The new HFP chat thread – Tuesday 12th May

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• Harry T says:

  12 May12 May 13:55

  I’m in two minds about this – perhaps someone with a better grasp of economics could weigh in? I think we should try to stimulate the economy and minimise job losses, but surely we will pay a price for this government generosity at some point? I am a bit concerned the younger residents of the UK will be saddled with a large pile of national debt and increased taxes.

  Apologies if completely off base!

  • mark2 says:

    12 May12 May 14:08

    Each generation has always been saddled with the debts incurred by previous generations.

  • Lady London says:

    12 May12 May 14:29

    In 2008 and now, the government learned from the mistakes that were made in the Great Depression in the1930’s, here and in other places, when government “retrenched” and cut spending. This actually deepened the severity of the Great Depression and probably its length, due to the knock-on effects of this contraction in the economy.

    Instead in 2008 and now the technique being tried is “reflation”i.e. the government increases spending and puts more money into the economy.The extreme case is now with “furlough” payments being direct “transfers” from government to individuals, and soft “reflationary” loans and handouts to business. The strategy is to reduce damage by keeping the flow of money through the economy rather than everything come to a juddering halt.

    Unfortunately this has required a never-before-seen amount of “quantitiative easing”(what used be called “printing money” -in other words increasing the money supply without the British Government actually being required to be able to produce a certain proportion of the money in circulation at anytime, as “gold”. So the extra money is,basically, fake. But it’s a temporary measure to keep everything going so that people don’t, literally, starve. At some point it will have to stop or we’ll end up with hyperinflation like Argentina did, and as the Weimar Republic did which some say put Germany under such suffering,it led to the Second World War.

    Medium term effects of printing money can lead to a collapse in the currency(probably not short- medium term and possibly avoidable as the entire Western world is doing it), inflation, rises in interest rates, etc.We will end up in uncharted territory stretching how much money we can print before we come unstuck if we don’t resume the productive economy sometime soon.

    We’ll all pay the costs of this not just future generations.But what else can we do? The outcomes will depend on relativities with the rest of the world, and other things we can;t control.

    I make no claim to be a qualified economist but that’s how I remember from history lessons in school.

    • J says:

      12 May12 May 14:37

      I suspect the UK will not default but I’d expect it to inflate its way out of debt over a period of time… Higher taxes/lower spending don’t seem politically realistic.

      • Anna says:

        12 May12 May 14:50

        I’d take higher taxes, to be honest, as long as there was a concerted effort to ensure that everyone paid what they owe (also maybe unrealistic). I just hope the government don’t repeat the previous policy of decimating the public services. It’s breathtakingly short-termist to think that it’s not in the country’s interests to have a healthy, educated population which is safe to go about its life and business.

      • J says:

        12 May12 May 15:10

        Agreed Anna.

      • Cat says:

        12 May12 May 15:34

        + 1 @Anna
        I’m happy to up my taxes. It would be lovely if people with offshore bank accounts and the Bezos’ of the world took a long hard look at their bank balance and wondered whether all of those zeros were really needed.

      • Lady London says:

        13 May13 May 16:25

        unfortunately @J everything youve just described, and all together at once, has often bern described as how the UK economy has pretty much always tended to work. We had made a lot of progress. But its very finely balanced as to avoiding those things again now.

        Inflation destroys living standards and even today can still cause people to starve. Especially those on fixed incomes. Going ahead, many more people will fall onto fixed incomes, which in the UK is pensions (far, far below almost every other country in the Western world) and increasingly, Universal Credit.

        There are just too many surplus people (of all ages) and we are all responsible for the “social wage” (UC) increasing numbers of people who dont have enough work, will receive. Inflation of even moderate levels (say 1-4% – the UK target is 2%) makes these people very vulnerable.

        But i think we are going back (and forwards) to that, only with a greater mass of people in the UK than before, really suffering in a vice grip of income they cant control that doesnt increase, and inflation especially of charges made by finance industry (eg insurance, transaction charges), and central and local government charges.

        The problem the government really needs to sort out is the enormous liability for unfunded public pensions.

    • Harry T says:

      12 May12 May 15:43

      @LL thanks – interesting!

      I suspect that the Chancellor will seek to increase National Insurance contributions from self-employed folks.

      In terms of taxation, I’d happily pay more if the government funded public services and transport properly, and increased wages for teachers and healthcare workers (I confess vested self interest here but I also don’t think the government pays its public sector workers as well as say, Australia, or as well as they used to in the UK).

      • Cat says:

        12 May12 May 16:05

        👏

      • Josh says:

        12 May12 May 18:22

        I wouldn’t be surprised to see a rise in VAT. 22%?

      • J says:

        12 May12 May 19:28

        Interesting article on just this:

        https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-debt-breakingviews/breakingviews-dixon-how-will-pandemic-debts-be-paid-for-idUKKBN2220Y1

        Defaulting might end up being the best option.

      • Lady London says:

        13 May13 May 16:38

        @Josh they said they wouldnt do it but i think they will be forced to. Turnover taxes is they way to go. also this is how a givernment gets money from prople who live here, but dont pay full taxes here. Taxing on consumption.

        Likely to need to be used for the Google and Amazon problem and companies like Vodafone whose centre of business was deliberately moved to Luxembourg. Playing cat and mouse with international vapourware businesses and arguing about jurisdictions, domiciles, transfer taxes, head office charges from Luxembourg, Ireland or other tax havens (BVI, anyone?) that reduce corporate taxes in the UK has got to stop. Turnover and remittance taxes, if necessary ‘withholding taxes’ have to be applied on a concerted international basis using frog-boiling techniques so that trade continues but a fair contribution is made by corporations and UHNWI’s.
        .

      • Polly says:

        13 May13 May 23:45

        Would want my tax increase ring fenced specifically for the NHS/social care sectors…

• Harry T says:

  12 May12 May 14:00

  Can someone jog my memory? I think the £1 cancellation for RFS tickets is gone now that you have to ring BA to cancel Avios tickets – is this true?

  • Gavin says:

    12 May12 May 14:06

    Yes, £1 cancellations are impossible as long as online cancellation remains disabled.

  • Rhys says:

    12 May12 May 14:08

    Yes, I believe because the cancellation option is gone from the website BA are now enforcing the stricter rules over telephone.

    • EJH says:

      12 May12 May 14:50

      Now seems impossible to do anything (incl taking the fabled voucher) with a cancelled booking online – just get pushed in all cases to a blank page here: ba [dot] com/travel/disruption-recovery/execclub/_gf/en_gb/ …

      • davvero says:

        12 May12 May 15:10

        Ah so it’s not just me

  • Anna says:

    12 May12 May 15:12

    See above, Harry, Mykonos is lovely in the summer, lol!

    • Polly says:

      13 May13 May 23:27

      And Ios, and Paros…

• David says:

  12 May12 May 14:32

  I’m very tempted by the current option to redeem Amex MR points for 0.9p/point of statement credit, given that I’ll not be using them towards anything travel-related in the near future…
  …but before I do, has anyone heard anything about very good bonuses transferring to avios and/or hotel schemes in the near future, that’d make it worth my while hanging on to them?

• Bob says:

  12 May12 May 14:51

  Use Rocketmiles code future-travel on their app to get 500 Flying Club miles with your next booking.

  • davvero says:

    12 May12 May 14:58

    That’s not enough to transfer to Hilton I think you need 10000

• davvero says:

  12 May12 May 14:54

  Some good offers at Tesco at the moment Jaffa Cakes are 50p for a pack and Aperol is £10 (usually £15).

  One thing I’m missing now my trip in F to HKG was cancelled is LPGS. Do any of the supermarkets sell it or will I have to order it online?

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    12 May12 May 15:18

    Our local Waitrose stocks LPGS! 🤪

    • Spaghetti Town says:

      12 May12 May 15:21

      wow! Phone the Guardian!

      • Secret Squirrel says:

        12 May12 May 19:42

        Err no, maybe phone Waitrose to check still some in stock! 😉

        • Secret Squirrel says:

          12 May12 May 19:46

          By the way ST, I would never pay £120+ for a bottle of fizz when I can get it free on-board.

    • davvero says:

      12 May12 May 15:35

      I thought if anywhere that might be the place. Waitrose is a bit out the way here but I may need to make an ‘essential’ detour there tomorrow.

  • Anna says:

    12 May12 May 15:34

    Hang on a few weeks and you might be able to buy it from the producer!

  • Harry T says:

    12 May12 May 15:37

    Anyone found any LPGS in Costco?

    • Secret Squirrel says:

      12 May12 May 19:47

      No, only glass cleaner in bulk. You a member Harry?

• Craig W says:

  12 May12 May 15:34

  Anyone got any experience of making a claim under Curve’s consumer protection (their version of Section 75).

  They have raised a dispute for me. They have tried to say they won’t pay me out until 45 days have passed but I thought I had heard on here that people had been paid out immediately (similar to s75 for most credit card companies). I know there was always the risk of them billing me again for it but it feels weak to have to wait 45 days when I know the airline won’t respond.

  • Clive says:

    12 May12 May 16:56

    i had a successful claim against an Asian Airline who cancelled my flight. Was advised that the money was in my account but in “suspension”. No idea when or if I will see it

  • Lady London says:

    12 May12 May 18:04

    Practice varies. Some cards will credit you immediately while they are investigating. A few seem not to..

  • Craig W says:

    12 May12 May 18:11

    Thanks both

• rams1981 says:

  12 May12 May 15:58

  50% bonus on Heathrow Rewards to BA until 2 June

  • Alan says:

    12 May12 May 16:05

    Just received it too:

    “Collect 50% Bonus Avios
    If, like us, you’ve been dreaming of future trips, we have a great new offer just for you.

    We’ve teamed up with British Airways Executive Club to offer a 50% bonus when you convert your Heathrow Rewards points to Avios*.

    Until 2 June 2020, you’ll receive 375 Avios for every 250 Heathrow Rewards points you convert. Use your Avios to book reward flights, discount a cash booking or treat yourself to a cabin upgrade on eligible bookings when British Airways takes to the skies again.”

    • C says:

      12 May12 May 16:17

      Is this worth doing now, or are there sometimes better offers for avios (e.g. 75-100%)?

      • Rob says:

        12 May12 May 17:16

        We’ve seen better, although for the last couple of years bigger bonuses have been exclusively for Premium members.

        • davvero says:

          12 May12 May 17:52

          I’m premium and it’s still 50%

      • Sundar says:

        12 May12 May 18:17

        How frequent has this/similar offer run in the past ? HR points are like MR/Marriott valuable in the sense that they can go to lots of different airlines.

• Clive says:

  12 May12 May 16:57

  Would be nice to see something from Tesco

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