The HfP chat thread – Monday 16th November

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jek says:

16 Nov16 November 12:10

Amazon has Melia Rewards Gift Cards again: 55,000 points for 161 GBP, that’s 2.93GBP per 1000 points – cheaper than the 50% bonus that comes and goes.
- Rob says:
  
  16 Nov16 November 12:23
  
  Thanks. I just got an email notification on that – am putting something together. Laughably cheap rooms on this basis.
  
  Link is here: https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/hfp/amazon-melia-rewards-vouchers/
  - r* says:
    
    16 Nov16 November 12:33
    
    Are these the ones which sit in their own pot thats seperate to the normal points and which expire after a fixed year? Or do they go into the notmal pot which can be extended like normal?
    - memesweeper says:
      
      16 Nov16 November 13:20
      
      From the date of purchase, the Gift Card recipient will have six months to activate their code. Once activated, they have one year to use the points.
      
      Can be used on food/beverage but I don’t know the rate for that.
    - MattB says:
      
      16 Nov16 November 16:31
      
      Normal pot, I’ve extended points bought from Amazon before by buying €5 worth direct from Meliá.
  - Rob says:
    
    16 Nov16 November 13:11
    
    Of course it will – the Amazon credit works on everything.
    - Sina says:
      
      16 Nov16 November 23:05
      
      Yes I just did it! But to find that the same room is exactly the same rate now after gold discount!! 😬 £600 for points and same if paid cash! 😕
Eugene says:

16 Nov16 November 12:42

Morrisons Amazon GC Issue
Just met a Morrisons guy locally who drove half an hour to return my £500 spent on non working Amazon vouchers. They have taken them off the shelf and gave me some wine as an apology. The JLP ones worked fine. First class service. Very impressed
- Super Secret Stuff says:
  
  16 Nov16 November 12:51
  
  Do you know if that is Nationwide taken off the shelf or just that store?
  
  How did they return it exactly? I can’t seem to figure out how they’d contact you.
  - Eugene says:
    
    16 Nov16 November 13:06
    
    I spoke with the manager by phone to explain the non working issue, I didn’t ask about nationwide
- Aston100 says:
  
  16 Nov16 November 13:34
  
  I don’t understand why they would drive to return money to you.
  Did he count out 100 * £5 notes in front of you?
  - Eugene says:
    
    16 Nov16 November 14:11
    
    yep
    - Eugene says:
      
      16 Nov16 November 14:13
      
      Ii wanted them to give me working vouchers really but they were unable to do that and neither it seems just refund £500 to my card. That worked for me
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        16 Nov16 November 19:51
        
        Wonder how many internal anti Money laundering processes were broken with that one!
Stanley says:

16 Nov16 November 12:49

*MODERNA CORONAVIRUS VACCINE FOUND 94.5% EFFECTIVE IN ANALYSIS
- Anna says:
  
  16 Nov16 November 13:06
  
  Isn’t that the one we haven’t bought any of? 🤦‍♀️
  - Stanley says:
    
    16 Nov16 November 13:08
    
    yep. down to the other 6 we have ! it uses same tech as the Pfizer one but much easier to transport and handle. Either way, its good news, and still many more vaccines (that we have bought!) to report in the next few weeks…
  - Rob says:
    
    16 Nov16 November 13:10
    
    Yes!
- Andrew says:
  
  16 Nov16 November 13:14
  
  Excellent news. We’ll all be back to our travels soon.
  - Johnny Tabasco says:
    
    16 Nov16 November 13:31
    
    If by ‘soon’ you mean this time next year then you are spot on
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      16 Nov16 November 13:41
      
      at the earliest!
      - Andrew says:
        
        16 Nov16 November 13:43
        
        Exactly. That’s my definition of soon. Better than 5 years’ time.
      - Johnny Tabasco says:
        
        16 Nov16 November 13:56
        
        Quite. Obviously it’s good news for the long run but I get the feeling there’s going to be a lot of surprised and disappointed people, especially on this website when the reality regarding the vaccines starts to kick in. The ‘normal’ world, let alone the normal travel world is a long way off yet.
        
        Doesn’t stop people starting to make some plans and that’s great, yet I’d advise some seriously expectation management is put in place for those thinking about booking big holidays to places that are currently off limits in the next 6-9 months.
      - Andrew says:
        
        16 Nov16 November 14:18
        
        Absolutely – the best case scenario is that the vaccine avoids a peak next autumn and we have the natural levelling off over the northern hemisphere summer, meaning that by June we might be in more of a position to travel more freely. But there will still be restrictions in place and negative test results required for lots of destinations for some years to come. As well as BA serving meals in First in carboard boxes well into 2022 I’m sure.
      - Anna says:
        
        16 Nov16 November 15:25
        
        Also the thinking seems to be that only adults will get the vaccine so it doesn’t look good for family holidays. It sounds like it will be a very, very long time before it will be available privately.
      - Andrew says:
        
        16 Nov16 November 15:34
        
        Adults over 50 it seems – there are no plans currently for the UK to immunise under 50s.
      - Anna says:
        
        16 Nov16 November 16:07
        
        Oh and I both turned 50 this year so will hopefully be offered it at some point, but it still leaves us the (travel) problem of where younger family members would stand if countries start demanding proof of vaccination as an entry requirement.
        The only future holidays may be SAGA holidays 🤣
      - Johnny Tabasco says:
        
        16 Nov16 November 17:23
        
        Unless you are under 50 and in the vulnerable category ?
Graham says:

16 Nov16 November 12:50

I just checked a cruise on Cruise118 and the increase in price for using the Avios site was more than for the ordinary site + buying the Avios you would earn direct from BA
Sam says:

16 Nov16 November 13:06

3 week old platinum card – called in to get the £100 credit offer for JL/selfridges but was declined 🙂
- SJ says:
  
  16 Nov16 November 13:26
  
  Likewise, had platinum for just over a month now. Already spent quite heavily (hit the sign up bonus). Haven’t had any decent offers come through, called up and was told nothing they could do
  - Sam says:
    
    16 Nov16 November 14:45
    
    Did you have a counter towards your bonus spend? I don’t have one and I am conscious that the points wont post automatically after spending £4k so might need to chase it
- Amar says:
  
  16 Nov16 November 13:38
  
  Me too – I’ve got a 4 week old platinum which I’ve hit the bonus on. Called to see if they’d give me the 35k retention offer, but as I expected they said no.
  
  Oddly enough a 7 week old platinum in my family got offered the 35k points!
  
  Will call up again after a few weeks 🙂
  - SJ says:
    
    16 Nov16 November 13:42
    
    I’m thinking of trying the same. Only really signed up the hit the bonus and either downgrade or cancel after a few months. Was hoping I could take advantage of the offers while I had the card, but from what I’ve been given so far it’s not looking like worth keeping for much longer. Had much better offers come through on my BAPP. Perhaps I’m just being impatient..
  - Sam says:
    
    16 Nov16 November 14:46
    
    Did you see a counter for £4k spend? assume this was green -> plat upgrade?
    - SJ says:
      
      16 Nov16 November 14:52
      
      I did and still do have the counter to the £4k spend (now showing as full).
      
      Nope, it was a fresh account. Not upgrading from green.
  - DK says:
    
    16 Nov16 November 14:57
    
    Was it green to platinum upgrade and you received upgrade bonus?
    I upgraded a month ago and was just told I won’t get one as upgrade was only for targeted card holders
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      16 Nov16 November 19:53
      
      How can you claim them when it’s freely advertised on the website off the back of a page they link to about applying for supplementary cards.
- Craig says:
  
  16 Nov16 November 14:21
  
  Held for a while, had 20k MR points in May. Thought I’d try my luck and it was a no, only once a year. Just wondering if that is card year or calendar year? Loving this morning Cazoo offer, need a new car right now and £250 off is a game changer for me!
Michael C says:

16 Nov16 November 13:30

BA pilots to receive news of furloughs on Weds.
TGLoyalty says:

16 Nov16 November 13:40

Sh0ps away takes a few weeks to months to track.
- 747_Brat says:
  
  16 Nov16 November 14:56
  
  Cheers, thanks TGL
Marcin says:

16 Nov16 November 13:59

Hi all, I got rejected when applying for the free Virgin Atlantic credit card. I would like to write to them to reconsider as suggested in the HfP article:

“Write to Virgin Money at Jubilee House, Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 4PL with a couple of paragraphs expressing your dismay, referencing your Virgin Atlantic status and/or that you had the old MBNA credit cards, and outlining your income and lack of non-mortgage debts. They will reconsider and you will normally end up being successful.”

Unfortunately, I do not have any Virgin status at the moment, I did not have any of the old MBNA cards either. What else could I use as an argument going for me? 😉

I was thinking:
– good experian credit rating (980+)
– I could send them a savings bank account history showing healthy balance over the last couple of years,
– I could send them records of me paying my Amex in full every month (although not sure if this is something that would convince them)

Anything else I could use?
Thanks!
- Charlieface says:
  
  16 Nov16 November 14:31
  
  All of the above.
  They would have data on your repayments, so you don’t need to send them that, but worth highlighting the point to them anyway.
  Check your report first on Experian (via MSE), Equifax (Clearscore) and TransUnion (Noddle). If there is any mistake, get it fixed and point it out to them.
  - Marcin says:
    
    16 Nov16 November 15:09
    
    Thanks, will do that!
- memesweeper says:
  
  16 Nov16 November 14:56
  
  Marcin, plenty of folks with excellent credit scores, high incomes and solid payment historys get turned down, and not overturned on appeal. Be prepared for that outcome.
  - Marcin says:
    
    16 Nov16 November 15:09
    
    OK, that’s a shame, but I will keep that in mind.
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      16 Nov16 November 23:02
      
      Yes seems the more you earn and the more organised you are the less likely you are to be welcome.