The new HFP chat thread – Thursday 14th May

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• Heath says:

  14 May14 May 09:48

  Do successful supplementary card applications for BAPP cards still get 3000 points?
  Thank u

  • Rob says:

    14 May14 May 09:55

    Yes, if you do it via this page https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/benefits/supplementary-cards/

    • Genghis says:

      14 May14 May 10:13

      You can just do it from your account. Sometimes the page freezes after processing but you’ll see if you’re successful as the 3k should post immediately.

    • Heath says:

      14 May14 May 15:14

      Thank you

  • Anna says:

    14 May14 May 10:20

    Is it just the first supp?

    • Doug M says:

      14 May14 May 10:26

      Yes.

    • Andrew says:

      14 May14 May 10:29

      Seems to be only for the first, but interesting to see if that really is the case or it it works for further ones. Also it states that you won’t receive the bonus if you have received it before – what if your supps were in place a long time ago, before this offer existed, can you add one now and get the bonus because although not the first supp, you didn’t get a bonus before?

      • Genghis says:

        14 May14 May 10:37

        One data point: if you add a supp as part of the application process, you can still add another supp once account opened and get the supp bonus.

        • Charlieface says:

          14 May14 May 14:21

          I once added one and got the bonus after having had the bonus before on the same account and then cancelling the supp. Didn’t want to take the mick doiong it too many times, I wonder if anyone else tried it… YMMV

• NickAnon says:

  14 May14 May 10:23

  Asia Air have cancelled my flight and are now refusing refund. (HKG-BKI) I have tried repeatedly, but just offering change of date – I wont be flying with them again so useless to me. I could try through credit card but they are less than £100 each person. Anyone else had any luck?
  Are Asia Air governed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia?

  • Vit says:

    14 May14 May 10:33

    Have you tried asking them for credit into Air Asia BIG account? As I believe credit into BIG account has now been extended to be used in the future up to end of 2021 and not just 12 months. At least it will give you more space to work with?

    • NickAnon says:

      14 May14 May 11:48

      I need a refund. This flight was part of a trip that is not going to happen now. Ive never flown AsiaAir and im never likely to – it seems they have changed the T&Cs *after* I made the booking to not offer refunds, and are just telling me thats how it is. I want nothing to do with a company that does that.

    • BJ says:

      14 May14 May 13:07

      We discussed this in chat yesterday Nick, unfortunately no refunds for anybody yet as far as I know. The credits to BIG account Vit refers to are working ok, mine took 13 days. This credit can be used against hotels or car hire too if that is of any use to you. I’ve never booked either of those via Air Asia so I don’t know if it is restricted to their own market area or not.

• Doug M says:

  14 May14 May 10:29

  A slightly annoying aspect of the IHG Premium card is how long they take to consider your DD as paid. On occasion I get quite close to the credit limit, the DD posts and 4 days later I still can’t spend as the DD as not been taken from the available to spend figure.

  • Craig Vassie says:

    14 May14 May 10:49

    Creation is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas. They’re certainly not the best at posting either DDs or direct account payments, and they routinely sit on the money for three or four days. When I tackled them they claimed that they were waiting for the payment to clear, which is rubbish!

    • ian_h says:

      14 May14 May 12:49

      Not necessarily, my firm collects DD and there is a window between seeing the collection on a clients bank and us physically receiving the funds.

      If we collect on the first for example, we find out about rejections/bounces on the 2nd and don’t see the actual fund arrive until the 3rd sometimes 4th day after collection.

      It’s not dissimilar to a card payment where we have to wait for settlement for a couple of days.

  • Sandra says:

    14 May14 May 11:08

    Yesterday I was surprised to find a late payment fee on our black IHG account as, rather than ask for a refund only to return it to them a few days later, we had left credit refunds for Covid cancellations on the account that cleared the last statement balance and still left a credit of about £10. When I called this morning the charge was removed but I was told by the person I spoke to that (she thought) it was because we hadn’t made the minimum payment and even though the credits had cleared the balance their system still expects at least the minimum payment to be made by the due date if the last statement had a balance o/s on it?!! Be aware.

    • Genghis says:

      14 May14 May 11:12

      Amex too.

      If you have a statement balance of £2k and then receive a refund of £1k, they still expect £2k payment per terms and how the DD works unless you contact them.

      Does anyone have any other data points from receiving refunds from Amex?

      • Sandra says:

        14 May14 May 11:21

        Genghis, surprisingly it worked with my Amex and I had no problem with them. Left the credit and it cleared the balance without a hitch.

        • Sandra says:

          14 May14 May 11:23

          To add to that I don’t pay by DD I just send by bank transfer as I dislike them taking the DD early!

        • BJ says:

          14 May14 May 13:28

          Me too, regardless of refund received my amex app always seems to update with respect to any payments due. I also get email notifications informing me of any adjustments. Never had any penalties or interest applied.

        • Genghis says:

          14 May14 May 13:33

          Thanks for data points. I know for future. I have been burned in the past.

      • AJA says:

        14 May14 May 12:01

        This aspect of paying by DD is one of the reasons I avoid DD. Besides given there is you nearly 3 weeks between statement date and due date I find it very simple just to log into my bank on the day I get the Amex or other c card statement and set up the payment to go out when I want it to. And with the mobile app I don’t even need access to a pc or even need to be in the UK. Never understood the attraction of DD, it saves literally 5 minutes a month of my time. Not worth it to my mind.

        • Genghis says:

          14 May14 May 12:06

          Yeah it’s just one more thing to do and given return on cash capital these days, negligible benefit. I could pay my TV licence / gas and electric etc by credit card but prefer to keep things simple. I do pay CT manually, however, as the benefits are worth it to me – possible to get 10% back at the CoOp. I generally prefer my financial system to be as automated as possible.

        • Harry T says:

          14 May14 May 13:09

          @Genghis
          Please remind me how to get 10% off at the Coop… I’m usually focussed on hitting a credit card bonus spend.

        • Genghis says:

          14 May14 May 13:30

          LBG brand (Lloyds, Halifax, BOS) offers.

        • Harry T says:

          14 May14 May 13:32

          @Genghis
          Thanks, I should open a bank account with one of them. Currently don’t have one.

      • Boi says:

        14 May14 May 12:02

        Does anyone have experience regarding this with Lloyd’s? I have had refunds so rather than paying full statement balance I just paid the difference-
        Eg: statement £7100. £600 refund. I just paid £6500. Will this lead to interest charge of some sort?

        • Spk says:

          14 May14 May 14:21

          Call the bank to confirm. Like Creation, some banks might insist on paying them.

      • Spk says:

        14 May14 May 14:20

        Never had this issue with Amex. But I pay manually, not by DD.

      • Charlieface says:

        14 May14 May 14:23

        Don’t think it’s true as I often don’t pay the full balance if I’ve had refunds. I think it only happens if you don’t make the minimum payment. The website saying balance to be paid is just a bug

        • Genghis says:

          14 May14 May 14:51

          Thanks. The terms state otherwise, but I guess Amex aren’t applying them. As always with this “hobby”, de facto and de jure differ.

        • illuminatus says:

          14 May14 May 15:05

          I have also paid to clear ‘total balance’ only vs ‘balance due’ many times after large refunds with no penalty. However every time I called Amex to clarify that, they insisted on me paying the full ‘balance due’ and then refunding the difference to me later on

    • Doug M says:

      14 May14 May 13:43

      I checked my account this morning and noticed the DD was about £20 less than expected, they’d adjusted it account for a refund after the statement date.

  • Anna says:

    14 May14 May 11:14

    I always make some kind of payment well in advance as they are quite slow at clearing.

• Vit says:

  14 May14 May 10:35

  Rob, I think a few weeks or month ago, you were running some avios bonus for IG follower. Cannot remember exactly what it is called. Do we have a winner yet? 🙂

  • Rob says:

    14 May14 May 10:36

    We do, but it’s not you! We’ll announce the name on (at the current schedule) Saturday.

• Isolde says:

  14 May14 May 10:45

  Data point for Marriott, and a compare and contrast with BA.

  I had a non cancellable booking at Westin Sendai which I cancelled last Friday using Marriott’s COVID 19 Cancellation Policy. I cancelled it with Marriott’s central reservation group and e:mailed the hotel as a courtesy. Marriott said it would take up to 90 days to refund to my credit card, which I was happy to accept given that it was originally non cancellable and Marriott were being very fair with their policy. The refund arrived last night in 3 working days. A very impressive response from the hotel.

  BA also cancelled flights, so I asked for a refund at the same time. The companion voucher and Avios were due back by Tuesday but have not arrived and I fully expect to have to do a S75 claim with AMEX to get my charges back in a reasonable time..

• Anna says:

  14 May14 May 11:17

  I’m toying with the idea of booking a pre-Xmas trip to Vienna and will have 2 IHG free night certificates to use – does anyone know if the Intercontinental is any good? Some reviews on Tripadvisor suggests it’s badly in need of a refurb. The only other IHG offerings seem to be HI’s.

  • Rob says:

    14 May14 May 11:22

    https://headforpoints.com/2016/09/17/review-intercontinental-vienna-hotel/

    I’ve also stayed there twice over the years. It is acceptable but unremarkable. Likely to be a bit more battered now than it was in 2016 when we covered it. You are not inside the ‘ring’ but literally just a couple of minutes walk. Park Hyatt is highly rated but unfortunately you’ve just missed the 30% bonus on buying Hyatt points.

    • Anna says:

      14 May14 May 11:30

      Thanks Rob. The Hilton Vienna Plaza where I stayed with my sister last year was also lovely but I am struggling to use the free night certificates given the amount of stuff we’ve cancelled this year. I could look at other cities but OH and son would adore Vienna due to being history buffs of the period it was at its peak.

      • Rob says:

        14 May14 May 11:34

        Book it then. If it’s free it’s free and Vienna is probably pretty pricey when the Christmas markets are on.

      • BJ says:

        14 May14 May 13:37

        I’ve stayed at HI City and it was fine. Might be worth a look to see how points compare to the IC.

      • Michael C says:

        14 May14 May 16:12

        We did the Hilton Vienna Plaza Xmas market trip the year before, Anna, also loved it. Sure you’ll have a fab time wherever you are!

  • TGLoyalty says:

    14 May14 May 11:43

    It a pretty ugly looking on the outside and little tired on the inside. It’s in a decent location, just outside the ring as Rob mentioned. Vienna is lovely around that time but 2020 may not be the same as market may not go ahead in the same way?

    The Marriott choices are better, I stayed at the imperial not too far away.

    • Anna says:

      14 May14 May 14:33

      But – there are no award or Ambassador nights showing at all at the moment, presumably because of current circs, so will have to see what opens up. Also IHG certificates not triggered for a few weeks yet, so will see if anything opens up.
      We wouldn’t be going primarily for the markets, it’s the museums and hopefully a concert/opera but of course nobody knows how things will be anywhere by then. December will just be the only time OH can get a few days leave in the school holidays.

• Coucou says:

  14 May14 May 11:21

  Rob,

  Do you see AMEX offering an increased bonus for taking the Platinum card in the future? I don’t think people will rush to get such a product for the next few months, especially considering the current travel circumstances.

  On the other hand, the BAPP doesn’t seem to have the same offers at the moment. Should we expect something on that front to compensate for the limited use of the cards and its benefits?

  Thanks, C

  • Gary says:

    14 May14 May 13:03

    Has anyone had any joy getting a retention offer for their BAPP?

    Already received 20k MR for plat.

    • Polly says:

      15 May15 May 01:53

      No luck with that one l think, nor my OHs SPG either…

• John says:

  14 May14 May 11:55

  Pretty much sums up the battle ahead:

  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/14/ryanair-july-flights-michael-oleary-bluster-coronavirus

  For those who reckon MOL is reading the politics more accurately than WW, this is a quick summary of current border control plans:

  https://m.dw.com/en/which-european-union-countries-are-open-for-summer-tourism/a-53424062

  • memesweeper says:

    14 May14 May 15:00

    Good luck getting any kind of social distancing working at Stansted when Ryanair are flying again…

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