Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

The HfP chat thread – Sunday 13th 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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Comments (264)

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

  • Mike says:
    13 Dec13 December 09:47

    What’s the best way to maximise Curve? Currently mainly use it to top up HL with Curve/HSBC WEMC. People mention Ernie etc though not sure what that is

  • Michael C says:
    13 Dec13 December 10:14

    Still pondering the Swiss/Lufty/Austrian offer LHR-BKK for Aug. 21.
    Does anyone have any preference for one or the other in Business? There would be 3 of us, so privacy not such a big issue.

    • Michael C says:
      13 Dec13 December 10:35

      Actually, looking closer between timings/LHR/avoiding FRA, it’s down to one single Swiss flight! GBP 1100 business return in Aug. If Swiss cancel, refund, if we want to reschedule, can effectively use the cash amount as a voucher BUT by…Dec. 21!

    • Rob says:
      13 Dec13 December 10:54

      Swiss has 1-2-2 / 2-2-1 seating so would work OK for three. They charge a premium for reserving the ‘1’ seat though.

      • Michael C says:
        13 Dec13 December 14:22

        Thanks, Rob – just saw that (GBP 156 for the one seat one way!) but plenty of nice 2+1.
        @Charlieface: you can still rebook, but now have to pay any price difference!

        • Charlieface says:
          13 Dec13 December 14:53

          If they cancel you don’t (shouldn’t) pay anything

          • Michael C says:
            13 Dec13 December 15:13

            Sorry, I meant if YOU want to change – you can use the amount of the ticket against a future flight (to anywhere, in fact, but only till Dec. 21), but you can’t simply have a seat on a future flight at the current bargain price.
            If Swiss cancel, they refund, of course.

          • Lady London says:
            13 Dec13 December 18:53

            @Michael C if airline cancels they are not allowed to charge you any change fee and not allowed to charge you any fare difference regardless of whether the later flight you choose on a date convenient to *you* would normally cost more, or less.

          • Lady London says:
            13 Dec13 December 18:57

            PS and also “your” choice to choose another date at *your* convenience, or to take a refund. Regardledd of what deal you got for your ticket.

            That’s the law and it overrides anything more restricted the airline tries to stick you with

  • John says:
    13 Dec13 December 10:18

    I’m currently on 49 Marriott Bonvoy nights – have a stay planned around Heathrow in 10 days before flying out over Xmas but it’s looking like London will move into Tier 3 so the hotel will have to close. What’s the best way to reach out to Marriott and nicely ask if they will grant Platinum status if I am unable to stay at the hotel?

    • Rob says:
      13 Dec13 December 10:48

      Hotels do NOT close under Tier 3. During the November lockdown the majority of London hotels remained open. Also note that many Heathrow hotels are not in London and wouldn’t go into Tier 3 anyway. Just move your stay a mile down the road.

      • John says:
        13 Dec13 December 11:11

        Understood, nevertheless seeing as I live in London I shouldn’t be staying overnight at the hotel. I will have taken a covid test the night before, so let’s see

      • Nick says:
        13 Dec13 December 11:23

        Yes Rob, but any of those hotels that are in the Slough authority area are already in T3…

    • KBuffett says:
      13 Dec13 December 11:05

      Twitter MBonvoyAssist
      I don’t fancy your chances though

      • John says:
        13 Dec13 December 11:13

        I’ll keep it as a last resort option. Maybe the hotel will allow me to check in early the next morning, have breakfast which is included in my room rate and still count it as a 1 night credit

        • TGLoyalty says:
          13 Dec13 December 13:44

          Unlikely it will count as a night you have to be checked in before the night audit.

          • Lady London says:
            13 Dec13 December 19:01

            I’d argue that if I had to pay for the night anyway

            Plenty of times in the old days I paid for the night before to ensure an early checkin.

            If the Moxys were open these shenanigans would come a lot cheaper

    • KBuffett says:
      13 Dec13 December 11:13

      Also, might be worthwhile getting the Amex Marriott card to get extra nights for the £75 membership fee

    • Harry T says:
      13 Dec13 December 11:49

      Marriott won’t give you Platinum without 50 nights. If you haven’t got the Bonvoy amex, you can take that out. Or you can just stay at a hotel anyway, as it isn’t illegal.

      • John says:
        13 Dec13 December 12:10

        I already have the Bonvoy card – the point here isn’t to get special treatment, but to ask Marriott nicely assuming I can’t get to 50 by 1 night, because the hotel in which the night I’ve booked closes or government rules don’t allow me to stay there

        • Harry T says:
          13 Dec13 December 12:20

          Bonvoy won’t help you in this regard, trust me. They’ve already refused to extend or pause Platinum status challenges for people in the UK who couldn’t complete their stays due to the national lockdown (see flyertalk). Marriott don’t give a fig about the regional situation in the UK. I’m not trying to be unhelpful, I’m just being factual.

          • John says:
            13 Dec13 December 12:36

            That’s fair enough – in which case I will politely tell Marriott I’ll take my business elsewhere. Plenty of other luxury hotels in most big cities worldwide…I’m sure I won’t be too disappointed by staying at a Park Hyatt instead

          • TGLoyalty says:
            13 Dec13 December 13:09

            So you’re going to cut off your own nose to spite your face 😂

            How many bum in bed nights have you actually don’t this year that Marriott would look favourably on you? 34 or 21? Because it’s not 49.

            Marriott don’t owe you anything. If you’re worried about not making Plat because of T3 when you next need a hotel you have two options stay in one locally prior to T3 coming in or travel elsewhere that’s still open to get your last night.

        • KBuffett says:
          13 Dec13 December 12:48

          Park Hyatt Heathrow was a dump previously, not sure about now. There are a plethora of Marriott properties within a few miles. They won’t give a fig of you take your business elsewhere and you will miss out on Platinum because they didn’t accommodate your request and you wanted to take your business elsewhere. Doesn’t sound like you’re making a sensible decision.

          • John says:
            13 Dec13 December 12:59

            Not sure there’s a Park Hyatt at Heathrow – my point is for next year. I don’t need to stay at a hotel at Heathrow since I live in London and for the price of 1 night I can take an Addison Lee to the airport, I’m doing so to get the 50th night since I’ve had to cancel a week long stay at a mountain resort under their umbrella over Christmas due to travel restrictions. If I cannot make it work because the hotel closes or the government prevents me from spending the night, and Marriott is not accommodating, then I will reconsider my business with them next year. I will not make a fuss about staying at the Park Hyatt or Four Seasons in Tokyo vs Ritz / Prince Gallery / etc, nor moving my company paid travel to other brands when it resumes next year

          • Chrisasaurus says:
            13 Dec13 December 14:17

            Marriott quite Reasonably do manage their 6000+ hotel empire by making ad hoc decisions, they do it by setting clear targets and rules and by making them attractive enough the customers are willing to make the commensurate effort to meet them.

            There will be (tens of?) thousands of people a night or two short of a tier. I’m on 73 for example. At the scale they operate they do not have the time to scale and consider exceptions and frankly neither should they since I don’t care to subsidise the cost of the extra headcount that would require.

            Make a mattress run, don’t make a mattress run, Marriott truly, truly don’t care either way.

        • Chrisasaurus says:
          13 Dec13 December 14:18

          That, just to clarify, is literally special treatment

          • John says:
            13 Dec13 December 14:55

            They’re of course free to do as they like – they can also see how many nights booked with their hotels have been cancelled this year due to travel restrictions. Accomodate, don’t accomodate, that’s their choice. I had the same issue with BA as I was 10 tier points short of gold. At the end of the day a few tens of thousands of pounds of spend won’t really make a difference to these big companies. In which case might as well forget about a loyalty to a single brand and spend on ad hoc basis with whomever offers the best quality / price combination (which is often not Marriott nor BA)

    • Ken says:
      13 Dec13 December 16:09

      You seem to be making a big fuss over nothing.
      We don’t know what areas will be in Tier 3, and accommodation is still open for a host of reasons.
      Besides, if it’s 10 days any Tier 3 restrictions on accommodation are suspended (22nd – 28th).

      You’re happy to travel across London and fly, but are worrying about staying in a hotel?

      Just stay in the hotel.

      • Magic Mike says:
        13 Dec13 December 17:21

        Or, check in to the hotel and walk out and go home. I’ve done that before and the night posted.

  • James. says:
    13 Dec13 December 10:28

    Is anyone aware of spending limits on Creation? I have noticed recently my transactions are being declined for random spend in Asda, Argos etc but haven’t been alerted to anything

    • Jimbob says:
      13 Dec13 December 10:34

      Creation tend to do this from time to time, usually a quick phone call sorts this out

    • Genghis says:
      13 Dec13 December 10:37

      Assuming card not working whatsoever, you’ll need to call up. Creation don’t really alert you. I’ve only ever had one call from them asking if it was me that used my card in a Parisian restaurant.

    • mvcvz says:
      13 Dec13 December 11:27

      Everything about Creation is a pain in the posterior. I have stopped using my IHG Mastercard to pay for online grocery deliveries for this specific reason; Creation takes great joy in declining such transactions at random and the first I know about it is a call from the supermarket concerned around one hour prior to the due delivery date. Creation = jokers.

      • Chrisasaurus says:
        13 Dec13 December 15:02

        Honestly, they’re the worst company I’ve had to deal with – there’s nobody empowered to do anything but worse, they don’t even have sight of the rules so they can’t even explain why your cars isn’t working. They have per-category limits but nobody knows what the categories are, what the limits are or when you’ve reached them.

        It’s all meant to be risk based to counter fraud which sounds great but how anyone with less dedication to points earning than us is expected to put up with them I can’t imagine. Joe Public tolerating having their Tesco shop not turn up because Creation decide that proactively preventing £200 in grocery fraud is unlikely I’d have thought surely ?

    • jil says:
      13 Dec13 December 12:14

      i doubt asda argos spend can breach your card limit, the decline is usually cuased by their rubbish secrity system, I had many ocassaions like this, better call them during mon-fri work hours (their security team only works during this time)

    • James. says:
      13 Dec13 December 13:16

      Just tried again at my local Asda. Creation card processed £40+ good. Bendy with Creation declined. Must be blocking Curve

    • The Urbanite says:
      13 Dec13 December 14:02

      It depends on what else you’re doing with the card. If doing irregular transactions like MS that will contribute towards security checks. Creation could make some effort to notify the cardholder when this happens but it tends to be cleared by them by lunchtime the next working day.

  • Mco says:
    13 Dec13 December 10:44

    Finland cancelled my avios ticket. BA are willing to book me on any flight I want which is great but with Finland being closed I am not sure when I can travel. The agent left ticket as is without any flights confirmed as if I take a voucher then I need to have avios seats open to book it so it’s clearly better to book like this.

    Anyone know how long I can leave ticket like this as the agent was unsure and thought it might get deleted without any flights in the booking. Then the only option would be a refund.

    • Mco says:
      13 Dec13 December 10:47

      * Finnair cancelled it and not the country 🙂

      • Nick says:
        13 Dec13 December 11:29

        Confused about this to be honest… something fishy about the story. BA agents know to insert a passive (or ‘ghost’ sector) into bookings to keep them active – though your AY UN sector should itself remain unless they actively removed it during your call. If it’s a 125 ticket then Finnair won’t have any control over that and won’t be able to remove it, only flag it for action by the ticket owner (i.e. BA).

        Theoretically you have years to sort it out, but it’s easier if rearranged within 1 year of original ticketing. If you leave it longer make sure you keep the original ticket number handy as well as the PNR as the latter is likely to purge in the meantime.

        • Mco says:
          13 Dec13 December 11:54

          There was one flight left on the PNR and she removed it to prevent a no show leaving nothing on the PNR. I asked her to insert a random flight for a few months down the line and she spoke with her senior and said that it wasn’t allowed.

          So with nothing on the PNR now are you saying I could still call up in in Jan/Feb and rebook it? She seemed to be suggesting that the PNR would purge in 2-3 weeks without an active segment?

    • Michael C says:
      13 Dec13 December 14:48

      My Finnair for tomorrow was very much not cancelled, grr…!

  • Anna says:
    13 Dec13 December 10:44

    Tesco doing 25% on 6 or more bottles of wine, just taken advantage as OH needed Xmas presents for his team at work. Trivento Shiraz and Malbec reserve already reduced to £6 so great deals to stock up on in case supplies are compromised in the new year! (I have no idea whether no deal would affect New World wine supplies but I’m not risking it!).

    • Andrew says:
      13 Dec13 December 11:19

      Yes this offer is excellent and has been on and off for a couple of moths now – also stackable with the Clubcard money off coupons which you can triple stack with the Clubcard membership 10% off. Did very nicely on some bottles of everyday champagne under this offer a few weeks ago.

      • Anna says:
        13 Dec13 December 11:31

        Yes – it says in the Ts and Cs that alcohol’s not included but I’m not sure that’s actually true! We did 2 transactions so got £6 off £40 and £3 off £20.
        They also had the 300g packs of smoked salmon for £5 which is cracking good value. A lot of people don’t realise you can freeze it!
        Every day champagne and smoked salmon is a great antidote to being in Tier 3 🤣

    • Jill ( Kinkell) says:
      13 Dec13 December 14:57

      Regrettably not applicable in Scotland, otherwise I’d be stocking up on my favourite Merlot.

      • Anna says:
        13 Dec13 December 17:18

        Don’t you have friends south of the border who could stock up for you?!

        • Jill ( Kinkell) says:
          13 Dec13 December 17:39

          Might be a considerable while before we get it home…and they might drink it!! If wee Nicky has her way, I’d never get into England, and then there might be tariffs to pay!!! God help us all

    • Fred says:
      13 Dec13 December 23:25

      Trivento brand is cats urine. There’s a reason it’s six quid.

      Meanwhile ignore the guff and gunboats – rest assured there will be a ‘deal’ (fudge).

  • Backpacker says:
    13 Dec13 December 12:00

    Interesting AMEX Offers Data point.
    Two days ago I had fifty (50) plus available offers – today they have all been removed, only 3 I had saved are still in the saved tab.
    No idea why, I am still signed up for all marketing. Am I an undesirable customer for some reason suddenly – who knows?

    • Craig says:
      13 Dec13 December 12:26

      I’ve found this happens from time to time, they usually reappear.

    • Sean says:
      13 Dec13 December 12:36

      I had this yesterday also – logged back in this morning and they were all back.

    • Jonathan says:
      13 Dec13 December 12:37

      Welcome to the club! Happened on my wife’s BAPP about 2 months ago & lots reporting similar on here recently. Amex frontline CS will tell you offers are targeted not guaranteed but there’s clearly something more at play.

      Rob confirmed that Amex switch off offers & referrals on accounts if you’re in arrears or on a Covid payment freeze etc. but none of those criteria apply to my wife. I think someone on here as escalated it as a formal complaint but no news on outcome yet.

      • A says:
        13 Dec13 December 15:00

        I did a formal complaint, after having no offers whatsoever on any of my cards for the best part of a year – all were in good standing, no payment deferment, no balances carried.
        I had made many, many calls to the platinum line about this, it had been promised to be looked into and I heard nothing back, so I put in a proper complaint.
        Although the response said that offers are ‘promotional offers’ and ‘not core Card benefits’, and also that they ‘are not available upon request’ and that part of my complaint (multiple issues!) was not upheld…..offers DID magically start re-appearing on all of my cards. Other ones such as the £100spend/£100 back at JL/waitrose/harvey nichols that didn’t appear, I have called and they have been added manually.
        So there clearly IS a problem, but Amex won’t admit it, and frontline CS staff are pretty clueless and helpless to do anything about it.

  • TGLoyalty says:
    13 Dec13 December 13:20

    You’ll get 40% off wines and hampers for
    Sure. No idea if wines is the same website / merchant code. But possible you might get 60%

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