The HfP chat thread – Friday 15th January

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

• Sim says:

  15 Jan15 January 11:21

  Need to transfer a 6-fig EUR sum from my company EUR account (based in the UK) to my company GBP account (based in the UK). What’s the cheapest way to do this without being shafted on fx rates?

  • Rob says:

    15 Jan15 January 12:15

    Midpoint gives Avios, otherwise Transferwise, Hi-Fx, Caxton all worth pricing up.

  • Reeferman says:

    15 Jan15 January 12:15

    I did that a few weeks ago (also for a 6-figure sum) and used Transferwise – which I’ve used many times before, albeit for smaller amounts.
    However, mine was a personal to personal account – am unaware if it makes any difference with transferring to/from Company accounts, so worth double-checking.

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    15 Jan15 January 12:35

    +1 for TransferWise

    • h2d says:

      15 Jan15 January 18:25

      Always worth comparing TransferWise with Azimo before you commit, good experiences with both

• Michael C says:

  15 Jan15 January 11:32

  Has anyone stayed at the Indigo LES in NYC? It’s an option for a BA holiday.
  The location suits me for this trip, but a couple of comments about noise. I’ll also be with a 7-yr old if that changes things!

  • paulm says:

    15 Jan15 January 12:33

    I stayed there a few years ago and had no issues with noise, although the bar gets plenty of locals at the weekend. My room was a few floors under the bar (its on floor 15 ish), but did not get an excess noise.

    • Michael C says:

      15 Jan15 January 13:17

      Cheers, Paul! Nice in general?!

  • ChrisC says:

    15 Jan15 January 16:11

    There are always complaints about noise in any NYC hotel review!

    Depends how many complaints there are and if it’s specific and time limited complaints because e.g. construction or general city noise – traffic or because of a hotel facility such as a bar.

• Andrew says:

  15 Jan15 January 11:37

  Bicester Village continue to offer double Avios on purchases made through their ‘virtual shopping’ service – same process as before to email them your receipt afterwards. And the Amex spend £500, get £50 back has changed to being for online use through this service too until 31/01.

• Jonty says:

  15 Jan15 January 11:41

  Just noticed you won’t be able to manage Virgin credit cards by web from the end of the month and will have to use an app. Very much a first world problem, bit I’m not a fan of having to have a phone full of apps I rarely use.Perhaps wrong demographic? Will others follow? Is this a trend?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    15 Jan15 January 11:45

    I think this is the trend as there’s more security locking the login to a mobile device ID which is likely to be secured with biometric data

    • BuildBackBetter says:

      15 Jan15 January 11:47

      +1. I hope this continues. Even employee logins are moving to mobile based due to biometric protection.

      • kitten says:

        15 Jan15 January 12:48

        What happens if you lose your phone? Fingerprint/facial recognition etc. are easy to crack

        • BuildBackBetter says:

          15 Jan15 January 13:23

          Lol, how are fingerprints easy to crack? Then no company should be using it!

        • TGLoyalty says:

          15 Jan15 January 13:44

          It can be wiped remotely if you know it’s lost.

          Poor implementation rather than it’s easy to hack.

        • BuildBackBetter says:

          15 Jan15 January 13:52

          Also, if it was that easy, you are missing out on big opportunities. FBI, CIA and NSA can make use of your help to hack iphones.

      • Aliks says:

        15 Jan15 January 15:17

        Your mobile is covered in your fingerprints, which can easily be dusted, photocopied, cleaned up, and then printed out in usable form.

        Noone in their right mind would let serious security rely on current biometric implementations.

    • Genghis says:

      15 Jan15 January 11:56

      Secure only if it’s secure. People have their lives on their phones with everything logged into just by looking at the phone. Could be profitable knife crime if the perps know what they’re doing.

      • BuildBackBetter says:

        15 Jan15 January 13:24

        Easily disabled remotely if phone lost.

        • Genghis says:

          15 Jan15 January 14:10

          Bit late then though.

  • ChasP says:

    15 Jan15 January 13:22

    No means of sending/receiving secure messages so as them now when your annual charge will be made and save the reply

  • Andrew says:

    15 Jan15 January 16:44

    I keep the three banking apps I use most often on my phone, BoS, MBNA and Amex.

    Everything else is on a tablet at home. When I go on holiday, I do pop the Virgin Money app onto the phone though as I use it for the 0% FX.

    I’m happier with my elderly parents only using device apps for banking or shopping as I feel they are less likely to “click through” from a dodgy link when they read their emails on the computer. They know the rules. Emails on laptop, but only ever login to anything via the icon on the tablet.

• Danny says:

  15 Jan15 January 12:27

  Does anyone know what the BA Holidays (flight + hotel) policy is on postponing the return flight after flying the outbound? Will they do it? Just a straightforward reprice? What’s the deadline?

• Mo says:

  15 Jan15 January 12:30

  Was wondering during big events like F1/Olympics etc do hotels still overbook? If so, what would happen if you were walked as I imagine most nearby hotels would also be fully booked.

  Marriott seems to be one of the only big hotel brands with a policy, offering to find you an alternate hotel and a set amount of compensation, but say for the F1 in Abu Dhabi, 90,000 points and $200 doesn’t seem like enough if somebody was walked given that while there are other hotels are nearby, none are comparable as the W is on the track.

• David says:

  15 Jan15 January 12:42

  Apologies, as I know a very similar question was asked a short time ago, but I cannot find it now. I have held an Amex Peferred Rewards CC for two years now, next renewal is due on Monday. Prime aim was to accrue Avios points to use on BA flights for holidays with partner. I have exceeded the £15k spend this year to receive the bonus 10k points at renewal. I have around 120k Avios points split pretty evenly between Avios and the PRCC. In the circumstances I wonder whether I should change to the BA Premium CC to obtain a companion voucher. If so, which would be the best way to do this ensuring that I retain my existing points? Thanks

  • Rob says:

    15 Jan15 January 14:08

    Your bonus hits 30 days after renewal, you can then cancel.

    To keep your Amex points alive (and to avoid the need to convert them) get the Amex Rewards Card which is free – https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2020/08/23/thinking-of-cancelling-amex-gold-or-amex-platinum/

    You DO qualify for the bonus on BAPP so that is good news.

    • David says:

      15 Jan15 January 15:15

      Thanks Rob

• The uncivil servant says:

  15 Jan15 January 13:03

  I am currently BA silver and want to do some gratuitous flying to get me to gold and take advantage of status matches, what are the best options to get 80/160 tier points at the present time?

  • Rob says:

    15 Jan15 January 14:06

    At the present time, nowhere! Gibraltar was the only place where you could enter and return here with no quarantine but even that is no longer possible.

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