The HfP chat thread – Friday 2nd October

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• Lady London says:

  2 Oct2 October 12:18

  let’s just say that a number of posters were becoming very anxious about spend targets sometimes even going negative as refunds from airlines rolled in. Coincidentally and for other reasons, they closed their cards. Their experience was, as @BJ has said, that the matter was then closed and no negatives came back to haunt them despite sometimed even further airline refunds finally arrived.

  Money backnon a closed account you can adk thrm to pay to your bsnk account and nothing else seems to happen from multiple reports even when a new card is opened when someone isbin a position to.

  It’s fairly clear the aurlines having to refund you is due to a situation affecting everybody so I would only take the abive into account for travel purchases and would not expect it to kerp woeking if nontravel purchases are bring made.

• Anuj says:

  2 Oct2 October 12:35

  I’ve got that glitch on my Amex where it shows 0 offers (not even shop small was shown) and if I contact them they just put out the blurb about how there’s just no offers for me, but I don’t even get the offers that are on every card, has anyone managed to get this fixed, it fixed itself once. I’m really fed up of Amex support which don’t even seem to manage the bare minimum I’d expect from a free card let alone a paid one.

  • lev441 says:

    2 Oct2 October 12:46

    I had the same – the platinum team raised this issue with the back office staff and offers stated to appear again…

    Did they manually add the shop small for you?

  • BLT says:

    2 Oct2 October 15:14

    When this has happened to me I have removed the card from online services, set up a new online login and then added the card to new account. After a week it seems to get new offers. It’s worth a try but YMMV

• RussellH says:

  2 Oct2 October 12:42

  Info re closing of Sunday Times Travel Magazine.

  A lot of comments here when this was first announced, particularly from people who had just renewed.
  Letter just received this morning saying that the balance of the sub will be refunded no later than 1 November.

  • Andy says:

    2 Oct2 October 13:57

    One of the 3rd party magazine subscription companies was sending out renewal offers a couple of weeks after they announced the closure. If I wasn’t a dedicated HFP reader I’d have been waiting on that refund too!

  • Tocsin says:

    2 Oct2 October 17:26

    It finally tipped the balance of value for the newspaper subscription for me. Scathing reply sent to the GM’s email, cancellation requested, reply awaited…

• Andrew says:

  2 Oct2 October 15:11

  Whatever happened to that Etihad voucher fiasco? Did people get their enhanced value vouchers in the end?

• Tobi Kasali says:

  2 Oct2 October 15:25

  Hello, I am looking for some help. I need to purchase a ticket and I am short about 8,000 avios. I am using the Lloyds upgrade voucher so I think I need to pay the full avios points. I have points on my amex card but I’ve been told it will take 3 days to transfer and there’s only one reward seat left.

  My sister has some avios but it costs £65 to transfer. We’re thinking of creating a household account which would be about 50-50 split. Would I be able to “give” her back the avios I used to purchase my ticket (as part of the household account) without purchasing a ticket.

  • Rob says:

    2 Oct2 October 15:32

    Hi Tobi

    No. Inside a HHA, each of you retains your own balance but on redemptions it takes pro-rata. If you each have 5k to start with, an 8k redemption would leave you with 1k each. Future Avios you earn remain yours – you don’t share them with your sister. If you earned 5k Avios later, the HHA would show you on 6k and she would still be on 1k. If you broke up the HHA, she would just have 1k.

    Easiest thing to do is to form the HHA, book your ticket and then pay your sister some cash to compensate her for using her points, rather than wasting the money on paying Avios a transfer fee.

    Rob

    • Andrew says:

      2 Oct2 October 15:37

      Unless you’re a Gold member, in which case transfers to other members is fee-free.

    • Tobi Kasali says:

      2 Oct2 October 16:32

      Thanks Rob. Appreciate the quick response. It’s slightly annoying considering I actually have enough points!

      • Stu N says:

        2 Oct2 October 16:38

        Form HHA, get sister to move all her Avios except the Avios you need to Avios.com or Iberia. Book ticket. Will use all your Avios and all hers in her BAEC account.

        Break HHA and sister can move Avios back to BAEC.

        • Anna says:

          2 Oct2 October 17:20

          I don’t think this would work as the booking would still take avios from each account pro-rata.

        • Doug M says:

          2 Oct2 October 18:05

          @Anna. Think it would as if the sum total of the two accounts is what’s required, then it’ll use all the Avios to meet that requirement.

• Steve says:

  2 Oct2 October 15:29

  If I don’t have that appear on my Retailer Offers in Santander, is that just tough luck, or do you know if it’s possible to contact them to have it added?

  • Steve says:

    2 Oct2 October 15:44

    Answer my own question, tough luck is the answer.

• Peggers says:

  2 Oct2 October 15:38

  Re Lloyds upgrade vouchers.

  I have one to use by end of Oct 20 and another for Nov 20. I phoned Avios re another query yesterday and they extended both until 31/12/20 without an initial request. One of my vouchers has now been extended by 14 months in total.
  I suspect that will be it though, so I better start looking at using them for 2021.

• Harry T says:

  2 Oct2 October 15:56

  So is anyone managing a holiday abroad this winter? All my flights have been cancelled or are now to places on the UK naughty list (Turkey). Looks like the UK will be on the naughty list for the Germans too soon.

  It looks too risky/a bit expensive to get a private covid test before heading to Cyprus, as they charge £150 and don’t guarantee you get the result back within the required 72 hours.

  Any creative ideas?

  • DANi says:

    2 Oct2 October 16:23

    So, my only thoughts are to be sat by a PC Thursday afternoon as the new banned/unbanned list is announced and book an avios ticket out for Friday, the day after as well as the return 7 days later to avoid any ‘race’ back…seems like the only way to be safe/sure…

    • Harry T says:

      2 Oct2 October 17:00

      Not a bad idea. Think it would be easier if I lived near a proper airport.

  • Aston100 says:

    2 Oct2 October 16:51

    Harry, how do you manage to get so much time off for holidays? You seem to be always abroad!

    • Harry T says:

      2 Oct2 October 17:02

      I just ended up saving most of my leave for the last year (my years run September to September) for August. I had 27 days of annual leave last year, and get 32 this year (five years of NHS service). I try to make the most of it!

      • Anna says:

        2 Oct2 October 17:23

        I was clearly in the wrong job – got 30 days after 20 years’ service and that was the maximum!

        • Anna says:

          2 Oct2 October 17:25

          Mind you, I used to know a Probation Officer who told me that the government made a mistake with their leave entitlement years ago and awarded them 44 days thinking this included bank holidays. It turned out that that wasn’t in the agreement, so apparently they get 44 days annual leave per year plus all the bank holidays on top!

        • marcw says:

          2 Oct2 October 18:38

          I didn’t know at that time … but when I moved to the Netherlands – apart from having 30% of my salary tax free – I also have 44 days paid leave annually (+ bank holidays). It’s a dream country to work as a researcher.

  • Jack says:

    2 Oct2 October 17:05

    I’m hoping to do Madeira – they look pretty safe on the list, even Wee Krankie up in the North has added them to the travel corridors list. Some hiking, nice food and nice people with a decent temperature sounds good to me.

  • PerkyPat says:

    2 Oct2 October 19:27

    Italy still good, low numbers, weather still decent.

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