The HfP chat thread – Friday 2nd October

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Blue Mountain says:

2 Oct2 October 06:13

Unless it’s old news, a good offer. Spend £15 or more, get £5 back on Co-op Food, EXPIRES: 01/11/2020
Pretty much on all cards (Plat, Gold, BA free) and supplementaries.
- Andrew says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 06:40
  
  Yes discussed yesterday but it’s a good offer and worth highlighting that they sell lots of third party gift cards including Amazon.
  - KBuffett says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 07:18
    
    I had predicted that Trump would get Covid-19 just before the election. Interesting times.
    - KBuffett says:
      
      2 Oct2 October 07:18
      
      Sorry, this wasn’t meant to be a reply!
      - Luckyjim says:
        
        2 Oct2 October 08:38
        
        Or on this site?
      - BJ says:
        
        2 Oct2 October 09:57
        
        “…under this article are where you should post questions about travel and, indeed, anything else on your mind”
        
        …but, fortunately, BBC HYS it isn’t 🙂
  - JohnT says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 07:36
    
    On BA only get discount on Coop Will writing! There on Bonvoy.
    - RussellH says:
      
      2 Oct2 October 10:55
      
      Yes, will writing offer appeared today on both Rewards and BA Amexes. Money off appeared yesterday just on the Rewards card. Will offer also on BA supps, but no money off.
    - Jack says:
      
      2 Oct2 October 17:08
      
      With a rise in COVID cases…not sure if it’s trying to tell us something ;).
  - Lady London says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 12:09
    
    …..depending on the branch. Apparently Co-ops vary greatly individually as to what you can do/use, or even buy, in each one
    - Dubious says:
      
      2 Oct2 October 13:00
      
      I suppose that should go with the territory, i.e. Cooperative rather than a franchise or a chain.
    - Nick_C says:
      
      2 Oct2 October 13:01
      
      I used it (Co-op) on Thursday (to pay Council Tax) and it came up as “Busy Bees”, but I got the email confirming I had used the offer.
Chelseafi says:

2 Oct2 October 06:59

Due to fly Mon to Greece from T5 at 11am, no lounge, trying not to spend too long waiting around wearing mask, how busy is it currently? Need to check bags, thanks
- Jake Mc says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 08:19
  
  Will let you know in 2 hours. Flying to Greece today at same sort of time from T5…!
  - Jake mc says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 11:36
    
    Not busy at all. You will be through in no time at all
    - Chelseafi says:
      
      2 Oct2 October 14:29
      
      Thank you Enjoy your trip to Greece
- BJ says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 10:09
  
  Is Chelseafi a good friend of @SpursDebs?
  
  Just sit in an empty gate area, there will be no shortage of those.
  - Number9 says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 10:55
    
    Doubt it as we beat them this week … yes changed name to reflect that God is back at the lane. Well second coming, first God is obviously Hoddle
- MrHandBaggageOnly says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 10:41
  
  Last Friday around 11am T5 bag drop appeared quiet. Security South took about ten minutes to clear, but should normally be quicker – one of the scanners broke so they had to shift everything across. Plenty of quiet spaces to be found. You could always stretch your legs and walk (don’t use the train) over to the B Gates.
- Lady London says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 12:24
  
  T5 is quite airy so I did not find wearing a mask for three hours there difficult even followed by a 2 hour flight making about 7 hours wearing mask from Underground to outside terminal at destination.
  
  I used 1 dusposable and swopped to a washable cloth mask half way through.
  
  It did help that I had it off for a short time eating food and a coffee in Pret T5. It was a BA flight so I knew there would only be a brown paper bag with nothing nutritious in it so knew to eat something from Pret
  - Nick_C says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 13:04
    
    Ooh Matron!
Andrew says:

2 Oct2 October 08:40

LBG

On my BoS brand, 15% back when you spend £75 on your next stay at any property in the Hilton portfolio of brands. Max £60. Expires 16/11/20. Stay must be completed by the offer expiry date.

Globally at:-

Waldorf Astoria, LXR, Conrad, Canopy, Hilton, Curio, Doubletree, Tapestry, Embassy, Tempo, Motto, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton, Tru, Homewood, & Home2Suites.

This is unusual, these offers are usually limited to regions or brands.

Despite the “must be completed” claim, I suspect a prepayment rate will trigger payment if taken before 16th November.
- ken says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 11:38
  
  identical offer on santander current accounts as well.
  
  Similar Marriot offer until end of October but only EMEA region
Andrew says:

2 Oct2 October 08:57

They *should* reverse the £75 Credit.

Give them a call if you are really worried that a 6 month old transaction might not match properly.
- Anna says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 09:19
  
  I think the issue here is that the card is closed. You’ll just have to wait & see if they send you a bill for the £75!
  - BJ says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 10:05
    
    Given the card is closed, the offer tracking is almost certainly lost and the £75 will therefore not be clawed back as it would if the card was still open. WillPS should not call amex!
Soloflyer1977 says:

2 Oct2 October 09:07

Flew CE from DUB to LHR yesterday. I think BA have just re-started their schedule as most of September flights was cancelled on this route. I got fast track but for some reason, with the lounge open, BA is not allowing its passengers to use it at the moment… – according to the checkin lady.
- BJ says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 10:15
  
  Thanks Andrew, will check and see if I got it.
  By the way does anybody know anything about the new Canopy hotel opening in London soon? I am totally unfamiliar with the brand; what to expect, likely reward pricing?
  - BJ says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 10:33
    
    Sorry Soloflyer, that was meant to be a reply to Andrew.
Anna says:

2 Oct2 October 09:18

Curve question. I’ve not used the “send” option yet but I’ve got some refunds on Curve cash I want to transfer to someone. It says it will send to your contact but it doesn’t ask for bank details, so where does the money get sent?!
- Travel Strong says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 09:23
  
  My understanding is, they need to have curve, and it will be sent to their curve cash. If someone in your contacts list has curve – you will see the curve symbol next to them in Curve Send ……. Also it does not let you send to yourself, which is a shame!
  - Genghis says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 09:32
    
    ^ This
    - Anna says:
      
      2 Oct2 October 09:41
      
      Lol, so I’m just moving my Curve cash to someone else’s! I guess I can withdraw it from an ATM if I don’t want to do that?
      - Genghis says:
        
        2 Oct2 October 09:49
        
        No, Curve cash can’t be used on cash transactions. Just use it for what you’d normally spend it on.
      - QwertyKnowsBest says:
        
        2 Oct2 October 10:38
        
        Be careful, when tested the send feature had a cash withdrawal charge on the credit card i sent money from. Of course maybe not an issue with Curve Cash.
      - Anup says:
        
        2 Oct2 October 11:38
        
        I “paid” Revolut with Curve cash last week. Worked fine for me!
      - John says:
        
        2 Oct2 October 12:13
        
        I’ve just been paying Amex with curve cash, does it not work for you?
        
        (I don’t pay Amex with curve from a card.)
- xcalx says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 11:45
  
  Curve cash can be sent to nsi with no charges.
- James. says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 12:52
  
  Unless I am mistaken there are no fees on using the Send functionality when using Curve Cash. Additionally no fees when using Curve cash on any card transactions.
  
  High likely you will have a cash advance fee when using the Send function funded by a credit card.
Harry T says:

2 Oct2 October 09:47

Data point: received email from Swiss cancelling my flights on Tuesday – called they same day. Refund landed on my amex today. Profited from a change in the exchange rate too.

Thought this might interest some people as LH/LX have historically been pesky about refunds.
- BJ says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 10:19
  
  Was that your HK trip? Disappointing to have yet another cancellation but good that there is no problem with refund.
  - Harry T says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 12:27
    
    This was actually my South Africa trip, which was booked for January. Looks like this was actually a gift, judging by the entry restrictions for SA and the FCO policy.
    
    Swiss cancelled our HKG flights on the same day but the refund is still awaited. Thanks for asking.
    
    I think our adventures are on hold for a bit!
- Aston100 says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 13:14
  
  Hi Harry, I’m in a similar position with Swiss and South Africa at Christmas.
  Do you think a refund is the best option at this time? Did you not want to try a reroute of some kind?
  - Harry T says:
    
    2 Oct2 October 14:27
    
    @Aston
    I’m flying from Amsterdam to JNB and don’t want to have to quarantine on return or arrival. I’m not personally optimistic that SA will let in UK travellers by then, and I’m fairly sure the Netherlands will still have high cases by then – the UK gov will probably make me quarantine for 14 days. Maybe I’m cynical but I’ve decided to throw in the towel and aim for 2022. It’s a shame because it was a trip for my 30th.
    - Aston100 says:
      
      2 Oct2 October 15:04
      
      Wow, you sure do a lot of international travel and holidays for a 29 year old!
Paul says:

2 Oct2 October 10:00

Virgin voucher data point…
So i called up and asked if i could apply 2 banked companion vouchers to a booking for 4 people. Initially they said no. But I then quoted Rob’s article and got put on hold and then got told that i was correct and they could. Booking is 150k points per adult. So i get 150k refunded as you get 50% of miles for each of the vouchers.
So that got me thinking.. what is the cheapest way of getting virgin silver status? If i was silver i would get 100% of points. So an additional 150k points. So does anyone know how cheap i can get 400 tier points to allow me to get the extra 150k points?
Thanks
- James. says:
  
  2 Oct2 October 12:57
  
  Reading this made my heart jump. I am looking to make a booking in the next 12 months for a family holiday (COVID pending) where I will be looking to utilise all 7 of my vouchers so for Virgin to push back little concerning.