The new HFP chat thread – Sunday 2nd August

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• meta says:

  2 Aug2 August 08:24

  Anyone planning a trip to Japan. There is a new option in Kyoto – The Mitsui Kyoto, part of Luxury Collection. It’s also category 7 (at 70k a night), so cheaper than Ritz Carlton or Suiran. The hotel looks great. It’s just behind Crowne Plaza near Nijo Castle. It also has Onsen suites. Hoping Japan opens up by next year!

  • Harry T says:

    2 Aug2 August 10:19

    Thanks, hoping to visit in November so this is handy. Unfortunately we may not be allowed in by then, but we did book pre covid.

• Frankie says:

  2 Aug2 August 08:35

  Is anyone having trouble getting their shop small fivers because the name of the establishment is not showing on the Amex bill? For example, I made a £12 purchase in a takeaway food place but the Amex bill bill does not say the name of the food takeaway place. It says SQUAREUP EUROPE which is some sort of card payment company, and I had to use my card contactlessly on a small square reader. The same happened in a pub, where the name of the pub isn’t showing on bill. I had to touch my card on some small white reader. In both cases I’ve not had the shop small email, and the establishment name is not on the bill. What do do? Any advice greatly appreciated. And as always, thanks in advance.

  • Andrew says:

    2 Aug2 August 08:43

    Probably have to miss out on those fivers as they have been put through a third-party which is one of the rules in the T&Cs. Just one of the many reasons I find Shop Small way too much hassle – places not accepting cards, places not accepting Amex, places not open, credits not going through, map incorrect. I’m still yet to use mine anywhere this year.

    • Colin says:

      2 Aug2 August 22:04

      Yeah I’ve got better things to do with my time than faff around for the sake of the odd fiver here and there

  • meta says:

    2 Aug2 August 08:46

    Nothing. These are third party processors and they don’t count. This is why I don’t go out of my way to participate in Shop Small. 90% of retailers around my area use some kind of third party card processing. Amex simply refuses to pay up despite complaints.

    • Harry T says:

      2 Aug2 August 10:20

      Yeah. I agree. I am happy if they do post, and I know from last year which places I like to frequent actually credit. It’s probably not even worth the time cost of chasing!

    • Crafty says:

      2 Aug2 August 10:23

      Although you are absolutely right, it really isn’t fair for Amex to put these retailers on the map, if they won’t accept payments in a way that allows one to avail of the offer. arguably it’s false advertising.

      • Harry T says:

        2 Aug2 August 12:40

        I agree! Amex should pay out if the retailer is on the map.

  • Sukes says:

    2 Aug2 August 10:32

    I always ask for a paper receipt (or I guess in your case they may offer email receipt). Get a screenshot of the shop small online map showing the retailer is participating. I’ve never had issues with Amex webchat then reimbursing me when I raise any cash back issues with them.

    • meta says:

      2 Aug2 August 10:49

      I did that before. Amex used to be ok when Shop Small started. However, since I got burned 2-3 years ago, I am not doing it any longer. Even made formal complaints. Amex simply refuses.

      • John says:

        2 Aug2 August 14:07

        ASA / financial ombudsman? Is Amex counting on the fact that nobody will bother for £5

        • meta says:

          2 Aug2 August 19:10

          Amex Offers are not part of core benefits of the card. It’s not advertised when you apply for the card nor is it in the terms and conditions. So other than maybe reporting to ASA (but they’ll just put them on the list of false adverts without any fine), there is really nothing you can do. The only actual thing you can do is provide them with constant feedback in the hope that someone will listen eventually.

        • Genghis says:

          2 Aug2 August 19:42

          @meta. I disagree. Shop small is clearly an offer and the punter takes Amex up on the offer subject to all the terms and conditions of the offer. All within the remit of FOS.

  • Jonathan says:

    2 Aug2 August 13:48

    I’ve had a couple credit after using a squareup device. Just checked & was using Applepay rather than physical card but not sure that would make a difference. 2-3 day lag between transactions & credits. Was the shop on the shopsmall map?

• Yawn says:

  2 Aug2 August 08:45

  So KLM is still flying out of LHR T2. Anyone know if there is a lounge open that I could use? I have Gold status.

• memesweeper says:

  2 Aug2 August 08:52

  Top tip for BA On Business users: log in with a different browser to your BA.com account, or use incognito mode. It’s possible to get ‘locked into’ on business site now, even the click to ‘BA.com home page’ on the bottom of the On Business site eventually redirects back to On Business.

  • Lady London says:

    2 Aug2 August 11:09

    has deleting cookies anf reloading ba.com stopped working for that?

    • memesweeper says:

      2 Aug2 August 18:15

      I’d hope so but I’ve not tried yet. Advanced techniques like that should not be necessary to make a consumer facing website work.

• Graham says:

  2 Aug2 August 09:42

  BA are selling tickets to Faro anyone know if they have resumed flights out of City as thought they had stopped

• Boi says:

  2 Aug2 August 09:44

  Just out of curiosity has anyone won on premium bonds since it’s used heavily here?

  • memesweeper says:

    2 Aug2 August 10:09

    a few £25 wins every couple of months … no biggies 🙂

  • The Urbanite says:

    2 Aug2 August 10:22

    I’ve had a balance of £1 in there for years and haven’t won so much as a lump of coal.

    • Rob says:

      2 Aug2 August 10:43

      Having never bothered before, I moved some cash across recently. It is basically 1.22% return and, statistically, if you put in the full £50k then you WILL get that.

      (Forget the big prizes. There is a 1 in 24,500 chance of winning £25 tax free so, assuming you invest £49,000, so you get back £50 per month. £600 / £49,000 = 1.22% tax free. Unbeatable anywhere else.)

      • Spaghetti Town says:

        2 Aug2 August 11:05

        And a good way to Earn points 🙂

        • The Original Nick says:

          2 Aug2 August 12:23

          How do you earn points with premium bonds?

        • Harry T says:

          2 Aug2 August 12:36

          @OG Nick
          NS&I accept debit card deposits.

        • @mkcol says:

          3 Aug3 August 00:45

          Can I use my HH card fronted by Curve, or will HH chuck some fees on?

      • Liz says:

        2 Aug2 August 20:45

        I get that you can earn points for buying premium bonds or direct saver in smaller amounts but if you have a larger amount you want buy so that you get a block of numbers, how can this be done. We are going to have around £20k to put somewhere soon so I was thinking of putting it to premium bonds. But if your daily curve limit or underlying card doesnt cover that amount then can it be done or do you have to buy the bonds in one transaction to get a running sequence of numbers to give you a better chance of winning. If that is the case then that would mean no pts earning. Does that make sense?

        • Peter K says:

          2 Aug2 August 21:15

          It’s a random draw so having a run of numbers does not improve your chance of winning. In fact the t&c’s cover the event that the same number is drawn more than once. Feel free to buy them in random amounts here and there.

        • Rob says:

          2 Aug2 August 22:32

          The number sequence makes no difference at all to your chances of winning.

        • Crafty says:

          2 Aug2 August 23:20

          I genuinely don’t understand the thought that must have sat behind this. Why would a sequence of numbers improve ones chance of winning in *any* random draw?

        • Liz says:

          3 Aug3 August 08:12

          Friends if ours have 2 blocks of £30k and they win a min of £75 every month.

  • BJ says:

    2 Aug2 August 13:25

    My sister received some as a Birthday gift almost 60 years ago, she has won nothing. By contrast, I probably buy one lottery ticket every few years, the one I bought last year won me £769 🙂 And, no, I haven’t bought another since.

  • Lilly says:

    2 Aug2 August 19:02

    I’ve ramped up my savings there and I definitely get at least one prize a month on average. It seems as good a place as any at the moment.

• Vit says:

  2 Aug2 August 10:16

  Hello, preparing for a few platinum referrals: Am I correct to think that I would still receive 12k MR points per referral even though each referral has been holding a blue BA card the last 24 months?

  And the referral would still receive 35k MR points after spending £4k in the first 6 months as I believe the only thing that would stop them receiving the 35k MR bonus if he/she has been holding AMEX Gold Credit Card the last 24 months.

  Many thanks.

  • Harry T says:

    2 Aug2 August 10:25

    If you’re referring from the Plat, then you will receive 12k MR for every approved referral application. If your friends are being referred for the plat, they will be eligible for the bonus if they haven’t had an MR earning card for the last two years.

    • Vit says:

      2 Aug2 August 10:28

      Ah, gotcha. The MR earning card within the last 2 years. Thanks Harry!

  • Rob says:

    2 Aug2 August 10:44

    Correct – although last line should be “AMEX Gold credit card or any other personal card earning Membership Rewards points”.

• Simon says:

  2 Aug2 August 10:47

  If you upgrade a BA flight with cash and then decide to take a voucher does the voucher include what you paid for the upgrade does anyone know?

  • Lady London says:

    2 Aug2 August 11:12

    voucher is basically your ticket with its existing mix of cash, avios, and vouchers (useby date extended) all frozen in a lump so Yes.

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