The HfP chat thread – Friday 11th December

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• N says:

  11 Dec11 December 08:01

  Need to book flights with BA for next Dec (with a 2-4-1).

  Booking window opens at midnight tonight.

  Last time I did this was a few years ago, is the advice as before? I.e. Book one way online at midnight? Then next week book another one way and call BA the next morning to get them linked?

  • MattB says:

    11 Dec11 December 08:06

    Depends where you are travelling. If say the US then no as 2 X one way surcharges make it far more expensive, other destinations such as Far East you generally should be ok.

    Alternatively you could ring up one of the open call centres to book as the flights are released.

• BuildTheWall says:

  11 Dec11 December 08:36

  If either my home county or the county in which I have booked a vacation is in tier 3 by next week, I wouldn’t be allowed to do the vacation, I assume?

  • Andrew says:

    11 Dec11 December 08:46

    Unless it is for “work” or it is between 23-27 December

  • Chris says:

    11 Dec11 December 09:31

    There’s no law against travelling or staying in/away from a tier 3 area.

    • Harry T says:

      11 Dec11 December 09:45

      Correct but hotels may be closed in tier 3. Depends if they have enough business customers.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    11 Dec11 December 09:34

    If you are in a T3 area then No.

    If the vacation is in a T3 area then yes as hospitality has to close unless it’s for one of the states exemptions.

• Titus Adduxas says:

  11 Dec11 December 08:48

  What is a Bendy or Beardy card?!!!

  • James says:

    11 Dec11 December 09:17

    Curve & Virgin

    • Titus Adduxas says:

      11 Dec11 December 12:48

      Thanks for that though why people don’t just use those names is beyond me!

• Fred S says:

  11 Dec11 December 09:00

  Trying to top up amazon £100 using curve….nothing happens, just static on pending…any ideas?

  • Fred S says:

    11 Dec11 December 09:01

    “verifying” not pending

  • Craig says:

    11 Dec11 December 09:08

    Amazon top ups can take a while, usually down to the processing on the Amazon side.

    • Chrisasaurus says:

      11 Dec11 December 09:09

      There’s a lot of fraud prevention goes on from the Amazon side

    • mr_jetlag says:

      11 Dec11 December 11:50

      Depends on underlying curve card, when I did it with the Amazon Plat it was pretty instantaneous.

  • The real John says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:02

    Took about an hour for mine to go through

• Anna says:

  11 Dec11 December 09:32

  If anyone needs to meet a target spend by the end of the month, apparently the cost of stamps is set to rise again in January. I just realised this week that the stamps were costing me 3 times as much as the Christmas cards I was attaching them to!

  • Travel Strong says:

    11 Dec11 December 09:51

    I also had a big shock sending a book to the USA via airmail. I guess due to less flights and lower cargo capacity … what was £6 last year was £16-20 depending on carrier!

    • Lady London says:

      11 Dec11 December 10:03

      Ask again when you’re standing in front of the Post Office counter.

      I was told £26 for my small parcel to Australia a few weeks back. I was totally shocked and said “Well, it’s not going then”.

      Miraculously the Post Office guy then gave a price of £8, said it was an “Eco” tariff, but cautioned this tariff can take up to 42 days to get there.

      I havent checked but I bet it got there in 10-14 days. And at the “regular” price quoted it wasnt going to be sent I’d have put the money into my next airfare instead.

      So ask again when they try this.

      • Aston100 says:

        11 Dec11 December 10:38

        Glad to hear I’m not the only one who has had this experience with the post office.
        On several occasions, they try and give me the highest possible price, despite me telling them the specific method I want.
        I have to repeat – sometimes twice to get them to arrange the delivery by the method I want.
        Disappointing.

      • The real John says:

        11 Dec11 December 11:35

        All the prices are available on the RM website at https://www.royalmail.com/sending/international

        (You have to click through to the specific method to see the actual price for the weight band.)

        You can just buy the service you want online and print the label yourself. It is sometimes a few pence cheaper too. Then there is no need to ask the post office staff to “help” you. They just scan the label and off it goes.

        If you really need to pay in person just state name of the service you want exactly and the price.

      • Travel Strong says:

        11 Dec11 December 12:24

        @Lady London That tends to be the land and sea transit price, which has always been much cheaper to Oz (but slow!). Hence my thinking that its the drop in air cargo capacity that has driven up the prices. I thoroughly quoted all options, and all air mail service prices have rocketed to the USA!

        • Lady London says:

          11 Dec11 December 13:05

          Since quite a few years now most of the old ‘surface’ (by ship) mail has been going by air.

          Eco is almost certainly that in tariff.

          Rather than be ripped off by these outrageously high rates I’ll take my chances on ‘surface’.

          Worked for quite a few places with very decent corporate rates with all major courier companies for sending worldwide so I know a ripoff rate when I’m quoted one.

    • BuildTheWall says:

      11 Dec11 December 10:06

      Might be cheaper to order the book on amazon USA website?

  • Andrew says:

    11 Dec11 December 09:55

    Not “apparently”, it’s confirmed:
    https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55150052

    My Christmas cards from Smythson still cost over three times what a stamp does though 🙂

    For those with the Selfridges Amex online offer, their website sells books of 6 first class stamps, just search “Royal Mail”

    • Niall says:

      11 Dec11 December 10:02

      If anyone has Amex Selfridges offer, they’re almost definitely too late to use it. Terms say it has to be charged to card by Sunday. Selfridges dispatch times at the moment are atrocious. I’ve had two orders where the pending charge disappeared after some days, dispatched a week later and the charge came back a couple of days after.

      • Andrew says:

        11 Dec11 December 10:11

        I’ve made a couple of orders this week, dispatched the same day with a charge to my card and the Amex confirmation email instantly. So it varies.

        • Lady London says:

          11 Dec11 December 13:09

          Click & Collect available following day so that would force them to process?

    • Anna says:

      11 Dec11 December 13:13

      It’s the thought that counts, Andrew!

  • Tom1 says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:01

    Also find many local stores selling stamps that are on Amex shop small. Win win.
    (Although I still have stamps from last time)

    • Anna says:

      11 Dec11 December 13:14

      And supermarkets tend to deliver them as well, which is handy if you only want a few items and need to make the amount up to £40!

• martyn ford says:

  11 Dec11 December 09:55

  My recent attempt to join the Revolution has not gone that well. I was charged a £2.99 transaction fee for topping up £10 from my HH B`card and my attempt to purchase £50 through Ernie received the error message “invalid card number.”
  I also cannot find a way of messaging in the app. Any advice would be gratefully received. Thank you.

  • Travel Strong says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:04

    Just more evidence that communism does not work. Abandon the revolution. Join the curve movement.

    • Aston100 says:

      11 Dec11 December 10:40

      Just have to know what things make Che Guevara unhappy.

  • The Urbanite says:

    11 Dec11 December 12:31

    Revolut is high risk for points generating. Topping up a prepaid card is a cash-like transaction and Revolut at liberty to categorise it as such, which will likely attract a fee and immediate interest – you’d have to check with your card issuer. The category of it changes regularly which is why it’s risky, among other things.

    My advice would be to steer clear of topping it up with a credit card or if you want to play that game, run the necessary checks beforehand to see what charges will be forthcoming.

• n_g says:

  11 Dec11 December 09:56

  If London gets added to the Tier 3 list next Wednesday is it likely to kick in Wednesday , Friday or some random day that we can’t predict?

  Got my London Marriot stay booked in for Saturday week and it’s looking more and more likely that it may be forbidden.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:09

    day unknown but the papers were predicting Early Saturday morning (ie 0:01)

    When you say likely based upon what? official test based rates / 100k aren’t the only factor and the government has been using the Zoe research app data which shows london is actually largely flat.

    • Rob says:

      11 Dec11 December 10:38

      London hospital admissions are very low because all the infections are amongst young people. This is a key factor.

      • n_g says:

        11 Dec11 December 11:02

        I guess I incorrectly used the phrase likely based on the murmurings of those unhappy with the London headline “Rate per 100,000 population” figures compare to other regions. I forgot that actual Tiering is based on more than that figure with hospital capacity being just as important.

        Fingers crossed we stay in Tier 2 and I manage to get to The Grosvenor House.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          11 Dec11 December 11:24

          Every chance some parts of London are put in T3 though

          Lots of MPs believe the areas are too broad.

      • Jonathan says:

        11 Dec11 December 11:55

        Yes but all those healthy young people are about to be let loose over Xmas to mingle with elderly relatives. There’s a very strong argument that you should try & contain the spread now in advance of the 23rd and that’s before you consider the optics for places like Manchester.

        A huge amount of the governments strategy has revolved around nudge theory. If Joe Public perceive that London gets special treatment then they lose any remaining faith in the restrictions & it becomes a free for all.

        • Lady London says:

          11 Dec11 December 13:11

          Exactly, about Christmas.

      • Anna says:

        11 Dec11 December 13:17

        Our rate is now lower than London but I’ve been told by my local councillor that the hospitals are at breaking point. I know age may account for some of this but it’s also a stark indictment of the north/south divide!

        • Harry T says:

          11 Dec11 December 14:24

          @Anna there are plenty of people in the North who are physiologically 70 at age 40, in the less affluent areas. I think there are more clinically vulnerable middle aged people than down South, but that’s just a hunch based on my experience.

        • Anna says:

          11 Dec11 December 15:29

          I think you’re right Harry, I have had to study outcomes for the region in the past and the North West especially has some of the worst rates in Europe for low educational attainment, tooth decay, heart disease, substance misuse, teenage pregnancy, unemployment and premature death from all causes!

  • Navara says:

    11 Dec11 December 11:00

    London will go into tier 3 when all the MPs have finished their shopping and gone back home.

• The real John says:

  11 Dec11 December 10:09

  What can be used to pay off the kimpton straight i.e. not bent (just in case 1.6m gets reduced later)?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:12

    there’s no reason to use curve. it doesn’t mask the MCC.

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