The HfP chat thread – Thursday 26th November

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YC says:

26 Nov26 November 07:21

Interesting lockdown activity for amex golds (potentially good value if they end up sending a normal sized bottle):
https://www.gastronomes.co.uk/eat-life/festive-spirits/
- Matt says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 09:21
  
  That link doesn’t go anywhere…
  - YC says:
    
    26 Nov26 November 13:13
    
    Strange – worked this morning. I found out via logging into my amex and there was a banner at top. Essentially £18pp for virtual canapes and cocktail making event.
TechnoT says:

26 Nov26 November 07:36

Looks like RebellingCo have been playing with merchant codes over the past couple of days. I just got charges 2.99% for loading my account with a HH Visa CC the other day, which didn’t happen before. One more MS tactic out the window…
- Genghis says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 10:09
  
  RebellingCo? Is that Storonsky’s?
  - TechnoT says:
    
    26 Nov26 November 10:31
    
    Yes, it is. Figured it makes sense to use a pseudonym for the firm that doesn’t include the verbatim full name in it…
- Lawro says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 11:14
  
  Ouch! Just checked having seen your comment and also had charges applied for a transaction on the 24th. A real blow if that’s a permanent change.
- Aston100 says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 12:06
  
  Hmm… shouldn’t these revolutionaries give some kind of notice if they are intending to apply a charge for CC topups?
  - TechnoT says:
    
    26 Nov26 November 13:25
    
    Could have been done selectively to accounts they see as breaking the rules. Happened in Jan with a number of accounts before the MC-wide change.
    - Ashish says:
      
      26 Nov26 November 13:32
      
      Got banned from credit card top up
  - The Urbanite says:
    
    26 Nov26 November 14:48
    
    I’m not sure a merchant is required to notify anybody that they’re changing their MCC to one that more closely reflects what they do.
    
    Re: the charges, there are usually clauses in the credit agreement that cash like transactions will attract a fee with no interest free period so not convinced anything is due from the card issuer either!
    
    Unless there’s a compelling argument that buying e-money/topping up an account isn’t a cash like transaction, I’d suggest the best way forward is to ask for the fees to be waived or covered by the merchant on a goodwill basis.
    
    In an ideal world these pesky fees wouldn’t exist!
- avstar says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 14:44
  
  anyone see charges topping up with IHG? did a test but nothing appeared so far
  - TechnoT says:
    
    26 Nov26 November 15:02
    
    I think IHG doesn’t levy direct charges, but you will be charged interest from day 1
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      26 Nov26 November 15:13
      
      That was already the case
Asim says:

26 Nov26 November 07:38

Does Metal bendy not work with COT anymore? Tried paying off the Brighton outfit with underlying COT but was declined by COT.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 07:48
  
  Something changed on Thursday. Either curve has updated the MCCs or Is just applying the pass through properly.
  - Asim says:
    
    26 Nov26 November 08:02
    
    Do you think it’ll change back (ie they made a mistake) or is it here to stay?
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      26 Nov26 November 08:43
      
      No it seems to have gone back to how it was pre moving away from wirecard (so probably correct)
    - Ben says:
      
      26 Nov26 November 08:43
      
      Something definitely changed. My COT account was blocked from the weekend because I tried to pay Virgin money. Had to call COT and explain. Got a slap on the wrist
- Peter K says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 09:03
  
  I’ve never been able to pay other cards with CoT via an intermediary.
  - John says:
    
    26 Nov26 November 10:06
    
    Same here
- Harold R says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 10:29
  
  Interesting I used COT to pay Brighton last week via bendy and got a call from COT to explain the card is for business purposes and not personal while I wanted to explain I felt it better to apologise and say I wouldn’t do it again.
  - Andrew M says:
    
    26 Nov26 November 11:08
    
    That was probably the best response. Explaining what you were doing might not have ended well.
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    26 Nov26 November 11:09
    
    What’s there to explain? Businesses don’t have Amex or curve accounts?
- Asim says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 17:06
  
  A £200 cash withdrawal went onto COT fine today. So maybe the restriction is on Brighton, virgin, Lloyds etc.
- The Urbanite says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 17:26
  
  It works perfectly fine. Capital on Tap block transactions with certain MCCs which was temporarily bypassed with Curve not passing through the MCC, but no longer is.
TechnoT says:

26 Nov26 November 07:50

Has anyone else had Monese cancel their accounts with practically zero warning (got an e-mail stating they couldn’t verify some data about me, yet I’d never been asked)? I have never used used my account with them for anything remotely MS-related. I think most I ever did was buy a few discounted gift cards when they were on offer….
- InfrastructureDebt says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 09:51
  
  Look on trustpilot, echoes what you’ve just said
  - AlexT says:
    
    26 Nov26 November 10:06
    
    Thanks. Good to know I’m not the only one, I guess.
- Harry T says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 13:48
  
  Happened to me a week or so again, similar history.
Jimbob says:

26 Nov26 November 08:13

What’s the likelyhood of a 25% bonus for converting HSBC premier points to avios during December?
Might do a little test transfer on 1st December to see.
- High Grade says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 08:44
  
  Let us know how you get on Jimbob. I have a stack of HSBC points and have been waiting for the offer. I thought it normally ran in August.
  - Andrew M says:
    
    26 Nov26 November 11:15
    
    +1 I’ve been doing a small test transfer every month for the last few months but no bonus. We must be due something fairly soon. Surely BA could do with the cash right now? We’ve occasionally seen a 50% bonus in the past so I’m hoping (perhaps optimistically) for that. Fingers crossed for December.
TechnoT says:

26 Nov26 November 08:19

It looks like my Miles&More Diners/MC annual fee hit this month. Does anyone know whether I can get this removed if I cancel the card (haven’t spent anything on the card after the annual fee hit, but do have one transaction this month from the prior date)?
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 08:47
  
  Since the card has been withdrawn are you sure you want to cancel? It has its uses!
  - TechnoT says:
    
    26 Nov26 November 10:10
    
    My primary use for it is keeping M&M miles from expiry (120k) but seeing as I don’t think I’ll make use of them in the next year or so, I was thinking of using them on the LH WorldStore with the Black Friday 25% discount (about 0.4p value per mile).
    
    Was hoping the incoming Visa card will be usable to load RebellingCo, but it looks like that venue is now gone. If you have any other use in mind, I’m all ears 🙂
    - Rob says:
      
      26 Nov26 November 10:15
      
      That’s a huge mistake in my view. We’re off to Dubai for Christmas – no chance of redemption seats on BA now, but wide open across Lufthansa and SWISS. One-way for four of us was just 131,250 miles in Business.
      - TechnoT says:
        
        26 Nov26 November 12:03
        
        Agreed that LH is great value for ME travel. I just don’t see any use for my miles until 2022 potentially, which is 160 quid spent on card fees in the interim.
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      26 Nov26 November 10:23
      
      No idea who RebellingCo is
      
      M&M worked with Rev as of Monday when I topped with no fees.
      - TechnoT says:
        
        26 Nov26 November 10:30
        
        It is Rev… figures it makes more sense to use a name for them that doesn’t include the full name of the company.
        
        You weren’t hit with cash advance fees on the M&M MC after topping up Rev?
      - TechnoT says:
        
        26 Nov26 November 10:48
        
        BTW you may want to check whether you’ve been charged fees if you’ve topped after Nov 24. That’s the date for which I was charged on a HH Visa, as mentioned above.
      - Yan says:
        
        26 Nov26 November 11:14
        
        Yes, M&M cash adv fees fall on similar avenues from this Monday
      - TechnoT says:
        
        26 Nov26 November 11:51
        
        Thanks, Yan. So looks like M&M MC and HH Visa were both affected. Guessing the change affects every card then…
Frankie says:

26 Nov26 November 09:03

Does anyone know if hotel bars will be open for drinks only, in new Tier Two, if you are staying at the hotel?
- Rob says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 09:18
  
  May be possible if outside guests are banned but hard to police so unlikely. Even now you can order drinks via room service without a meal.
Lee says:

26 Nov26 November 09:14

Data point, spent £30 at Esso/Tesco without fuel didn’t trig the £5 off offer. Remember someone mentioned this a few days ago that other spending would trig the offer.
- Craig says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 09:46
  
  Mine hasn’t triggered yet, I’ve taken screen shots and will push back in a few weeks if needed. Is the Esso you used on the participating locations list?
  - Craig says:
    
    26 Nov26 November 09:47
    
    Also, the offer excludes payment by App, which I find somewhat perplexing at the moment when I thought we were trying to reduce contact?
  - Lee says:
    
    26 Nov26 November 10:25
    
    Yes, it’s on the list
- Vit says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 09:46
  
  I filled up mine a couple day ago but paid at tesco cashier and not “at pump”. Payment is clear now but still waiting for the £5 off to come in. 😐
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  26 Nov26 November 10:10
  
  How does Amex know what went through the til?
  
  The card machine will be exactly the same so regardless of buying fuel or something else or a mix it should go through with exactly the same merchant ID or did you use self checkout?
  - Lee says:
    
    26 Nov26 November 10:26
    
    TG, that’s exactly what I think. Cheekily bought £30 Tesco GC hope the offer will still be triggered.
  - Super Secret Stuff says:
    
    26 Nov26 November 11:21
    
    I agree with TG. If you pay at the till should go thru OK. Pay at pumps should definitely go thru. You’ll just have to wait.
    
    Self check out, should go thru but if they have been super clever they might have different merchant IDs as you can’t pay for petrol on them they technically aren’t an esso / tesco joint venture. Highly, highly unlikely tho.