The new HFP chat thread – Saturday 16th 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/2020/05/16/the-new-hfp-chat-thread-saturday-16th-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.

Dave H says:

16 May16 May 02:53

“We’re living in Teams, it’s as simple as that!”

Worst TV ad ever
- Cillit Bang says:
  
  16 May16 May 06:34
  
  “Hi I’m Barry Scott, Bang and the dirt is gone!”
  
  Now that’s a bad TV ad.
  - Rob says:
    
    16 May16 May 09:29
    
    Except it isn’t, because you’re quoting it and remember it, unlike 99.9% of TV ads you’ve ever seen.
    - RussellH says:
      
      16 May16 May 12:15
      
      I remember a very small number of TV ads. I try very hard not to use the products advertised in them.
  - Peter K says:
    
    16 May16 May 09:40
    
    Great advert. There was even a rave version of it done 😂
    - Rob says:
      
      16 May16 May 10:04
      
      Seems you’re right! https://youtu.be/WGooQ8yYC0c
      - AJA says:
        
        16 May16 May 14:44
        
        Thanks for posting that Rob .That’s fantastic. Not sure the product works as well as advertised.- the penny dipped in solution thing works just as well with coca-cola, not that I’m, advocating using that to clean the kitchen or bathroom. I always thought if it does that to a penny what is it doing to your stomach?
      - Darren says:
        
        16 May16 May 15:00
        
        Fantastic? It really isn’t. 😉
- Anna says:
  
  16 May16 May 09:24
  
  Homeschooling in Teams is not quite that simple, unfortunately.
- Secret Squirrel says:
  
  16 May16 May 09:57
  
  More like “We’re living in dreams”!
- AJA says:
  
  16 May16 May 14:38
  
  There was very briefly a really awful advert for local builders??? that was the sponsor on C4 before Frasier. It used the windows of buildings to make faces singing the awful jingle. Fortunately Covid-19 came along and that was the end of it, it was replaced by some guy in a Mercedes gurning at you – I’ve never actually bothered to find out what he’s selling but it is very useful as a signal when fast-forwarding through the adverts to find the beginning of the next segment of Frasier.. Small mercies.
  - Darren says:
    
    16 May16 May 15:00
    
    My Builder
Benilyn says:

16 May16 May 03:28

I’ve been using Curve historically to double dip on VA, always worked fine. Now I have an interest charge on my bill from a few days ago… not sure what it’s for but looks like because of what I mentioned. When did this happen? You think I could get it refunded?
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  16 May16 May 07:14
  
  Unless you plan on phoning up Virgin Money and explaining to them exactly what you have been doing I’d say no.
- Dan says:
  
  16 May16 May 09:16
  
  Was it a cash withdrawal?
- Anna says:
  
  16 May16 May 09:26
  
  If it’s interest as opposed to a set fee, pay your underlying card off as soon as you make the transaction next time.
  - Benilyn says:
    
    16 May16 May 09:36
    
    It was not a withdrawal, just a card payment. Yh have to take it on the chin… it was game over anyway but wasn’t expecting a charge!
    - Secret Squirrel says:
      
      16 May16 May 09:58
      
      Virgin money are notorious for fees via routes, best to stay away or pay fees.
- steve fred says:
  
  16 May16 May 16:31
  
  Something strange is going on today. Withdrew £200 on curve backed on to JLFS. Seeing £210 as pending on JLFS, Curve showing £200.
Sk123 says:

16 May16 May 03:46

Using Curve (Metal) for the first time. Front is switched on. Added my Hilton Barclaycard and HSBC premier elite successfully. Tried making a transfer via Western Union and both cards got declined in two separate transactions. I don’t know why! Could someone shed some light. The Barclaycard went through first but then I got an email to say my bank declined the transaction. My transaction was about £300.
- John says:
  
  16 May16 May 05:02
  
  Try some genuine transactions first and for smaller amounts
- Jonathan says:
  
  16 May16 May 07:49
  
  Barclaycard & HSBC will be seeing the MCC for moneytransfer & combined with the transaction passing through an intermediary are unsurprisingly viewing it as high risk. Are you sure you won’t be getting charged cash advance fees & interest on these transactions either? I’d definitely start small & close to statement dates at first if you’re trying to MS.
  - Sk123 says:
    
    16 May16 May 09:16
    
    Thanks. I thought you don’t get charged any fees on Curve Metal. I did check online if it could be used for Western Union and the answer was yes. Is there an article with ideas on how to maximise the benefits and these declined emails are such a pain. Regretting paying £150 and I think I can’t cancel and ask for refund.
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      16 May16 May 10:11
      
      Sometimes You have to build up some actual transactions for your underlying card to accept the other transactions.
      
      In other cases Curve passes the MCC straight through to the underlying card so if Hilton and HSBC cards don’t allow you to pay WU directly then they won’t allow you to use Curve to do it either.
      
      I think you have to pay £50 if you decide to cancel the metal within 6 months.
    - Genghis says:
      
      16 May16 May 10:48
      
      “ I thought you don’t get charged any fees on Curve Metal”
      Curve won’t charge you but no guarantee re underlying cards. Start small with whatever you’re doing to test the waters
- memesweeper says:
  
  16 May16 May 15:09
  
  Curve themselves also don’t support all money purchase solutions available to a genuine debit card — eg it’s never worked for me at FX dealers
Robot Maths says:

16 May16 May 05:55

Haven’t been on chat for a month. Glad to see that Mr “a matter of days” has given up. Looking forward to re-booking LHR-BOS on VA for Easter next year instead.
Relaxo says:

16 May16 May 06:35

Has anyone tried signing up as a new customer, without switching provider at an adress ? Specifically virgin media. Account at the moment is in wife’s name but contract has ended so got a price hike. Can I sign up for a new contract at same address to take advantage of a new customer offer?
- Spursdebs says:
  
  16 May16 May 06:50
  
  I do it all the time with utilities, don’t forget to go thru the site that can’t be named for extra points if they have the product you want.
  - BJ says:
    
    16 May16 May 07:18
    
    Me too, never had a problem. Bever been a Virgin Media customer though.
- Lumma says:
  
  16 May16 May 06:59
  
  With Virgin Media, I’ve found that in the past they offer you a mediocre offer to stay first, then when you still cancel you get a call a few days later with an offer similar to the new customer deals.
  
  I decided to ditch them anyway near the start of the crisis and I still got called offering me to stay, despite it being difficult to get through to them
  - Tom says:
    
    16 May16 May 12:14
    
    +1
    
    I had Broadband and Phone as it was initially cheaper. Cancelled at end of contract had a call 5 days before my cut off date to offer broadband only at the same price as my old contract for 18 months.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  16 May16 May 07:17
  
  Done this with sky before but they check the surname is different on the online sign up process.
  
  I just used my middle name instead.
  - Relaxo says:
    
    16 May16 May 07:39
    
    Excellent. Got different surnames too. Thanks all for quick feedback.
    - Jonathan says:
      
      16 May16 May 07:51
      
      Sky don’t credit check as they bill in advance so you can have any name you like on the account.
- Carol says:
  
  16 May16 May 11:20
  
  I have found Virgin Media very good at giving me a better deal each time my current contract comes to an end. I am paying 50p a month less than my original contract 4 years ago. I was told by them to call each time my contract ends to enable them to offer another deal. They have been good to their word and seem very keen to keep customers be doing this
- Charlieface says:
  
  16 May16 May 23:11
  
  Just did this with Plusnet they didn’t notice and even sent me a reward card which I immediately cashed out for council tax
BJ says:

16 May16 May 07:14

Nectar: check accounts for offers, I have 1000 bonus points for spending £5 at ebay within next three days.
- Rob says:
  
  16 May16 May 09:28
  
  I had this three weeks ago, bought a £5.99 book with free postage!
BJ says:

16 May16 May 07:22

@Cat, papers full of the government/unions dispute over reopening schools today. What is the mood amongst you and you teaching colleagues on the issue?
- Anna says:
  
  16 May16 May 09:29
  
  Also @Cat, all fellow parents I’ve spoken to are unanimous, a) the kids aren’t going back to school until we know a lot more about transmission and b) the decision should lie with schools, not the government.
  - Freddy says:
    
    16 May16 May 09:48
    
    I’d say the parent split is quite even where I am. The risk to children and non-vulnerable adults is extremely low and this needs to be weighed up against the long term impact on children learning and social development.
    - BJ says:
      
      16 May16 May 10:09
      
      The problem is that for most people perception, assessment and response to risk is at the individual to family level while the real concern for governments and health protection is at the community/country/global level in the case of Covid-19.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        16 May16 May 10:25
        
        I think perception of the risk plays a big part and the government and media has done a poor job of conveying the risk.
        
        I don’t believe children can’t be infected or transmit it, But I do believe all the evidence says they are at minimal risk the same risk as 2-3 months of normal life.
        
        I strongly believe that children that live in households with healthy under 50’s should all go back to school (as per the governments timeline). The rest should be decided on a personal case by case basis.
        
        I think the only decision local councils should make are around when it’s physically possible to open with the services required and not make decisions about when they feel its safe as frankly I don’t think they have access to the level of medical/scientific/statistical knowledge that the government does.
      - Chrish says:
        
        16 May16 May 10:56
        
        BJ@ I think regards Children going back to School the Government takes “Scientific Advice”
        how many people will die by children going back to School (yes More people will die)
        That’s a scientific fact but is the total acceptable probably yes as long as the numbers can be disguised. Children themselves won’t die (or only 2/3 easily hidden)
        But Children will pass it on and parents, “Grand Parents” will get it and some will die as a direct result
        (some Grand Parents will ignore advice where Grand Children are concerned so you could argue their deaths are their fault & not the child’s)
        Some parents will get it at the school playground again their fault not the child’s
        Now the Government know all this but can’t say it, due to the need to get most back to work
        So how many deaths “ARE/WILL BE” Acceptable that’s the big question
      - Rob says:
        
        16 May16 May 11:15
        
        If you saw how much my 9-year old has started to drop back in the past two months you’d think differently. You simply cannot have a whole generation missing out on a substantial chunk of their education. It would literally impact the country for the next 50 years.
      - BJ says:
        
        16 May16 May 11:13
        
        TG “the government and media has done a poor job of conveying the risk.”
        
        I think this is key. There may be some mileage in adopting a regional approach. I think people understand better the big picture than trying to grasp the detail of health effects, transmission etc which just confuses too many. If they can see/grasp that the problem is much less severe in one city/region than in another then it is easier for them the understand and accept relaxation of the lockdown in some areas and not others. While a one size fits all approach undoubtedly has it’s own merits, it then requires this sector by sector relaxation we see now such as return to schools that many may misunderstand and mistrust. We end up with problems whereby relatively safe activities can take place in areas with high incidence of Covid-19, and other regions where relatively unsafe activities cannot take place even if the incidence of Covid-19 is close to zero. Under such circumstances the communication with the public at large is inevitably very challenging and not helped by a devisive press and the governments own poor record on transparency.
      - BJ says:
        
        16 May16 May 11:30
        
        @Chrish, I am not trying to push any viewpoint of my own, just putting out a few thoughts. I don’t know any school teachers personally so was just interested to hear Cat’s take on it as a teacher. Anna then threw in the question of what parents think which adds another layer of interest to the whole debate. I’ve no children either so largely I’m just an observer on this one. Ultimately, it seems, the result on the ground is more likely going to reflect what parents and teachers think than what the government, unions and media think- let’s see. Rob even commented the other day that that he was contemplating a move to Amsterdam on the basis of the schooling issue.
      - Chrish says:
        
        16 May16 May 11:50
        
        Rob@ you totally missed my point i understand about your 9 year old and others
        My point is more people will die (now i don’t have a view either way don’t particular care either as long as it’s none of mine)
        What my point was/is if you accept that more “Will Die” and that’s acceptable to you (not you personally of course)
        then the risk of being one of yours or someone you know is ok
        that’s the risk acceptable or not
        Yes Children’s education will suffer,
        it would be “Very” interesting if SCOTLAND didn’t send back to school until September and deaths dropped to nill.
        We had a second peak far worse than the first millions of deaths what would the reaction be ?
      - memesweeper says:
        
        16 May16 May 15:16
        
        Perception is a long way from reality with kids and Covid. There are no cases, in all the contact tracing that WHO has monitored, of children passing on the illness to adults. Now, that’s not to say it’s impossible or has never happened, but clearly it is very unusual. The real risk in opening schools is *between* the adults (teachers, helpers, parents dropping off) not between or to/from the kids.
        
        My twitter stream is full of hysterical parents worried about their children’s health. FFS — worry about the teachers having to go back to work, not your precious little ’uns.
    - Lady London says:
      
      16 May16 May 11:42
      
      the risk is *from* children not to them. not for nothing are children attending school often called “a vector for infection”.
      
      France has left it to local decision to reopen schools, or not. Even if school is open most parents are declining for now to send their kuds back.
      
      The big demand for schools to reopen everywhere seems to be more so that working parents can have a babysitter.
      - Lady London says:
        
        16 May16 May 11:49
        
        +1 @TGLoyalty agree that if a child is in contact only with healthy people under 55 or so then I’m probably in favour of getting kids back to school asap.
      - Rob says:
        
        16 May16 May 15:04
        
        Since lack of education has a permanent impact on your life chances, and kids at school today will have a 50 year working life ahead of them, it will impact them (and therefore the rest of the country) for 50 years. This isn’t really something which should require discussion because it’s obvious. It’s effectively half a school year done at low impact.
      - Rob says:
        
        16 May16 May 16:16
        
        Eh? Kids have been off school since March and, between March and Easter, most kids were doing absolutely nothing because they were not set up for remote learning. Every day that a kid is not in school, or doing a full day of school, is a permanent loss of education obviously.
  - BJ says:
    
    16 May16 May 09:59
    
    Something more impartial than the national press on the issue:
    https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01354-0
    - mutley says:
      
      16 May16 May 11:29
      
      Rob, somewhat melodramatic “impact the country for the next 50 years”. In the greater scheme of things missing out on 2 or 3 months education is not going to have a massive impact over the life of your child’s education. Most children have these days get 15 years schooling from pre prep/ nursery through to sixth form and then 3-4 years university.
      
      I say that as a school governor of ten years plus in a state school, and also having two boys in the independent sector.
      - BJ says:
        
        16 May16 May 11:58
        
        Might be a bit much but Rob still has a point. In 22 years teaching at university the impact of all the tinkering in primary and secondary education on the ability of the university intake was readily apparent. The impacts here seem unlikely to be limited to simply losing a few months education, there will be prolonged impacts due to ongoing disruption and stress, including for many even grief.
- AJA says:
  
  16 May16 May 14:58
  
  I have no kids but my niece is missing seeing her school friends. She is coping remarkably well with remote teaching and has used her smartphone to keep in touch with classmates but this term is her final one at primary school and she was hoping to get to see friends in person who will be moving to a different high school in September. She also wants to say good bye to her class teacher. The teacher was apparently going to provide guidance on what to expect at high school. It’s only for another 7 weeks and then they would be on summer school holidays anyway. I also think that there will still be risks in September and I am not convinced that delaying returning by another 3 months is really going to stop a second wave of infections. All it does is delay it until we hit autumn and winter.
  - Navara says:
    
    16 May16 May 17:09
    
    The most sensible option would be to delay the return for another month then cut the summer break accordingly.
    - Lady London says:
      
      16 May16 May 19:58
      
      +1. I too am extremely worried about a posdible more deadly resurgence in autumn/winter. But i do think children who are only in contact with healthy people up to age 55 or so should go back to school now and the summer break should be delayed and shortened.
      - Crafty says:
        
        17 May17 May 09:22
        
        Really bizarre how not a single person on this page appears to have considered the potential delayed impacts on children of the Covid-linked “Kawasaki type” disease that’s been observed over the last month and all over the press since yesterday.
        
        Are you still comfortable in your assertions there is no risk to children?
        
        This is a new and unprecedented situation, I would suggest we should all be extremely careful with any such assertions.
  - AJA says:
    
    16 May16 May 21:33
    
    No it’s just my personal opinion.
Nate says:

16 May16 May 07:33

Hi. I am looking to transfer remainder of my virgin miles to Hilton. I did so in March and the process was very quick, but it is taking a little longer this time (received auto confirmation but awaiting a reply from an agent – might be that they are a little busier right now).

Could I just double check the number used? I texted the following number: +44 7481 339184.
- roberto says:
  
  16 May16 May 07:44
  
  Number is correct – its the one I used. Swap took about 20 days off the top of my head.
- BJ says:
  
  16 May16 May 08:35
  
  Just call them and sort it out on the phone. Called 3 May, Hilton points posted yesterday.