Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

The HfP chat thread – Thursday 3rd September

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

We have decided to run this daily chat thread on Head for Points during the coronavirus outbreak.

Historically, the daily ‘Bits’ articles were the de facto repository for random comments and questions.  With the news flow being lighter, we are running fewer ‘Bits’ articles.

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 at home, we want the HfP community to have a place to chat.

HFP-Wordmark-Black

Please only comment under the main articles on the site if your comment is directly related to the topic of the article.  This has long-term benefits as it keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

By default, HfP shows the last page of comments under the article.  If you want to see the first page of comments and read them all from beginning to end in order, click here: https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2020/09/03/the-hfp-chat-thread-thursday-3rd-september/comment-page-1.  The page will refresh with this article but the comments will now show the first page and not the last page.

Old chat threads are hidden from the HfP home page.  If you want to look for something in an old thread, click here.  This brings up all the articles in our ‘General’ category which includes the chat threads.

Category

General

Comments (174)

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

  • Andrew M says:
    3 Sep3 September 09:29

    I transferred a small number of HSBC points to BA on 01/09/20 to see if there was a September bonus on transfers. The points arrived today – no bonus.

    • Tazzy says:
      3 Sep3 September 10:10

      So where apart from Portugal so we think will be added to quarantine list? Most other countries with a case rate above 20/100000 are already on it.

  • Grimz says:
    3 Sep3 September 09:32

    Rob – are you considering an article on the BA100% avios refunds instead of cash for cancelled flights? Its on the BA website that you can take a 100% bonus on avios for a cancelled long haul reward flight. My example is that I have had my flight cancelled in November from INV – LAX return which cost 125k miles and around £470 in taxes. The way I read it is that I can get my 125k miles back + 125k miles bonus if I leave them with my £470. I have filled out the form and I am awaiting a reply from BA.

    • Rob says:
      3 Sep3 September 09:56

      No, that’s not how it works.

      You get the 125k Avios back that you paid.

      You will NOT get your £470 back. It is used to buy Avios at 0.8p each, ie a 100% bonus vs the normal selling price of 1.6p.

      In total, you’d get 125k + (47000/0.8) 59k Avios back, and no money.

    • Roberto says:
      3 Sep3 September 09:57

      I read it differently.. I assumed it was for the cash element which bought you double the miles you “normally” buying miles from BA directly..

      It would be intetesting to know the truth.

    • ChrisC says:
      3 Sep3 September 10:09

      I think he has covered this before.

      so you are basically buying 125k avios for £470?

      • Rob says:
        3 Sep3 September 10:10

        No! You are buying (£470 / 0.8p per Avios) 59,000 Avios.

        Any Avios you are due back are returned 1:1. Any cash you are due back is turned into extra Avios at 0.8p per Avios.

        • ChrisC says:
          3 Sep3 September 10:15

          I only saw your reply to the OP when I hit return and rerfreshed as it wasn’t there when I started typing

        • BJ says:
          3 Sep3 September 10:27

          LOL, when Grimz posted this last night I thought it was too good to be true following some initial excitement. Rob’s explanation is much more credible. Think about it, if it worked the other way as some of you are discussing then Grimz would get for example 125k for his £470 but if I cancelled a one way from EDI to BKK which is also about £470 then I would only get 75k avios. It is just not plausible regardless of how much we might like it to be!

          • BJ says:
            3 Sep3 September 10:34

            Btw, not criticising anybody, just sounds like BA has published something unclear.

          • Doug says:
            3 Sep3 September 11:23

            It’s almost as if they wanted to sucker a few people into something unclear…..

          • Lady London says:
            3 Sep3 September 12:06

            +1. imagine how many ordinary people could get suckered into this.

            If I spent £470 I would expect to earn 16,000 avios on the flights I purchase for this without trying too hard.

            Taking the net avios BA is offering me on this, to only 44,000 in exchange for my £470 cash.

            BA are “having a laugh”. Ger your cash back off them and run away as fast as you can.

          • BJ says:
            3 Sep3 September 13:25

            Wouldn’t put it past them.

        • Grimz says:
          3 Sep3 September 16:38

          BA have got back to me and offered me 125k plus 61900 avios. No thanks I won’t be buying at that price!

    • Rhys says:
      3 Sep3 September 11:03

      We wrote a full article about it back in May when it was first launched! https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2020/05/20/british-airways-offering-avios-instead-of-cash-refunds/

  • BJ says:
    3 Sep3 September 09:52

    For an auld HfP crony on the Amazon to Melia strategy and other over 50s, AIG is now providing plans via Churchill and and Direct Line providing £100 Amazon vouchers for £30. Co-op also selling such plans with a £100 food voucher as incentive. I have not yet checked the terms of the Co-op offering.

    • Lady London says:
      3 Sep3 September 12:08

      Do we even have to have a pet for this? 🙂

      • Erico1875 says:
        3 Sep3 September 12:45

        The CO OP over 50s is quite a good one. U must keep the policy for at least 6 months. £100 of Vouchers should arrive within 240 days,( so aprox within 8 months)
        For me 770 of cover for £4 so 8×4 = £32

        • BJ says:
          3 Sep3 September 13:34

          Thanks Erico, I’ll have a go then. Did you notice if we can buy booze with the voucher (not that I’m a drinker myself)?

      • BJ says:
        3 Sep3 September 13:31

        How many people do you know who have Pets that are over 50…? On second thoughts, maybe best you don’t answer that one 🙂

    • Erico1875 says:
      3 Sep3 September 12:46

      Thanks BJ

      • BJ says:
        3 Sep3 September 13:36

        Welcome. I think the Nectar variant via Sainsbury Bank may still be going on too if you missed that.

  • Fola says:
    3 Sep3 September 10:25

    I had Capital on Tap Business reward visa card, but unfortunately, I did not transfer my reward points to Avios due to the current situation before the account expired. I had about 20k points on my account. Now, Capital on Tap wants me to renew my account before I can access the points on the account. Any idea of what to do or anyone had a similar problem? I am unwilling to pay £99 for another year.

    • Peter K says:
      3 Sep3 September 12:05

      Unfortunately, it sounds like you should have sorted it before the end of the card year and they are in their rights to say you can’t have the points now unless you renew for another year.

      However, 20k points are worth £200 if you convert them to a statement credit at 1p per point, so it would be worth paying the £99, using half the points on a statement credit to negate this and then transferring the other half to Avios (if that’s what you want).
      You’ve had a net gain, plus another year to earn more points on the card if you want.

  • AndyF says:
    3 Sep3 September 10:48

    Has anyone heard any news regarding Greece on the grapevine? I am wondering if it will be put on the quarantine list tonight/tomorrow for England? Will they follow Scotland after they went the full hog, although their figures are well below the 20 threshold limit.

    • KevMc says:
      3 Sep3 September 11:19

      Last 14 days, Greece has 26.5 cases per 100k (we have 24.1), so I’d say there is a strong chance it will be removed from exception list. Others likely to be being considered are:

      Poland (24.5)
      Italy (24.7)
      Lietchenstein (26.1)
      Ireland (30.1) – may be difficult, politically?
      Portugal (34.5)

      Only one looking like possibly being added to the list is Bulgaria (20.7), but they might give that another week

      • AndyF says:
        3 Sep3 September 11:22

        Thanks for this Kev, can I ask where you are getting the statistics from do you have a link? When I have looked they were saying the numbers were around 15 per 100k. So I am looking at old data. It would be good to get a better source. Thanks

      • GeorgeJ says:
        3 Sep3 September 11:54

        KEVMC, Whilst your statistics may be correct, they are for the wrong basis period.
        According to little Schaps the metric used is cases per 100,000 over the last seven days, not fourteen. This is supposed to be an approximation for the infectious period.
        Tazzy has posted something which approximates to the the correct data (thanks) and you will see that all of these countries are below 20 and have less cases than the UK.
        I am writing this from Greece and enjoying my stay! I have given up caring what the government tell me at present.

  • FFoxSake says:
    3 Sep3 September 10:52

    I have a rarely used Marriott Rewards mastercard and wondering if there are any creative opportunities for it to be used? I can’t see any mention of free nights after x spend for example. TIA for any help.

  • Colin MacKinnon says:
    3 Sep3 September 11:36

    After Revolut doing weekend work, it doesn’t recognise any of my cards and won’t even take £50 from my bank account.
    Have they taken a dislike to me, or are they still having problems or is there something I need to do?

  • Amit says:
    3 Sep3 September 11:37

    Just as a reference point, called to cancel my Amex Plat, and was offered 30k MR points. My annual fee is due in January

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Learn more on our About page.

VAA

Latest comments

Latest Forum Posts

Get 30,000 points bonus with American Express Platinum

Amex Gold

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.3 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

Get 20,000 bonus points and your first year free with American Express Gold

Amex Gold