The new HFP chat thread – Monday 30th March

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We have decided to run this new daily chat thread on Head for Points.

Historically, the daily ‘Bits’ articles were the defacto repository for random comments and questions. It is unlikely that the news flow will be so big over the next few weeks that we will need many ‘Bits’ articles, however.

The comments under this article are where you should post questions about travel and, indeed, anything else on your mind. At this tricky time, and given that many of you are stuck at home self-isolating, we want the HFP community to have a place to chat.

Please only comment under the main articles on the site if your comment is directly related to the topic of the article. This has long-term benefits as its keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

By default, HFP shows the last page of comments under the article. If you want to see the first page of comments and read them all from beginning to end in order, click here: https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2020/03/30/the-new-hfp-chat-thread-monday-30th-march/comment-page-1 The page will refresh with this article but the comments will now show the first page and not the last page.

We will continue to monitor how this is working:

we could potentially split it into a daily travel and non-travel chat thread

we may install some basic forum software

we may start suggesting potential topics for daily discussion

Let’s see how it goes.

We will do a separate article in a day or so about how we plan to run the site over the next few weeks. Take care!

Category

General

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Craig says:

30 Mar30 March 17:13

Does anyone have any experience with making Santander mortgage overpayments with curve. My fiance is having issues with her curve card continually declining when she tries to make the payment over the phone. Linked to a credit card underlying. Any help would be welcome!
- Anna says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 18:52
  
  Which credit card is it linked to? IHG won’t do more than £300 in one go. Also your bank might only accept debit cards linked to a UK bank account- have you checked?
  - Craig says:
    
    30 Mar30 March 19:02
    
    is a virgin card, to be fair haven’t tried any others. will investigate whether it needs to be a debit card linked to the mortgage account
    
    might have to go down the revolut route but then that won’t work with virgin, so will have to have a think!
    
    Thanks both!
- fivebobbill says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 18:57
  
  Curve > Revolut > Transfer
  - Genghis says:
    
    30 Mar30 March 20:44
    
    Have you tried? Revolut don’t like hsbc transfers. My account got temporarily blocked.
    - fivebobbill says:
      
      31 Mar31 March 09:46
      
      Yes Genghis, many times, but not with HSBC
      - Genghis says:
        
        31 Mar31 March 10:09
        
        Thanks. Interesting re Santander working.
- Nick_C says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 19:30
  
  Bear in mind that if she has a 123 current account she would be getting 1% back on total payments up to £1k a month, so the cost per FC mile is 1p (free card) or 0.66p (fee bearing card).
Alex B says:

30 Mar30 March 17:33

Can you transfer VA points to Hilton points online or do you have to call?
If it’s the latter how long is the wait on the phone?
- MJ says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 17:46
  
  You can text them at 07481 339184
  
  The number is available here if you want to confirm https://www.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/flying-club/contact-flying-club.html
  
  Just be sure to provide all details, full name, DOB, flying club number and Hilton account number
  - Charlieface says:
    
    30 Mar30 March 19:05
    
    @ankomonkey
    Is this also your sister’s number?
Craig Edmunds says:

30 Mar30 March 18:29

Hi, regular reader but not contributed.

I had a first out / biz back Avios redemption with a 2 4 1 voucher booked to South Africa next month. I cancelled it online, early, on March 15th, when it looked like things were going to be problematic.

I’m happy to pay the £35 cancellation fees it nec, but as of now I haven’t had any refund. Appreciate things are busy, and I’m not the priority, so I’m not going to call, but I’d hoped to have the voucher and points back so I can book a future trip with them.

Any ideas?

Regards
Craig
- Anna says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 18:47
  
  Are you the person whom I asked earlier whether they had called You First?!
  - Craig Edmunds says:
    
    30 Mar30 March 23:28
    
    Don’t think so!
    - Craig Edmunds says:
      
      30 Mar30 March 23:34
      
      Have sent a message there
- Liz says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 19:20
  
  I cancelled on the 13th and I haven’t received Avios or fees back despite a 2nd call to YouFirst.
jc says:

30 Mar30 March 18:45

I’m keeping mine exactly where they are. I don’t believe they’ll go under, and I don’t value Hilton or wine nearly highly enough on the off-chance that they do.
- Craig says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 19:02
  
  agreed
- philco says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 19:46
  
  +1
  - Colin MacKinnon says:
    
    30 Mar30 March 22:07
    
    – 1. !
    - Travel Strong says:
      
      30 Mar30 March 22:28
      
      +1.01
    - David says:
      
      30 Mar30 March 23:00
      
      +1 +1
- Micky says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 23:27
  
  -1
  If bailout then expect devaluation
  - Micky says:
    
    30 Mar30 March 23:28
    
    Hilton points go well with the status extension
  - philco says:
    
    30 Mar30 March 23:33
    
    Honestly I don’t consider devaluations to be a major risk right now. Devaluations occur when times are good and far less often when they are bad like now. But none of us can predict the future so we all take our best guess. I actually expect there to be some really good opportunities to use points once we can travel again.
- RedEyeDonkey says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 03:54
  
  Yeah I’ve been agonising over it and decided to just let it ride. I figure if Virgin Atlantic doesn’t exist I probably will also have bigger problems than whether I took a few hundo in Hilton points instead of a potential 6x more in Virgin points….
- memesweeper says:
  
  31 Mar31 March 09:30
  
  +1
  
  although I think they *might* go under burning 50% of the value in an escape means I need to think they have a greater than 50% chance of going under. And I don’t.
Pangolin says:

30 Mar30 March 19:12

Aegean Airlines has just given 6 months status extension.
Kev 85 says:

30 Mar30 March 20:11

Good thread today 👍
Clive says:

30 Mar30 March 20:23

Maybe of use to someone but SWISS are offering economy flights to Joburg from Amsterdam for under £300 with wide availability throughout the year.
- SteveD says:
  
  30 Mar30 March 22:21
  
  Also Business for c. £1300.
Andrew H says:

31 Mar31 March 16:15

Booking long haul Europe to Asia at this time for travel in Q1 2021 – if i pay using a UK credit card and the flight is subsequently cancelled or airline goes bust… do you think I can claim under section 75 from the credit card on the basis the service was not provided ?