[zio]

JDB wrote:

Jinshanling to Simatai is now fully restored as well, but we haven’t tried it yet – planned for October. It is quite a lot further from Beijing.

I loved walking this section. Beautiful and evocative even if not historically fully original. Has the cable car been restored?! Haven’t been to Beijing since 2008 which seems a lifetime ago. The cable car was…well, I remember rather more adrenalin than I’d paid for.

[zio]

gtellez wrote:

Does it work for people with Gold status (to upgrade to Diamond after 12 nights)? Asking because I was looking at the regular Hilton challenge and it excludes people with gold status… I have also kept my gold status for years with Amex Platinum, with barely any stays. But I’m going to spend quite a few nights this year and it would be nice to have diamond

It’s a bit annoying needing to open a 2nd account to take advantage of the challenge for diamond but it works. After a couple of years of diamond my “new” account has just dropped to silver. My original a/c remains gold from an Amex platinum cancelled years ago.

[zio]

I thought the subscriptions were being renewed at their original prices? If you didn’t bite at the original price but are happy with the current price I would go for it – I don’t suppose the price will be going down!

[zio]

Aedes albopictus. Small, (nearly) silent, bites quickly! More black and white than wasp colored. But yes, spreading as copes with colder winters.

[zio]

331 days. No problem doing a one way redemption.

[zio]

The first time I flew CE I was told at check-in that I didn’t have lounge access when I asked which lounge I could use. I didn’t know any better back then 🙁

[zio]

Another blood group-O mozzie magnet here.
To add to the Head for Epidemiology thread, malaria also used to be endemic to the UK and we still have 5 species of the Anopheles genus of mosquitoes which transmits the disease. Luckily, at present, we don’t have a pool of infected people for them to bite.
Dengue is spread by mosquitoes of the Aedes genus which bites during the day (Anopheles females tend to take their blood meal in the evening). A good reason to take anti-mosquito measures seriously at all times in an at-risk area.

[zio]

Mine has auto-renewed.

[zio]

I don’t have status.

[zio]

I flew IB to Lima and was very impressed. The lounge and F&B on board were better than BA. On board service was also great, but that depends on the crew you get, both with IB and BA.

[zio]

Sorry to hear of your experience. I had the same, though in a different cabin. I’m going to feel horribly guilty if I ended in “your” seat.
Thread here which might be worth reading regarding reimbursement: https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/downgraded-at-gate-or-not/
Following the advice I am claiming 75% of the full avios amount (for the downgraded leg) as if I hadn’t used a voucher, and I am not expecting the voucher back. I did get the value from the voucher on the outbound after all.
Your experience is unfortunately another data point suggesting BA is picking on bookings made with a BUV as an easy option when they have oversold a flight.

[zio]

Well it wasn’t in the comfort I was hoping for, but I’m back safe and sound which is the main thing. Unlike my bag which has lost a wheel en route, so that’s another thing to chase up next week. 70 bags apparently left in Austin too.

Little doubt that a solo traveller on an avios ticket was the easiest target.

So no, I didn’t get what I paid for which is a disappointment and indeed a bit annoying. However, if I do get back 75k avios and near enough £150 I will have had a flight I didn’t pay for. It could be worse!

Thank you for all the help and support. I’ve said it before- this is a wonderful community.

[zio]

I thought for reimbursement I would be dealing in avios? Monetary equivalent only if BA don’t play ball?
Very possible I have misunderstood though!

[zio]

No mention of compo at all,

So the flight was booked with a BUV so I paid 67,500 avios (instead of 100k) + £225 for the return leg.

Should I be claiming 75% of 67,500 (which values the voucher at nothing) or of 100k (which is more than I paid!)? Neither seems totally logical but what is the correct number?

Do I claim 75% of the £225? Or do I need to take off the £30 or so of USA taxes and fees listed on my booking email? Because it’s all wrapped up in the RFS number it again isn’t obvious (to me) what the correct number I should be using is.

So many questions. Thank you in advance for guiding me through the process.

[zio]

WT+ for me 🙁

Just about to do my sums. Will need my homework checked though please!

Again, thanks for the replies.

[zio]

And thanks @JDB too.

I will report back, possibly with further questions!

[zio]

Well, really would rather get on this plane though it isn’t strictly “necessary”.

I’m going to talk to the people at the gate in 5 minutes.

Definitely not missing anything in this lounge anyway. One gentleman has fallen asleep at the bar and is now complaining about not getting another drink. Another is talking drunkenly on his phone at the bar.

The whole airport has been a zoo. I think people’s eclipse related vacations are all ending together.

Many thanks, both, for replying.

[zio]

With Virgin as your primary program you are coming at this issue from the opposite direction to most. It’s not quite right to say that Virgin points aren’t highly thought of on here, it’s just that the limited VS route network, along with fees that have become harder to swallow, mean that most find avios a more useful program. If Virgin works for you then all’s well.

If you want your secondary card to retain the option of converting to Virgin then you are looking at Amex. Since you won’t get a higher return than your current 1.5 points/£ there isn’t any benefit for ongoing spend. However, you could try the free-for-one-year gold card (pinned link at the top of the forums) which offers a sign up bonus to make it worth your while diverting spend. You then have a year to decide if it’s working for you.

In all honesty, since you are a comparatively high spender who seems as if you could use a second companion voucher in a year, you might be best off using 10 or 15k of “excess” spend to generate a BA companion voucher via one of two paid cards, either the Barclaycard avios plus card or the Amex BAPP. This article compares all the available avios cards https://www.headforpoints.com/2023/06/24/what-is-the-best-avios-credit-card-8/ though I don’t know if it has been updated yet to reflect newly announced changes to the amex card. For details of these see the daily article from earlier in the week.

[zio]

I am very late to this party (opened 2016 apparently) but with astonishment and a little despair I see that the golden arches can be found in Fira. The march of progress.

[zio]

I think you need to do some more research on how the vouchers work.
While you can each use a voucher for a 50% discount, if 2 of you are travelling use one voucher as a 2-4-1 and keep the other for another holiday!
Rob has written lots of useful articles- you could start by reading this one:
https://www.headforpoints.com/2024/01/03/how-do-british-airways-american-express-2-4-1-vouchers-work-2/ and there are several helpful threads in the BA forum here.

As far as sitting together goes, unless you have status the only way of guaranteeing this is by paying to reserve seats. It sounds as if you think it is pre-determined which seats on the plane are occupied by those who book with avios, which isn’t the case. Again, reading the amazing resources on this site will help you.

[zio]

I’m afraid I wouldn’t hold out much hope, but you can’t lose by asking. There is a phone line which isn’t given (or is very well hidden) on the app. 0344 8110811.

Above all I think it is worth flagging for others that the conversion default is avios to nectar and that this, and how to change it, isn’t particularly clear. Take care and double check when making your first transfer.

[zio]

Correct! If anything it is BA trying to wait.

[zio]

@totestornot123 There is no guarantee!

BA fires the starting pistol at t-355 but even the best prepared avios athlete may not win the prize.

Good luck for tonight.

[zio]

Very well put.

There is a right way and a wrong way (cf Creation) to go about things.

[zio]

Of course- apologies!

Just done a dummy booking…OP’s co-pay should have been £450. Hopefully there was no funny business about paying a phone charge since the web site was having trouble with the voucher.