Chat thread – Friday 24th January

[PeteM]

That’s a good point which I did consider. Think Finnair is probably the best customer service off the plane/airport apart from BA when it comes to Avios airlines. So that was the other one to explore in more detail.

But I am sorted until at least 2026/7, so not an urgent decision and maybe it won’t even be needed from what Rob says.

But remember you could just use IB for collecting TPs and do everything else with BA, for instance.

You did also write off all railways after one bad experience with Avanti 😜

[dmm27]

Gordon wrote:

dmm27 wrote:

Google flights time format: is it possible to get it to show flight times in 24hr format, as I find I make less mistakes in 24hr. Having used 24hr for the last 25 years at work, I am very used to it.

I’ve seen some success with the below, but it’s not always guaranteed, sometimes the clock has a mind of its own.

1. Go to https://calendar.google.com and sign in to your account
2. Click on the gear icon and choose “Settings”
3. Click on “Language and Region”
4) Under “Time format” check to see if you have it set to a 12 hour clock or the 24 hour (“military”) clock. Make sure it is set the way you desire.

Thanks, thats what I’d tried but makes no difference.

[NorthernLass]

@PeteM, it wasn’t just one bad experience! I’ve done 4 city breaks in the past 12 months (2 London, 1 Edinburgh, 1 Glasgow) and the return on all of them was cancelled or otherwise disrupted!

Also a few short journeys, particularly to and from MAN (city and airport). Even Andy Burnham’s office said it was unacceptable.

Not all Avanti either 😜

[BBbetter]

Rob Burgess wrote:

Someone has just realised that having the Iberia version being far more generous than the BA version (as it has to be given country dynamics) could be a little tiny problem.

This is why BA is going to backtrack, because Iberia is stuffed if it has to require €24,000 for top tier.

Surely it can’t be difficult for IAG to force IB to give fewer tier points for BA flights?
Or increase the requirement to fly IB metal more than what’s required currently?

[Gordon]

@NorthernLass – that could also be said for many airlines in the current climate, I’d rather use a 2-4-1 on IB from MAD long haul, saving £1K per couple, before positioning flight, as opposed to using one on BA from London and still getting stuffed, but £1K worse off.

My recent flight with IB was ok, apart from musical chairs, which I managed to sort at MAD with a nice CS agent.

While on the subject of airlines, I was so impressed with Latem, including updating you many times as the the status of your flight etc, that’s I’ve just booked internal flights with them for my Brasil trip, I didn’t even bother looking at other options.

[NorthernLass]

@Gordon, you might feel differently if you’d booked 4/5 trips with them and they moved all your positioning flights by 8 hours! Okay, the only trip that’s been really messed up is my Lanzarote holiday in October, but the headache is very real, lol.

[Gordon]

@NorthernLass – I guess the more you fly the more chance you’re going to come a cropper eventually, same with everything I guess.
I may change my mind, if that’s the case, as I intend to use them for as many redemption flights as possible, to the countries they do serve, which is quite a few.

[JDB]

NorthernLass wrote:

@Gordon, you might feel differently if you’d booked 4/5 trips with them and they moved all your positioning flights by 8 hours! Okay, the only trip that’s been really messed up is my Lanzarote holiday in October, but the headache is very real, lol.

Most people’s positive experiences of Iberia relate to long haul. The domestic network (overall Europe’s largest) is complex and the interrelationship between Iberia, Iberia Express and Air Nostrum is also rather messy. The first two are sort of the same, but not quite the same and Air Nostrum is not part of the IAG group so adds another dimension even as a contractor doing what it’s told. There are also slot issues at MAD for which domestic and short haul flights are deprioritised. For these and probably many other reasons, the short haul schedule and particularly domestic schedule has always been quite fluid right up to the start of the new IATA season.

The other Iberia issue I have often mentioned is that they see 261 as optional and make BA seem like pussy cats. Talking of which, I’m not a cat fan, but do I hope yours makes a good recovery.

[meta]

NorthernLass wrote:

@PeteM, it wasn’t just one bad experience! I’ve done 4 city breaks in the past 12 months (2 London, 1 Edinburgh, 1 Glasgow) and the return on all of them was cancelled or otherwise disrupted!

Also a few short journeys, particularly to and from MAN (city and airport). Even Andy Burnham’s office said it was unacceptable.

Not all Avanti either 😜

I like Avanti because they often pay me to travel on them especially when I purchase £150+ one-way First class ticket and the train is delayed for an hour or more and I get all the money back via bank transfer not to the original payment method. Then it also credits as a journey for Club Avanti. When there is a Amex promotion then extra 5% off.

Not sure how sustainable this is in the long run. If you scroll down on the link below, you can see how many millions they are paying out for delay repay every month.

https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/help-and-support/delay-repay

[NorthernLass]

I put in a claim for our cancelled journey last Sunday, and they’ve sent me £80 (presumably half the money), saying it was only delayed 39 minutes or something. I’ve appealed pointing out that they sent me an email saying the train was cancelled due to their strike action. The bank transfer is very handy!

@JDB, I know IB have a reputation for being intransigent over 261 claims, but I have noticed that they are very good at issuing vouchers for cancelled flights, which are emailed as soon as you select that option. This has actually worked well for me when wanting to rebook various sectors between MAN and MAD, the vouchers covered all the re-booking costs and in one case the new flights were cheaper, so I still have a small credit. Of course, if you needed re-booking on a more expensive service/another airline this is when things are going to get messy.

They are a bit naughty in that they insist you have to call them to get a cash refund or re-book, but if the voucher option works financially, that is an easy way of re-booking a cancelled or changed flight.

I make any avios bookings via ba.com as even though you have to call to get a refund, BA CS seem to be happy to issue full refunds in the event of significant changes to flight times, without quibble.

[PeteM]

Interestingly, a couple of friends were delayed 24hrs with IB on their way from MAD to BOG because of a technical issue.

I prepared them for a painful battle, but IB paid within two weeks for their expenses + EU261 compo…

[Alan TJ]

NorthernLass wrote:

Has anyone used Trainline to buy tickets for Spanish trains? For reasons I won’t go into, we’ve had to move our Valencia trip to later in February and were struggling to get new flights home as cash prices are now ridiculous and all avios seats have gone. However, I have got flights on IB from MAD-MAN for £36 each, and we’re planning to get a train from Valencia to Madrid and stay overnight.

Trainline is quoting me an astonishing £33 for 1st rail tickets for both of us – I know train fares in Spain are much more reasonable than they are in this country, but this does look a bit to good to be true!

@Michael – what are you doing in Skipton?! We should be over that way today but have backed out due to the storm and still having no running water at home, let alone a waterfall! OH has had to go Asda to forage for bottled supplies, lol.

We have used trainline many times in Spain and other European countries with no problems.

NB The price you have been quoted sounds pretty average for that route

[davefl]

NorthernLass wrote:

Trainline is quoting me an astonishing £33 for 1st rail tickets for both of us – I know train fares in Spain are much more reasonable than they are in this country, but this does look a bit to good to be true!

I think your attitude is skewed because you’re used to paying the most expensive rail fares per mile in the world.

Spain and Italy are similarly reasonably priced and have much better trains than here. I used Trenitalia between several cities in italy last year and never paid more than 30 quid for a business class ticket. In Spain they actually have real competitiion on their intercity routes so yes the prices are remarkably inexpensive compared to Avanti etc.

As mentioned earlier seat61.com is an incredible resource. Thanks to that site I discovered I could get a sleeper train, solo compartment (business class, sparkling wine, slippers, earplugs etc) with breakfast delivered to my bunk for 150 euro to go all the way from Vienna to Zurich

[NorthernLass]

I think you are right, @davefl. I was telling the class I tutor this term that it’s the equivalent of 25p to go anywhere on the metro or bus in Mexico City and their jaws dropped!

I have made a note of seat61.com – our VLC trip is shelved for the moment but I have a number of trips planned to Spain later this year where a train might be a better option than an internal flight. By the time you’ve got to the airport 2 hours before departure, then at the other end waited for bags and made your way into the city, the journey time is not much different.

[Gordon]

PeteM wrote:

Interestingly, a couple of friends were delayed 24hrs with IB on their way from MAD to BOG because of a technical issue.

I prepared them for a painful battle, but IB paid within two weeks for their expenses + EU261 compo…

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I’ve not had any delays/cancellations with IB, on the several flights I’ve had with them, apart from a seating change issue, which was rectified, my recent flight LHR-MAD – MAD-BOG and the return, went without a hitch, as @JDB says your more susceptible to the domestic network element.

Shame I cannot use IB for my next flight to Brasil in 7 weeks, due to using a BUV, let’s hope BA are as reliant!