British Airways moves its Maldives flights to Heathrow Airport

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• rams1981 says:

  4 Mar4 March 12:15

  OT SPG Amex. Back to 3 points per pound for transactions on 2nd March.

  • Shoestring says:

    4 Mar4 March 12:18

    yep but what about the missing ones? – I’m cancelling my card in a couple of days

    • rams1981 says:

      4 Mar4 March 12:26

      no change. Still waiting to hear about my complaint.

    • fivebobbill says:

      4 Mar4 March 13:09

      The wife used chat to complain yesterday, applied 21st, approved 25th, but only getting 2 points etc. She was told anyone who didn’t get the “Nov email” is exempt from the new changes, and will stay on 3 points until an update in June. “But I’m only getting 2 points”, she explained. So the agent undertook to escalate the matter to have any missing points added, and gave a dispute ref.
      They said to check back with chat in 7-10 days for an update.
      On login this morning my wife now has the banner message others have referred to, telling her the SPG no longer exists, but she will still get 3 points until they write to her in June.
      Outstanding “third” points have yet to be added retrospectively though…

    • Lee says:

      4 Mar4 March 13:38

      I have a case even worse, points given 2 points/£, then I got refund for that which deduct 3 points /& from my account. Good job, AMEX.

      • Sandgrounder says:

        4 Mar4 March 19:36

        I bought fuel from Costco the other day and have been given 1.5 points per pound spent. Work that one out!

        • TGLoyalty says:

          4 Mar4 March 20:34

          SPG card has 50% earning rate at wholesalers like Costco etc.

• SL says:

  4 Mar4 March 13:02

  OT
  Looking to head to New York and then on to Toronto starting from Manchester. What is the best way to get reduced taxes/surcharges? Avios.com showed 4000 avios + £39 from MAN-DUB in Y and YYZ-MAN 17000 avios+ £133. I called up BAEC and they quoted a higher tax for Aer Lingus. I think Rob’s article mentioned it is normally cheaper when calling BAEC? The agent mentioned something about me not having any Avios in my account so taxes will be unpredictable…?

  • Shoestring says:

    4 Mar4 March 13:15

    https://headforpoints.com/2019/03/31/how-to-redeem-avios-on-aer-lingus/

    that *is* what the article says, so maybe something changed

    • Rob says:

      4 Mar4 March 13:27

      If you are putting the MAN-DUB leg on the same ticket then APD will kick in on the long haul leg. A direct DUB- North America flight was historically £75 in taxes via BA.

  • Lady London says:

    4 Mar4 March 13:27

    If it’s a lot of tax then LH is regularly selling fares in the market to YYZ and similar locations very well priced in Y. Actual segments tend to be on AC, SK and some LH. You will find quicker if you’re prepared to do ex-EU.

  • Lev441 says:

    4 Mar4 March 15:40

    Last year I flew Dublin-Toronto and was charge £34.70 in taxes/fees and £55.00 on the return but this was calling up ba executive club rather than Avios.com

    The price was the same in both Y and J

    • SL says:

      4 Mar4 March 16:50

      Thanks everyone

• marcw says:

  4 Mar4 March 13:50

  Anyone with FlyBe tickets….

  “Flybe is set to miss out on a £100m loan from the government, meaning that the embattled regional carrier’s survival may hinge on whether next week’s budget includes a cut to air passenger duty (APD).

  The Financial Times reported that the airline’s request for the loan, which was part of a rescue package, did not meet the government’s criteria.”

  • marcw says:

    4 Mar4 March 14:07

    Flybe, Britain’s biggest domestic airline, has warned the government that it could collapse within days after a slump in bookings triggered by the coronavirus.

    news.sky.com/story/regional-airline-flybe-in-last-ditch-talks-to-avert-collapse-11949393

    • Shoestring says:

      4 Mar4 March 14:12

      obvs looks terminal for Flybe now – sorry to see that

      silver lining might be that BA picks up the Newquay flights ie all year round instead of seasonal

      • marcw says:

        4 Mar4 March 14:38

        Yep, sad story but unavoidable. Apparently FlyBe has nothing left… no cash no assets (according to FT they mortgaged everything to the new owners… so the Gov cannot provide a loan on commercial terms…)

        • j says:

          4 Mar4 March 14:45

          BA, Easyjet, Ryanair have no interest in running regional routes (like Southampton to Glasgow to give one example) which are of economic benefit and no doubt useful to some people. If Flybe disappear, these routes will go – or I’d guess there’ll be greater govt cost in subsidising someone else to run them.

        • tony says:

          4 Mar4 March 15:02

          For some reason I can’t reply to “J” but easyJet is doing some interesting expansion here. They’re launching BHX-EDI & GLA at the end of the month, admittedly at a far less frequent schedule than BE offer. Seems an interesting play, regardless.

        • marcw says:

          4 Mar4 March 15:21

          Well J it’s time to ask your politicians to invest in efficient ground transportation. If air transportation is not viable (as it seems)… then Governments can only look in one direction.

        • Rhys says:

          4 Mar4 March 15:29

          ….but train travel is also subsidised by the government!

        • marcw says:

          4 Mar4 March 16:01

          FlyBe, even with subsidies, is not profitable. So better invest those subsidies in other transport systems.

  • Aston100 says:

    4 Mar4 March 15:44

    So if FlyBe go under, and if your travel insurance doesn’t cover airline failure, what can you realistically get back through your card provider? Can they be persuaded to fully fund alternative flights from a different airport (on the basis that your orignal FlyBe booking was from a local airport with no alternative flights to your destination)?

    • Shoestring says:

      4 Mar4 March 16:03

      S75 you must have paid over £100 for the flight

      if this applies & you paid on a *credit* card – then yes, they must let you find an alternative flight and pay for it (or the difference if you got a refund) plus consequential losses such as hotel & food

      • Aston100 says:

        4 Mar4 March 16:21

        Right thats what I thought, but Amex told me that I need to still be holding that card (or a renewal of it) at the time the airline goes bellyup. In my case, I would need to (pay to) renew the annual fee, and I hadn’t planned on that.

        Is that really true? that you need to still be in possession of the card (or a renewed version) in order to have coverage for a purchase made earlier in the year before your card was cancelled (or not renewed)?

        Thx

        • jc says:

          4 Mar4 March 17:02

          No, not true if it’s a credit card (e.g. not the Gold/Platinum charge card). There’s nothing in the legal act to suggest that the card needs to still be active. And according to MoneySavingExpert:

          >The Financial Ombudsman Service told us that assuming you meet all other criteria you should be covered, as the fact you’ve cancelled the card doesn’t matter. The original payment method is what’s key, ie, you paid on a credit card.

        • Shoestring says:

          4 Mar4 March 17:18

          jc is correct

          Amex – stringing you along, I was on Chat today and got the SPG points BS initially until I pointed out the banner about transition to MB card etc – I counted 3 distinct elements of BS from the agent, which is really poor

      • Aston100 says:

        4 Mar4 March 17:09

        Why are all my comments awaiting moderation? 🙁
        Replying to JC here, as I’m unable to do so directly to his post:

        I rang Amex again and they confirmed you don’t need to be holding an active card to attempt to claim a dispute. However the costs of a hotel or a more expensive alternative flight etc can only be claimed through the insurance attached to the card (gold preferred rewards) and there is a limit of £200, which is shared amongst the travellers. But, I need to have an active card for this, which means paying to renew it again.

        When I mentioned section 75, they seemed to want to avoid talking about it and suggested I should go through the charge dispute and possibly the insurance first.

        I’m really quite dubious about this and surprised they were avoiding s75.
        Can you confirm s75 definitely applies to flights booked on a preferred rewards gold which does not get renewed?

        Thx.

        • Shoestring says:

          4 Mar4 March 17:38

          awaiting moderation – did you put in more than one link?

          Amex credit cards are bound by S75 and you can ignore any insurance you might also have associated with the card

          as long as your Gold card is a credit card (not charge), then yes absolutely, S75 protection does not die with the card not getting renewed

          sounds like an inexperienced (or worse) agent and ask to speak to a supervisor

        • Shoestring says:

          4 Mar4 March 17:39

          and there’s no £200 limit – you have to be reasonable, that’s all

        • Genghis says:

          4 Mar4 March 18:02

          S75 includes consequential loss.

• William Kerr says:

  4 Mar4 March 15:03

  found your interviewer OTT and a distraction – his gestures and theatricals were out of place on a serious news programme

• xcalx says:

  4 Mar4 March 15:31

  OT Avios.com I sign in using my Vueling details but keep getting the error message when trying to look at flights or combine avios.

  Any thoughts.

  • roberto says:

    4 Mar4 March 15:34

    snap…

    • Shoestring says:

      4 Mar4 March 15:34

      set up AerClub parallel a/c?

      • xcalx says:

        4 Mar4 March 15:37

        AerClub wont let me join. I keep getting not possible to join wasted 2 hours this afternoon with aerclub and avios.com

• Secret Squirrel says:

  4 Mar4 March 15:57

  OT:
  Hilton @ Gatwick, does anyone know what number range or floor the new section is under.
  I see on the building plan an extension mezzanine area but not sure?

  • @mkcol says:

    4 Mar4 March 22:11

    Sure the room numbers start with a 7 to indicate the extension.
    However there are brand new refurbished rooms (stayed in one in January still smelling of new carpet & paint) at the exact opposite end of the building.

• Lux says:

  4 Mar4 March 16:28

  As I can’t see elsewhere in the comments – Tajikistan has backtracked on the ban, thankfully.

  • ADS says:

    4 Mar4 March 16:44

    yes – now reduced to just “China, Iran, South Korea, Afghanistan and Italy” according to Reuters

  • Lux says:

    4 Mar4 March 21:16

    Although Uzbekistan is now requiring UK nationals to self-quarantine for 14 days or risk three years in prison! https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/uzbekistan/health#coronavirus Which is a pain for those of us who are booked to go to Tashkent. IATA not update with this yet.

    Well sourced rumour yesterday that Israel considering barring entry to UK nationals but no evidence of that yet.

    But since there’s a parent tested positive for the virus at our kids’s nursery, maybe their caution is right…

• Lady London says:

  4 Mar4 March 16:31

  20% cut off his basic pay? Wondering what proportion of his usual total remuneration including bonuses, pension contributions and fringe benefits, is his actual basic pay

  • Qrfan says:

    4 Mar4 March 16:37

    He probably won’t get much of a bonus this year if things continue?

    • Lady London says:

      4 Mar4 March 20:32

      Don’t bet on it. We are still talking a lot of money to be received. IM general O these things usually get made up one way or another even if not quite in same year.

      This looks awfully like a prelude to staff taking forced ‘voluntary’ leave without pay, part time “opportunities” being “offered” to staff, etc. Laying the ground or someone big saying “Look folks I’m suffering too”.

      With a bit of luck the coronavirus panic will be over soon despite its bringing a needed correction to the markets and things will settle down enough so that companies are not asking employees to reduce their normally prevailing terms of employment.

  • Rob says:

    4 Mar4 March 17:31

    Good idea though, I think I should call a staff meeting tomorrow in response to the crash in affiliate revenue from hotel bookings!

    • Shoestring says:

      4 Mar4 March 17:41

      leave Anika’s indefinite full pay maternity leave alone, if I were her I would go for the next kid ASAP 🙂

    • Russ 😷 says:

      4 Mar4 March 19:17

      I was wondering how it would impact bloggers. The good thing with HfP is we can kind of carry on for a while without any actual travel being involved. On the upside BA may start pushing ad revenue in HfP’s direction the longer this progresses. The downside of course is three articles a day from Shoe about how he amassed his cat food mountain (only kidding Shoe 🙂

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.