The new HFP chat thread – Monday 18th 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/2020/05/18/the-new-hfp-chat-thread-monday-18th-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.

koroleon says:

18 May18 May 09:37

I had a platinum amex, then opened the ARCC, activated it and yesterday I closed my platinum. I see a different MR balance on the two cards – 36k on my plat and 0 on the ARCC. I thought I was supposed to have one common MR account? Shall I call Amex to make sure I don’t lose the points or will this sort itself out after a few days?
- Rob says:
  
  18 May18 May 09:41
  
  Call Amex and make sure that the new card gets linked to your original MR account, or your original 36k will be wiped out in a few weeks.
- RM84 says:
  
  18 May18 May 09:56
  
  As Rob says, you have to call to link your MR accounts – it doesn’t happen automatically. I did this last week before cancelling a Gold card. I tried to do it via online chat first but they said they have to send the request on for you internally but it can take 10 working days, so much quicker to call. You won’t see the change instantly – my account updated overnight to show the MR points sitting on my ARCC.
  - RussellH says:
    
    18 May18 May 10:38
    
    Have things changed then? It is 18 months since I got a new Amex card, but before that I could always add an additional card to an existing a/c on a weekday. I never worked at weekends.
    - RussellH says:
      
      18 May18 May 10:39
      
      **It** never worked at weekends.
      
      [Took half a dozen re-wordings to get this to post.]
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      18 May18 May 10:45
      
      It’s not about the online account you login in to go but rather the back end MR account and the cards being linked to a single account.
      - RussellH says:
        
        18 May18 May 11:16
        
        I am only going on my personal experience, plus what an Amex CS agent told me many years ago, both of which came down to the same thing:- if you want your new card to link itself to your existing online a/c (ie just the one log in and all the different cards showing on your home page) you have to do it during the week.
        
        It certainly worked for me when I took out a Rewards Card during the last free month of holding a Gold card. I did have to contact CS by phone to switch the credit limit on the Gold Card to the Rewards card, but that was part of the cancellation of the Gold Card.
- venturelog says:
  
  18 May18 May 11:50
  
  I had something similar. My account had the Gold and BAPP. When i applied for the platinum it created a new account for me. However when i closed my Gold and BAPP, the MR were still under the platinum. Not sure if its because a charge card it creates a new account….
Andrew says:

18 May18 May 09:38

Does anyone know if the BA refund voucher can be used to pay the taxes/charges on an Avios booking?
- Alex says:
  
  18 May18 May 09:45
  
  Yes I have managed to do this and used a 2-4-1 to make a new booking too. Was keen to get the voucher into a booking ASAP and paid the rest on credit card – my theory is then the whole thing should fall under Section 75 (unlikely to be needed I know).
  - Alex says:
    
    18 May18 May 09:46
    
    I should add this was cash ticket I had taken the voucher for. BA included the paid upgrades too in the voucher amount.
    - Andrew says:
      
      18 May18 May 09:54
      
      Helpful Alex, thanks, I just have a £350 BA holidays deposit refund voucher to dispose of, so paying taxes on an Avios booking would be useful. And I guess should I decide to cancel at a later date then the usual £35 would just be taken off and the rest returned as a voucher again?
      - Alex says:
        
        18 May18 May 10:32
        
        Yes that’s what I would think. Mine was for around £500 if i remember correctly, then paid the further taxes via credit card (is a trip to New York for next year). If you need to cancel then yes £35 charge per person. I would expect that they would refund what I paid on the card and then I would get my voucher back, although it is possible they would refund full amount, I am not sure. I was essentially rebooking for a year ahead, so hopefully it actually happens and less worried about it for now.
Rhys says:

18 May18 May 09:46

Only possible because they are starting manufacture before it’s even been proven to work: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/may/17/uk-plans-38m-centre-to-start-production-of-coronavirus-vaccine

Fingers crossed, however! Would be a game changer.
- FloriGuy says:
  
  18 May18 May 10:01
  
  Never had you pegged as a Guardiann reader ☺️
  - Rhys says:
    
    18 May18 May 10:10
    
    This is one of the better articles you see when you search ‘oxford vaccine’!
  - Chrisasaurus says:
    
    18 May18 May 16:02
    
    I’ll bet good money Rhys would read the Guardian if he wasn’t too damn young to read any newspaper!
    - Rhys says:
      
      18 May18 May 16:09
      
      I do generally like the Guardian although the daily articles about how other countries are criticising the UK’s response are getting VERY tedious! Not so much the criticism but the incessant repetition…
      Also have access to The Times with Plat however which sometimes has some decent stuff.
Rob says:

18 May18 May 09:47

There will be 30 million doses available in September whether it works or not 🙂 Start thinking up your entries for the inevitable ‘What do we do with 30 million unusable syringes of vaccine?’ competitions …..

You might struggle to get through 30m though. I am about as pro-vaccine as you can get, but even I am dubious about giving my kids something that hasn’t had the usual 5 years of testing. I’m not bothered for myself but for kids or women who have not yet had children I think many will think twice.
- Rhys says:
  
  18 May18 May 10:01
  
  Only reason it is being fast tracked is that it is based on the same vaccine technology behind many other (safe) vaccines – some kind of modified non-replicating monkey virus that forms the basis for a good 5-10 other existing viruses!
- Marcw says:
  
  18 May18 May 10:02
  
  Spot on. No sensible human will be happy with a vaccine that has taken shortcuts in development. Also, no one knows whether antibodies actually provide meaningful immunity…
  - Rhys says:
    
    18 May18 May 10:08
    
    It does (at least in monkeys) according to the pre-print study of the vaccine in rhesus macaques. Obviously we will have to wait until the human trial next month to see if it works in humans.
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      18 May18 May 10:41
      
      How can they tell how long they are immune for without observing them for a length of time ?
      
      Anyway not everyone needs to be vaccinated just those at high risk and once those at risk are vaccinated then R is automatically reduced.
      - Rob says:
        
        18 May18 May 10:44
        
        The current tests are even worse than that. They are NOT deliberately exposing people to the virus. You get the test vaccine and they wait to see if you’ve caught CV a few months later. The problem is that very few people are catching it anyway outside of hospitals or care homes. If you volunteer to test the vaccine but rarely leave your house for the next 8 weeks then we’re not going to learn a lot ….
      - Rhys says:
        
        18 May18 May 11:36
        
        Doesn’t matter – as long as the vaccinated contract the virus at a lower rate than control groups it is likely to be more effective! Just have to make sure it is a statistically significant sample.
- Adrian says:
  
  18 May18 May 10:12
  
  Especially as Children, if infected at all, appear to have less severe symptoms.
  - J says:
    
    18 May18 May 10:18
    
    The kawasaki disease/coronavirus linked syndrome amongst some children although relatively rare has been extremely serious.
    - Alex M says:
      
      18 May18 May 12:05
      
      Or, as Michael Gove would put it: The kawasaki disease/coronavirus linked syndrome amongst some children although extremely serious has been relatively rare.
  - marcw says:
    
    18 May18 May 11:56
    
    We have to be careful with these statements. We don’t know the long term consequences of having the disease. It’s unlikely to cause any life changing consequences, but you never know. The same applies to vaccines and drugs. Remember Thalidomide.
    - Lady London says:
      
      18 May18 May 13:06
      
      +1. I suspect it does leave a weakness in some people. This virus seems to be very tenacious.
      
      i wouldnt have any vaccine that’s not been tested for 5 years and completely mistrustful of any government mandate. Still recalling the scandal of forced anti HPV vaccination in the US.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  18 May18 May 10:43
  
  If those at risk are vaccinated why would all the kids need to social distance ?
- Lady London says:
  
  18 May18 May 13:06
  
  Yes.
- Chrish says:
  
  18 May18 May 15:11
  
  Lockdown Larry@ Also they are saying Disadvantaged and Vulnerable Children are missing out on Education the most and will be affected the most and longest.
  But have you noticed “NO ONE” in Government is advocating bringing them into school first before any other Children. Any idea why ?
  - Chrisasaurus says:
    
    18 May18 May 16:04
    
    I think we all probably know the answer…
Ron says:

18 May18 May 09:51

Hello, how long for the 241 appears in my BAEC account after I hit 10000 spend on my BAPP? Thanks.
- Anna says:
  
  18 May18 May 10:15
  
  My last one was within 24 hours, usually within 5 days though.
  - Ron says:
    
    18 May18 May 11:14
    
    Thank you!
Ben edwards says:

18 May18 May 10:26

Hi so with the new QR policy I currently have business class return Oslo – BKK-Oslo in October booked in R class , I got the ticket for around £1200 return in April when they had an offer on .

If R class is available can I change this to LHR-BKK-LHR at no cost , is that correct ?
- Rob says:
  
  18 May18 May 10:29
  
  Here’s the thing. The rule as planned was that you could only change ORIGIN within the SAME country. However, the website wording doesn’t say this and I know people who have done exactly what you are asking. As Qatar Airways is on the hook for £173 of Air Passenger Duty if it makes the change, it obviously isn’t something they should be doing. Work asking though.
  - dave says:
    
    18 May18 May 16:22
    
    Interesting. Qatar told me point blank I couldn’t shift my Oslo flight to BKK (booked in jan) to LHR
    - Rob says:
      
      18 May18 May 18:20
      
      Which is how it should be.
joe says:

18 May18 May 10:27

Anyone know if you get 5k MR for the first supplematary card on the Amex Plat Business card?
Joe says:

18 May18 May 10:34

If there was going to be an airline miles transfer bonus for Clubcard points, when would they be likely to reveal that?
- Chrish says:
  
  18 May18 May 11:04
  
  Joe@ I would think not while October if at all
  Depends on BA, not Tesco
- Andrew says:
  
  18 May18 May 11:06
  
  Clubcard points are due to drop into BA accounts any day now, the statement fortnight is underway at Tesco, so I do think a bonus this quarter will happen.
  - Ming the Merciless says:
    
    18 May18 May 15:21
    
    I forgot to cancel auto convert this Q… 150k flying club miles hit my accounts today.
    - Rob says:
      
      18 May18 May 18:23
      
      🙂