The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 16th September

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• John says:

  16 Sep16 September 09:05

  O’Leary suing Irish government, with support from Aer Lingus.

  Travel restrictions supposedly breach of Human Rights (so potentially Council of Europe wide precedent if Ryanair wins, which they probably won’t).

  https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40049549.html

• Anna says:

  16 Sep16 September 09:28

  I think I may have spotted why some retailers are clawing back avios from BA e store purchases. Just noticed in the small print before clicking through to the Elemis website:
  “Using voucher or offer codes when you make a transaction could result in you not collecting Avios or collecting less Avios than the advertised rate.This includes staff discount, student discounts and vouchers which automatically populate in your basket at checkout.”
  As I always use an offer code for a free gift when I order any beauty products, this probably explains why retailers like Elemis and Clarins have been clawing avios back! Sneaky.

  • Andrew says:

    16 Sep16 September 09:43

    Most of the various fund return and points options have a similar restriction on codes to avoid multi-level discounting. Some also have restrictions that limit the benefit to new customers only.

    Always worthwhile pushing them through the E store or Virgin equivalent to see if they trigger all the same though.

    • Anna says:

      16 Sep16 September 11:22

      But this isn’t discounting – it’s using a code to get extra products which are “free” at the point of ordering (I’m sure the prices of the charged items are adjusted to reflect this though!) But under the terms of the small print, this would also exclude you from getting avios.

      • PJJ says:

        16 Sep16 September 14:32

        I think it has always been there Anna, however, it is hit and miss
        The last 2 purchases I made from Adidas, 1 was clawed back and 1 wasn’t. Like you I always use a discount code. If you were going to buy it anyway always worth trying it

        • RussellH says:

          16 Sep16 September 17:25

          I had Virgin Miles post as being clawed back on an in-store purchase last year,. I had had to put in a claim because they did not post automatically.
          In reality, though, they were never deducted from my Flying Club a/c.

• Andrew says:

  16 Sep16 September 09:40

  Firmdale Hotels popped up on my Amex this morning – 25% statement credit until 31st December. Once per card, so careful with the sequencing

  • meta says:

    16 Sep16 September 11:25

    And on my Bonvoy card only! Hyatt, now Firmdale. Such poor targeting from Amex…

• Andrew says:

  16 Sep16 September 09:50

  LBG Community offers that have popped up for me on BoS brand this morning:-

  5% – Charles Tyrwhitt
  10% – Selfridges
  10% – Spar
  25% – Kindle

  For new Direct Debits

  £100 Scottish Power
  £50 Sky
  £40 Tesco Mobile

  (Total of 30 Active offers).

  • Andrew says:

    16 Sep16 September 09:51

    Formatting has gone a bit weird there! It was stanard paragraphed text and has become a table.

• Magic Mike says:

  16 Sep16 September 10:22

  Antigua… taking a shot at seeing whether we can get in a holiday in November before Zombie Apocalypse Part 2 overtakes us….

  Any recommendations as to places to stay? Chains seem largely absent so my usual strategy of using points is out – no Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Accor… Don’t really want to spend more than £250/night. (yes I know this doesn’t go very far…)

  Have Amex Plat but FHR is out of the price range. Worst case we’ll use a couple of Hotels.com reward nights and pay for the rest…

  • Alex M says:

    16 Sep16 September 11:06

    November? That will be right in the middle of the second wave… Good luck flying anywhere then…

• bsuije says:

  16 Sep16 September 10:33

  Interesting article on the FT today (behind paywall, but I think there was some way around it?) – “US airlines reveal profitability of frequent flyer programmes”.

  • Rob says:

    16 Sep16 September 11:06

    This is smoke and mirrors. ‘Profitability’ is based on the artificial price the airline pays its miles subsidiary for the miles it issues and the artificial price the airline charges the miles subsidiary for redemption flights.

    • Jonathan says:

      16 Sep16 September 15:55

      I think a lot of US based frequent flier programs are based on how much an individual spends rather than what flight lengths and class of travel is used. Is this correct at all?

      • Rob says:

        16 Sep16 September 15:59

        Yes. Makes no difference to the discussion though.

        You can make your frequent flyer scheme as profitable (or unprofitable) as you want simply by manipulating what the airline ‘buys’ the miles at and what the airline ‘sells’ flights at, to the programme.

• Alex M says:

  16 Sep16 September 11:07

  Pleasant surprise in Lidl yesterday – “Get 5£ off your first purchase of 25£ using Lidl Plus app”. Better than 5£ off 40£ in Tesco from Amex!

  • Anna says:

    16 Sep16 September 11:26

    Great, will have a look for that. Lidl have far and away the best priced smoked salmon in these parts, especially when it’s reduced as very few people actually buy it!

    • Genghis says:

      16 Sep16 September 13:00

      It is good but not a patch on good quality stuff.

      • Anna says:

        16 Sep16 September 13:21

        Granted, it does for every day consumption but not Xmas 😂

    • RussellH says:

      16 Sep16 September 17:29

      Never seen it reduced here.
      I do not always remember to look out for it though as it is something that I am not bothered about and it all tastes the same to me.

• Makx says:

  16 Sep16 September 11:31

  https://milelion.com/2020/09/08/lifemiles-offering-unprecedented-200-bonus-sale-theres-a-reason-though/

  Anyone biting the bullet?

  • meta says:

    16 Sep16 September 11:38

    I never found Lifemiles attractive proposition for collection or redemption. It’s hard to impossible to redeem for business or first tickets on Lufthansa, Swiss or Singapore where it would make sense.

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