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The HfP chat thread – Monday 21st September

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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.

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General

Comments (199)

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

  • paulm says:
    21 Sep21 September 05:29

    New Amex offers

    Hilton £50 off £200
    Crowne plaza, indigo, voco £60 off £250
    Intercon, Kimpton, regent £100 off £400

  • Boi says:
    21 Sep21 September 05:39

    Received my new Revolut metal card. I actually think it looks nicer than Amex Plat.
    Am I the only one with Rev metal? I don’t hear people talk about it here….but I needed the higher forex limit.
    They even posted it to Canada for free (and I have earned back interest to cover first month fee).

    • Boi says:
      21 Sep21 September 05:40

      Cash **back, not interest

    • Yuff says:
      21 Sep21 September 06:41

      Yep, I have metal although I only probably needed premium.
      Not sure what the forex limit on the premium is compared to the meal but exchange €6-8k a month

    • ChrisBCN says:
      21 Sep21 September 06:43

      I only have the plastic, I manage to shuffle a fair bit between currencies and don’t hit the cap

      • mr_jetlag says:
        21 Sep21 September 08:02

        The old cap was 5k, now its much less at 1k. Got premium to keep my old forex limit. Its annoying but 0.8% interest on vaults somewhat compensates.

    • The Urbanite says:
      21 Sep21 September 09:34

      I have two Revolut Metal cards. They more than earn their keep in value.

  • Anna says:
    21 Sep21 September 06:46

    I’ve got £60 off £250 spend by 31/12 at CP, Indigo & Voco, just after I’ve completed all my stays for this year!

    • Andrew says:
      21 Sep21 September 06:56

      To note – it’s only valid in Europe – within the T&Cs bit, there’s a PDF list of locations. For the U.K. ones you’d need to be staying for a week to spend £250 the way the prices are at the moment!

      • Dezbez says:
        21 Sep21 September 07:13

        Hopefully cumulative spend will still work, as it has with previous offers?

      • Anna says:
        21 Sep21 September 09:01

        If you do a couple of nights and add on meals and maybe a spa treatment or 2 it’s not that difficult!

  • Jake says:
    21 Sep21 September 07:12

    A friend wants to use RFS on BA but as she has not earned an avios in the last year the prices won’t show.

    We want to book a ticket shortly.

    What is the quickest way of earning an avios? I presume it has to post to your account before the pricing appears so what’s the quickest way of that occurring? I don’t have any Amex points to transfer

    • BJ says:
      21 Sep21 September 07:18

      Clubcard transfer. Even if you have none of those you could earn them today request a voucher tomorrow and have the avios in account this week.

      • Jake says:
        21 Sep21 September 07:40

        Thanks. I just saw there are also now “speedy” rewards on the BA shop portal which post in 5 days.

        Does anyone know if these post faster?

        • Number9 says:
          21 Sep21 September 07:47

          Ted baker ones posted before the item had even arrived. Think Argos is another quick payer. If it’s a really short time frame you could always buy points not the best but it’s an option.

        • Andrew MS says:
          21 Sep21 September 08:03

          The quickest to post for me have been abebook.co.uk . The points post before the book arrives , 48-72 hrs

          • KD says:
            21 Sep21 September 08:19

            On the platinum Marriott status match offer where you need to stay 15 eligible nights, is this just any 15 nights including consecutive nights I.e if I book one stay for 15 nights I’d qualify ?

        • TGLoyalty says:
          21 Sep21 September 08:30

          Just eat posts with a few days.

        • Pablo says:
          21 Sep21 September 09:32

          Screwfix is fast, purchased on 13 Sept, miles in account on 16 Sept

    • TGLoyalty says:
      21 Sep21 September 08:31

      @KD as long as it’s 15 paid nights then it’s fine.

  • Manish says:
    21 Sep21 September 07:54

    So when did Amex change the rules on sign-up bonus eligibility. You now cannot have had any personal Amex card in the last 24 months. I thought the BA Amex cards were seen as a different type of card compared to the Membership Reward Cards, apparently not? I have to hold on to my BA card to be able to keep the 2-4-1 voucher, so it seems my options for opening a card for the signup bonus are nil, unless someone knows other wise?

    • Rob says:
      21 Sep21 September 07:58

      March 2019.

      The BAPP card is in a separate category – you get the bonus as long as you’ve not had a BA card for 2 years. The free BA card is treated like any other personal Amex – no bonus if you’ve had ANY personal Amex in the last 2 years.

      If you have the BA or BAPP cards, the only bonus you MIGHT be able to get is Platinum. This would require 2 years without any personal Amex cards.

      • Spk says:
        21 Sep21 September 09:58

        Rob, I guess you meant no personal MR cards (for the sign up bonus on personal Platinum) ?

    • TGLoyalty says:
      21 Sep21 September 08:25

      There’s no requirement to keep the BA card to hold on to your 2-4-1 voucher.

      They will tell you there is but it’s nonsense. You need any Amex to pay when you book but doesn’t even need to be in your name as Amex don’t do name verification.

    • Grant says:
      21 Sep21 September 08:28

      … and you don’t need to keep your BAPP to be able to keep the 2-4-1 voucher, despite what Amex CS may tell you. You just need to be able to pay the taxes and fees on *any* Amex when you want to use the voucher.

      • Manish says:
        21 Sep21 September 09:56

        Okay, didnt know this. I guess the voucher sits on my BA exec club account and is far away from the card it self. Are we certain there is no risk in loosing the voucher if I was to close my BA card?

        • Rob says:
          21 Sep21 September 09:58

          No risk. We shut down my wife’s last year when we got a bit overrun with vouchers. They are all still there.

  • Sam says:
    21 Sep21 September 08:11

    Morning,

    The Santander cycle 1000 membership reward points Amex offer, I’ve downloaded the app but the charge is going through as ‘back office London’ on Amex statement, is that ok?

    I ordered the bike but never went to pick up

  • Harry T says:
    21 Sep21 September 08:16

    Finally refunded my 241 taxes and charges by BA after two months of chasing. However, I am short £70. We did upgrade the flights from J to F prior to cancellation. As BA cancelled the flights, should we be refunded the £35 x 2 changes fees?

    • Rob says:
      21 Sep21 September 08:24

      They are not refunding change fees.

      I can see the logic. You were paying for staff time to do something for you, which they did. The fact you cancelled is immaterial.

      • Louise K says:
        21 Sep21 September 08:36

        Emirates are doing the same – keeping upgrade/change fees.

      • David says:
        21 Sep21 September 11:04

        HarryT didn’t cancel though -BA did.

        I have a similar situation – booked into J, upgraded later to F and then downgraded by BA due to equipment change. Am I really being unreasonable to expect a refund from them for something they charged for and then didn’t actually manage to do? Feeling like an AMEX S75 claim may be the way to go.

      • Harry T says:
        21 Sep21 September 13:06

        BA cancelled my flights though – it’s a fee I paid for a product that hasn’t been provided.

        • Rob says:
          21 Sep21 September 13:13

          The service – staff time to change your booking – has been provided. That is their view.

          • Crafty says:
            22 Sep22 September 15:40

            Not a leg to stand on if challenged.

          • Rob says:
            22 Sep22 September 17:26

            Er …. remember the reader who recently took BA to arbitration for not refunding his seat reservation fees and lost?

            And in that case, the ‘service’ clearly hadn’t been provided. The £35 service fee was for a service which WAS provided.

    • Jonathan says:
      21 Sep21 September 08:54

      The £35pp fee was to cancel your J booking which they did. The F booking is a separate transaction that you’ve been fully refunded for which is quite right.

      If I cancelled an August redemption in January this year I wouldn’t expect to be able to go back & reclaim the fees if the flight then didn’t go ahead.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        21 Sep21 September 10:13

        Tend to agree with this re changing Avios bookings.

        I don’t like the fact they think they can keep charges for upgrading cash tickets though.

    • Lady London says:
      21 Sep21 September 10:32

      I dont agree with this. As soon as that flight is cancelled then all your value-adds are gone and that includes seat change fees and any fee paid to the airline for any service connected with that cancelled flight including selecting it. They are all part of your investment specifically towards that flight. And now it’s all gone to nought not due to your action, not even due to Act of God but because BA cancelled it depriving you of your entire investment specifically towards that flight.

      If for some reason you were required to travel to a booking office to book on to that flight I would think this cost could be claimed provided there was no other reason for that journey.

      I would distinguish this from any earlier change fees on that same booking which I would regard as lost as soon as you incurred the change fee specifically for the purpose if booking that one flight which BA cancelled.

      I would love to see this sorted out in court and I think BA would lose if the argument is presented properly. BA is playing the “we know we’re indecent apart from being wrong anyway to keep your money, but we get to keep your money for longer if we make you prove it with a judge”.

      As and when BA loses a judgment on that please remember to add the 8% statutory interest you will be due, accruing as from 7 days from their cancellation of their flight.p

      • ChrisBCN says:
        21 Sep21 September 11:41

        I agree with Lady London on this. Whilst I sympathize with any business that has seen their cashflow plummet, it’s right and proper that BA need to refund these fees – court case needed!

        • Nick says:
          21 Sep21 September 12:24

          It’s very clear in BA’s T&C that change fees are non-refundable because they are for a service carried out at a specific point in time, and it’s not without precedent in other sectors too. It’s not a given by any means that a court would agree, certainly much less so than many other cases.

          • ChrisBCN says:
            21 Sep21 September 12:31

            But you haven’t received the product that the service is attached too. What parallels in other sectors are you thinking of?

          • Lady London says:
            21 Sep21 September 18:10

            Also you could have picked another flight when you changed your previous flight, that hasn;t now been cancelled by BA, and you would have not have suffered the loss you have suffered just because you accidentally chose a flight BA later cancelled. So there is a difference here and it’s that BA cancelled your flight causing you a loss of what you’d paid to choose it.

            I really want to see this sorted out in court – sympathy with BA in current circ’s. But they should be made to pay (+ interest) eventually.

      • Harry T says:
        21 Sep21 September 13:08

        I agree, Lady London. I’ve also still not received my Avios back! Finally got the taxes and charges back after ringing six times in two months.

        • Polly says:
          21 Sep21 September 20:17

          HARRY,
          Go for it. LL right in saying the whole flight was cancelled. The fact that you paid separately to ug to F is not a lost expense. It’s actually part of the product you paid for in total, and is now denied to you. Nothing to lose except your time and energy!

  • Stanley says:
    21 Sep21 September 08:36

    Got 2 refunds of £5 from Uber for moaning about them not honouring the promotion from 2 weeks ago…. Then used Uber yesterday and promotion still showing and worked again……

    • Andrew says:
      21 Sep21 September 09:18

      Yes it seems that if you used it while it wasn’t working they have refunded you the £5 but the two times are still valid. I made 1 journey, got the £5 refunded and still showing as 2 trips available under the offer.

      • Kieran says:
        21 Sep21 September 10:16

        Same for me at the weekend, got 2 x refunds and then took an uber which took £5 off. Still showing as 1 trip remaining.

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