The new HFP chat thread – Monday 4th May

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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/2020/05/04/the-new-hfp-chat-thread-monday-4th-may/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. Let’s see how it goes. Take care!

Category

General

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

Simon says:

4 May4 May 12:18

Hi has anyone ‘bought’ status at Marriot Bonvoy by booking 50 nights in a cheap hotel far far away but not showing up. Does it work? Do they care if you don’t check in? Can you use the mobile app to check in etc?
- Tim says:
  
  4 May4 May 13:46
  
  I’d be curious to hear if that works too. Is there really anywhere cheap enough in the global Marriott portfolio to make it worthwhile though?
- Rob says:
  
  4 May4 May 13:52
  
  No, won’t work. You CAN get away with this occasionally for one-night stays but unlikely for longer. If you go to the hotel and make a private deal with them, of course, that is different.
- FloriGuy says:
  
  4 May4 May 14:10
  
  How far away are you thinking. Outside of COVID I cannot imagine a Marriott costing much less than £50 at a real push including Taxes.
  
  MAYBE £40 in the current climate.
  
  But you are still essentially paying £2k for free breakfasts?
  - marcw says:
    
    4 May4 May 16:39
    
    Must be a bloke with way too much money.
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      4 May4 May 19:22
      
      You can get 15 nights for £75 via Amex
      
      I did buy 2 nights at a moxy in the sale for £30 a night to hit plat before a trip to a hotel that would have cost me €30 each for breakfast each morning for 3 nights.
      
      Could be some cheap exhibition hotel rates available for the rest of this year.
      - Simon says:
        
        4 May4 May 20:10
        
        Thanks TG
        
        15 nights for 75 with Amex..how?
      - Simon says:
        
        4 May4 May 20:38
        
        Got it via the CC. Already done. But realised I only need 35 nights
    - Simon says:
      
      4 May4 May 19:31
      
      Can be done for a grand. But the the suite upgrades could more than pay for it.
      - FloriGuy says:
        
        4 May4 May 20:12
        
        Which hotel would you have in mind? I was bored (or too distractable) so this post caused me to go and have a dig. I found one hotel in India at 27 GBP based upon current exchange rate but I struggle to see it much lower than that.
      - Rob says:
        
        4 May4 May 21:39
        
        For Platinum, surely it is easier to open a new account (assuming you’ve done a Platinum Challenge in the past) and do a Platinum Challenge on that. However you are still further down the pecking order than a Titanium Elite member so there’s real risk in the strategy.
        
        I got HUGE suite upgrades on 2 trips to St Regis New York whilst Titanium, as reviewed on here. I’m now Platinum but I reckon my chance of getting the same deal next time is a lot slimmer. Even as Titanium I didn’t get a decent upgrade at Marriott Berlin during the ITB travel show.
        
        If you WERE to do Platinum Challenge, you want to time it to maximise the time you get. Is now really the best time?
        
        I think I’d pay £1000 for two years on Titanium Elite but not much more. I’d probably break even on breakfast, lounge access and late check-outs on that basis and upgrades would be a bonus on top.
      - Simon says:
        
        4 May4 May 20:17
        
        Yes found a cat 1 hotel in India and one in China that was about £22.
      - FloriGuy says:
        
        4 May4 May 22:15
        
        Can imagine Raffles getting an angry call from Marriott tomorrow due to the overbooking of their unoccupied hotel in a rural town Raipur, India!
      - Stu287 says:
        
        5 May5 May 05:59
        
        Rob, did you manage to get your hard landing reversed from titanium to platinum instead of gold?
      - Rob says:
        
        5 May5 May 08:31
        
        Yes
Ed says:

4 May4 May 12:20

Can anyone remind me current options to pay an institution (say nursery fees) ultimately by a CC? they only provide sort/bank account so can’t even call up with a curve for example.
Any way the new online banks can handle that? ie any that allow that i prefund the current a/c with a cc and pay the payment via bacs from the app? am i missing anything else?
- Simon says:
  
  4 May4 May 12:40
  
  Revolut
- MJ says:
  
  4 May4 May 13:02
  
  If they have a company number you could use Billhop and pay with Amex (3% fee but worth it if you want to get some signup bonuses that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to get in my opinion)
- mark2 says:
  
  4 May4 May 13:04
  
  Monese at £14.99 per month
  - FloriGuy says:
    
    4 May4 May 14:24
    
    How you topping up? PO has stopped.
- illuminatus says:
  
  4 May4 May 14:15
  
  Billhop for a fee inc Amex, Revolut for free but no Amex
  - Grant says:
    
    4 May4 May 14:28
    
    ‘free’
  - Don says:
    
    4 May4 May 15:58
    
    Billhop is making a decent spread with 2.95%. Surely there is nothing stopping someone else coming in and charging say 2%? 1.5%. Except maybe for AmEx.
    
    Now give me my £100m in start-up money dear HfP “investors”!
    - Grant says:
      
      4 May4 May 21:42
      
      Pretty sure that’s how Curve’s first meeting went
- Genghis says:
  
  4 May4 May 16:52
  
  Do you qualify for “tax free” childcare, £500 a qtr?
  https://www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare
Rossy says:

4 May4 May 12:32

I had an open-jaw return flight to Canada in a few weeks time. This was booked using avios, cash for the taxes and a 2-4-1 voucher. I’ve just had an email saying that the outbound leg has been cancelled, but not the return leg yet. I would like to get everything refunded (i.e. not taking a voucher as my 2-4-1 still has about 18 months left on it). Just checking, if I call up, will BA refund BOTH legs, or will I need to wait for the return leg for be cancelled to get everything back?
- Graham says:
  
  4 May4 May 12:46
  
  If it’s under the one booking you will be refunded everything. If it’s separate you’ll need to wait.
  - Rossy says:
    
    4 May4 May 12:49
    
    Ah great, thanks, it was all under one booking so I could use my 241. I will try to call through to them when I can muster up the will power!
AJA says:

4 May4 May 12:59

The embattled carrier Norwegian Air will push ahead with its rescue plan and unlock government aid after winning support from shareholders, bondholders and aircraft lessors for a 10bn kroner (£770m) debt-for-equity swap.

After a weekend of frantic talks, the airline’s shareholders gathered at an emergency meeting in Oslo on Monday morning and voted 95% in favour of all proposals, including a 400m kroner share issue.

The plan will hand majority ownership to the airline’s creditors – bondholders and lessors – and leave shareholders with 5.2% of the company but there was no alternative, Norwegian’s chief executive, Jacob Schram, said.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/may/04/norwegian-air-wins-support-for-rescue-plan-ahead-of-crunch-vote
- marcw says:
  
  4 May4 May 16:29
  
  Good news for consumers!
Dan says:

4 May4 May 13:11

Eurotunnel… has anyone had success of a refund? Website says all tickets are valid for 12 months from purchase. In my case, February 2021. I don’t think I’ll be able to use them as already have plans for the rest of the summer (that will no doubt get cancelled too!). Probably lost unless travel insurance pays but with the trains still running not sure I’ll be covered.
- Bonzo says:
  
  4 May4 May 16:39
  
  I have the same problem. I have reported them to the CMA using this form https://www.coronavirus-business-complaint.service.gov.uk/
Harry T says:

4 May4 May 13:32

Can anyone recommend a hotel in Prague for Easter weekend next year?

I fancied the Augustine but it appears booked out. Four Seasons is toppy. Mandarin Oriental more reasonably priced. Hilton Prague Old Town looks cheap and well situated.

It’s a romantic weekend in Prague for Easter so we are looking for something fancy.
- Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
  
  4 May4 May 13:54
  
  Hilton Old Town I thought was decent, great location and lounge in particular. Not sure I could recommend it if you’re really looking to push the boat out, but I had no complaints for a regular weekend break.
- Michael C says:
  
  4 May4 May 14:57
  
  My sis did the Hilton based on the price/location/value for money ratio, and said it was more than decent!
- Craig says:
  
  4 May4 May 15:36
  
  Hilton old town was very pleasant as Diamond.
  - Brian W says:
    
    5 May5 May 00:21
    
    +1
- Pierre says:
  
  4 May4 May 17:08
  
  The Aria Hotel Prague is absolutely lovely! They put on an included afternoon tea every day, and each evening has a live piano player in the bar.
- Premier01 says:
  
  5 May5 May 00:16
  
  Good location…..
  
  Got upgraded from King Deluxe to the Penthouse Suite (duplex) retailing £ 1500 when stayed as Diamond member in 2018! The lounge was full- mainly US tourists so they set up small area in the main hotel bar- attentive service and better drinks made by the bar staff also!
Nelson says:

4 May4 May 14:07

Does anybody know any Monese upgrade promo code? Thanks
- H7_Inthis says:
  
  4 May4 May 16:10
  
  What are you using Monese for these days? Given Covid I’ve stopped use of Brighton at certain physical retail outlets as I wouldn’t want to risk it…is there any other avenue worth exploring?
  - Nelson says:
    
    4 May4 May 17:43
    
    Amex top ups at pp. Otherwise to pay off any credit card. Money transferred from revolut to monese for free.
    - H7_Inthis says:
      
      4 May4 May 17:48
      
      You’re still going to pp venues and manually doing this? No fear of all that handling of your card 🙂 ? Not sure I follow the Revolut route – there’s no way to add to it from a cc without incurring a fee.
      - FloriGuy says:
        
        4 May4 May 20:21
        
        You tried Creation? Just charge interest.
- memesweeper says:
  
  4 May4 May 19:03
  
  no — and I really wouldn’t bother… they shut me down despite using it largely as a legit bank! Stay on the free tier and the occasional top up presumably wouldn’t register. Cane it, and they’ll notice.
Mawalt says:

4 May4 May 14:24

Perhaps Rob or someone else has an answer to this.

I have 3 BA eVouchers issued under BA Price Promise that expire between July and September. Any chance of extension to these? As far as I can tell, only 2-4-1 vouchers have been extended. They were valid for 12 months when issued.

Also, annoyingly I’m 20 points short of the current silver threshold but my membership year ends in January. Any ideas whether my current status is likely to just get renewed?
- Gavin says:
  
  4 May4 May 14:38
  
  You could book a flight / flights with them and then convert the bookings into future travel vouchers
  - Mawalt says:
    
    4 May4 May 15:57
    
    Are you sure this will work? Under “normal” circumstances, upon cancellation, eVouchers are re-issued with the same expiry date as before.
- Rob says:
  
  4 May4 May 17:19
  
  All vouchers are extended to April 2022. Online FAQ confirm.
  - Mawalt says:
    
    5 May5 May 11:51
    
    I cannot seem to find this – are you sure?
    
    There are 2 places where vouchers are mentioned and neither mentions eVouchers explictly:
    
    “To ensure our Members still have the opportunity to use their Gold Upgrade Vouchers, Companion Vouchers and Travel Together Tickets earned via a British Airways credit card, we’re applying a six-month expiration extension to any current vouchers.”
    
    and
    
    “The voucher expires on 30 April 2022.
    
    Your voucher can be used as payment, or part payment, for a new future booking. Your new trip booked using your voucher must be fully completed by 30 April 2022 (departure and return).”
    (I think this refers to the “book with confidence” voucher.
    - Rob says:
      
      5 May5 May 12:17
      
      The refund evoucher is a BWC voucher.
      - Mawalt says:
        
        6 May6 May 13:34
        
        Oh ok, but I was referring to the BA Price Promise eVoucher – I thought it was a different thing from the BWC eVoucher, but happy to be wrong.