The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 15th September

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@mkcol says:

15 Sep15 September 02:24

Morning!
- Simon Schus says:
  
  15 Sep15 September 02:53
  
  Hiya!
  - @mkcol says:
    
    15 Sep15 September 04:15
    
    The joys of nightshift 🙂
    - John says:
      
      15 Sep15 September 04:48
      
      Eh, both of you are going to bed soon. I’m actually getting up
      - Waddle says:
        
        15 Sep15 September 05:03
        
        Morning John! Fellow early starter here as well.
      - BJ says:
        
        15 Sep15 September 05:52
        
        What is the point of all this? Can somebody go the extra mile and post something relevant please 🙂
      - @mkcol says:
        
        15 Sep15 September 05:57
        
        Unlikely…..
      - BJ says:
        
        15 Sep15 September 05:39
        
        Early birds and all that…
Jane says:

15 Sep15 September 05:41

Morning. Nice to see others up early.
krys_k says:

15 Sep15 September 06:06

Business Platinum Amex, £20 CurrysPC World offer. Has anyone used this ? Is it as simple as making x10 separate £20 purchases and £20 per purchase over that sum is rebated ? Anything to watch out for (P&P not included, timeframe between purchases etc). Thanks.
- Jonathan says:
  
  15 Sep15 September 06:22
  
  Yes, lit
Jonathan says:

15 Sep15 September 06:25

Literally just spend £20 multiple times, I did click and collect every-time rather than delivery but would expect that to be included in the £20 requirement as Amex sees no breakdown of the transaction. It was an easy win and posted quickly as I needed loads of Microsoft surface adapters and mice for a customer effectively getting a decent discount on every one.
- krys_k says:
  
  15 Sep15 September 09:08
  
  Super. Thanks
Secret Squirrel says:

15 Sep15 September 08:09

Have VA cards now changed MCC code again?
I have an extra amount on my balance but in the app doesn’t show what it is?
Michael C says:

15 Sep15 September 08:33

Sorry for another of my basic questions, but I always get in a tizz over Avios values!
In theoery, which of these is “better” value (I have an ok stash of Avios, so don’t necessarily need to save on them):

45000 Avios + £ 193.22
37650 Avios + £ 283.22

Thanks!
- Peter K says:
  
  15 Sep15 September 08:57
  
  If you go for the 37650 avios option instead of the 45000, you are effectively buying 7350 avios for £90, so paying 1.22p per avios.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  15 Sep15 September 08:58
  
  Paying £90 to save 7,350 avios = 1.22p per Avios. I wouldn’t pay that even if I had no Avios left.
- Matt says:
  
  15 Sep15 September 09:00
  
  Depends how you value Avios. I count them as 1p per avios, which makes the first option slightly better value.
  
  There’s not much in it though, so if you have few avios and plenty of cash you might want to take the second option. Equally, if you have lots of avios that makes the first option even better
- Michael C says:
  
  15 Sep15 September 09:31
  
  Cheers everyone, first choice confirmed! Not that I imagine the flights to northern Finland in Dec. will go ahead, but hey-ho…
  - BJ says:
    
    15 Sep15 September 10:19
    
    Note also that you can buy them for less than that in a 50% sales such as there is at the moment.
    - Eppleby Green says:
      
      15 Sep15 September 12:28
      
      You can buy them for about 0.8 pence if you use the Economist offer ans a Canadian address
      - BJ says:
        
        15 Sep15 September 15:06
        
        Or for close to nothing with the curvaceous one.
- Lady London says:
  
  15 Sep15 September 20:55
  
  7350 avios being valued at £90
  I’d do less money more avios esp if not short of avios
meta says:

15 Sep15 September 08:42

So the email we got about something new happening today with Tesco Clubcard is actually nothing exciting. 50% off selected items in Tesco for Clubcard holders…
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  15 Sep15 September 08:59
  
  Atleast it’s not just the 2FA they just introduced.
  - BJ says:
    
    15 Sep15 September 10:21
    
    The only emails I ever get from them are recipes!
- Rum says:
  
  15 Sep15 September 09:00
  
  Sounds about right for a Tesco deal in 2020…
- Dezbez says:
  
  15 Sep15 September 10:18
  
  What an anti-climax. I was hoping for some transfer bonus offers…
Rum says:

15 Sep15 September 09:01

Does anyone have any issues using Curve on the National Lottery site or app? Mine gets declined regardless of backing card used. Not that it’s important but thought I’d ask
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  15 Sep15 September 09:06
  
  Gambling transactions are blocked by Curve
  
  Blocked merchant categories:
  
  Gambling
  Dating and escort services
  Massage parlours
  Inbound teleservices
  Investment services
  Prepaid/ cash services
  - Dan says:
    
    15 Sep15 September 09:32
    
    I visited a massage parlour in Seoul in February and that went through OK. Creation was the underlying. As was I.
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      15 Sep15 September 10:14
      
      it’s blocked via MCC rather than the name of the place so it depends how the merchant account is set up.
      - Genghis says:
        
        15 Sep15 September 10:49
        
        A senior member of staff at our place was caught ordering very expensive pizzas on the corporate credit card. Meat feast, I believe.
      - Lady London says:
        
        15 Sep15 September 14:31
        
        Ahem. Used to approve expenses in an investment bank. It was educational on so many levels.
        
        Dinner for 1? £400? Just an amount, no cigars, wine etc, that could have made up that amount, visible? At Madam Fifi’s MCC-coded Restaurant in Singapore?
        
        In those days it was all blinked through – who knows maybe it is still for high revenue earners – and caused shock if any enquiries were made about how did dinner solo cost £400
      - AJA says:
        
        15 Sep15 September 18:15
        
        I used to process expenses for Korean expats at a well known firm many years ago – that was enlightening. One bought some jewellery from Bulgari for £10k, that was followed up by an evening of “client entertaining for one”? at Madame JoJo’s in Soho: £900 for a bottle of Scotch whisky and £200 miscellaneous tips followed by another £250 release fee for the clamped company car. 🙂 The funniest thing though was the expat Company Secretary who signed the cheques – dutifully left a cheque run on his desk which sat there for 5 hours. He swanned past my desk on his way out and as he did so chucked all of the cheques unsigned back at me and said “Can’t sign cheques – got golf”. A couple of minutes later my colleague’s phone rang and it was a request to take his car keys down to him in the car park – he’d left them on his desk!
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        15 Sep15 September 19:53
        
        Perhaps a different world/era (both?) to the one I work in but if anything like that ever passed my desk I’d be telling them to f*ck off with their pisstaking.
      - Lady London says:
        
        15 Sep15 September 21:02
        
        Oh dear.
        Some of that is so familiar in that geography in telecom.
        
        That Madame JoJo’s bill looks amazingly light. I expect their was an earlier receipt for dinner.
      - AJA says:
        
        15 Sep15 September 22:23
        
        Oh the Madame JoJo’s bill was a lot higher, I can’t remember the total but just remember the scotch, the tips and the car release fees. No mention of who the person entertained so I assume it was just the person claiming the expense. I only stayed in the job 2 years, long enough to get a £2k long service award 🙂
  - Rum says:
    
    15 Sep15 September 09:33
    
    Ah understood. Thanks for that. Explains everything.
  - John says:
    
    15 Sep15 September 12:45
    
    Might this cover Monese?