The new HFP chat thread – Friday 1st May

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• Rob says:

  1 May1 May 06:54

  Best card to use for spending in $?

  Currently using a BA AMEX but getting hammered with a transaction fee every time and I use it 20+ times a day.

  • Mr(s) Entitled says:

    1 May1 May 07:34

    I use Revolut for all foreign spend and they are excellent across multiple currencies.

    My spend tends to be infrequent however (limited to holidays) and I also have a USD account if I need dollars. If you are spending regularly then a 0% FX card with rewards might make more sense for you if not for me.

  • Harry T says:

    1 May1 May 07:50

    Curve with an underlying rewards visa or MasterCard.

    Or something like Halifax Clarity, Starling or Revolut.

  • Andrew says:

    1 May1 May 09:56

    Depends on what are looking for, but even the most basic FX free card (I use the Virgin Money Mastercard) will save you a net £2.50 per £100.

    These days (or in normal times), I only use my Amex in the US if there’s a specific benefit in doing so eg the occasional Bloomingdales or Macy’s offers. There’s the occasional problem, particularly with ticket vending machines, where they don’t like non-US issued Visa or Mastercards but an American Express works straight away.

    • Doug M says:

      1 May1 May 11:27

      Or at petrol pumps where as Amex don’t use address validation you can enter the postcode as 90210 or whatever and fill up without the hassle of going inside and having your card auth’d for an amount in advance.

      • stevenhp1987 says:

        1 May1 May 13:00

        I just use the numbers in my postcode with added 0s with both my travel cards (Visa + Mastercard).

        E.g. AA12 3AA would be come 12300

  • Rum says:

    1 May1 May 10:24

    Depends on what the definition for “best” is 🙂

    Best for earning miles/points?
    There are quite a few options now. IHG, HSBC and Amex Gold all warm double points for spending in foreign currencies. Good to use when you have a spend target to meet or you are spending for business (I.e. not your own money).

    Best for avoiding fees?
    Again plenty to choose from and you’ve had some great suggestions already. Use Curve with one of the above cards. Also Halifax Clarity, Santander Zero, Starling etc.

• Harold R says:

  1 May1 May 06:56

  Not sure if this has been asked but do new applicants to Amex platinum get the double points offer and redemption for 0.9p deal?

  • Rum says:

    1 May1 May 09:19

    Rob seemed to suggest he’d have more on that today (1st May) but there has been no such article.

    • Rob says:

      1 May1 May 11:51

      Pushed back due to the 6 month extension news, and I have no clue if new Plat applicants get the double points or not unfortunately. It is not on the application page so you have no legal right to it.

      • Rum says:

        1 May1 May 12:32

        Seems like a risk applying for Platinum then.
        I downgraded to Gold a couple of months ago so I guess no point in trying to go back to Platinum just for the double points which I may never get.

• revlou says:

  1 May1 May 07:24

  Finally got my cash refund from BA five weeks after requesting it via the workaround (and 11 failed calls). BA have gone down in my estimation.

  • AndyW says:

    1 May1 May 07:40

    Workaround did t work at all for me. Got the email confirming cancel but nothing ever came back. Once I got through on the phone they were super efficient to be fair. It’s a seriously difficult time, but agree they could of handled this better for the customer by just allowing refunds online. Then again, if they can get people to take vouchers for just 10% of flights that would be massive for them in terms of cash flow, so I completely understand why they took the approach they did.

    • SG says:

      1 May1 May 07:57

      Was is the workaround now with the change flight or cancel(which takes you to future travel voucher)?At what point needs Safari Java Script disabling?Rob,were you mentioning that it still worked for you yesterday?

      • Anna says:

        1 May1 May 08:02

        I thought they’d closed all the loopholes now?

      • Rob says:

        1 May1 May 09:01

        No, hasn’t worked for a few weeks. Contacting BA Refund Helper on Flyertalk worked for my wife yesterday.

  • Nick_C says:

    1 May1 May 13:24

    It shouldn’t take 5 weeks to get a refund. But some airlines are point blank refusing to give refunds. And RyanAir are saying it will take up to six months.

    • Lady London says:

      1 May1 May 22:11

      Straight to Section 75 or chargeback on your card if any airline is taking the ‘p’ that much.
      We are lucky to have these consumer protections.

• SG says:

  1 May1 May 07:57

  What is?

• We need to know! says:

  1 May1 May 08:13

  Is Shoestring actually Boris Johnstone?

  He disappeared to his “place in the sun” about the same time as the PM went into hospital, and has now only re-appeared about the same time as the PM has returned to public view!

  • Harry T says:

    1 May1 May 08:19

    Shoestring actually turns up to this blog though – Boris doesn’t turn up to anything.

  • mr_jetlag says:

    1 May1 May 09:11

    He’s Bernard Jenkins – the clues are all there

  • Spaghetti Town says:

    1 May1 May 09:12

    Shoestring was turning up to this blog, just under a proxy name though

• Josh says:

  1 May1 May 08:27

  Anyone got any ideas when BA might start cancelling June flights, got a first class avios redemption on 5th June, with all the talk of EU lobbying for vouchers instead of refunds starting to feel a bit jumpy.

  Would these impact avios redemptions or would these remain refundable minus change fee?

  • Anna says:

    1 May1 May 08:32

    I don’t think they would be able to change the Ts & Cs of award bookings retrospectively, the EU is being lobbied to change the terms of package holiday protection.

    • Josh says:

      1 May1 May 09:49

      Thanks Anna good to know

  • PerkyPat says:

    1 May1 May 09:16

    My flight LIN-LHR-NCL for 28 June was cancelled yesterday.

  • Cathy says:

    1 May1 May 11:50

    I had a cancellation email from BA yesterday for Valencia flights 27th June, not a surprise!

• Xavier P says:

  1 May1 May 08:32

  I’m booked on BA 283 LON – LAX early June. The flight always shows as departing daily on time. Flight paid for using Avios + Amex 241 + Tax. 2 x seats reserved and paid for with cash in Business Class. Return flights from LAS are in Economy.

  If I take the voucher I understand I will still retain the “value” of the flights I booked including the 241, but will I lose the cash paid for seat reservations?

  If I wait for the cancellation I fear it may never happen due to the flight history showing as departing daily on time. In which case, would i be classed as a no show and lose everything?

  • Anna says:

    1 May1 May 09:51

    It’s my understanding that you won’t get a refund on a flight which still operates, so your only recourse is to cancel yourself unless informed otherwise, though you have until 24 hours before with award flight so you can afford to hang on for a bit yet. I’m not sure how it works with the voucher, but when I approached BA Refund Helper on FT for a refund which hadn’t appeared, I was also refunded seat selection charges.

• John Caribbean says:

  1 May1 May 09:09

  I was funding my tax free childcare account using revolut, topping up with IHG, Virgin or barclaycard Hilton, but with the Revolut coming though now as a cash like transaction the fees have wiped out the benefit.
  Any good suggestions of how to fund the childcare account and gain some points?

  • mark2 says:

    1 May1 May 09:54

    Monese might work for a while. You can load at Coop via PayPoint.

    • John Caribbean says:

      1 May1 May 11:41

      And use a credit card at the coop? Maybe even an amex?

      • EwanG says:

        1 May1 May 12:43

        Yes Amex or credit card, but as Mark2 indicates you will only be able to do it for a short period before Monese catch up with you. Rob did some articles previously on Monese – you can find codes in the comments for 1 and 3 month’s free premium access, so you won’t be charged a fee for a topup by card.

        • Youllnever says:

          1 May1 May 13:46

          Sorry what do you mean by only being able to do this for a short period? If I’m using the account for DD payments, there shouldn’t be an issue right?

        • EwanG says:

          1 May1 May 14:17

          Monese won’t look favourably on funding your account via Paypoint, continue and your account will end up being closed! Paying a salary directly into it or funds via bank transfer (e.g. faster payment) is accepted.

      • Lady London says:

        1 May1 May 22:13

        Yes but apparently dont wave the Amex around just insert it.

  • Grant says:

    1 May1 May 11:13

    Monese was the only other option I found, funded by using Co-Op’s Paypoint facility.

  • Anna says:

    1 May1 May 12:29

    Are you actually getting a few charged with IHG? So far I’ve only had interest charges, which can be avoided if you pay it off immediately.

    • Harry T says:

      1 May1 May 14:05

      I don’t get a cash advance fee – I get charged interest.

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