NOVEMBER 2018 businesstraveller.comADVICE FROM THE
REGULARS
POST MONTYSAURUS
I am seeking advice from all the
regular contributors. I have a client in
Amsterdam (AMS) whom I visit every
so often and so, given that I have a trip
to Hong Kong (HKG) early next year, I
thought I would combine it with a visit
to my client and go from AMS to HKG
via London Heathrow (LHR) in Club
World with British Airways (BA), which
would save me a great deal of money.
I am unlikely to need to return to
AMS when I f ly back and I have seen
on this forum before advice that if one
doesn’t make a habit of not taking the
last sector, BA will ignore it. My concern
is that now it appears that BA have been
manually recording credit card CVVs,
which would enable them to charge one’s
card months ater the original booking.
Could BA then charge me the LHR to
HKG return fare, which was about £2,000
[US$2,621] dearer than AMS/LHR/
HKG? In the event that you advise that I
have to return to AMS and then back to
UK, the saving is still substantial. Can I
have advice please – will BA penalise me,
as I am a member of Executive Club?➜ MARTYNSINCLAIR
This is my regular route and onto
Bangkok, and my advice is to play the
game by BA rules and you will benefit
from a cheap airfare and suficient Avios
for three or four free return flights to
northern Europe, depending on your
Executive Club status. Try and beat the
system and you may find your ticket
price increases (as mine did last trip
when I missed my positioning flight).
Saying that, I don’t believe anyone who
has purchased their own ticket for an ex-
Europe fare (on ba.com) has an increased
fare issue by not using the last sector, but
if you use an agent and don’t use theTOILETRYTASTIC!
POSTSKYHIGH
I stayed at the Radisson in Tokyo and
Melliber Apart in Casablanca this year.
I travel the world and have never before
seen sealed toiletries, and was surprised
to find the Rituals Toiletries in Tokyo
were sealed with a clear tape, while in
Casablanca there was a seal which stated
“do not use if broken”. I think all hotels
should follow suit for safety and hygiene
reasons – otherwise anyone could put
anything into the toiletries.➜ INQUISITIVE
I am surprised that the original poster is
surprised – most five-star hotels provide
sealed toiletries. I mostly stay in Hyatt,
Marriott and Holiday Inn properties
in Asia-Pacific, and all these hotels
provide toiletries in sealed packets.➜ IANFROMHKG
I would very much prefer to have a
pump-action bottle for all this stuf
rather than add tonnes of plastic waste
to the world, not to mention all the
product that is thrown away.
I am not particularly worried
about contamination – most of these
products only go on your skin and are
immediately washed of. Unless the
product is caustic, toxic or allergenic it
is very unlikely to afect you unless you
have a skin condition or an open wound.
If you have a skin condition then you
should probably use your own toiletries,
and if you have an open wound you
should be disinfecting it or wearing
a waterproof dressing anyway (if you
know what’s good for you).Join the debate
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last sector, the agent will pass onto you
any re-price for losing the last sector.
I use a travel counsellor on the basis
they have access to a far wider range of
flights and I believe better fares, including
their add-on charge (well worth paying
it). Just made my next reservation from
AMS – the only added safety I have now
done is taking an earlier positioning
flight to AMS, rather than out to AMS
on the same aircraft that starts my ex-
Europe ticket, back to London.
I have for this trip taken the one flight
earlier. Plus side is cheap fares and
plenty of Avios; down side a longer travel
day and you need a system... (and I never
check luggage in, only hand baggage).➜ OPENFLY
Last week my LHR-AMS flight – after
my CPT-LHR leg – was cancelled and
I was rebooked on a much later flight.
Therefore, I missed my AMS-LGW
[London Gatwick] flight, which also
had to be rebooked, on the 21.15 flight ...
ouch. All this was due to a mere zephyr
at AMS and the usual Dutch panic!
I asked to speak to a manager in the
first class check-in area to discuss my
situation. An amazingly afable, helpful
young BA manager appeared. My
question was: “If I don’t travel and just
go home, will you recalculate my fare as
I had heard that this is a possibility?”
He reassured me that as it was due
to “flight disruption” I would not be
recharged and would get a refund,
which surprised me. He then went
on to say that they were fully aware
that passengers are “dumping the last
sector”. He was under the impression
that if they were given a reason – illness,
dead cat, etc – there would be no
recalculation. But, if your flight records
showed that this was the third time that
your cat had died then your fare would
be recalculated – and it was happening!
So, straight from the horse’s mouth.
I left T5 and went straight home. I
have already received my two refunds!SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES
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