Chat thread – Saturday 24th May
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This is today’s chat thread.
If you have specific questions about Avios, hotels or credit cards, please ask them in the appropriate forum and not here. This thread is a good place to post interesting deals you have spotted or your general thoughts on travel and all things miles and points. Thank you for contributing.
I’ll preface this by saying I checked the flight time, and the flight wasn’t delayed as a result of his action, but I’ll keep it vague to protect the guilty.
OH was ticketed from America on AA into Heathrow and then connecting to a European destination. Classic ‘drop the last leg’ itinerary, all ticketed through BA. Couldn’t check in online, so checked in at the airport, HBO. Check in staff insisted on checking him through to final destination, even though he hinted that he may not be able to take the final leg. At Heathrow he exited the airport. At what point would the ‘last leg’ gate realise he wasn’t going to appear? Is there any risk, eg on a short connection time, that the gate staff may be expecting a checked in passenger to appear and hold the gate open to the last possible moment? Is there anyone you can tell at Heathrow that you won’t be taking the flight? It’s annoying as at the very least it could prevent someone on standby being able to take the flight, at worse it could delay a flight, even if only from an early departure.
Perfectly normal for check in staff to check you in for both segments of a connecting flight. The check in staff expected your OH to fly to the final destination. On arrival at LHR, he should have stayed airside and would have needed his boarding pass for the second flight to clear transit security and proceed to the departures area.
Trying to check in for only one segment is asking for trouble.
People often miss flights. The second flight would not have waited for him.
US Airlines are cracking down hard on skip lagging, and people who do it regularly might find themselves banned.
@Tracey I really wouldn’t worry about it, no shows (for various reasons) have been a common thing for many many years, airlines will have routine procedures to deal with all the issues you are concerned about.
The biggest issue with no shows is if the passenger has a bag which makes it onto the plane, that will then potentially cause delays when the passenger doesn’t show (which isn’t the case here).
Just as well be had no bags. They would have been checked through, especially by AA who are absolute Rottweilers and short checking.
If the onward flight was BA the conformance time of -35 or thereabouts would be when they were offloaded and any standby on loaded.
It’s pretty slick and so you should not be concerned about it.
I would however never ever hint that I might drop the final leg, indeed I usually book the latest possible connection where allowed, up to 23hrs59mins after arrival. AA staff in particular are encouraged to stop this.
My last experience from LAX had AA staff offer to “help” me by selling me another ticket as I wanted my bag to LHR only. My onward was BUD the following day! At LHR I was able to get my bag back but it’s effort and hassle. The irony is I was going on to BUD I just didn’t want the bag too
No bags was deliberate for this reason! I just thought of short connection times where ground staff may be looking for passengers to hurry them along. On the outbound he only just made the connection, 75 minutes between flights, both from T5. When he arrived at the gate everyone had already boarded.
BA ticket on AA, so I don’t know who would be banning him, in any case this would be a first offence in a long time.
At what point does T5 conformance kick in on a connecting flight?
At T5, I believe the conformance is 35 mins before flight to have gone through security/boarding pass scan. I’ve been refused a pass through connections at around 30 mins prior in the past.
So if this doesn’t happen you’re not going to be on that flight and BA knows it.It will be interesting to see how this pans out, made a purchase in August on my Plat card which earned a 10% offer rebate, the transaction was charged in full. I’ve just had a refund which has been split into two, I’m expecting the rebate to be taken back but what if it doesn’t? Bank error in my favour maybe?
My daughter will be travelling to USA (Seattle) for Half term holidays to visit her cousins.Apart from Passport, Cxonsent form and photo copies of parents passports.Do we need any further documentation like Birth passport or anything else to enter USA.
Last month she travelled to USA her fingerprints have been taken at JFK.Can she use the MPC app and lane?
My daughter will be travelling to USA (Seattle) for Half term holidays to visit her cousins.Apart from Passport, Consent form and photo copies of parents passports.Do we need any further documentation like Birth passport or anything else to enter USA.
Last month she travelled to USA her fingerprints have been taken at JFK.Can she use the MPC app and lane?
Does anyone have any experience with TCB site account being locked?
I’ve been using it quite happily for years. A couple of days ago they sent me an email saying they had suspended my account and wanted me to explain why I make so many travel related bookings. I replied explaining that I travel with work a lot and my partner lives in the USA etc etc. (I make quite a lot of hotel and flight bookings, but I don’t think an amazingly high amount.)
Anyway, they failed to reply, so I followed it up and they asked for proof of bookings in my name and proof of payment. I sent them a load of my recent hotel bookings, all in my name, all paid on my credit card, and even sent a screenshot of my IHG account showing all my current bookings. They still haven’t got back to me and, despite chasing a third time. Is this common practice for them?One oddity I did notice and also flagged with them is that on 2 days last week there were about 20 or so IHG hotel bookings showing on my account that I didn’t make. I asked if they ( or I ) had been hacked. Now, I suspect that those transactions are what triggered the account shut down, but I’ve also sent then everything they’ve asked for. If they have an IT issue that is causing incorrect transactions to show, I’m not really sure how to best to resolve.
Any thoughts from anyone??
Thanks
My daughter will be travelling to USA (Seattle) for Half term holidays to visit her cousins.Apart from Passport, Cxonsent form and photo copies of parents passports.Do we need any further documentation like Birth passport or anything else to enter USA.
Last month she travelled to USA her fingerprints have been taken at JFK.Can she use the MPC app and lane?
Key bit of information missing. How old is your daughter?
She is 14 Years old
She is 14 Years old
There’s no issue with an unaccompanied minor using MPC if they’ve been admitted once before on their own Esta. The worst that would happen is that they are put in the main queue.
UBER really frustrates me every time we get picked up or dropped off at Crowne Plaza Terminal 4 (not in the airport terminal zone but next to it) but they continually charge the £6 pick up/drop off charge as if we are getting picked up/dropped off right outside the terminal. Don’t know how many times I’ve told them that this hotel is NOT in the airport terminal drop off charge zone and they need to change their mapping to reflect this. And, it’s just happened again….sometimes they’ve refunded it and sometimes they don’t and argue back. It’s only £6 but it’s the principle that I’ve been charged for something I’ve not used and the driver hasn’t driven in 🙁
So, er, has anyone done the mystery hotel loyalty programme survey that tests the reaction to a movement to Elite Qualifying Spend (rather than stays) over 5-6 loyalty tiers? The Food and Beverage Credit still seems to be in place though.
@Tracey To give yourself more time one option might have been to do the domestic bit you’re talking about from lcy or lgw instead if whatever destination you might want is available from there. Quite often it won’t cost any more when you buy the ticket.
That does unfortunately mean you’d have to collect any checked luggage at lhr and then make the journey across town to the other airport and hope you can make it..
Good evening from Budapest where I do have fond memories of. It’s a tad wasteful to use a CV for it, but it is better than it expiring. The service yesterday on BA was second to none. Constant topping up of drinks and I observed the staff on many occasions asking all of CE passengers if there was anything else they could do for them.
I have Spent the morning at Szechenyi baths, where I finally found someone with a chess board. After listening to the “local” talking all political, I still accepted the challenge of a game. He spent the entire game with trash talk telling everyone how he was a grand master. I was ever so close to beating him. After he realised I was about to lose, out came the trash talk again regarding the Uk and the royal family. He was actually quite rude, but I just smiled and shook his hand. That chess game will haunt me forever.
Anyway, in better news, I have found some awsome breakfast places in Budapest, and I shall stick to that same strategy tomorrow. I refuse to pay around 40 euro per person for breakfast.That’s not a bad use at all, @yorkshireRich, I was thinking you had used it on a U.K. domestic 😂
Budapest was our first experience of CE and a wonderful long weekend. We drank some amazing local red wine which I’ve never encountered again, sadly.
That’s not a bad use at all, @yorkshireRich, I was thinking you had used it on a U.K. domestic 😂
Budapest was our first experience of CE and a wonderful long weekend. We drank some amazing local red wine which I’ve never encountered again, sadly.
i must try that next time. It was the expiring CV and the use of the IC Ambassador weekend voucher that lured me. That and the friendly flight times, along with genuine love of the thermal baths for the missus. She did however concede on this occasion that that they do need a good clean.
So, er, has anyone done the mystery hotel loyalty programme survey that tests the reaction to a movement to Elite Qualifying Spend (rather than stays) over 5-6 loyalty tiers? The Food and Beverage Credit still seems to be in place though.
Hilton?
@yorkshireRich We love Szechenyi baths, especially watching first timers trying to figure it out. If you get chance check out the Faust wine cellar at the Hilton. Do you not fancy the €40 New York Cafe breakfast?
So, er, has anyone done the mystery hotel loyalty programme survey that tests the reaction to a movement to Elite Qualifying Spend (rather than stays) over 5-6 loyalty tiers? The Food and Beverage Credit still seems to be in place though.
Hilton?
Expletive ridden rant to one side, Hilton devaluing Honors, moving to revenue-based incentives and providing increasingly poor quarterly offers all in one go would be a pretty big dent in Honors, what with the other schemes all either equivalent or getting better. I’ve a soft spot for WoH, which seems quite reasonable.
UBER really frustrates me every time we get picked up or dropped off at Crowne Plaza Terminal 4 (not in the airport terminal zone but next to it) but they continually charge the £6 pick up/drop off charge as if we are getting picked up/dropped off right outside the terminal. Don’t know how many times I’ve told them that this hotel is NOT in the airport terminal drop off charge zone and they need to change their mapping to reflect this. And, it’s just happened again….sometimes they’ve refunded it and sometimes they don’t and argue back. It’s only £6 but it’s the principle that I’ve been charged for something I’ve not used and the driver hasn’t driven in 🙁
This irks me at MAN, too. I now make the drivers continue in to the drop off area which, clearly, they avoid to not pay the fee and pocket the extra fiver or so themselves. When that happens, I tell Uber – as you do – and have a 100% refund success rate, but it takes up a lot of time. I usually have to dig through the MAN and City Council websites to find the map that shows the drop off zone to prove Uber wrong before I get my cash back. The risk that, of course, these drivers run is that they get fined (or whatever) for dropping off in no drop-off zones. I take great delight in shopping them to the Council (usually Wolverhampton nowadays) that licensed them, but who knows if they ever actually learn a lesson?!
AL
What a twisted view.
Just don’t use UBER if you feel such venom for the drivers.
Your due a bit of Karma
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