The new HFP chat thread – Monday 27th July

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• Martha says:

  27 Jul27 July 11:50

  Does anyone expect an enhanced IHT card new card promotion any time soon?

  • Lady London says:

    27 Jul27 July 11:55

    what’s IHT ?

    • Martha says:

      27 Jul27 July 12:06

      Sorry IHG

      • Jonathan says:

        27 Jul27 July 12:25

        Considering they’ve closed the premium version to new applications & that’s the only one worth having I’d be surprised if they have an offer worth waiting for anytime soon.

        I wouldn’t expect many offers in the credit card market full stop at the moment either. Too much uncertainty over economy & potential levels of bad debt to go chasing new customers.

• onlysuites says:

  27 Jul27 July 12:04

  Say if you have 2 Amex cards with a limit of 15k and 15k and you want to close one is it better to transfer some/all/none limit over to the one that you are keeping?

  • Spk says:

    27 Jul27 July 13:16

    Better to transfer the limit to remaining card. Some credit ratings look at credit utilisation- this will spike if your total limit suddenly drops.

    • John says:

      27 Jul27 July 14:45

      Only if you’ve spent £10000 in the most recent month and those two are your only cards.

    • onlysuites says:

      27 Jul27 July 14:52

      But doesn’t that also work work negatively? As in some funders might think you have too much credit and not offer you anymore?

      • Rob says:

        27 Jul27 July 15:05

        Yes, works both ways. You need to a) not have too high a credit limit across all your cards combined vs your income BUT b) not be using too much of your existing credit limits, because to do so makes you look desperate.

        • Secret Squirrel says:

          27 Jul27 July 17:44

          I currently have 4x credit cards with average 10k limit on each. I have the free IHG white card sitting in the drawer since bagging the 10k bonus.
          Do you think I should cancel this card to free up credit percentages for future cards?
          I already have the IHG black so don’t really need the white version.

        • onlysuites says:

          27 Jul27 July 23:23

          Thanks.

• TonyG says:

  27 Jul27 July 12:08

  Is there any trick to pay brighton with curve using underlying DEBIT card? It does not work for me.

  • Andrew says:

    27 Jul27 July 12:14

    Just pay directly with the debit card? Why involve Curve?

    • TonyG says:

      27 Jul27 July 12:16

      I want to increase my limits by putting more payments through it

      • Jonathan says:

        27 Jul27 July 12:28

        That’s the wrong kind of payment to be putting through it to get your limits raised! Lots of small/regular transactions like supermarkets/coffee shops (with no MS) is the way to play it for a month before you request an increase.

        • Secret Squirrel says:

          27 Jul27 July 18:05

          Agree, lots of large transactions on a fairly newish card will get you no where fast.

  • Dave says:

    27 Jul27 July 12:28

    Is your curve a business or personal card? Ask for a personal one if the former

• meta says:

  27 Jul27 July 12:58

  Update on my Kimpton De Witt Amsterdam saga.

  Tried getting through over the weekend as no one replied to my email on Friday even though I sent it 10 minutes after receiving it. Basically there is no one working at the hotel during the weekend apart from duty manager who has no access to systems. According to him, everyone in reservations team is now working from home and they only check emails a few times Monday to Friday, no phone calls. He also said that hotel will be closed until occupancy rates reach the required level.

  Today I finally received an email from reservations team who said that they can move me to Pulitzer for 200 euros a night, but if I want to be moved to Intercontinental Amstel there has to be points availability (there isn’t, I checked!) or they can book Get a Night on Us rate for me.

  Absolutely disgusting behaviour. I have Renaissance booking on standby, but I am inclined to cancel the trip if I can. I booked BA flights using Future Travel Voucher. Does anyone have experience of cancelling FTV voucher booking? Do you get the voucher back?

  • Harry T says:

    27 Jul27 July 16:25

    Sorry to hear that. Unsure if it fits with your budget but you can email the Amstel about decent Staycation rates that are available until the end of August. They are honouring Amabassador benefits on these too. If you search for staycation Amsterdam you can find deals at several hotels.

    • meta says:

      27 Jul27 July 17:58

      No, I am not paying 350 euros a night when I had a booking for 25k points a night. In any case IHG walk policy is first night free at a comparable hotel, return of all points plus a free stay at a later date. I haven’t been offered anything other than to pay for my stay elsewhere.

  • ChrisC says:

    27 Jul27 July 16:50

    I think I responded to you when you posted last week re this

    I’m due a stay at the De Witt on 31st August for a single night.

    As an alternative and just in case they aren’t open by then last night I booked a night at the Ink (an M Gallery from Accor) just down the same road for £130 per night inc dinner and breakfast on a cancel 3 days before rate. Accor currently have an offer of 500 points as well – Rob wrote an article on it the other day.

    • meta says:

      27 Jul27 July 18:08

      Yes, I looked at it, but everything is really expensive for my dates as it’s only 10 days away. Yours is much later. Ink is £150 no breakfast. I looked at Doubletree, but that’s about the same. I am looking at something around £100 a night max as I really did not plan to spend money on the hotel as I have loads of IHG points following cancellation of Japan/Singapore trip in March. I think I’d rather cancel my flights if I can rebook somewhere else. Will call BA tomorrow and see what they say.

      And Kimpton still hasn’t replied to my last email, so they still might change their mind about rebooking me elsewhere, but I doubt it.

• N says:

  27 Jul27 July 13:46

  Edinburgh – looking to be looked after by a nice hotel in town for a special trip.

  WA rates v reasonable and so are the rates at the Glasshouse.

  I’m Hilton Gold and Marriott Plat if that will play into the decision?

  • Peggers says:

    27 Jul27 July 14:29

    Hi @N.
    Between the WA Caledonian and the Glasshouse, I think I’d choose the later. Both served by tram from EDI. Both walkable from Waverley station. Glasshouse has great 4th(?) floor garden, WA a bit staid, though the Mark Greenaway restaurant is v good.
    Also consider the Sheraton Grand & Spa which is a 2 min walk from Princes St if you get a decent price.
    However I’m a big fan of the Kimpton (IHG obv) which has just got a great restaurant Aizle moving in along with Baba, their v good North African/Middle Eastern eatery. Decent pool etc and in good position for sights/pubs/restaurants.

    • N says:

      28 Jul28 July 10:07

      Thank you – we are leaning towards glasshouse now. Also got a few SNAs to burn so hope they can look after us!

• Michael_s says:

  27 Jul27 July 14:11

  Has anyone flown from UK to Italy these days? I know Italy allows passengers from UK without quarantine but in theory there’s a 14 days lookback period for whereabouts, which I’m not sure how they check. Are checks random? Do you fill a form etc?

  • meta says:

    27 Jul27 July 14:22

    My friends are currently in Italy. No one asked them anything. No checks.

  • Lottie says:

    27 Jul27 July 22:09

    Some areas of Italy like puglia and Sardinia require You to complete a form and email it to the local doctor before you fly. It’s a fairly simple self declaration. Check the airports website that you are flying into. On arrival in pescara and Bari we didn’t have any checks.

• Peggers says:

  27 Jul27 July 14:13

  Loganair 15% off with code RECONNECT. From 31/7/2020. Restrictions (Barra, inter-islands etc) apply.

• Ragman says:

  27 Jul27 July 14:18

  I might be unusual at the moment but am trying to book a reward flight to Malaga in June next year. However, when I try and book it says it can’t process it at the moment. Rewardflightfinder shows availability.
  I look like I can buy a cash ticket so I don’t think BA have blocked all flights to Spain.
  Clearly not a good time to call BA…….
  Anyone suggest what could be the problem?

  • Rhys says:

    27 Jul27 July 14:37

    Have you checked availability on BA?

    • Ragman says:

      27 Jul27 July 15:45

      Hi Rhys,
      I tried the Reward Flight Finder in ba.com and says there is availability ( I did a whole month search) however when you click on specific dates it says there is a technical error.
      Alan

      • Rhys says:

        27 Jul27 July 15:47

        Sounds like an IT issue. Wouldn’t be the first time….

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