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The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 20th October

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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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Please only comment under the main articles on the site if your comment is directly related to the topic of the article.  This has long-term benefits as it keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

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Old chat threads are hidden from the HfP home page.  If you want to look for something in an old thread, click here.  This brings up all the articles in our ‘General’ category which includes the chat threads.

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General

Comments (207)

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

  • RobL says:
    20 Oct20 October 10:52

    Anyone had any luck with the Marriott Bonvoy status match recently?
    I submitted a request a week ago but heard nothing. IHG Spire Elite.

  • JScott says:
    20 Oct20 October 11:35

    When paying council tax with Billhop, does the paid date mean the date it will arrive with the council, or does the ~6 working days transfer time begin?

    • Anna says:
      20 Oct20 October 11:48

      If you’re paying with Amex, Billhop takes the payment from your card then transfers the money to the payee about 5 days later. The paid date is the date your payment arrives with the recipient and you’ll get an email when this is complete.

    • The real John says:
      20 Oct20 October 20:20

      You usually have 1-2 weeks leeway with council tax because they first need to send out a letter threatening court action

  • MinR says:
    20 Oct20 October 11:41

    BA Shopping portal under maintenance for 3rd straight day 🙁

  • Anna says:
    20 Oct20 October 12:13

    Just waiting to see if Andy Burnham breaks away from the UK and declares Greater Manchester an independent republic and Boris deploys tanks up the M6 (though as tanks would be moving at roughly the general pace of the traffic on the M6 this wouldn’t cause as much disruption as you might think).

    • Harry T says:
      20 Oct20 October 12:17

      Don’t think the Cabinet actually know where any city outside the M25 is situated, so I imagine the tanks would be sent in the wrong direction 😉

      • Anna says:
        20 Oct20 October 12:32

        Well if they use BA’s drop down box to locate it they will be sending them to Manchester, New Hampshire. I’ve nearly started my holiday from there more than once!

        • Aston100 says:
          20 Oct20 October 12:48

          And according to the internet, Birmingham is also in the US.

          • Chris Heyes says:
            20 Oct20 October 14:54

            Aston 100 So is Plymouth almost booked a Hilton there lol
            noticed when i searched how far off Mary Rose Museum lol

      • RussellH says:
        20 Oct20 October 12:33

        The drivers will know where to go, though, provided they get told the actual destination.

    • ChrisC says:
      20 Oct20 October 12:39

      The Government can declare Tier 3 in Greater Manchester if it wants to. Can’t remember if they have a duty to consult council leaders but being consulted does not mean you have a veto. And some of the consulation has been very perfunctory.

      They like to have the agreement of local elected officials but it’s not required. Government just wants to try and share the blame!

      But not even their own MPs in the area are in favour. I read a report about a call between a junior minister and all the GM MPs where it was the Tories who were giving the minister a hard time and asking for a proper, evidence based justification and Labour let them get on with it as they were making the case for them.

      If the Government really wanted Tier 3 for Greater Manchester they could have done it a week ago using their legal powers.

      • Anna says:
        20 Oct20 October 13:02

        Well I’m over the border in Tier 3 already so I’m just following it out of interest as most of my family are still on the GM side. I’m also trying to arrange to meet up with a couple of friends for a socially distanced catch up – at the moment the one who lives within the GM boundary can go inside a restaurant and get us some take out food and we can meet to a local park (or the grounds of a stately home or castle under my area rules) to eat it.

        • Harry T says:
          20 Oct20 October 16:08

          @Anna
          Sorry to hear you’re already in tier 3 – hope you and your family are doing okay. The lockdown in the North does feel relentless. I understand why measures are necessary but it’s going to be a long winter. I suspect we may join you in Tier 3 at some point!

          • Colin MacKinnon says:
            20 Oct20 October 16:37

            Tier 3 is for wimps – try living in central Scotland or Dublin!

          • Anna says:
            20 Oct20 October 16:40

            Colin, agreed! Tier 3 is actually an improvement for us as since August we have been in ward-level lockdown and banned from meeting anyone outside our household under any circumstances!

    • BJ says:
      20 Oct20 October 18:55

      What happened to his water cannons… coming to a street near you?

  • Lee says:
    20 Oct20 October 12:30

    Really impressed with AMEX referral recently, saw improved bonus of 14K on my BAPP card yesterday then referred my parent, 14K already appeared in my account today.

  • nkp says:
    20 Oct20 October 12:30

    Re Amex Hotel Offers – want to stay at a Hilton after the offer has ended. Anyone tried calling the hotel to get them to take payment early prior to arrival?

    • TGLoyalty says:
      20 Oct20 October 12:41

      You can try some will. Just be honest and say you have an amex offer and perhaps manage your cash flow or something similar.

    • Gavin says:
      20 Oct20 October 13:28

      I’ve done this in the past with no problem (Chester Doubletree)

    • Chris Heyes says:
      20 Oct20 October 15:05

      nkp regarding Hilton (or most Hotels to be fair)
      I always pay for hotels before i arrive i like to arrive debt free (my preference) i just say can you take payment usually a month before
      even though I’ve booked pay on arrival/departure
      Never had a problem (well slight problem contacting Hotels.com)
      Any offers usually trigger at payment as well so good all round

  • Crumbs says:
    20 Oct20 October 12:33

    Hi,
    Upgrading Curve from Blue to Metal resets the spending limits, but does downgrading back to Blue reset the limit as well?

    • Dan says:
      20 Oct20 October 12:38

      I’d like to know the answer to this too. Another question, is if you “lose” your metal card and get a replacement do you get a new card number and new limits?

    • BP says:
      20 Oct20 October 13:10

      I asked Curve CS and have it in writing that upgrading to Metal will not impact my limits. I’ve got a £500k limit so will be very annoyed if I do decide to upgrade and it get reset. I’m going to stick with Blue until Ernie requires metal.

      • BuildTheWall says:
        20 Oct20 October 13:21

        The spending gets reset, not your limits.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        20 Oct20 October 14:31

        I once lost my black card and the spend wasn’t reset.

      • Jonathan says:
        20 Oct20 October 14:37

        I went from 300k to 100k annual when I upgraded. Customer service saying they have no record of me being 300k so won’t increase again. Slightly strange considering I was at 120k spend when I upgraded!

        Since the spend has been reset I’ve let it slide for the moment. They did say get back in touch when you get near 100k. Before anyone asks, I was using it for mixed spend!

        • Peter K says:
          20 Oct20 October 16:52

          I went from £300k to £1k until I complained and they raised it to £100k. Still a net loss for me though as, like Jonathan, I had only used about £120k.

  • James says:
    20 Oct20 October 13:13

    Just flew BA Club from
    ABZ to LHR and the cabin crew confirmed to me that the catering will indeed be improving as of the start of November. FINALLY!

    • Andrew says:
      20 Oct20 October 16:23

      Apparently it will just be serving hot box meals in Club Europe and Club World – a bit like they do in First now. Still plastic cups and cutlery and disposable packaging – basically long-haul economy food with champagne.

      • Rob says:
        20 Oct20 October 17:45

        On the other hand, BA is selling Club Europe returns from Europe to the UK and back for around £120 return at the moment. Even Athens (160 TP) was down to £160ish return. These are ex-Europe, not ex-UK fares.

        • Colin MacKinnon says:
          20 Oct20 October 18:47

          Any news on whether the 787s will continue on the Athens route in November?

        • Andrew says:
          20 Oct20 October 19:05

          So basically a race to the bottom – lower standards and lower prices.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        20 Oct20 October 17:57

        Was going to say the same.

        It’s not a return to long haul catering but rather a hot box meal.

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

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