The new HFP chat thread – Saturday 15th August

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• Reney says:

  15 Aug15 August 09:28

  Good morning all, two questions today (posting separately) first is about the Tesco credit card. Is there a way to tell what transaction receive points and what doesn’t? I just got my first statement and it doesn’t even say how many points earned this month. Thanks in advance.

  • jimA says:

    15 Aug15 August 09:42

    you can check using the clubcard app, points are usually posted a few days after spend
    Its done on an individual item basis
    Remember you only get a point for each £8 so a £15.99 spend only gets you 1 point and upto £7.99 nothing

    • Reney says:

      15 Aug15 August 16:16

      Thanks, very helpful. I somehow messed up my application and the credit card is not linked to my main clubcard account. I called them a couple of weeks ago to combine them, they said it will take 2 weeks but I can’t see anything yet. Will chase. Thanks.

• Reney says:

  15 Aug15 August 09:30

  My second question is about BA FTV, a couple of weeks ago Rob mentioned they were being converted to e-voucher if the original flight was a cash voucher. I still haven’t received a conversion yet. I was wondering if others were waiting for theirs too? I was one of the early batch, literally applied for the FTV a few hours after BA changed their policy to all flights back in March. Thanks.

  • AJA says:

    15 Aug15 August 10:03

    It is only FTV’s for cash bookings that are being converted to allow use online. If you have one for an Avios and/Or 2-4-1 companion voucher you will still have to phone up to redeem. If it’s cash I’d try contacting BA to ask them to convert.

    • Wollhouse says:

      15 Aug15 August 10:15

      I used 2for1 BA voucher and Avios – all segments now cancelled and as I know I’ll be travelling with the same friend, took a voucher as i needed the extension the voucher offered over my 2for1 expiry. I got email confirmation of 2evouchers within about 5 minutes. But as others have mentioned, absolutely no information about what exactly they credited! I have full details from the initial booking but it would be nice to have had this validated. But the process was painless. (Well i say that until I go to use them and discover they’ve refunded a fiver 😉

      • Anna says:

        15 Aug15 August 10:37

        Your original booking confirmation email will show what Avios & cash were used, your voucher should be for exactly the same.

      • AJA says:

        15 Aug15 August 10:54

        As Anna says it’s your original booking. Just note that even though it’s described as an e-voucher it’s not possible to redeem online when it is for Avios and 1-4-1. You will have to call to redeem. The only advantage for you is the extension of the 2-4-1 expiry date.

        • AJA says:

          15 Aug15 August 10:56

          2-4-1 not 1-4-1 🙂

    • Reney says:

      15 Aug15 August 16:14

      Thanks, I’ll give them a call when I am happy to be on hold for a while.

• Yuff says:

  15 Aug15 August 09:49

  Curve – has anyone had problems adding the HSBC world elite credit card to curve?
  It keeps saying the card isn’t accepted 🤷🏻‍♂️
  I’ve deleted the app, removed my HSBC debit card and the old expired world elite card but still no joy……

  • David says:

    15 Aug15 August 10:27

    Mine works fine .

  • DJ says:

    15 Aug15 August 11:07

    Mine works fine as well, and I’ve managed to add the new card yesterday.

  • MD says:

    15 Aug15 August 11:41

    Mine worked first go. Is yours a commercial/business or personal Curve? Not sure that would affect things anyway. I seem to remember somebody else posted the same problem here but I’m afraid that was ages ago, maybe a year or more. That’s not terribly helpful I realise, sorry.

    • Lady London says:

      15 Aug15 August 17:31

      i think the answer was something like re-download the app and making sure you logged out/in again.

      • Yuff says:

        15 Aug15 August 17:36

        I have the legacy black card, I’ve done the delete and re-load and it says try a different card this one not accepted 😩

  • memesweeper says:

    15 Aug15 August 18:30

    Yup • I had this problem and never got it fixed 🙁

  • Mr. AC says:

    15 Aug15 August 21:50

    I’d try sending off an e-mail to support. Include the BIN (first 6 numbers) of the card and explain it’s an HSBC Credit card (as opposed to anything exotic like a virtual prepaid card issued in Japan or something).

• Anna says:

  15 Aug15 August 10:42

  Just tried Seatspy to see if there’s been any improvement to their data and there’s a message saying you now have to register as someone has been gaining unauthorised access to the site and copying their data!

  • JP-MCO says:

    15 Aug15 August 10:51

    Yeah – widget on here no longer works.

  • Ed says:

    15 Aug15 August 11:09

    Significant data issues still. Just tried checking availablity for London to New York, seatspy only displaying availability up until 12 July.

    I’ve cancelled my subscription. Haven’t seen any emails from them encouraging their paying subscribers to check directly on BA due to the issues thier having. Had I relied purely on thier email alerts I would’ve missed the redemption that I recently booked.

    • Brian W says:

      15 Aug15 August 20:34

      Seat Spy isn’t fit for purpose full stop. Doubt it ever will be.

• Alex says:

  15 Aug15 August 11:02

  Anyone had any experience putting lots of spending through a card while trying to get a mortgage?

  I’ve got IHG linked to curve and nearly maxing it out every week. I have other cards where I put in a reasonable amount of spend. Hoping to start the process of moving home in the next couple of months.

  I know credit history and mortgages are an art more than a science but wondered if anyone has had issues.

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    15 Aug15 August 11:14

    I got a credit utilisation mark come up a few months ago on my credit report for spending too much on my credit cards.
    You may get the same, if your thinking of applying for a mortgage might be prudent to lay off the card spend for a little while.

  • Connor says:

    15 Aug15 August 12:36

    I got asked if I had any balances on cards when I got my mortgage last year, they said that any balances that were statemented and that I would pay off in full would not matter and it was only if I was only making partial payments to the card it would matter (e.g making minimum payments on a a balance transfer offer card)

    • James says:

      15 Aug15 August 15:26

      I have got some experience in this area.

      When you apply for a mortgage they will do a credit search on you. Now this is based on the data your credit card company has reported to Experian. Just note, this could be reported at different times based on the lender your with.

      i.e – Virgin Money is based on the 1 day of month balance and reported a month in arrears. Where MBNA is your opening statement balance reported at the end of that month.

      If you time things correctly you can show the mortgage lender that you have £0 on your cards though have pumped £1000s through it.

      Happy to discuss offline in more detail if anyone is interested.

      • Pat the Postie says:

        15 Aug15 August 19:11

        That may work for a few cards that don’t report monthly payments to the account and would have previously worked before this data was available but it is available for a lot of cards now. I also noted that although it maybe reported on a certain day often the credit card will still report the previous statements balance.

  • iamfugly says:

    15 Aug15 August 15:43

    There is no clear cut answer. Each lender has different criteria.
    Credit utilisation is important if you want to ensure you do not lose marks on your credit score.
    Some lenders suggest a 25% utilisation of your credit line, others suggest not more than 75-80% (I think this is a more realistic figure).
    Also, total line of credit is something lenders look for; ie the grand total credit facility you have. I would argue if you have a good credit history this isn’t such an issue, as I take out many BTL products and have had on avg a total line of credit on a handful of cards of approx £40k. But possibly this measurement could be relative to total income!?
    Long story short like you, say it’s not a science, make sure you don’t have any late payments in the last several months (paying off your cards in full helps also), don’t max out your credit lines on the one card (ie your IHG), and maybe watch the total line of credit you have access to.

  • Andrew says:

    15 Aug15 August 16:08

    Depends on whether your cards or accounts are even reported to the credit agencies.

    My BoS current accounts and Credit Card do not appear on any credit agency report. Neither does my First Direct Current account and Visa card.

    By Barclays current account does, but my Barclaycard doesn’t.

  • Pat the Postie says:

    15 Aug15 August 20:02

    I used to spend about 30k a month on the IHG and didn’t have any problems with a mortgage, the lenders mostly look at the balances you have on the cards over how much your spending.

    • Alex says:

      15 Aug15 August 22:52

      Thanks all for the insight. Makes sense not to go crazy on the card right now as a bad mortgage won’t make up for extra points.

      I’ll still keep it going and may keep the spending very low the month I apply. History is good otherwise, everything paid off on time and manageable.

      • Secret Squirrel says:

        16 Aug16 August 08:21

        Sounds sensible Alex. Keep balances low until your accepted then start up again.

• Mark says:

  15 Aug15 August 12:20

  Just watched Youtube vlogger Sam Chui’s new video, he’s on Lufthansa long haul LAX-FRA and the food and service looks really good.
  The lunch boxes that BA are still offering are so behind its laughable.

• Stuart H says:

  15 Aug15 August 12:38

  hi, i cant login to ihg rewards club on my pc (app is OK) , all the signin links appear to be dead on all browsers, has anyone got a working link. thanks

  • MonkeymaN says:

    15 Aug15 August 12:55

    It is working OK for me on Firefox. I haven’t tried any other browsers.

    • Stuart H says:

      15 Aug15 August 13:23

      Thanks, downloaded firefox and it worked.

• John says:

  15 Aug15 August 14:10

  Looking for Rob to clarify something he said on yesterday’s chat.

  Having spoken to my 3 holiday insurance companies ( all with different cards/ bank accounts) : all stated that for me to be covered FCO advice not to go to that destination must NOT be in place BOTH when you book AND when you travel.

  Rob seemed to suggest yesterday it was just when you travel.

  Thanks

  • BJ says:

    15 Aug15 August 14:17

    So if Rob disagrees with the underwriter providing all 3 of your insurance policies you then plan to book and travel?

    • BJ says:

      15 Aug15 August 15:03

      Just to be clear, I think any requirement relating to time of booking is totally nonsense, and I would hope I could find an insurer with no such restrictions. Currently avoiding the headache as we have no insurance in place right now as we do not plan to travel again before December.

    • John says:

      15 Aug15 August 15:20

      Obviously going with what my insurance companies say.
      Just don’t want people to book following Robs comment to find they are not insured !!

      • BJ says:

        15 Aug15 August 15:50

        Ok, got it. Just seems that the insurers are not helping either their own industry or the travel industry with restrictions on time of booking but I guess their exposure to disruption etc is too great.

    • Rob says:

      15 Aug15 August 15:53

      That’s not what I said, or at least not what I meant.

      There were 2 issues – one was if you wanted to cancel (which clearly requires guidance at time of booking to be ‘go’) and whether you can claim for a broken leg when you are there (which only depends on guidance on the day you break it).

      For the latter, no-one will care what the guidance was when you booked.

      For eg, I have Dubai booked for October, booked when guidance was do not go’. If the guidance changes to ‘go’ before we fly then I am covered when there.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    15 Aug15 August 15:50

    What kind of cover are you looking for medical or cancellation cover?

    You have to consider that they can put whatever terms they want in but they have to be fair.

    Is it fair that your cost of flights/hotel are covered if you book when FCO advice against travel? Probably not as your knee the risk when you booked.

    Is it fair they exclude medical cover because you booked when advice was not to travel But now it’s perfectly fine? I’d say that’s an unfair term.

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