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The HfP chat thread – Thursday 10th December

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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.

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 (383)

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

  • Jane says:
    10 Dec10 December 15:10

    is there any way quick way to earn IHG points that count towards status and doesn’t include CC spend or staying ? I know transfers from Virgin don’t count any longer. I was hoping to trigger the spire elite bonus before the end of the year and unfortunately only heard about it a week or so ago with quite a few thousand to go !

    • Genghis says:
      10 Dec10 December 15:14

      Hertz bookings (and transfers) and Opentable bookings?

    • Bob says:
      10 Dec10 December 15:20

      How many thousand? You mention not staying – one flexible stay with a standard IHG bonus points package [which range from 1000 to 5000+ but are typically 3000] would count as qualifying.

    • ChrisC says:
      10 Dec10 December 15:21

      How many points do you actually need?

      • Jane says:
        10 Dec10 December 15:37

        6841 as of this morning but I have been on amazon today 🙂 so a few less tomorrow.
        A local (ish) hotel with 3000 bonus is around £65 which might work if we combine it with one of our Christmas outings & use their pool etc . No hertz unfortunately.

  • Baji Nahid says:
    10 Dec10 December 16:24

    Does anyone know how long the curve amazon offer is on for? Im considering to get an curve card to get the amazon offer for a large purchase, however not sure about whether if one would get the offer if they are a new customer if it is for existing customers.

    • Peter K says:
      10 Dec10 December 16:29

      https://www.curve.com/en-gb/legal/amazon-promotion-terms/

      Spend by end of 14th December.

    • BJ says:
      10 Dec10 December 16:37

      Not really worth it just for this as maximum benefit is £10 and you’ll not get card by 14th anyway. Having said that, any self-respecting HfPer should have the card Baji!

      • Vit says:
        10 Dec10 December 17:31

        Haha! self-respecting! — yes agreed with BJ that I could not be bothered with bendy till a few month ago and I am quite addicted to it on how “easy” to get hotel points. 🙂

        Though, I am not sure if you really need the “actual” card to get the £10 off amazon as I think you can use the card details available in the app to make purchase anyway? but yeah if it is just the £10 you’re interested in then don’t bother really.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          10 Dec10 December 18:50

          £10 from Amazon. £5 for being referred and a lifetime of points earning. It’s worth bothering.

          • The Savage Squirrel says:
            10 Dec10 December 18:59

            Well Curve’s lifetime anyway, which is unknown, but already longer than I thought it would be, so every month feels like a bonus now :).

          • TGLoyalty says:
            10 Dec10 December 19:19

            4.5 years and many k later still going strong.

  • Tony says:
    10 Dec10 December 17:10

    I was awarded a 241 voucher with BAPP a month or so ago. Since then a credit has come through for a cancelled flight taking me significantly below the £10k threshold. Do I need to spend again to get back over the threshold line in order to retain the 241 voucher? Or is it the case that once it is showing in your BA account it’s safe?

    • Peter K says:
      10 Dec10 December 17:12

      Once in BA account it is safe.

    • Anna says:
      10 Dec10 December 18:26

      Your voucher is safe but you may find that the refunded amount is added to your required spend for your next voucher if you intend to keep your card.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        10 Dec10 December 18:51

        Not if the refund is before your new card year starts, only if the refund is after.

        Therefore, OP’s next year will be unaffected.

        • AJA says:
          10 Dec10 December 20:23

          @TGLoyalty That’s not the case. That’s what I always thought but there are plenty of reports on FT that the negative balance gets added to next year’s target.

          • TGLoyalty says:
            10 Dec10 December 23:46

            Let me be clear with what I am saying if your card year is 1-1/20 to 31/12/20 and you spend £10k by 1/6/20 youll now a voucher safe in your account by 6/6/20. But you then get a refund of £3k on 1/9/20 your counter will say you’ve spent £7k and you need to spend £3k to get a voucher. However, you can only earn one voucher per card year and it is never taken away. On 1/1/21 you will get a new counter and you will need to spend £10k before 31/12/21

            If however that £3k refund landed on 2/1/21, after your card year had reset and you had a new £10k counter, you would now need to spend £13k to earn your voucher.

            I have had both and thats exactly how it worked I don’t see a scenario where the IT is that bad that a refund that was processed and landed in card year 1 can and would affect the counter for card year 2.

          • Aston100 says:
            10 Dec10 December 23:48

            And that’s why I cancelled a BAPP when I started getting refunds for cancelled flights, taking me far below 10k spend.
            No impact to my new card.

  • Yorkieflyer says:
    10 Dec10 December 17:38

    Curve app now fixed for us 5S old timers on IOS 12

  • Anna says:
    10 Dec10 December 17:46

    Harry T have you been to Tenerife again? Canaries off the safe list!

    • Harry T says:
      11 Dec11 December 04:49

      Alas no! The new requirement for a covid test made me reticent to travel there again. Glad I hesitated as I was very keen to go back to the RC Abama but wouldn’t have wanted the hassle of claiming for the flights on insurance now the UK gov has put them back on the naughty list.

  • George K says:
    10 Dec10 December 17:47

    https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-12-08/amex-plans-new-perks-to-lure-platinum-cardholders-to-centurion

    “The company hopes a bevy of new perks on its proprietary cards — including Green, Gold, Platinum and Centurion — as well as recent efforts to acquire more cardholders will help it return to double-digit growth in card fees in 2022, Squeri said.”

    Still waiting for the HfP Amex Centurion card review to see what we’ve been missing…

    • memesweeper says:
      10 Dec10 December 18:00

      Those enhanced perks will just be for the yanks I suspect.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      10 Dec10 December 19:34

      Something I once saw on flyertalk.

      Airlines: VS, EK Gold
      Hotels: Melia, Hilton, Intercon, Shangri-La, R&C top tiers, SPG/Marriott, Club Carlsson mid-tier
      Car Hire: Avis, Hertz top tiers
      Personal Account Manager at some spend threshold. Acts as Concierge/Travel Agent in working hours.
      Access to special Cent events and above some threshold priority access/extra special comp events just for high level Cent.
      Comp access to certain London members clubs/discounts to join. Same goes for some night-club access.
      Access to Centurion hotels and restaurants programs giving priority access for tables/special deals for rooms.
      A bunch of other things I can’t remember e.g. online shopping benefits (VIP at Net-a-Porter that kind of thing).

      £3k to join and £2.2k a year not so bad if you can write off against tax.

  • Tom says:
    10 Dec10 December 19:31

    Generally speaking, what is the most ‘generous’ Hilton portfolio hotel in London regarding late check-out? Or are there any to avoid?

    1 night stay (Sun to Mon), Diamond status.

  • Nick says:
    10 Dec10 December 19:31

    Has anyone worked out if the Amex ‘spend X get Y MR’ bonus is based on auth or bill time? Expires tomorrow, wondering if it’s worth a final purchase to get me over the line (but it’s too late if it’s the latter as it won’t be settled in time).

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

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