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The HfP chat thread – Monday 23rd November

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We have decided to run this daily chat thread on Head for Points during the coronavirus outbreak.

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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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General

Comments (313)

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

  • Cal says:
    23 Nov23 November 14:36

    How long is it taking to get a new Amex? Any one applied for a new card recently? Already got the Gold credit card but thinking of signing up for the BA PP card and it’s welcome offer to use in the Virgin Sale.

    • Sina says:
      23 Nov23 November 15:16

      It took 3 days for my friend, she lives in London.

      • Rob says:
        23 Nov23 November 15:35

        Someone emailed me over the weekend to say they had one in 2 days – clearly not very busy down in Brighton! Historically it would take a week.

    • KK says:
      23 Nov23 November 16:13

      Bapp arrived next day! Very speedy. This was 2 weeks ago.

      • Cal says:
        23 Nov23 November 16:20

        Thanks all, Wednesday would be great but we will have to see.

        • Will says:
          24 Nov24 November 05:41

          Last week it took 36 hours from online signup for a remote farm in midlands (12kReferral + 22k MR bonus). Couldn’t believe it was so fast. Then my Supplementary card (3k MR) came in under 60 hours after that. No offers showing yet for a fresh account. Need to start spending I guess to trigger it.

  • Gormlesstraveller says:
    23 Nov23 November 14:45

    To people who are talking about selling on their gift cards, just remember what it’s not risk-free after what happened to Zeek..

    • BuildTheWall says:
      23 Nov23 November 14:58

      yep, after losing £100 with Zeek, i am never trusting these websites. if you do sell, cash out immediately.

    • KBuffett says:
      23 Nov23 November 18:09

      I’d disagree that it looks stable. The bad Google reviews direct you to another review site where miraculously they have thousands of all positive reviews.
      Also looks like a very small startup hoping to be a unicorn company. I can’t see them surviving

    • TGLoyalty says:
      23 Nov23 November 21:19

      I don’t even see where the margin is you’d be working for nothing and just one small loss would wipe out any benefit.

      • Super Secret Stuff says:
        23 Nov23 November 21:37

        I’ve locked and they normally always have at least 5% margin, selling for more then they buy. All done online so no postage except for the seller which they pay for themselves.

        On principle it should work, but I don’t know if it has the scale to make a living from it.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          23 Nov23 November 22:05

          I meant margin for the seller not the intermediary

          Looks like most GCs are with a 5-10% discount so even if you have the 10% Morrison’s offer there’s nothing in this once the middleman has taken a cut.

  • mark2 says:
    23 Nov23 November 14:48

    When people had a retention offer on Platinum with a spend target, did you receive the points on achieving the target or at the end of the period?

  • ChrisC says:
    23 Nov23 November 14:50

    50% bonus for me. But I have never bought avios before so maybe that’s why.

    Still not buying though,

  • Anuj says:
    23 Nov23 November 15:51

    Can someone reshape the £30 off sunglassgut voucher code/

  • Gary says:
    23 Nov23 November 15:55

    Anyone else tried to buy Gift cards in Morrison’s today ? Jusy tried to buy 8 x £25 gift cards and was told that they are now only accepting cash payment – asked if it was a store rule and they said it was directive from HO.

    • Super Secret Stuff says:
      23 Nov23 November 16:12

      Lol so that lasted long…

      • Aston100 says:
        23 Nov23 November 16:44

        I don’t understand why this would be an issue for Morrisons.
        They are getting paid the full amount by the customer, and it is the customer that will get a statement credit from Amex.
        Or is there something I’m missing here?

    • BuildTheWall says:
      23 Nov23 November 16:13

      Pay at self-checkout and take some chocolates with you as the weighing scale doesnt recognise the gift card. Its a bit of a pain to complete the purchase, but worth it!

      • Gary says:
        23 Nov23 November 16:19

        BuildTheWall – that only works with preset amounts on Gift Card – gift cards where you can put anything from £10-£100 it will not work

        • BuildTheWall says:
          23 Nov23 November 16:24

          I bought £250 worth Morrisons gift cards yesterday at self checkout manually updating the amount.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          23 Nov23 November 16:30

          @Gary incorrect you can self checkout the £10-£250 just choose the amount on prompt or press other amount.

          • Gary says:
            23 Nov23 November 16:34

            Ok – I didn’t realise that and I was told that I had to go to a main check out desk to pay and not self service

    • Bazza says:
      23 Nov23 November 16:55

      Just like the 3v days they have not idea why they are saying no….

      I had a Tesco once say it was cash only for gift cards, went there the next week and was card only, went there the next week and they said you are only about to by one £25 gift card. When I pointed out their are plenty of £50 gift cards on the racks they had no answers… but the shop floor staff have are just following what they been told without any explanation

    • Harry T says:
      23 Nov23 November 17:56

      Just returned from my local Morrison’s – no issues purchasing gift cards with credit card. Activated Amazon gift card already loaded to my account. Honestly don’t understand the issues that other people have allegedly been experiencing. If someone really told me I couldn’t pay with a credit card, I’d just laugh and not give them money. How are people making drama out of buying some gift cards when you pop in for milk?

      • BuildTheWall says:
        23 Nov23 November 18:09

        Either they are lazy or don’t think they can challenge or don’t bother trying it themselves. No pain no gain.

    • Polly says:
      23 Nov23 November 19:23

      I was told that on the last offer, and the manager just did them for me at the kiosk. Might be better buying a Morrisons 250 gc then buying your other retailer GCs.

  • meta says:
    23 Nov23 November 15:59

    Hotels will need to close under new Tier 3, so we await news about which tier each area will end up at.

    • Anna says:
      23 Nov23 November 16:06

      Where have you seen that @meta? I thought it hadn’t been decided yet.

    • Michael C says:
      23 Nov23 November 16:36

      On a minor issue, guessing hotel lounges in London (Tier 2) won’t be open…I’d describe v few as serving “substantial meals”!!

      • meta says:
        23 Nov23 November 16:43

        We don’t know if London will go back to Tier 2. Lots of areas will go into higher Tier than before, but it will be reviewed every 14 days.

        • Anna says:
          23 Nov23 November 16:54

          It’s just said on Sky News that even in Tier 3 you can stay away overnight as long as it’s in your household bubble, so all is not completely lost.

          • Rob says:
            23 Nov23 November 17:51

            The document – which is not quite law, but nearly – says No. If you live in Tier 3 you should not enter a Tier 1 or Tier 2 area. Whether this is advisory or the law will become clear when the legal text is published.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          23 Nov23 November 17:40

          Don’t forget London voluntarily went into T2!

      • TGLoyalty says:
        23 Nov23 November 16:55

        Hotel Hospitality operate under different rules to normal restaurants and pubs.

        As longes are restricted access to residents only they will probably fall into a different category. Same way there were exceptions for airport lounges etc

        • meta says:
          23 Nov23 November 18:28

          @Rob You’re allowed to stay in your local Tier 3 area. Say London is placed in Tier 3. If someone lives in Shoreditch, they can go to Soho and spend a night at a hotel there, but not Cambridge.

          • Rob says:
            23 Nov23 November 18:45

            Have you read the document or are you watching TV news? You are ‘advised’ not to enter a Tier 3 area. Whether or not this becomes the law, or remains advice, is not known until we see the wording.

          • TGLoyalty says:
            23 Nov23 November 21:22

            Reading the document it says avoid rather than must not. I’d be surprised if it’s law and even if it is if it’s enforceable.

          • meta says:
            23 Nov23 November 21:43

            @ Rob Yes, I have read the document. But how do you define local area? Soho and Shoreditch are London. On page 24(28 in pdf) it says no overnight stays outside local area. It does not say borough or council.

  • Optimus Prime says:
    23 Nov23 November 16:44

    BA Boeing 747 catches fire at Castellón airport in Spain: https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2020/11/23/watch-ba-boeing-747-catches-fire-at-castellon-airport-in-spain/

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

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