[sloth]

JDB wrote:

@WorldFlyer – you aren’t exactly a ‘new’ customer, so you could ask the question the other way round. If Amex chose to block you from referrals before, why would they allow them now and that’s before even taking into account the fact you have shunned them for two years, presumably seeking gain.

@sloth – is there any evidence for your assertion “like the majority of us you are blocked”? It seems highly improbable. Also, it isn’t that Amex doesn’t want to pay out referrals any more, but rather they don’t want to pay out points for bad referrals and/or to bad referees.

@JDB I have as much evidence for my assertion as you have that my assertion is wrong…

I am also not criticising Amex as you are implying. It’s their card and their programme, they can do what they want 😉

[sloth]

WorldFlyer wrote:

I have just signed up for a new Amex card after a 2 year pause with AMEX. It initially showed me a referral link, however this is now gone stating I am temporarily blocked from the referral programme.
Why would they block me instantly as a new customer.
I was previously blocked from referring others too, 2 years ago.

Like the majority of us you are blocked as they don’t want to pay out the referral points anymore. If you took down the referral link though it will still work

[sloth]

dreamflyer1 wrote:

NorthernLass wrote:

That shouldn’t be the case, have you double checked the dates?

I just double checked and on both occasions its totalling the same amount of points.

if I made one booking for 5 nights or if I booked each night individually.

sloth wrote:

In case it helps you…I booked the IC HK in April ’24 for 2 nights in Feb this year. Booked at 51k average per night, I rebooked 6 times until final rebook in Dec ’24 for 33k average per night. From this point the rate only ever increased. I also used a SUV and got the Victoria Harbour full suite so was very pleased in the end of the day for total of 66k for 2 nights at the weekend

just trying to illustrate that there is benefit to booking separate nights and being organised to check every couple of weeks or so

oh that’s a really good deal. Were you able to see the light show from your view? I guess your right maybe i can do the same. do you happen to know how long it takes to have points returned to your account if you rebook. just trying to understand if I need spare points on hand.

points are normally returned instantly

we were never in the room util at least 11pm but yes you get the Victoria harbour view and would be able to see most of the light show although not all due to the location/angle of the hotel in TST. the view of HK island is great though and was what I wanted

[sloth]

In case it helps you…I booked the IC HK in April ’24 for 2 nights in Feb this year. Booked at 51k average per night, I rebooked 6 times until final rebook in Dec ’24 for 33k average per night. From this point the rate only ever increased. I also used a SUV and got the Victoria Harbour full suite so was very pleased in the end of the day for total of 66k for 2 nights at the weekend

just trying to illustrate that there is benefit to booking separate nights and being organised to check every couple of weeks or so

[sloth]

The real Swiss Tony wrote:

Thanks for sharing. MNL is far cheaper than BKK but I hadn’t realised how much closer it was (2/3rds of the distance).

TYO-BKK was something like 46k Avios and £110 in cash on BA. My BA Silver card presumably opened up the seats. Row 1 blocked, windows in row 2 blocked as well.

Yeah it’s 4h45, guessing BKK is around 6.5?

Guessing… I reckon your flight would have been c.35k avios and £110 ish via qatar call centre

So seat experience is similar then, although row 1 is open to me, but not the windows, same as row 2, which I guess makes rough sense as BA silver is same as RJ GS I believe

Who knows half the time but it’s all interesting to discover

[sloth]

The real Swiss Tony wrote:

sloth wrote:

yes I guess that was pretty obvious, should have thought of that, thanks! 🙂 they can indeed see the availability and its cheaper in Avios, but more expensive in cash but overall works out better value. thanks again

Can I ask, how much cheaper was it? I booked TYO-BKK for the summer and all QR would offer on the website was via DOH!

Anyway, booked via BA and was able to select the seats via the JAL website (business class).

So it was 33k avios and £80 per person booking on BA app

Originally Qatar quoted me 22k avios and £125 each per person so that worked out better value than via BA, however when I called last night to actually book I got quoted 22k avios and £86 per person so was better than I expected/ was told previously

Process took around 30 mins which would have been quicker in BA app obviously but happy with the process and the saving

Btw managed to reserve my seats in JAL website with booking ref. All window seats were blocked as someone else reported here or elsewhere but I added my RJ GS and that unblocked rows 3-5 window seats which is fine for us. Easier than I thought

Is definitely sth to be aware of though that not all OW flights are visible on Qatar website and others take a while to show (CX) which I did know previously

[sloth]

bbasra wrote:

Hi there – Does anyone have a definitive answer?

For the HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard, you are likely to receive a pro-rata refund of the annual fee if you cancel the card before the end of the card membership year, but you should confirm this with HSBC directly

Thanks in advanced.

HSBC don’t do pro rata refunds

[sloth]

Olly wrote:

sloth wrote:

Olly wrote:

I had the same issue booking from CGK – NRT. In the end I just booked via BA as it was simplest

Thanks Olly, yeah sometimes you can’t always save money unfortunately:)

Were you able to select seats via the BA app/online?

No, I couldn’t do it via either BA or JAL, but in the end has success via RAM

thanks, will cross my fingers I can do it somewhere! 🙂

[sloth]

Alex G wrote:

I have no status, but selected J seats on JAL through the JAL website after booking on BA.

Last flight I took, I selected two window seats, but JAL subsequently changed one of them to the paired aisle.

Thanks Alex G

[sloth]

Alex G wrote:

JAL will happily book your luggage through to your final destination on separate tickets. Last year, I flew Oita to Haneda on a JAL domestic economy ticket, and HND-HEL-LHR on a Finnair J redemption.

The check in staff at Oita checked my bags through to LHR.

thanks sounds good, all I need to know now is if I will be able to select seats and how. Im Gold Sparrow in case relevant

[sloth]

kevinchoi wrote:

sloth wrote:

Looking to book Tokyo to MNL on JAL. I can see pricing in avios on BA.com on my dates but nothing for ANY dates via Qatar, which I hoped might be cheaper, as it is for CX flights

Any advise please? Or is this just the way if is?

Try calling up Qatar. A lot of the time they can help you book JAL flights even if you can’t see it available online.

yes I guess that was pretty obvious, should have thought of that, thanks! 🙂 they can indeed see the availability and its cheaper in Avios, but more expensive in cash but overall works out better value. thanks again

[sloth]

In addition, does anyone know if I booked JAL, Osaka to Tokyo using avios to arrive around 6/7pm, and then separately the Tokyo to MNL flight for that evening at 01:50, would I be able to through check the bags etc? im assuming so just looking for experience

one slight complication to that is that the Osaka to Tokyo would be economy as that’s all that ever sees to be available (fine for a 1hr hop) but the Tokyo to MNL would be business

thanks

[sloth]

Olly wrote:

I had the same issue booking from CGK – NRT. In the end I just booked via BA as it was simplest

Thanks Olly, yeah sometimes you can’t always save money unfortunately:)

Were you able to select seats via the BA app/online?

[sloth]

tiriavpo wrote:

travelmonkey wrote:

Editted to add: Avios redemptions through BA on JAL is a bit clunky. Difficult to manage the booking and impossible to OLCI – can’t do it through the BA app as it’s a different carrier – but also couldn’t do it through the JAL app.

Are you able to select your seats if booking via BA.com?

[sloth]

RobH not Rob wrote:

I’m a BAPP holder. A mate is looking to take out a personal Amex Plaitnum card.

Can I give him an invite to trigger a referral bonus for this card?

What is the current bonus in this instance if there is one..

you will get whatever the referral bonus shows you on your account regardless of the card your friend applies for (they just need to use your link and then select the actual card they want)

[sloth]

annabh wrote:

travelwell wrote:

Hi everyone, just booked the outbound leg with a companion voucher. Not super flush with Avios but wonder if we made a one way Avios +cash booking for the return, could the BA exec club team apply the two for one voucher the following day via some form of rebalancing?

Only if you’ve paid the same balance of avios and cash on the outbound, why not call them to add it on? Or is a super popular route?

I’ve been told before that the Avios/cash balance can differ across the two flights, but that seems to be agent dependent…

[sloth]

JDB wrote:

Bill wrote:

Read this thread with interest because I’ve just discovered I don’t have the referral link in the app or website

This has been ongoing for a while and some have complained to the FOS unsuccessfully.

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-5079355.pdf

@JDB I thunk you might have linked to the wrong case? but regardless it was interesting reading and what a p take by *mr C…

[sloth]

its the same issue as last week.it was resolved but is now broken again…BA Useless IT

[sloth]

An expensive week away but the postcard from Freddo sounds like it was all worth it!

a good read thanks

[sloth]

seems its now working again, if anyone one else can check and confirm?

[sloth]

BBbetter wrote:

sloth wrote:

You should have insisted they kept the two bookings separate, only linked to get half the Avios back

That only works when outbound is booked and inbound is not available due to T-355 restriction.

thanks understood

[sloth]

you can’t put the two flights together on the same PNR if you want to take advantage of the lower HK taxes. You should have insisted they kept the two bookings separate, only linked to get half the Avios back

[sloth]

Thanks AFKAE

[sloth]

AFKAE wrote:

Just to close off my post of yesterday.

Tried again last night and all was completed in line with my previous experiences.

Skyped Exec club blue at 11.45, was answered in a couple of minutes. Mrs AFKAE was on standby as the CV was in her name. She went through security and gave me authority to do the rest.

Explained to Agent what I wanted and she understood, was happy to hold and went through a few bits and pieces, by which time it was almost 12:00. Line went quiet tickets were secured and then went throught all the payment and regulatory stuff. Call was finished by about 12:15. Happy camper.

Thanks for the update/feedbaxk. So you rang just before midnight as oppose to just before 1am? That’s handy at least

Could you confirm what number/office you rang please?

[sloth]

Go back to HSBC and raise an official complaint. It’s the only thing they seem to react to