The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 2nd September

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• AndyF says:

  2 Sep2 September 12:48

  A question regarding Bicester shopping village.
  I went last Saturday, I forgot to claim points at the time but I knew you could do it via email due to Covid. Today I have gone to claim but when I look at the terms and conditions it says to send a picture of your invitation? I haven’t got one as I simply just went shopping. Does this mean if I send in pictures of the receipts without this invitation they will not award the points?

  • Andrew says:

    2 Sep2 September 13:49

    They don’t process receipts on site anymore, all via email, so you’re right to be doing them after the visit (although the terms do say within 24 hours, but hopefully they will allow). The invitation element is if it’s for a specific promo from a FFP – if it’s just a standard claim for the BA Avios then you just send the receipts and a picture (edited to take off all but the last 4 numbers) of the card you paid with (they are very particular about if you paid with a different card etc not allowing the claim).

    • AndyF says:

      2 Sep2 September 17:32

      Thank you i’ll give it a go!

• KBUFFETT says:

  2 Sep2 September 12:50

  Curve Question – I had stopped taking an interest in Curve since their failed AmEx relauch. I have Curve Black Legacy (free) with a £50k annual purchase limit and £1000 daily ATM limit (£40k annual). Can anyone confirm if I can really go around withdrawing £1k a day from ATM’s with a credit card behind it? I’m sure I will get shafted somehow for doing that!

  • Ryan says:

    2 Sep2 September 12:55

    The ATM limit is the max amount you could take out but it includes debit cards. They say you can’t use a credit card at all but depending on your limit, a couple hundred a month would be fine

  • memesweeper says:

    2 Sep2 September 12:55

    You might indeed get shafted…

    First, Curve will warn and/or block you, you only have a limited *free* ATM allowance

    Second, the underlying card may charge for you for a cash transaction fee and/or interest — having said that, others won’t, so try your favourite card and see what happens

    A few hundred a month through an ATM is going to be fine if you use Curve elsewhere as well. Thousands a week isn’t.

• Waddle says:

  2 Sep2 September 13:00

  Hi folks. Do any readers have any experience at the Hilton Reading?

  • planeconcorde says:

    2 Sep2 September 14:06

    It’s not in the town centre so ideally need your own transport to reach it. It’s a modern building, been a Hilton since opening. Everything was fine, except restaurant service was slow the first evening as we happen to dine at the same time as two coach parties. My last stay was July last year, so pre-COVID.

  • Scott says:

    2 Sep2 September 14:18

    Pretty good, rooms are modern compared to some of the other Hilton I have stayed at. I used to stay at weekends and usually receive an upgrade as a Gold member. I believe they are currently doing an a-la-carte breakfast rather than a buffet.

• Aleks says:

  2 Sep2 September 13:32

  Hello, I have two flights HKG-LHR booked via Virgin with airmiles for next year. I also have a 2-4-1 companion/upgrade voucher from my VA credit card which I have not yet used. Given the changes that occurred last week, am I right in thinking that I could call up and now cancel the second flight and redeem this using my companion voucher instead and get the airmiles refunded? I am Virgin red status. Thank you in advance!

  • Jonathan says:

    2 Sep2 September 15:47

    Yes if economy or premium. If it’s Upper then would only get half the miles back for second ticket.

• GuyC says:

  2 Sep2 September 13:36

  Hello. Have been a quiet reader of HFP for some time – thanks for all the advice everyone!
  Strange thing happened yesterday booking avios reward flight LHR-LAX August ’21 – called BA, they said no flights have 4 seats (2 x 241 vouchers) in CW, but a couple of hours later I just checked the BA website and there was quite a lot of availability – did I just get lucky that loads more seats were released, or maybe unlucky that the BA guy didnt see the seats? Also RewardFlightTracker is showing no availability, but there is plenty! Wondering what I’m missing, has anyone else had better luck on the website than through calling BA?

  • BJ says:

    2 Sep2 September 13:50

    2x CW and 4x Y per flight are all that is guaranteed. At times (like these) anything is possible inclufing multiple seats in any cabin.

    • GuyC says:

      2 Sep2 September 14:02

      Yes, when I called they said that 4 x CW had been released on about 1/2 the flights for August (and all those been booked), and just 2 x CW were released on the other flights, suggested I called back in a few days. So it was a surprise to just see them sitting their on the website!

      • Chris Heyes says:

        2 Sep2 September 14:28

        GUYC @ Hi, yes look halfway down page 3 yesterdays Chat reported yday both Avios seat finder sights showing no availability but if you go to BA availability put in find Month July 21 then forward arrow to Aug loads of availability pop up including CW
        Checked this morning i think you can now put find Month Aug 21 in wasn’t available earlier without going July 1st

      • BJ says:

        2 Sep2 September 14:41

        The reason why we all love Reward Flight Finder and Seat Spy when they are working properly.

  • Louise K says:

    2 Sep2 September 14:18

    Has anyone seen any First reward availability on LHR / LAX next summer?

    • Stuart Evans says:

      2 Sep2 September 14:46

      Yes I had been looking for a while and about 10 days ago got 1 x F to LAX on 3 Jul; returning in F from San Francisco on 14 Jul. There was plenty of availability on BA.com at the time, which I guess was shortly after BA had finalised (for now, at least) what aircraft they will be using given the retirement of the 747s. Both my flights are on A380s, and I recall the two SFO flights are both A380s at that time.

      Good luck in your search

      • Louise K says:

        2 Sep2 September 16:57

        Thanks for that. Did you grab them at midnight when released?

        • Stuart Evans says:

          2 Sep2 September 19:14

          No – it was mid morning from memory

        • Peter K says:

          2 Sep2 September 20:53

          First seats are not guaranteed to be released at all, so no point waiting up at midnight for them. Only club and economy guaranteed to be released.

• Fred S says:

  2 Sep2 September 16:13

  My Amex Bapp card anniversary date is coming up. Is the BA voucher still extended by 6 months upon meeting spending target? Thinking about trying to hit target within 3 weeks as IIRC the extension is only valid if earnt by the end of this month. Does the voucher remain even if there are refund credits applied after earning it?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    2 Sep2 September 17:05

    Can answer half. The voucher remains If you have refunds.

• Reney says:

  2 Sep2 September 16:44

  Rob, Any updates on Barclays current account deal? You said not August..

  • Rob says:

    2 Sep2 September 16:53

    Was meant to be September. Sinead is back next week and she has the contacts over there.

• Vit says:

  2 Sep2 September 17:03

  Just cancelled my BA card to trigger the 2 years waiting time. Feeling a bit lost as it was my first amex card since 2016. Been through a lot with it. 🙁

  • Lady London says:

    2 Sep2 September 19:08

    From what I can see though @Vit you are a very fast learner and had a lot of fun with it so far 🙂 Good luck with your next one

    • Vit says:

      2 Sep2 September 22:17

      @Lady London, thanks. All credits to Rob et al and the rest of HfP readers. I have only started using AMEX in 2016 when I moved to London but only found out about HFP late last year — so yes lots of missed-opportunities but hey, you live and you learn! 😉

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