The new HFP chat thread – Tuesday 26th 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/2020/05/26/the-new-hfp-chat-thread-tuesday-26th-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.

davvero says:

26 May26 May 03:17

Ok, it’s scraping the bottom of the points earning barrel but every little helps.I ordered JustEat via the BA shopping portal for food on Sunday and already I have received an email saying the Avios have been earned as it’s one of their faster earning partners.

As well as Avios JustEat tends to use the delivery drivers of the takeaway itself which means it might be available in smaller towns that aren’t covered by Deliveroo or Uber Eats.

It’s nice to see points posting quickly for a change from the shopping site.
- Save East Coast Rewards says:
  
  26 May26 May 05:46
  
  I got a curry on Saturday and noticed the rates weren’t as good as they were back at the end of March. Probably as there’s more demand for deliveries due to the lockdown so less incentive needed.
  
  I’ve been quite good after the initial splurge on takeaways at the beginning of lockdown (I’d normally eat out) I went 5 weeks with just making my own food so for the first time ever my biggest spend in April was Tesco.
  
  zzz I really need this to be over. I miss travelling!
Michael C says:

26 May26 May 05:23

Just in case the person from the other day whose son’s girlfriend (I think!) was stuck in China and the direct BA flight kept cancelling: HKG starts transits again next week.
Anna says:

26 May26 May 07:34

I need to change an avios booking, and the BA website says I can do this via MMB now, however when I go into the booking it says changes can’t be made online. Another instance where BA could actually be really helpful, but aren’t being!

2nd data point – got charged by Creation immediately for a Revolut top up yesterday (my Revolut app was updated yesterday, no idea if this is connected), so keeping IHG card in credit seems to be the way forward rather than just paying off straight away.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  26 May26 May 07:36
  
  What were you charged? Interest or other fee?
  - Anna says:
    
    26 May26 May 07:54
    
    It looked to be a £3.05 fee on a £300 top up, so slightly over 1%. Transactions seem to take at least 24 hours to post with Creation, though, so I’m never sure at what point an amount debits or credits. Or £3 fee and 5p interest? Presumably it will be broken down on the next statement.
    - Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
      
      26 May26 May 09:25
      
      What’s your statement date? Seems more likely to me that your statement cycled and your accrued cash interest was debited.
- Crafty says:
  
  26 May26 May 08:00
  
  How do you know and where did you see that you were charged immediately?
  - Crafty says:
    
    26 May26 May 08:02
    
    My statement generated yesterday and I’ve only been charged £1.47 for a series of top ups totalling £1,200.
    - Anna says:
      
      26 May26 May 08:21
      
      It is really odd, because we’ve had instances where my card is charged but my OH’s isn’t. When my card is charged, they also don’t adhere to the £700 pw limit.
  - Anna says:
    
    26 May26 May 08:19
    
    Because the transaction was made yesterday and appeared today with the fee. Balance was £0 prior to that.
    
    On the other hand, the £700 pw limit seems to have gone again!
    - Brighton Belle says:
      
      26 May26 May 08:46
      
      I got £18.33 interest charged for
      £300 +£200+£200 4 times in a month were each charge was paid off same day. Something seems to have changed.
      - Anna says:
        
        26 May26 May 08:53
        
        Oof. I think the only way to get round this is to have the card in credit before you do the top up. From what other people have said, you need the card to already have a balance before you can pre-pay, although this can be any amount, even a few pence.
      - Crafty says:
        
        26 May26 May 09:11
        
        Very strange, thanks for the points of data. For information, none of my top ups (up to 2 days ago) has been charged in an unexpected way.
      - The Urbanite says:
        
        26 May26 May 10:51
        
        I think Creation has everybody on the same billing cycle for the IHG cards so the interest accrued over the month appears today.
        
        The £700 weekly limit only applies to transactions with MCC 6012 merchants.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        26 May26 May 15:46
        
        I was charged 85p on around 1800 of top ups this month all paid around when they hit
Joan says:

26 May26 May 07:56

OT question. I have a return flight to Malaga late sept for a wedding that’s now been cancelled . It cost me £1 and about 20k avios . ( I actually booked 2 single flights ) . I was hoping BA would cancel the flights otherwise I’ll end up having to pay £70 if I cancel.
I’m thinking now that they might not cancel the flights so I either pay the £70 or just don’t turn up for the flights and lose my avios but save £70.
We do currently have 460,000 avios and 2 companion vouchers to use .
Any suggestions ? 😁
- Andrew says:
  
  26 May26 May 08:04
  
  Could well be approaching the second peak by September so a cancellation could well happen. And generally BA won’t be flying a *full* schedule for many years so there are still chances your specific flight gets cancelled. BA may also extend their free cancellation for a voucher period (currently end of July) so then you could get a voucher. Right now just wait and see a few weeks before – it’s a long way off in the scheme of things at the moment.
  - Joan says:
    
    26 May26 May 08:12
    
    Thanks Andrew , I’ll do that
- Chris Heyes says:
  
  26 May26 May 08:13
  
  Joan@ either wait (i would wait anyhow) hope they cancel or change times even any of those would be ok for you or you could ring and ask for a voucher for a later trip
  What you need to weigh up is how much would i pay for the amount of Avios i would be losing
  ie £70 = 20k Avios but that decision can be made later
  - Joan says:
    
    26 May26 May 09:05
    
    Thanks Chris
- Ron says:
  
  26 May26 May 10:29
  
  I’ve never done this myself, but I thought cancellation fee is the lower of £35 or the taxes paid (ie. £1), so if you cancel, you only lose £1.
  - bsuije says:
    
    26 May26 May 10:48
    
    I thought so, too…
    
    https://headforpoints.com/2019/07/19/more-avios-1-quirks-cancellation-fees-for-all-short-haul-tickets-now-appear-capped-at-1/
    - Andrew says:
      
      26 May26 May 11:37
      
      They changed it a couple of months ago, and if you want your Avios back you now have to pay £35, for a while, after they introduced the £1 thing, it was £1.
      - Andrew says:
        
        26 May26 May 11:39
        
        https://headforpoints.com/2020/04/11/british-airways-charging-35-cancellation-fees-not-1-for-short-haul-avios-cancellations/
      - The Savage Squirrel says:
        
        26 May26 May 13:03
        
        Good.
        It was pretty clearly open to agressive usage that would also be a nightmare for BA – I wouldn’t be surprised if some people reserved 20 different flights and then cancelled 19 at the last minute when plans became firm…
      - bsuije says:
        
        26 May26 May 21:40
        
        Ah – missed that one! Thank you!
- ChrisBCN says:
  
  26 May26 May 11:57
  
  Or you could forget cancelling and go on holiday 😀
memesweeper says:

26 May26 May 08:06

I know the topic of pre-existing conditions and travel insurance pops up here frequently — here’s a horrid tail of woe: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/brit-teacher-cambodia-told-docs-22067761
- Chuck says:
  
  26 May26 May 09:53
  
  That’s a terrible situation to be in … hope they raise the cash.
  Sounds like he was there without travel insurance and then thought he better get some cover quick…
  A valuable lesson.
  - Peter K says:
    
    26 May26 May 10:58
    
    It sadly seems so. According to the article he got ill in January and bought insurance in February.
    - Anna says:
      
      26 May26 May 13:10
      
      From the report, they were already in Cambodia when he became ill, so he didn’t even get the insurance prior to travelling!
      - Kipto says:
        
        26 May26 May 13:35
        
        Sounds harsh but no sympathy sorry. You do not travel abroad without suitable insurance. How people pay £1000’s on a holiday and don’t pay £50 plus for travel insurance is beyond me. It’s the chance you take particularly on long haul holidays.
- Lady London says:
  
  26 May26 May 16:34
  
  is it a real case?
Anna says:

26 May26 May 08:29

Selfridges Amex offer – the £50 credit has posted about a week after the spend. I did think I might have to argue for it as Selfridges charged me in 3 separate amounts, but apparently not. (Last time I used a similar offer Amex tried to say that the spend had to be debited in one go – although the terms of the offer weren’t clear – but then relented).
Anna says:

26 May26 May 08:34

10% off on L’Occitane on my BAPP until 2/8. Not the greatest offer but if you use their stuff or buy it as gifts it might be useful and L’Occitane is an e store partner. (If you plan your order well you can end up with quite a few freebies or significantly discounted products as well).
Rui N. says:

26 May26 May 08:36

Does anyone know any UK websites that buy Ticketmaster gift cards? Got one refunded (cancelled Hamilton show) and I don’t think I’ll be able to use in the next year. TIA.
- John says:
  
  26 May26 May 13:43
  
  cardyard.co.uk possibly?