The HfP chat thread – Friday 11th December

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• Claire says:

  11 Dec11 December 10:21

  Did anyone else get caught out using shop small BEFORE Dec 5th? I added the offer and made a purchase on Dec 4th, which ive now been told wasn’t eligible. Do you have to wait for any of their other offers to start? Always problems with shop small *sigh*

  • Andrew says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:27

    Well not really a problem with shop small, it was quite explicit on the start date.

    • Super Secret Stuff says:

      11 Dec11 December 11:29

      +1

  • TGLoyalty says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:44

    yes you always have to wait for them to start not just from when you have saved.

  • Hoppy says:

    11 Dec11 December 16:19

    My issue with Shop Small this time is that all the retailers I used it in over the summer – local bakery, coffee shop, gift shop – have all vanished from the map despite still taking Amex. Is that just for me because my wife and I used it on multiple cards and supplementaries?

    • TGLoyalty says:

      11 Dec11 December 19:29

      Nope as the map is the same for everyone. Likely the places will still work

      • Sundar says:

        11 Dec11 December 20:03

        Yes, looks to be working in some shops not even on the map but were in past years.

        • Keith says:

          12 Dec12 December 09:45

          But they are not triggering the £5. Ten places last Saturday I used in summer and previous years: only two have credited.

• Andrew says:

  11 Dec11 December 10:26

  LHR T4 remaining closed for the whole of 2021 – so a perhaps QR will want to open their own lounge at T5 if they remain there.

  • marcw says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:30

    Wait until Brexit kicks in, adding more drama to LHR panorama.
    Don’t think airline lounges are a short term investment – they tend to be a long term strategy/investment. They would, however, do it if LHR says “we will permanently close LHR T4”.

  • Rob says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:37

    There’s no space, unless BA hands over one of, or part of one of, theirs.

    I suppose if all the shops close down with the end of duty free it may create an opportunity.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      11 Dec11 December 10:45

      Maybe they can persuade BA to upgrade/refurbish their lounges! Especially those god awful toilets

      • Andrew says:

        11 Dec11 December 11:04

        That would be a good result. Those toilets are the pits and so few of them, you’re always waiting. Compare them to the ones in the Cathay lounge at T3 – a world apart.

    • mr_jetlag says:

      11 Dec11 December 11:48

      Gordon Ramsey Plane Food is almost a lounge itself – great views and location – am sure QR can find somewhere in T5 to set up.

      • Rob says:

        11 Dec11 December 12:14

        There literally is no space, hence the number of years it took to get the 2 independent lounges – and they had to remove part of the public seating area to do that.

        The only option is the area under Galleries South that BA has reserved to extend its own lounge.

        • Lady London says:

          11 Dec11 December 12:52

          IMV the T5 Aspire Lounge is literally a waste of space. Would be nice to have 2 more decent lounges somewhere in T5

    • ChrisC says:

      11 Dec11 December 15:23

      There is the shell space in T5C.

      But whether it’s economic for QR to fit that out into a lounge for what will be less than a year (allowing for construction time) is a different matter.

      I guess BA could pay for some of the fit out costs on the basis that they will convert it to a lounge of their own at some point.

      Depending on if AA stays in T5 rather than move back to T3 they could chip in as well.

• Alex B says:

  11 Dec11 December 10:26

  Test

• Neilg says:

  11 Dec11 December 10:32

  Anyone know somewhere to get a PCR test in London. Wife needs to fly next Saturday to Spain so 72hr rule.

  • Rob says:

    11 Dec11 December 10:35

    We are using a place on Monday which came recommended and can do same day results, or next day for less money. If it is OK I will post. Don’t want to recommend without trying it.

    You will find that all of the recommended places (CityDoc, Boots etc) have no slots until January.

    • Neilg says:

      11 Dec11 December 10:39

      Great. Yes please Rob. That would be handy.

    • DB2020 says:

      11 Dec11 December 16:53

      On Tuesday morning I took a PCR test at Bliss Pharmacy, the results with certificate were ready on Wednesday morning. No need to book an appointment, one can just walk into any of their branches in Central London. £140 total. Very easy process.

      I was able to leave the UK yesterday, having completed all things I needed to do to meet the requirements of the destination country in Asia. Currently in a luxury hotel for quarantine on arrival, the sun is shining and I’m allowed to move around the property as long as I wear a mask.

      • Polly says:

        11 Dec11 December 23:07

        DB
        Please enlighten us as to which Asian country you are in.. we need to go there!

• Craig says:

  11 Dec11 December 10:52

  Some advice please, Creation have now upheld with my complaint about providing conflicting information but not regarding the free night. The spend was £9924 even though the account manager tracker showed that I had earned a free night. They have given me £100 compensation which basically makes the card free for that year.

  I have two options now, cut my losses as I have already earned next years free night or take them to the FOS and see what happens?

  What are the thoughts of the HFP collective?

  • The real John says:

    11 Dec11 December 11:25

    You already have the £100 compo. Going to FOS costs you nothing but Creation has to pay £550.

    Maybe ask for another £100 and just pay for the “free night” yourself, you’ll earn some points back

    • xcalx says:

      11 Dec11 December 12:18

      I think the fee rose to £650 for all cases that were closed after April 1st 2020 . Some companies who are regulars to the FOS purchase what was described to me by an FOS agent as a “season ticket” that gets them unlimited cases for a set fee.

      • the_real_a says:

        11 Dec11 December 15:26

        Banks no longer pay per case. They pay a single negotiated fixed sum at the beginning of the year. Only smaller financial institutions will pay per case.

  • Lady London says:

    11 Dec11 December 12:56

    keep the card and make sure you get free nights. we are only at the beginning of the reduction of consumer credit that is going to take place in the UK for at least the next two years.

    If you’ve got an existing credit line, keep it unless you’ve as good as replaced it with another one.

  • the_real_a says:

    11 Dec11 December 15:24

    Note the FCA requires a loss to be corrected, not a potential loss. So if you have a stay that “would” have been covered by the free night voucher then you can use that receipt to value your loss. Ive seen far too many people fail at the FCA stage because they cannot rule companies rectify points problems unless by voluntary agreement at the negotiation stage.

    • Craig says:

      11 Dec11 December 15:44

      Thanks for that, I’ve got a stay at the IC O2 that I’ve had to use points for. I’ll take a few screenshots of the actual cost that night.

      • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

        11 Dec11 December 16:05

        You can quantify the loss due to the misleading website to be ‘1 voucher’ – I don’t think it needs to come into it what you would have done with that voucher.

• RussellH says:

  11 Dec11 December 10:54

  Got a very concerning e-mail from Virgin Atlantic Credit Card yesterday, saying that they were shutting down their website from 1 Jan 2021.
  Tried to log-in to see if this was for real, but that did not work either.
  I quite seriously wondered if it was some sort of scam, but the e-mail address it was sent to is unique to this credit card, so phoned the help line.
  Spoke to an intelligent person (after plowing through endless menus) who confirmed that:-
  a) yes the website was closing
  b) there was talk of something being done for those without Android or iOS hardware, but nothing decided yet. (One wonders what – a website, perhaps?)
  c) that you need to log-in to a Virgin CC a/c at least once every 3 months, or the online a/c gets deleted automatically!
  Turns out that I have not used the card since last Feb, so no great shakes if it reverts to behaving like a 1980s credit card. But very concerning if other financial organisations were to follow suit.

  • BuildTheWall says:

    11 Dec11 December 11:36

    Many companies have chosen to follow app-only model – reduces costs and delivery time for updates and new products.

    • RussellH says:

      11 Dec11 December 12:26

      Fortunately this is the first time I have come across it, apart from reading about curve/revolut/monzo etc here.
      What I would need if the world were really going down that route would be desktop hardware that ran iOS or Android with a proper keyboard + mouse – though I would really rather not put any more money into the pockets of either Google or Apple.

      • Andrew says:

        11 Dec11 December 12:46

        Have you tried running an Android emulator on your PC?

        Virgin have been sending out regular reminders about the website switch off.

        • RussellH says:

          11 Dec11 December 14:50

          My partner has not heard anything at all from Virgin.

          Have you ever tried even installing an Android emulator on a PC? The anti-Virus goes mad.
          And according to someone I know in the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory who works in Hardware security, banking software relies heavily on aspects that are not emulated and never will be.

      • BuildTheWall says:

        11 Dec11 December 12:55

        Companies cannot spend millions just because one user wants to be different from others. Either you need to adapt or stop using their products.
        And these banking apps are not increasing profits for Google or Apple.

        • RussellH says:

          11 Dec11 December 14:45

          Of course the Android / iOS software does not, in itself, put money into Google or Apple, but forcing people to buy their hardware does.

      • AJA says:

        11 Dec11 December 15:34

        My latest Samsung Galaxy phone comes with software called DeX that allows me to connect my phone to my pc via the usb cable and then view the contents of my phone via my desktop screen and to use my keyboard and mouse to move around the phone. The graphics are not as clear as the screen on the phone itself but it works pretty well. Not really found much use for it but could see it being useful for accessing the apps on the phone.

        • RussellH says:

          11 Dec11 December 16:03

          Thanks.
          Sounds potentially interesting.

• Aston100 says:

  11 Dec11 December 11:05

  Has anyone else struggled to consistently display prices in GBP when looking at overseas hotels using the IHG website? Seems to be hit & miss these last few days.

  When using the app, it seems to default to GBP and maintains the GBP price right down to the final screen with payment card details.

  I’m a bit hesitant to use the app, because these hotels have charged in their local currency when I’ve booked them through the website in the past – and that was fine as I was expecting it and used a Halifax Clarity on those occasions.
  I’ve not booked through the app before, and if it is genuinely going to charge me in GBP, I would much rather use a points generating card.

  So, does anyone have any experience of booking through the IHG app, and does it genuinely charge your card in GBP / no foreign transaction fees despite the same hotels reverting to local currency when attempting the same transaction on the IHG website?

  Thanks.

  • marcw says:

    11 Dec11 December 11:08

    You will be charged in local currency anyway. IHG doesn’t take the payment – it’s the hotel that takes the payment.

    • Aston100 says:

      11 Dec11 December 11:54

      Thanks. IHG customer service eventually confirmed it.
      Despite whatever the app is showing, and despite it requesting the entire amount up front as a deposit in GBP, I’m advised I won’t actually be charged anything until check-in, or close to that time, and it will be in the local currency.
      They are unable to explain why the app only shows a GBP price, and no mention of local currency.

      So on that basis, I would normally use my Halifax Clarity, but I wonder what would happen here if I use Bendy with my IHG card underlying. No difference? still get hit with FX fees? Additional points for FX?

      Thanks.

  • The real John says:

    11 Dec11 December 11:30

    The app shows local currency prices for me, and I can’t see how to change it to GBP even if I wanted to.

    If you are charged in GBP the hotel will have used dynamic currency conversion at a very unfavourable rate.

    • ChrisC says:

      11 Dec11 December 15:36

      In the app, after entering destination and date and having moved onto the search results page there is an option to change the currency at the top right of the screen. It’s on the right hand side of the orange bar that displays the dates of your stay.

      tap on that and then you can change it to a different currency then tap on ‘apply’ et voilla.

      But no matter what currency that shows they will charge your card in the local currency for pay in advance bookings. For pay on departure they will offer local or sterling and you can then chose which is best (having looked up the spot rate)

• Adrian says:

  11 Dec11 December 11:56

  Hi are you the folks boasting about how great the ba 747 sale items are. Well Rhyd Jones my plates arrived smashed to pieces and no one responds to emails. Good to see your smiling face on the bbc website but I have a box of broken plates.

  • EwanG says:

    11 Dec11 December 12:27

    Order some glue? Something to keep you occupied over the festive season!

    • BuildTheWall says:

      11 Dec11 December 13:05

      😂

  • Phil says:

    11 Dec11 December 13:17

    @Adrian – Please tell me you haven’t specifically sought out the HfP website just to slag off one of the staff here because BA/Whatabuy/Courier screwed up your delivery! If so, hats off to you pal that’s the best bit screwed up thinking I’ve seen in a long time.

  • The Urbanite says:

    11 Dec11 December 14:09

    Your beef is with the courier kind sir. I ordered a tub of meatballs from Subway and on arrival it looked like it had exploded in the delivery bag with sauce everywhere, including in the pack of cookies I also bought. I’m not going to go blaming the banner ads I saw for Subway for that particular problem!

    • Phil says:

      11 Dec11 December 16:52

      Just blame Rhys for your manky meatballs anyway, I’m sure it’ll give him a laugh!

  • Harry T says:

    11 Dec11 December 14:26

    Unless Rhys was your delivery driver,. I’m not sure your ire is best directed at the writers on this website.

    • Lady London says:

      11 Dec11 December 20:29

      Awww, Rhys. Looks like you’ve really “made it’. You’re even getting your own “hate mail” now. Well done.

  • Graeme says:

    11 Dec11 December 23:52

    What did you do to upset Rhys?

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