The HfP chat thread – Saturday 16th January

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We have decided to run this daily chat thread on Head for Points during the coronavirus outbreak.

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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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General

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Dan says:

16 Jan16 January 16:51

I made an application for the Marriott Bonvoy card today, but did not get an instant approval… (the first time that it’s happened to me), should I be worried or is this fairly common?

Getting anxious that I may be rejected for it…
- DJ says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 17:19
  
  No need to worry about it, I had it a couple of times when applying for a new card with Amex, it will just take a few days then you get an approval email. At least it wasn’t an instant reject.
- TJ says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 17:28
  
  I applied on the 12th Jan but did not get an instant approval. Then received email 15th Jan confirming that I had been approved and the card actually turned up today. Even more surprising is that the 15 elite nights have already been allocated to my Marriott account!
  - Dan says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 19:44
    
    Thanks DJ,TJ and Andy GWP!
    
    @TJ – Between the 12th and the 15th, did they ask you for any documentation etc. or was it just the time they took to process the application?
- AndyGWP says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 17:34
  
  If its any comfort, I’m sure someone has mentioned on here before that instant decisions are usually unlikely at weekends
memesweeper says:

16 Jan16 January 18:01

Does anyone know how to see your progress towards the Amex Bonvoy free night? ie £25,000 spent/year.
- meta says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 18:19
  
  On desktop site on the points accrual page at the top you’ll see your current spend first for Gold membership then for the free night.
  - memesweeper says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 19:24
    
    Thanks! Found it, bookmarked
BuildBackBetter says:

16 Jan16 January 18:37

Is there an easy way to get Hyatt status? Do they do status challenges?
- Harry T says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 18:43
  
  They’ve halved the requirements for status in 2021. There’s also a double nights promotion that I believe ends in February – so you could attain Globalist with 15 nights instead of 60 in that time period. Not an easy task if you are trapped in the UK right now though!
- Travel Strong says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 22:06
  
  Match from mlife is an option if you have status with them
747_Brat says:

16 Jan16 January 21:49

Emirates suspends flights to Sydney, Melbourne & Brisbane due to OZ Government policies!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-16/emirates-suspends-flights-to-and-from-melbourne-sydney-brisbane/13063572
Harry T says:

16 Jan16 January 23:43

Marriott healthcare heroes rate appears to have been quietly extended from Feb 2021 to the end of 2021.
- Stephen says:
  
  17 Jan17 January 00:33
  
  Thank you!