The new HFP chat thread – Wednesday 1st July

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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/2020/07/01/the-new-hfp-chat-thread-wednesday-1st-july/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.

Nigel says:

1 Jul1 July 16:24

Not sure if covered by anyone here but if you have a Lloyds Upgrade Voucher that is due to expire by 31st August, you can now get this extended until December 31st (just done this via Live Chat).
- eligold says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 16:53
  
  live chat with who?
  all i found for Avios was a phone number, sometimes with mad long waits
  - Nigel says:
    
    1 Jul1 July 22:21
    
    There’s a quirk to get Live Chat on Avios.com.
    
    You need to look at the top of the page and change location to ‘Rest of Europe – English’. Then a live chat option will appear at the top of the page.
Michael says:

1 Jul1 July 16:35

Random one: I have a transferrable voucher which can grant someone S7 Gold status (Oneworld Sapphire) valid until 28 Feb 2022. I’d be willing to sell it on. Let me know if you’d be interested michael . j . reay @ gmail.com
- Secret Squirrel says:
  
  2 Jul2 July 07:26
  
  £10 best offer!
  - Rob says:
    
    2 Jul2 July 09:31
    
    I know Michael, he is trustworthy.
    
    £10 for 20 months of BA lounges and free seat selection seems tight 🙂
memesweeper says:

1 Jul1 July 16:47

So I was considering cancelling a trip as gov.uk FCO advice is against all but essential travel, my main concern being lack of medical or other insurance. Astonishingly, although they (rightly) won’t cover cancellation/disruption caused by covid-19, Aviva/HSBC Premier *will* still cover medical expenses right now even if you travel against FCO advice. Or at least that’s my reading of this:-

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/help/coronavirus/travel-guidance/
- memesweeper says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 16:54
  
  … and if you don’t already have it, this also from the FAQ:-
  
  I’m thinking about buying a travel insurance policy, will I be covered for coronavirus?
  We’ve decided to temporarily withdraw HSBC Travel Insurance from sale to new customers.
Ian says:

1 Jul1 July 16:53

Can anyone fill me in on additional cards on my Platinum Amex in my own name? How do I get one / what should I ask for? Can I have one *in addition* to the rest that I’m allowed. Does anyone have a handy link? I’ve been searching for info for ages – certain I’ve read about it here, but can’t find it.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 16:57
  
  Just apply for one in your own name.
  
  Having another platinum in your own name would be useless but you can have 1 gold as well as anyone else who has a gold.
  - Andrew says:
    
    1 Jul1 July 17:15
    
    This isn’t quite correct. The primary member can have an ‘AC’ (additional card) as well as a supplementary Platinum card for someone else. But the AC card won’t come with its own Priority Pass etc. The idea behind the AC card is so that you can split your personal and business expenses more easily if you want to or for any other splitting such as clothes/entertainment and then household expenses, as the AC transactions will be listed separately like the supp transactions are. The other advantage of having an AC card is that it has its own log-in and therefore its own offers, particularly useful if you’re a heavy Shop Smaller or if you were quick off the mark with the £100 offer last month. So you can have two Plats in your name, one in another person’s name and four golds, meaning a total of 7 cards, but only 6 cardholders.
Pat the Postie says:

1 Jul1 July 16:55

OT Just wondering if anyone else has had their IHG card declined today, I suspect I need to phone up although it worked in the morning
- Paul74 says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 17:12
  
  Used mine in a coffee shop about 15-20 minutes ago, no issues.
- Andrew M says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 18:29
  
  What were you doing with the IHG card when it was declined?
- Chrisasaurus says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 19:12
  
  Yep, mine since yesterday – small medium and large txns (Inc 3.34 Ebay via curve) all declined.
  
  Card is in credit ahead of a (planned) revolut top but camt charge anything to it right now.
  
  Also have marriott creation card and that one is fine
  - Genghis says:
    
    1 Jul1 July 19:21
    
    Don’t creation tell you off for putting account in credit?
    - stevenhp1987 says:
      
      1 Jul1 July 19:31
      
      I’ve accidentally fine in credit a few times (paid online ready to clear pending balance so I can spend again), they’ve never moaned at me.
      
      The only annoying thing is you cannot have more than your credit limit as pending.
      
      So if you overpay you cannot spend more than your limit and have to wait for it to clear before continuing.
      - The Urbanite says:
        
        1 Jul1 July 21:18
        
        The Creation payment system is a wonder to behold – as is HSBC Premier’s! Once you work out those kind of technical aspects you come to appreciate their quirks!
      - Genghis says:
        
        1 Jul1 July 21:34
        
        As in HSBC’s? All I know is that I struggle to lay it off the day a charge hits. If there’s an opportunity, please can you get in touch on Twitter, genghis1232.
    - The Urbanite says:
      
      1 Jul1 July 21:19
      
      They do if you have cause to ring them while your account is in credit – my advice would be not to do that!
      - Nigel says:
        
        1 Jul1 July 22:19
        
        I would be very interested in finding out these HSBC Premier quirks! Anyway of reaching out to you?
      - The Urbanite says:
        
        1 Jul1 July 23:38
        
        Don’t really do Twitter but will see what I can sort out!
      - Genghis says:
        
        2 Jul2 July 05:06
        
        That would be very much appreciated. I’ve the same handle on FT where I see you post (but I don’t).
      - The Urbanite says:
        
        2 Jul2 July 15:45
        
        @Nigel try and message me on FT if you can.
    - Pat the Postie says:
      
      2 Jul2 July 10:40
      
      Yes they will often block the card and start requesting statements to prove where your payments came from, incase you were going to ask for a bank transfer I presume, most definitely not worth the hassle
  - Andrew M says:
    
    1 Jul1 July 19:28
    
    My top up of Revolut was also declined by Creation and the card blocked a few days ago. The IHG card was also in credit so I wonder if that is the common thread?
  - Sanders says:
    
    2 Jul2 July 00:16
    
    I suspect it is curve and their new system that might be causing it as it happens to me
- Andrew M says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 19:36
  
  Are there any good points earning ways to pay off a balance on the IHG card apart from VS?
  - Lev441 says:
    
    1 Jul1 July 20:57
    
    Lloyd’s Avios?
    - Andrew M says:
      
      1 Jul1 July 21:17
      
      Possible, but not a great points earner. Does anyone have experience of whether cash advance fees or interest are charged?
      - stevenhp1987 says:
        
        1 Jul1 July 21:51
        
        I use the Barclaycard Legacy 0.5% CB card after VS+. Not great, but, better than nothing!
      - Andrew M says:
        
        1 Jul1 July 21:56
        
        MBNA Horizon 0.5% CB might be an option as well. I’d have to do a small test transaction to see how it’s treated – unless anyone has tried it before?
      - stevenhp1987 says:
        
        1 Jul1 July 22:00
        
        It’s MCC 6012, if it works with that then you’re golden.
      - Andrew M says:
        
        1 Jul1 July 22:05
        
        Thanks, I’ll give it a go.
Jon says:

1 Jul1 July 16:58

Malaysia Airlines has ‘joined the club’ and extended elite status until March 2022. Also a 2x Elite Miles (tier points) offer on bookings by August 31st for travel until March 2021.
Harry T says:

1 Jul1 July 18:05

It’s a temporary measure due to the coronavirus, from what I understand. I imagine they will scrap this when they realise their economy can’t survive without tourism, and they want to make visiting as seamless as possible.
- Aston100 says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 18:23
  
  Well lets hope so anyway.
- J says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 18:35
  
  Interesting Switzerland is still visa-free, wonder if that’s also the case for Germany/NL/France as I think they were also visa-free before? From South Africa’s perspective – it’s a not a rich country and they don’t have the infrastructure to deal with importing coronavirus from the UK right now so it’s perfectly right to exclude high risk countries i.e. UK, US, Sweden etc.
- Roger* says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 18:54
  
  Yes, that sounds right.
  
  The SA Consulate General in the UK is not doing very much consular work at the moment. Working from home, etc.
  - Roger* says:
    
    1 Jul1 July 18:55
    
    (That was a response to Harry T.)
@mkcol says:

1 Jul1 July 18:35

Nice email from Virgin Atlantic credit card this afternoon.

Hello @mkcol

We hope you’re keeping safe and well. As a Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card customer, we know that these last few months, you won’t have been able to take advantage of your Flying Club rewards in the same way.

So we’re refunding £40 of your annual card fee. There’s nothing you need to do – just look out for your refund landing in your credit card account in the next few days.

It doesn’t stop there
Virgin Atlantic want to make sure that when you can travel again, you’ll still be able to get the absolute most out of all your benefits.

That’s why they’ve:

Extended Flying Club statuses by six months
Extended Flying Club voucher expiry dates by six months
Stopped Flying Club miles expiring
You’ll soon be flying again
Hopefully, it won’t be long until you can enjoy travelling, making memories and earning rewards all over again. And we’ll be here when you do, ensuring you can simply take off where you left off with your Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card.

Here’s to brighter days ahead.

The team at Virgin Money
- Alan says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 18:38
  
  Received the same, a pleasant surprise!
- Travel Strong says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 19:08
  
  Virgin Red status for another 6 months. Much relief! 😀
- Munch says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 20:12
  
  Is the status extension only for Virgin Credit card holders? I received an extension of 6 months back in March, I only need 300 points for Gold but my status runs out in September. Hoping for a further 6 month extension but don’t currently hold a Virgin Credit card.
  - jc says:
    
    1 Jul1 July 20:34
    
    They’re referring to the same 6 month extension as you are. It’s not an extra one
    - Munch says:
      
      1 Jul1 July 20:48
      
      Oh well, lets hope they extend to the full 12 months like most other airlines.