The new HFP chat thread – Sunday 28th June

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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/2020/06/28/the-new-hfp-chat-thread-sunday-28th-june/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.

Perry Oaks says:

28 Jun28 June 11:27

I’m about to book a flight into (i.e. landing at) London City Airport, having never flown there before.

I’d like to choose a seat on the side of aeroplane with the best chance for interesting views of the metropolis on the approach to LCY. I assume that, given westerly winds predominate, the approach will be more likely from the east of London?

Any and all advice and comments welcome!
- Lady London says:
  
  28 Jun28 June 12:51
  
  havent landed much at LCY but quite a while back landed a few times on Swiss there. I am certain that we came in over Windsor then basically followed the river going East at very low level over London offering splendid views of Central London and all the monuments. I could almost see my normal table in the dining area of the top floor of Peter Jones (aka John Lewis) in Sloane Square through the windows.
  
  I cant remember which side of the plane I was sat on but my normal side would be A-C.
  - Paul says:
    
    28 Jun28 June 13:34
    
    You certainly wouldn’t have been over Windsor going in to City. You may have made it far enough west for Regents or Hyde park…
    - Genghis says:
      
      28 Jun28 June 13:46
      
      90% it’s easterlies and nothing much to see but the docks.
      10% westerly, depending where coming from, good views on RHS turning at the shard and looking down on CW.
      - Heathrow Flyer says:
        
        28 Jun28 June 14:17
        
        It’s the other way round – more westerlies than easterlies.
      - Doug M says:
        
        28 Jun28 June 14:18
        
        Yes indeed. This route is great for city views.
      - Genghis says:
        
        28 Jun28 June 14:34
        
        Indeed. Naming mistake. More westerlies approaching from the east then easterlies approaching from the west.
  - Jonathan says:
    
    28 Jun28 June 14:44
    
    Best views I find are landing at Heathrow from USA or other Western origins as often hold you north west of London then head along north of Thames out to Stratford before turning 180 degrees and making final approach south of river with great views of Canary Wharf, City, Westminster etc if you’re in a window seat on right. Low enough to see detail but high enough to get a perspective.
    
    City holding area is generally out to the east as most flights from continental europe or Scotland then approach over Thames Estuary.
fivebobbill says:

28 Jun28 June 11:41

Morning guys, a quick question on the BAPP offer of 2 extra avios per £ spent in Tesco. Do Tesco still sell gift cards (Amazon etc), and if so do they count under this promo? I don’t usually shop in Tesco but would happily go out of my way for a few extra points…
- Rob says:
  
  28 Jun28 June 11:45
  
  Yes, they count.
  - fivebobbill says:
    
    28 Jun28 June 11:51
    
    Thanks Rob 👍
- eligold says:
  
  28 Jun28 June 14:08
  
  is there any way of getting this offer if i wasn’t targetted?
  - AJA says:
    
    28 Jun28 June 14:38
    
    I thought it wasn’t targetted, ie everyone with a BAPP got it. Log on to Amex and look at offers tab. If you’re eligible it should show there.
    - eligold says:
      
      28 Jun28 June 17:41
      
      what makes me eligible?
      I’ve got the BAPP but not the offer (or any offers to be honest)
- DB2020 says:
  
  28 Jun28 June 15:11
  
  Although it appears that Tesco has withdrawn the Amazon gift cards from most of their stores. Just today I was told at two stores in Kensington that they no longer have them and I should try at the superstore in Earls Court.
  - fivebobbill says:
    
    28 Jun28 June 16:39
    
    No problem this afternoon here in NI, just bought £300 worth
Dave says:

28 Jun28 June 12:03

Signed up for Marriott Amex – can see the welcome bonus tracker on the App but not on the Amex website. Don’t qualify for a bonus but wondering if it’s maybe slipped through the net. Anyone else with similar experiences?
- memesweeper says:
  
  28 Jun28 June 19:10
  
  I didn’t qualify, I didn’t get a tracker and didn’t get a bonus. Maybe you got lucky, we know the system isn’t perfect.
- Polly says:
  
  29 Jun29 June 00:26
  
  You slipped through the net! Silent thanks….
Nikkei says:

28 Jun28 June 12:21

Also a data point here – upgraded gold to platinum charge card and spent 4k for 20k MR points bonus, no bonus yet despite CS confirming offer on account. Been over 30 days now.
- Matthew says:
  
  28 Jun28 June 16:20
  
  Have you spent the £4K since the upgrade as it’s from that point not when you got original card. I’ve been caught out by this before having been a few hundred short…
  - Nikkei says:
    
    28 Jun28 June 16:21
    
    I hit 4k spend a few days after upgrading, but have spent 30k since then and still no points!
    - Matthew says:
      
      28 Jun28 June 22:53
      
      Fair enough – I think that qualifies 🙂
Tom says:

28 Jun28 June 12:34

Do Amaex green cards get shop small?
- The Streets says:
  
  28 Jun28 June 13:57
  
  Yes
Roger says:

28 Jun28 June 12:47

Does shop small work for online purchases?
I have ordered online from store which now does home delivery but has own shopping site (payment via stripe which I think is the same for in store purchases)
- mark2 says:
  
  28 Jun28 June 12:50
  
  ‘payment via stripe’ may be a problem (see T&C)
Roger says:

28 Jun28 June 12:49

Under current circumstances what is the best use of Amex MR Points?
This is from Amex Platinum card which offer 0.9P if spent on purchases.
Any ideas? Are we expecting any bonus offers for travel as travel slowly open ups?
- Genghis says:
  
  28 Jun28 June 13:43
  
  If you have loads of other points take the 0.9p
  If you don’t, leave them as MRs
  If you want to cancel, top up certain balances to reset expiry and then send to something you want. I emptied my Gold account to Marriott.
- Rob says:
  
  28 Jun28 June 13:46
  
  Amex has generally given up on UK transfer bonuses because it encourages airline conversions and they are pricier then giving you 0.45p of statement credit.
eligold says:

28 Jun28 June 13:59

Amazon messed me over with some gift card orders! As a result o fell £160 short of being eligible for the Companion voucher.
Fury aside, is there any point pleading with AMEX, will banging my head against the wall get me anywhere with them?
I’m waiting for a call back from a manager but the chat representative warned me that i won’t get a different answer out of him.
I have plenty evidence of what happened but at the end of the day, i was short on the 10k
- Peter K says:
  
  28 Jun28 June 14:16
  
  Unfortunately you may be unlucky. I had a refund take me below a spend threshold for a bonus for an Amex and they clawed it back after having awarded it. I had spent several hundred over the threshold by then, but after the deadline as I was spending on other cards. Amex were not interested.
  - anon says:
    
    28 Jun28 June 20:43
    
    I got lucky. I got 80k instead of 40k for reaching my spend threshold on busines plat. The 40k hadn’t been added so the agent added it manually. A few months later it came through again!
- Doug M says:
  
  28 Jun28 June 14:20
  
  Ouch, but why game it so close.
- Lady London says:
  
  28 Jun28 June 14:34
  
  what exact messing happened with the Amazon vouchers
  - eligold says:
    
    28 Jun28 June 17:37
    
    i was buying multiple gift vouchers in 1 transaction. it seems to have flagged as suspicious despite going through all the correct security procedures each time.
    each time they forced me to reset my password. an online chat with them got me nowhere…
    some purchases got through but others didn’t and i got screwed over by it.
    
    one of the things that made it difficult was a refund from EasyJet that wasn’t called for. they refunded me for a cancelled flight after already receiving the refund from AMEX! I guess that covers the wasted annual fee of the BAPP card
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      28 Jun28 June 19:55
      
      Why didn’t you just top up your account by £xxx No need to buy gift cards for yourself (even if they are for others you can use the balance to then convert to GCs at your leisure.
      
      I think you’ll get no where with Amex as they are very black and white. Just chalk it up for experience for next year, never leave it too late and never spend to the penny if you suspect anything might be refunded.