The HfP chat thread – Monday 2nd November

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• Robman says:

  2 Nov2 November 11:45

  Please can anyone from the community provide me with advice. I have the £195 BA Amex card that earns the companion voucher for £10k spend in the year. I am £2k short of earning the voucher and my spend years ends in 10 days. Normally meeting the spend threshold is easy as I can put all business travel on it, but with no travel this year its just not been possible. I contacted Amex to see if there was any chance of a small extension to the spend year, but was told that no such process exists and they were unable to assist.
  Has anyone else had any success in this situation in getting extensions to their Amex BA spend year or have any advice in these circumstances?
  It seems such a shame to lose the opportunity to earn the voucher…after having spent the fee for the card.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    2 Nov2 November 11:51

    I don’t think you’ll get an extension.

    Have you thought about what spend you can bring forward?

    Top up your Amazon account? buy a gift card for your usual supermarket etc?

  • Reeferman says:

    2 Nov2 November 12:15

    I think I’ve read here before that if you book a fully refundable BA flight for the £2k in this case, that will trigger the £10k spend and the voucher. You can then cancel the flight (after your card year-end) and the voucher remains in place. BUT you will have to spend £12k next year and your account will be minus £2,000 to start with.
    Sure someone can confirm or correct, as necessary.

    • ChrisC says:

      2 Nov2 November 12:26

      That’s correct.

    • Rob says:

      2 Nov2 November 13:04

      Correct – although if the refund goes through in the same card year, obviously you don’t need to spend £12k next year.

      • ChrisC says:

        2 Nov2 November 16:43

        Bit tight on time though for that to happen with only 10 days until Robman’s year end though?

        The payment for the flight would have to go through properly not just as pending, then the voucher issued to the account and then for BA to refund once Robman has contacted them to ask for it.

  • Anna says:

    2 Nov2 November 12:41

    Have you got anything you can pay up front e.g. council tax or car/home insurance? There are lots of ways to spend on Amex that people don’t realise. Do you spend much at Christmas, e.g. food and drink that you could buy early?
    Just be aware that payments can take a couple of days to clear so I would aim to complete the spend in 7-8 days.

    • Jerrry Butler says:

      2 Nov2 November 13:19

      How about a Donald Russell turkey and all the trimmings.

      • Anna says:

        2 Nov2 November 17:18

        Have you made any good movies recently, Jerry?

  • RB says:

    2 Nov2 November 12:44

    I was 1£.7k short earlier this year on spend target. I noticed I could send money through paypal with zero fee to a friend that was happy to transfer back to me. that took care of £1k. Then made up the rest on Supermarket gift cards. Tesco don’t sell online but in the store. Be aware as I learnt nearly the hard way it takes a few days for the transactions to process for the gift cards, especially as some companies book the transaction but don’t process until dispatched.

    • robman says:

      2 Nov2 November 12:48

      Thanks everybody for the great suggestions.

    • Paul says:

      2 Nov2 November 12:50

      I use Amazon a lot and have purchased their gift cards in the past. It’s alarming how quickly I spend the credit with them!

      • Anna says:

        2 Nov2 November 13:15

        Lol yes, it feels like what you’re buying is free because it says you owe £0.00 at checkout!

        • Paul says:

          2 Nov2 November 13:23

          Yes, exactly. I seem to spend an alarming amount with Amazon especially in these challenging times!

  • Connor says:

    2 Nov2 November 13:55

    Reserve something expensive from Argos (new iPhone perhaps?) wait till transaction hits and you the voucher and cancel the reservation. Easy.

  • Charlieface says:

    2 Nov2 November 14:43

    Europcar prepay will bill immediately and is refundable up to 48 hours before date.
    Come to think of it, I think Hertz prepay is also refundable these days

    • robman says:

      2 Nov2 November 15:36

      but if the transaction reverses after you cancel whatever you purchases, wouldn’t Amex be within their rights to revoke the Companion voucher?

      • TGLoyalty says:

        2 Nov2 November 17:31

        They would be don’t. If you make a habit of it they’ll just take your cards off you.

• RobL says:

  2 Nov2 November 12:44

  Do Amex still give 6000 avios when you upgrade from BA amex to premium BAPP?

  • Lee says:

    2 Nov2 November 12:56

    No, and you can only do it by calling

• Alan says:

  2 Nov2 November 12:51

  Bonvoy status match – how long is it taking to come through?

  • memesweeper says:

    2 Nov2 November 13:43

    Mine took a week, two applications required

  • Olly says:

    2 Nov2 November 14:29

    My Bonvoy status match was within 24 hours last week.

• TGLoyalty says:

  2 Nov2 November 12:55

  In case anyone is interested I bought £150 of gift cards online from HN (2x £75 as there’s no £150 option)

  I went through BA e store and it only tracked at 250 Avios which have already been paid.

  • Andrew says:

    2 Nov2 November 15:44

    Yes gift cards seem to track at 2 avios per £1 (not 14) pre-VAT (even though I think there is no VAT on a gift card or you’d end up double counting your VAT).

    • TGLoyalty says:

      2 Nov2 November 17:17

      Exactly my thoughts. Though 250 avois is better than a poke in the eye.

• 747_Brat says:

  2 Nov2 November 12:58

  If an Amex Gold member refers someone who takes up a BA Amex card, would he still get the 6000 MR referral reward, or is the reward only applicable when someone take an Amex Gold?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    2 Nov2 November 13:02

    They would get the 6k points no matter which card was picked from the options available. one of the more positive changes AMEX has made

    • 747_Brat says:

      2 Nov2 November 13:09

      Thank you

• Clive says:

  2 Nov2 November 13:25

  Anyone have any tricks for OPODO?

  • Pete says:

    2 Nov2 November 13:53

    In what sense? Refunds or purchases?

  • Rob says:

    2 Nov2 November 14:01

    I think there are a couple of active codes …. must admit I deleted the email. HotUKDeals probably has it.

  • Lady London says:

    2 Nov2 November 20:25

    The main trick for flights and OTA’s such as Opodo these days is dont use an OTA book direct with airline. Lots of bad stories of no refunds etc.

    Pre-Covid I used Opodo once and I wouldnt again. Very minor query after booking, no competence whatsoever

• Sandgrounder says:

  2 Nov2 November 13:35

  How did you get on with the first £100 John Lewis Waitrose m&s? I had the offer on main and three supps, total benefit £400. No Marriott or Harrods for me so far, I am wondering if they have placed a cap on how much you get back from these 100% offers in total.

• Tony says:

  2 Nov2 November 13:49

  IHG free night voucher. My expiry date is coming up on 31st December and I currently have no use for it. Is it possible to book a night beyond the expiry date of the voucher? And if I then cancel that night, will the voucher be reissued? (I suspect that’s wishful thinking).

  • Anna says:

    2 Nov2 November 13:56

    That should be the book by date, not use by, I think.

    • Anna says:

      2 Nov2 November 14:01

      Though have you double checked the date as the one I was issued last month now seems to have been extended to May 2022!

      • Fm says:

        2 Nov2 November 14:36

        I have this issue too- got 2 vouchers to use. Some suggestion on FT today that if you have 2 vouchers in your account and book for 2021 the later expiring voucher will be used preferentially … Not tried it myself yet

  • Peter K says:

    2 Nov2 November 14:42

    It’s the book by date. If you cancel within the book by date the voucher is returned to you. If you cancel after the use by date then it is lost.

    • Peter K says:

      2 Nov2 November 14:43

      If you cancel after the **book by** date then it is lost.

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