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The new HFP chat thread – Thursday 23rd 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 de facto 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.

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Comments (191)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • Vit says:
    23 Jul23 July 02:16

    Got this advert showing up on the side banner on HFP! https://babetrayal.com/

    Should I join the campaign, Rob? 🙂

    • Rhys says:
      23 Jul23 July 08:10

      I’m surprised – things had gone quite quiet…

    • Colin says:
      23 Jul23 July 10:28

      Did anyone initially misread the link posted above?

      • RussellH says:
        23 Jul23 July 11:16

        Yes. {It probably says more about you and me.] The older I get, the more often I misread things

        Seriously – I DO wish people used hyphens in domain names. All the domains I used in the past had hyphens between the words. {I would be using head-for-points.com.) I find it much easier to type for just one thing.
        And I still think that the National Savings URL is actually for a site for a girl called Sandi (maybe from Grease, maybe soft porn).

        See boredpanda.com for other URLs that would have benefited hugely from a hyphen or two.

      • guesswho2000 says:
        23 Jul23 July 12:36

        Yep, spent a few seconds trying to think what ‘trayal’ could possibly mean…

    • RedEyeDonkey says:
      23 Jul23 July 10:52

      That site looks like something bashed together in the style of 20+ years ago….

      • Rhys says:
        23 Jul23 July 10:54

        People say that about us, too! (Not for long though….)

        • Pangolin says:
          23 Jul23 July 13:53

          After the site update we’ll say it only looks a decade behind the times 😉

  • Mr. AC says:
    23 Jul23 July 03:44

    Re: IHG – what are some good beach / resort type aspirational redemptions? Maldives obviously, and IC Da Nang has a good reputation, but what I don’t like about those is that they require 2 or more flights from London. Is there anything similar (or marginally worse) which is 1 flight away?

    • Josh says:
      23 Jul23 July 04:31

      Are there any in Blackpool?

    • TripRep says:
      23 Jul23 July 06:27

      Maldives has a direct 10 hour BA flight from LHR.

    • pauldb says:
      23 Jul23 July 06:32

      Can’t say I’ve been to any of these but Cancun, Cozumel, Mauritius, Muscat or Dubai?

      • Lady London says:
        24 Jul24 July 14:11

        I hope Rob will give us a report on Muscat.

        • Rob says:
          24 Jul24 July 15:08

          I like Mexico but I would spread out a holiday across a mix of beach and city – Oaxaca, Merida etc.

    • Anna says:
      23 Jul23 July 08:14

      When are you planning to travel? Grand Cayman has sweet spots (Kimpton, Ruiz Carlton, Westin) but likely not open for tourists until next year. Direct flight from London though it touches down in the Bahamas which adds 90 minutes.

      • Anna says:
        23 Jul23 July 08:17

        *Ritz Carlton (also I realise the last 2 aren’t IHG). Also the Kimpton resort fee is $75 per night which you have to factor in as they still make you pay it on award nights!

    • Leafwarbler says:
      23 Jul23 July 13:45

      Mahabalipuram

      • Lady London says:
        23 Jul23 July 17:17

        Who?

        • Leafwarbler says:
          24 Jul24 July 14:23

          Beach resort close to Chennai. Admittedly not very aspirational, but it is an Intercontinental😀 and it is a direct flight. And admittedly, India isn’t exactly open at the moment…..

          Started a fabulous Southern India trip from there – Pondicherry, Trichy, Madurai, Munnar, Kochi, Ooty to name but a few. Food (mostly vegetarian) was amazing.

  • Rossy says:
    23 Jul23 July 07:43

    There was a much bigger than usual “Interest on cash” charge on my IHG statement this morning despite similar spending behaviour to previous months, and any transactions being covered off within a couple of hours.
    Does anyone know if Revolut might have changed their MCC again?

    • Secret Squirrel says:
      23 Jul23 July 08:11

      How much fees and how much R spend?

    • Luckyjim says:
      23 Jul23 July 08:21

      It’s more likely to be a change on Creation’s side. Or your payment took a while to process.

      • Rossy says:
        23 Jul23 July 08:28

        Have other people seen increases in their interest charges?

        • Anna says:
          23 Jul23 July 08:40

          Hi – I put nearly £6.5k through mine and today’s statement is showing £4.35 interest. I do try & pay it off ASAP as soon as a payment shows on my account though.

          • Rossy says:
            23 Jul23 July 08:49

            Strange. I don’t ever pay off normal transactions until my monthly statement, but do always make a payment to cover cash-type transactions on the same day. It feels like perhaps the payments I’m making aren’t necessarily covering the transactions I was hoping they would be (albeit I think they’re supposed to as per legislation) and hence the build up of interest!

          • Chris Heyes says:
            23 Jul23 July 09:20

            Anna@ mornin hope your enjoying your retirement (Snip-it time share on facebook)
            Do you have a timeshare yourself ?
            A long long while ago i had two 2 week time shares (total was a Month)
            Was at “The Osborne” Hesketh Crescent kept them for years went all over using some sort of timeshare club name beyond me now lol But at the time thought it was Brill free hols all over
            Free flights as well with BA lol
            Was a very big Crescent in Devon (Babbacome) Just grew out of it so split up and sold nice profit
            Kids now wished we had kept them (although profit payed for there house deposits at the time lol)
            Two slept 6/7 July, Two slept 4/5 Christmas/New Year
            I was interested to know if you’ve ever stopped there ?
            Whilst i had them a lot of “BANDS” (mainly Rock) had a time share at same time as me
            I cant remember when i first purchased them but i remember the Moon-landing happened when i was there so a very long time ago lol brings back memory’s
            I wonder if any readers have stopped there

          • memesweeper says:
            23 Jul23 July 09:34

            @Rossy ‘Strange. I don’t ever pay off normal transactions until my monthly statement, but do always make a payment to cover cash-type transactions on the same day. ’

            This approach doesn’t work with many cards now. You have to maintain a zero balance, or as close to it as possible, to avoid interest. It depends on what the T&Cs say exactly but many lenders are now applying incoming payments to the most expensive part of your debt at the time of your last statement. Newly incurred but more expensive debt is ignored until another statement is generated (unless your balance is otherwise cleared). This can catch people out who have interest free and interest bearing balances. Others cards also only allowing an interest free period on new spending if you have cleared the entire balance within the statement date — again, really stuffing anyone trying to maintain an interest free balance and actually do some day-to-day spending on the card.

          • Rossy says:
            23 Jul23 July 09:56

            That’s useful to know, thanks memesweeper. I think I’ll follow your advice 🙂

          • Anna says:
            23 Jul23 July 10:11

            @Chris Heyes yes, we have one near Malaga which we exchange to go all over the place (never Devon though), and one in Grand Cayman which we got in 2008 when it was nearly $2 to the £1! Best investments we ever made, which I know doesn’t tally with what you normally hear about timeshare but we HFP types can generally turn most things to our advantage I think 🤪. Hotel prices in GCM can easily hit $1k per night in high season but our 2 bedroom/3 bathroom duplex condo works out around $200 per night.

          • Anna says:
            23 Jul23 July 10:14

            Rossy – apologies, this thread is getting a bit clogged up now – I recently discovered that you can still overpay Creation (they started refusing payments larger than your outstanding balance.). In brief, pay your balance. Then repeat until Creation processed the payments or you feel you have built up enough credit! While you have an outstanding balance, you can pay it off multiple times as Creation can take a couple of days to process it.

          • Rossy says:
            23 Jul23 July 10:30

            Thanks for the info Anna!

          • Genghis says:
            23 Jul23 July 13:08

            “ While you have an outstanding balance, you can pay it off multiple times as Creation can take a couple of days to process it.”
            If you right click on payment link and copy and paste the link you’ve then a link you can use anytime, with your card details pre-populated, even if your card balance is zero.

        • guesswho2000 says:
          23 Jul23 July 12:39

          £11.57 on £12k spend for my July statement, seems about right to me

          • Secret Squirrel says:
            23 Jul23 July 14:25

            I always leave 5p as a balance, can’t see me getting much interest fees on that & it allows overpayment whilst waiting for payment to show.

    • Mr. AC says:
      23 Jul23 July 08:53

      Not seeing any cash interest for now. As of yesterday MCC was still 8999 on my Curve (I checked), but I guess there’s no guarantee it’s the same for everyone.

  • Munch says:
    23 Jul23 July 07:57

    Is the only way to upgrade an existing reward flight using avios by telephone? If so which is the best number to call?

    I’m also 1560 avios short. I transferred the extra points last night from Amex but not sure how long it takes? My only other option is to cancel an exiting flight to Ibiza – will these avios be immediately return to my account?

    • tony says:
      23 Jul23 July 08:08

      I don’t believe you can upgrade an avios flight with avios. I’m pretty sure it’s a cancel and rebook job.

      • tony says:
        23 Jul23 July 08:10

        To add – I cancelled some avios seats the other day (well JAL cancelled the flight but I had to request the refund from BA). Avios hit within maybe 30 minutes of the call, cash component was back on my card 2-3 days after that.

    • Secret Squirrel says:
      23 Jul23 July 08:12

      Will be almost instant if you call up.

      • Munch says:
        23 Jul23 July 08:20

        What is the best number to call to change an avios flight?

        • Secret Squirrel says:
          23 Jul23 July 14:27

          The 0800 number on the BA site.
          Tip: Try calling at nearly 8pm, I got through in 2 mins.

  • Amit says:
    23 Jul23 July 08:33

    Have my annual trip to California booked for October, not sure I want to go but any thoughts as to whether it’s likely I will be able to travel? Booked with avios, so have some flexibility

    • Rob says:
      23 Jul23 July 08:39

      Given we’re only talking 12 weeks away, seems unlikely.

    • Chris Heyes says:
      23 Jul23 July 09:27

      Amit@ Just had email our 8th Sept flight to Denver and 18th Sept flight from Phoenix both canceled
      so i would think October will be off as well,

      • Amit says:
        23 Jul23 July 09:32

        Agree Rob and Chris, looking like it’s not going to happen 🙁

    • JanH says:
      23 Jul23 July 13:11

      BA have just cancelled our San Francisco to London flight on 21st Sept.

  • memesweeper says:
    23 Jul23 July 09:39

    Wildly OT question: I have recently secured a CCJ against a business. I have no idea how to enforce it (they have ignored my emails and written correspondence to date). When I google the topic it seems to provide lots of advice for consumers on dealing with enforcement *from* companies, but nothing on the reverse. Any tips? The business is a regulated one, and headquartered in the City.

    • meta says:
      23 Jul23 July 09:59

      You can ask court to enforce judgement. On gov.uk you can find all info about how to do it. Just search for enforce judgment. You will need to pay extra fees for that. I believe if they owe you more than £5k, you can also make them bankrupt. This changed couple of years ago as it used to be £750.

    • Anna says:
      23 Jul23 July 10:16

      Watch “Can’t pay? We’ll Take it Away” on Channel 5 to see this in action!

    • ChrisC says:
      23 Jul23 July 10:35

      This is a job for the High Court Enforcement Officers commonly known as the Sheriffs. Several BBC series about them and their role. They have power of entry and can seize goods as well,

      I’d send a final recorded letter – harder to ignore that emails – to the company chief executive / legal counsel saying they have 7 days to pay up or you’ll contact the court for an enforcement order.

      The last thing they want is the Sheriffs popping in.

    • memesweeper says:
      23 Jul23 July 11:00

      Thanks all — I’ll get on to that right away.

    • Charlieface says:
      23 Jul23 July 15:03

      Once heard a story where somebody got court enforcement involved over a Ryanair refund, and they went with him to the airport to impound a plane.

  • Sam says:
    23 Jul23 July 09:40

    Can anyone provide a list of where Delta flies direct to from Glasgow and Edinburgh?

    Thanks

  • Anna says:
    23 Jul23 July 09:42

    Is it possible to do partial S75/chargeback? We are in holiday accommodation which is fine in itself but hadn’t been cleaned thoroughly when we arrived. As there was nowhere else to go I cleaned where needed on the first night & emailed the site manager about it! The only response I’ve had is that the cleaning team is normally fantastic and a new oven glove delivers. We paid through the nose as it’s July and also had check in and out times adjusted for supposed extra COVID cleaning! Nothing remotely like a thorough clean has obviously been done and we have instructions to strip our own beds etc before our 9am checkout! I am going to contact Hoseasons but imagine they will refuse any kind of refund.

    • meta says:
      23 Jul23 July 10:02

      I’ve done partial S75 claims before. Usually when items arrived later than they were supposed to. Was there a specific charge for cleaning? If so, I’d claim that.

      • Anna says:
        23 Jul23 July 10:20

        No specific charge but later check in/earlier check out required so they could do it. (And I would expect it in the current circumstances). As it was, the place wasn’t even clean enough for a normal stay so it was doubly annoying. There are government guidelines for this now so they are also in breach of these.

    • Chris Heyes says:
      23 Jul23 July 10:10

      Anna@ i don’t think you will be able to claim anything regards chargeback as your stopping there
      But i would put a strongly worded letter (letters) site manager and Hoseasons
      With a reasonable bill for your deep cleaning plus distress at the state at arrival
      A threat of small claims court might help after all they haven’t provided the service you paid for
      But doubt partial S75/chargeback would be allowed but what can you lose by trying

    • Anna says:
      23 Jul23 July 10:25

      I was thinking of asking for £200 which is about the cost of one night, given that we weren’t allowed to check in until 5 pm then spent the first evening cleaning & emailing the site manager to ask for replacement items!

      • Chris Heyes says:
        23 Jul23 July 13:16

        Anna@ i would go for it £200 refund seems reasonable, amount of deep cleaning needed
        plus don’t forget you all lost at least 1 day of your hols due to you having to do the work that should have already been finished before you arrived
        Stopped in a timeshare in Malaga plus all over Europe in early days
        plus U.S when it was $6/8 to £ plus plenty US around 80s
        Good old days (before your time)
        Used to stop in a timeshare in London (when i ran London Marathon then family could watch)
        i checked when i bought my timeshares at “The Osborne” was late 1968
        Wow that was early fees, was next to nothing then for 1st 10 years then steadily rose
        sold end of 80s so got good use out of it a profit as well prob unusual now
        Good luck against Hoseasons

    • Lady London says:
      23 Jul23 July 17:25

      Hope you took photos before you cleaned up the mess.

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