The HfP chat thread – Thursday 24th September

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• ken says:

  24 Sep24 September 11:14

  I’m on a 24 month break but did get a Business Gold a couple of weeks ago.
  I have used it, but have no offers whatsoever so far.

  Anyone similar ?
  I was hoping to see some of the hotel offers on it.

  • Charlieface says:

    24 Sep24 September 13:32

    Generally it takes a few weeks for offers to start to appear. I think offers only get added when they are released, so if the card didn’t exist at that point you won’t get it.

  • memesweeper says:

    24 Sep24 September 13:33

    I have B Gold and get a regular stream of offers.

    • Ken says:

      24 Sep24 September 16:26

      Thanks

• Harry T says:

  24 Sep24 September 11:41

  Anyone visited Istanbul in November or March? I’ve found some cheap tickets from MAN with Pegasus. Wondered if it’s a good time to visit – we will mostly be interested in the cultural side of things rather than working on a tan.

  • Benilyn says:

    24 Sep24 September 11:49

    Currency really weak so yes…

    • Genghis says:

      24 Sep24 September 12:20

      We visited Istanbul in March 2016. Weather was balmy. Not quite shorts but trousers and t shirt. Snow in Cappadocia though. We flew STN-ADB with Pegasus and whilst it wasn’t amazing, not too bad.

    • John says:

      24 Sep24 September 19:25

      TRY only going to get weaker. Things are still priced the same in terms of pounds or euros as they were years ago

      • Lady London says:

        24 Sep24 September 21:15

        Lots of places, I mean lots, insist on Euros though. Hotels, taxis if you book a run to their airport, tours… so many things and only a EUR price appearing.
        They don’t want to accept their local currency even if you had some on you.

  • Aston100 says:

    24 Sep24 September 12:19

    Its always a good time to visit Istanbul. It isn’t somewhere you go to sunbathe.
    So much history.
    Also, really good prices, though you should avoid the tourist tat, and try to eat away from the Sultanahmet area.

  • Harry T says:

    24 Sep24 September 12:34

    Thanks, everyone. Might visit in November and March. Flights are only £50 return from MAN to SAW (SAW a little way out but still good prices). Hotels looks cheap this year.

    • Fivebobbill says:

      24 Sep24 September 15:07

      Was in Istanbul in late October 2 years ago Harry, 4 nights pre cruise before visiting round Israel and the Med. Ergo we were packed pretty light… and it snowed for 3 days!
      Was an absolute wash out, had to buy overcoats, hoodies and leather shoes !
      Just saying…

  • johnny_c-l says:

    24 Sep24 September 14:41

    March is a great time to visit Istanbul, towards the end of the month the tulips will be on display.

    P.S. SAW isn’t that far out when compared to the location of the new airport, and could be a great excuse to explore Kadikoy/Uskudar on the asian side which are worth making time for.

  • Lady London says:

    24 Sep24 September 21:19

    I’ve been there in March and it was fine, even a little muggy.
    I think November is a bit more unpredictable and likely to be chilly, or worse.
    You will have slightly longer days in March, as well, for seeing things.

    Air is fresher if you can find a hill to stay on, in terms of the topography, rather than right down by the Bosporous in the centre of the old town.

  • Louie says:

    25 Sep25 September 00:15

    Seems the weather is unpredictable. I was on a city tour boat in the middle of the Bosphorus in early March a few years ago and it was snowing so hard that we couldn’t see either shore!

    Now they’ve moved to the new airport, SAW is just as easy to get to or from as IST (meaning both are a pain to get to given Istanbul traffic and the distances). I’d choose SAW unless I had a flight that got me into the superb TK lounge at IST (in normal times).

• Kevin says:

  24 Sep24 September 13:51

  Just noticed from my IHG statement that I have been charged interest for cash, via Curve to Revolut. Does anyone experienced the same issue as no interest charge in the last statement?

  • Genghis says:

    24 Sep24 September 14:00

    I thought MCC passthrough is now back on with Curve?

    • Kevin says:

      24 Sep24 September 14:04

      I’m not sure thus would like other opinions on this.

      • DZOO says:

        24 Sep24 September 14:10

        On this topic Curve seems to have stopped working entirely for payments to the Seagulls… good while it lasted

        • Connor says:

          24 Sep24 September 14:32

          Working fine for me (Metal with Virgin underlying for reference.

        • Anna says:

          24 Sep24 September 14:44

          Even with metal or switched on for the free card with the charge added?

        • TGLoyalty says:

          24 Sep24 September 14:51

          Curve Metal working fine this morning.

        • Fivebobbill says:

          24 Sep24 September 16:03

          Yip, no problem using Curve with HH 5 mins ago

        • DJ says:

          24 Sep24 September 16:13

          I’ve been meaning to ask, who is Seagull?

        • mr_jetlag says:

          24 Sep24 September 17:28

          A Flock of Seagulls are an English new wave and synth-pop band originally formed in 1979 in Liverpool by Michael “Mike” Score (lead vocals, keyboards), his brother Alister “Ali” James Score (drums), and Francis Lee “Frank” Maudsley (bass). 😉

          But if you’re asking about the weird HFP references, they are talking about the Brighton HQ of American Express.

        • WaynedP says:

          24 Sep24 September 18:10

          See also Des & Dawn Lindberg’s song “And the seagull’s name was Nelson” (I think from 1971) listed as one of the 1001 songs you simply have to hear before you go deaf.

          I had no idea that this song was virtually unknown in the rest of the world, nor did I know of its anti-Apartheid message (later confirmed by the artists themselves) as I happily hummed it throughout my childhood 😆

        • Mike says:

          24 Sep24 September 21:55

          I’m not able to pay Seaguls with HH BC and Curve metal. Just stopped. Are you on Personal or Commercial curve?

    • TGLoyalty says:

      24 Sep24 September 14:51

      Yes MCC passthrough came back a while ago. therefore, using curve is pointless.

      • Kevin says:

        24 Sep24 September 20:09

        That’s shame maybe time to put it into a drawer as can’t see any use when no travel abroad anytime soon 🙁

        • TGLoyalty says:

          24 Sep24 September 20:11

          Plenty of uses still open 🙂

  • Crafty says:

    24 Sep24 September 14:44

    This is normal.

    • BP says:

      24 Sep24 September 17:52

      Does Ernie accrue interest too with IHG underlying bendy?

      • TGLoyalty says:

        24 Sep24 September 18:34

        No

        • mr_jetlag says:

          24 Sep24 September 20:19

          although Ernie just slashed interest rates across the board (incl premium bonds), so much less useful overall.

• Scott says:

  24 Sep24 September 14:52

  VS question

  I am planning to book a return flight for May 2021 to take advantage of the Double point offer mentioned today + quadruple points from the cc . May 2021 falls outside of their current “Flexible no change fees policy”. I can’t seem to find anything on their website, any idea how much the change fee might be?

  Many thanks!

• Vit says:

  24 Sep24 September 16:06

  Data point — switch from HSBC to Lloyds.
  Applied for the switch on the 18th.
  Online banking all set up by 22nd.
  £100 incentive received today (24th).

• Matt says:

  24 Sep24 September 16:26

  We’ve got a weekend in London in early October to try out an expensive Marriott by making use of the HJH code for healthcare workers. We were booked in the Edition, who have just told us they’re now going to be closed for our weekend. Where would you book instead? Looking for a central place to stay for a couple of nights.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    24 Sep24 September 17:48

    London has so many spots was it the £150 HJH rate? Is that the budget or something lower? Does it need to be Marriott?

    • Matt says:

      24 Sep24 September 18:30

      Yes, that’s the rate – we’re unlikely to pay for a hotel room that expensive at full price, but would be nice to try it for a weekend. Ideally Marriott, yes

  • BP says:

    24 Sep24 September 17:54

    Marriot Park Lane in the executive room. Superb property. Great breakfast in the restaurant as the exec lounge closed and evening drinks (for 4 hours!) & canapes in the restaurant too.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      24 Sep24 September 18:42

      Always looked at that and the property on Grovesnor square and felt the latter looked better?

      Hopefully I’ll be back in the area soon to try out GS or is it worth trying PL instead?

    • Matt says:

      24 Sep24 September 18:42

      Will go with that thanks (although not in the executive room sadly).

• Anna says:

  24 Sep24 September 16:31

  https://www.flyertalk.com/articles/without-us-uk-airbridge-british-economy-loses-over-40-million-daily.html?utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=

  Sorry if this has been posted already. You would think they would be trying a bit harder to find a way to re-start trans-Atlantic travel.

  • John says:

    24 Sep24 September 19:27

    Yes but how much does the US lose, they probably don’t care that much. Nothing will happen until after the election, and if Trump loses then nothing can happen until January

• Alex says:

  24 Sep24 September 16:34

  Why is their a password protected article? About BA Amex points?

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