Atlantic now say they will wave fees for any changes made to new bookings. Changes but not cancellations. Seems to match BAs Book With Confidence policy.

  • Rhys says:

    4 Mar4 March 09:48

    Yep, got it this morning

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