The new HFP chat thread – Saturday 9th May

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• Alex says:

  9 May9 May 10:33

  Are there any credit cards apart from AMEX platinum in the UK that offer rental car insurance, CDW, theft, etc?

  • J says:

    9 May9 May 10:47

    Not that I know of, maybe some packaged bank accounts include it. But this type of insurance is very cheap and easy to organise yourself as a stand alone policy.

  • Connor says:

    9 May9 May 10:49

    Curve Metal does, but make sure you read the terms as there are certain restrictions on it.

    • J says:

      9 May9 May 10:57

      That’s useful to know. Although for stand alone cover I think I pay £35 a year – and don’t have much need for the other Curve metal benefits.

• George K says:

  9 May9 May 10:42

  This is a hypothetical question but how possible/ethical would it be if I requested a voucher for a flight which is still operating in July (at the moment) but has dropped in price more than 50% since originally booked. Not saying that I would do this, but theoretically, could I request a voucher (and therefore cancel the booking) and then rebook exactly the same flight(s) with the reduced price?

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    9 May9 May 10:58

    Go for it, it’s BA so what’s ethical about them?

  • Lady London says:

    9 May9 May 21:50

    +1

• Aston100 says:

  9 May9 May 10:47

  And yet people will continue to blindly vote Conservative, no matter how much harm they cause the country.

  • Chris K says:

    9 May9 May 11:01

    I think a lot who voted for them for the first time in their lives/generations had their eyes wide open, especially given the choice they had in front of them. But then I guess I have a high (naive?) opinion of people and democracy in general, regardless of my own views.

  • J says:

    9 May9 May 11:12

    Labour also now have a competent and intelligent leader – if you like Boris you’d have felt sorry for him at PMQ’s the other day, it was painful for him.

  • Lee says:

    9 May9 May 11:12

    Next thing you will he saying the conservatives started the pandemic lol

    • J says:

      9 May9 May 11:19

      Who’s saying that? But why did Germany control it and why can’t the UK? Who’s in charge?

      • Rob says:

        9 May9 May 12:09

        Germany has an exceptionally good laboratory network, for a start.

      • Peter North says:

        9 May9 May 12:11

        Who’s in charge, a good question….Boris went missing and missed five, yes five COBRA meetings in February and early March, where the govt scientific advisors were alerting the govt to the raised threat posed by the Covid 19 virus. His govt was caught sleeping on the job, and five vital weeks were lost, when we should have been preparing.
        Its sickening to see the hypocrites Johnson, Patel, Raab, and Gove, all lauding the NHS, at every opportunity when all four of them voted against a 1% pay increase for NHS workers in 2017.
        I hope that when Johnson was a deaths door ( which I very much doubt) he had time to reflect on his latest reckless behaviour, in not attending meetings and his lack of attention to detail has undoubtedly cost lives.

        Before the naysayers on here start, I voted Conservative in both the 2010 and 2015 elections, however I wouldn’t vote for the charlatan in 10 Downing street whatever party he represented.

        • TimM says:

          9 May9 May 12:39

          Boris is a very entertaining politician and millions would vote for his party, no matter what party that happened to be.

          I am sure there will be a full public enquiry in due course and that will be very critical. May I predict the key conclusions? To save money after the financial crisis, the government pared the NHS down to the bone and ignored the risk of an unlikely pandemic. They were caught with their trousers down. Worst is probably their refusal to cooperate with the EU early on, when intelligence and advice was in, over PPE supplies and vaccine research for purely “political reasons” i.e “We have left the EU and Blighty can stand alone”.

          The UK has the highest death toll in Europe, second only in the World to that other crazily managed country, Trump World. When the ‘excess deaths’ figures are assembled in retrospect, the UK is likely to have the highest death rate per capita from Covid and the measures against it of any country. Shocking. Are you proud to be British right now?

        • Andrew says:

          9 May9 May 13:43

          Let’s look at a Nurse, on the absolute lowest nursing grade, fresh out of training and starting his full time job on 1st April 2016

          01/04/2016 – £21,909
          01/04/2017 – £22,683
          01/04/2018 – £23,951
          01/04/2019 – £26,220
          01/04/2020 – £27,416

          These are the actual basic salaries. Easy to check, just search for “Agenda for Change”

          Do you think that he wants the 1% increment that the far left Labour supporters like “Peter North” thinks he’s worth, or the actual salary increments he received over the last 5 years.

          Even at the higher ends of the scale, a Matron earning £38,851 under Labour in 2010 would now be on £51,668 under the Conservatives.

          The sad truth for many in the Left is that, despite their noise, the vast majority of Medics I work with don’t trust or vote Labour. And despite all the bluster in the press about it all being “Boris’s Fault”, on the inside, we know how bad procurement can be and the constant infighting amongst departments. Not to mention the departments that spend their day saying “No” (NHS Data & any role that has “Ethics” in the title).

        • Peter North says:

          9 May9 May 14:50

          Andrew, I suggest you read the text again numbnuts, I wasn’t advocating voting labour, just pointing out our current PM’s reckless attitude the fine detail, something that you appear to share with him.

        • jek says:

          9 May9 May 15:30

          Andrew, great use of statistics to pick a sweet spot! If you had looked at spine point 23, then it would have just been a yearly increase of around 1.47%, less than the inflation. In other words, you are one of those number bending conservatives.

        • James says:

          9 May9 May 16:49

          @tim
          Remainer by any chance?
          No wonder you guys lost with your well balanced arguments.

        • Ronald Jeremy says:

          9 May9 May 17:16

          James, Please do pay attention. Its not a discussion around leave or remain, more about the govt response to Covid Pandemic.

          Feel free to come back when you get your head out of your arse.

  • Anna says:

    9 May9 May 19:34

    The Tories are the lesser evil at this point in time. Don’t forget that when all this started Labour didn’t even have a leader. They remain deeply divided ideologically and under investigation for racism/anti-semitism, so unable to see their own shortcomings they even suspended Trevor Philips for failing to toe the party line sufficiently.

    • Ronald Jeremy says:

      9 May9 May 22:12

      Anna, there are other choices.
      The greens, the Lib Dems, the SNP in Scotland, UKIP, the Brexit Party or whatever Farage is calling himself this week.

      I chose The Lib Dems myself, mainly because of Jo Swinson, not much to look at, but a cracking rack.

    • Anuj says:

      10 May10 May 00:39

      Let’s not pretend that the conservatives don’t have a islamaphobia problem. It’s just less prominent because most tabloids are right wing.

• Sk123 says:

  9 May9 May 10:54

  I had a booking with the W Abu Dhabi in April using my Marriott Travel Package voucher. Due to COVID, I called Marriott and moved it to December. When I originally booked it, it was a category 4 but then changed to 5. When the agent moved the booking, she didn’t point it out although she saw and mentioned that I’d used my voucher to book it. My question is if it will be an issue. I don’t know if I need to provide any evidence of the voucher as there isn’t any and the agent originally booked the category I was entitled to and obviously wouldn’t have used it if I’d tried to book, say a category 7. I’d made private arrangements with the hotel re upgrade etc. Should I be checking with the hotel. I don’t know how much the staff there know about MTP.

  • Sk123 says:

    9 May9 May 10:54

    Sorry, forgot to mention I have a Category 1-4 voucher.

  • BJ says:

    9 May9 May 11:33

    The vouchers are electronic, there is no other evidence. All the info they need is in the system. I have never had an issue with check in and any sort of vouchers. I doubt check in cares. Regarding category, I guses they just ignored this due to current situation and fact vouchers got messy for a while during merger. Were you to change again after things become more normal or want to use it at a different hotel then I expect it will still be considered a 1-4, not 5.

    • Sk123 says:

      9 May9 May 13:25

      Thanks.

• Rk says:

  9 May9 May 11:04

  Quick Question – Amex self referral is a no-no, however if one referred oneself to a business Plat/Gold would that be deemed self referral? Thoughts appreciated.

  • BJ says:

    9 May9 May 11:20

    Same I guess. IMO not worth the risk when other opportunities to take advantage of referral bonuses exist.

  • Fred says:

    9 May9 May 22:29

    You can self refer. I referred myself from BAPP to Gold last year and just referred myself to free BA last month. Got the referral bonus before even received the new card

    • Secret Squirrel says:

      10 May10 May 07:33

      If you carry on self referring you could see those and previous points removed and account closed.

• fivebobbill says:

  9 May9 May 11:11

  Has anyone any experience of adding a supplementary to Amex Green? I took it out after cancelling Platinum a few months ago and am wondering would there be any bonus points for adding the missus?

  • BJ says:

    9 May9 May 11:17

    No bonus for green supp sorry.

    • fivebobbill says:

      9 May9 May 11:23

      😪 Awe well, thanks anyway BJ…

      • BJ says:

        9 May9 May 11:39

        For future reference, but study the detail because all cards are shown but bonuses are only received where indicated.
        https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/benefits/supplementary-cards/

        • Optimus Prime says:

          9 May9 May 14:30

          Thanks for the link, BJ. Was about to ask the same question.

        • memesweeper says:

          9 May9 May 14:56

          Sadly doesn’t list the business cards — any sup. bonuses on them?

        • Jon says:

          9 May9 May 20:02

          3k bonus on Gold Business supps

• Don says:

  9 May9 May 12:37

  Was there ever an Amex travel offer on the ARCC? Or is it only the charge and Gold credit cards?

  Same question for Hilton offers.

  • Jimbo says:

    9 May9 May 15:17

    Yes, £50 off £200 spend for me in Jan/Feb

• Aston100 says:

  9 May9 May 12:55

  Anyone got any experience of South Africa in early August?
  Specifically Cape Town and Kruger Park.
  I understand it is perfectly OK to do a safari in Kruger at that time, but I’m not convinced Cape Town and the surrounds would be enjoyable. I wonder if shark cage diving is still do’able at that time?

  Thanks.

  • Aston100 says:

    9 May9 May 12:57

    This is for 2021 BTW before anyone wants to remind me about viruses and quarantines.
    Thanks.

  • onlysuites says:

    9 May9 May 13:09

    We went in July and loved it. Cape Town had lovely weather and the safari’s although cold in the morning were great once the sun came out. I would go in the same time again as the bush cover is less so you see more animals.

    • Matt says:

      9 May9 May 23:07

      +1 absolutely. Did Kruger and the garden route July/Aug 2018. Excellent game viewing, shark dives possible, and whale watching in de hoop a highlight.

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