The HfP chat thread – Monday 18th January

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General

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Vit says:

18 Jan18 January 13:08

Hi, I am looking to use the Bicester amex offer via virtual shopping (as the offer has now changed to virtual now). Not difficult as I know what I want anyway. Anyone tried this already and if the cumulative spending would trigger the offer? Many thanks.
- Andrew says:
  
  18 Jan18 January 13:58
  
  I’ve used the service and it’s very efficient – free next day delivery too. I didn’t try cumulative though, just spent over £500 at Dior on a few bits of menswear to trigger the offer. Also to note – you can still email in your receipt to Bicester and they will credit your Avios which is still on double Avios (10 per £4 I think).
  - Vit says:
    
    18 Jan18 January 21:51
    
    Thanks Andrew. Yes, got the £500 offer with £50 back and the £300 with £40 back to use before end of this month. Looking at zegna and hartmann via samsonite at the moment. Will do the avios as well. 🙂
rams1981 says:

18 Jan18 January 13:15

All Virgin miles now confirmed from Shopping at Morrisons. 34k worth for 3 shops between 26th and 30th Nov.
- Mark says:
  
  18 Jan18 January 14:10
  
  34k? How much did u spend? Lol
  - Rob says:
    
    18 Jan18 January 14:21
    
    It was 8 per £1 remember and a lot of people stocked up on Amazon vouchers etc.
    - rams1981 says:
      
      18 Jan18 January 14:42
      
      plus the 10% off from Amex. A great deal.
    - dezbez says:
      
      18 Jan18 January 15:16
      
      There’s ‘stocking up’ and there’s stocking up! My idea of doing it was £300 which at the time I thought was excessive. Clearly I’m some way of major league status though and I maybe need to adjust my sights
      - Rob says:
        
        18 Jan18 January 16:08
        
        Not necessarily. Some people with small businesses spend thousands on Amazon for IT kit etc.
    - Anuj says:
      
      18 Jan18 January 16:39
      
      It was only 6 on my account it was targeted
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  18 Jan18 January 14:52
  
  Thanks 31k here. What a deal combo!
- PJJ says:
  
  18 Jan18 January 17:31
  
  I see on the Virgin shopping site that the Co-op is now available for points online and click and collect but NOT instore purchasing
Anna says:

18 Jan18 January 13:19

I thought refunds were now available online for cancelled BA flights? I’ve got a cancellation in August but I’m only getting the options for a FTV, change the flight or accept the new flights they’ve given us.
- Doug M says:
  
  18 Jan18 January 13:51
  
  I think it’s a form. https://www.britishairways.com/travel/webforms/public/en_gb?eId=120001&wfpId=covidn_refund I did it for a cancelled flight and as yet, maybe two weeks, have heard nothing. Only couple of hundred so no need to chase.
  - Anna says:
    
    18 Jan18 January 14:31
    
    Thanks!
Neil Donoghue says:

18 Jan18 January 13:24

BA trip cancelled on Friday to the Maldives. I rang and asked for a full refund and the money hit my account this morning – Can’t argue with that!
- James Vickers says:
  
  18 Jan18 January 14:19
  
  Same mine took two days, it’s quite an incentive to book with them if they’re able to keep that up
Geoff says:

18 Jan18 January 13:32

I have a BA Amex 241 expiring in August (after 6 months extension). I suspect I will struggle to use it. Is there any suggestion that BA will extend it further?
- Sandra says:
  
  18 Jan18 January 14:30
  
  I have one expiring first week of April & nothing so far to say it will be extended so I don’t think they’ll even start looking at August until late Spring.
- Alex says:
  
  18 Jan18 January 15:00
  
  Not sure at the moment but I agree it’s likely to be a while before any indication. You can always book a one-way flight to Scotland and cancel for a FTV which will keep it alive until April 22 with minimal avios&taxes tied up. Only issue with this is it will lock in your +1 for a future booking.
  - Sandra says:
    
    18 Jan18 January 17:30
    
    That’s my plan Alex but thought I’d wait until nearer the time in case they do extend, the way things are going with travel I’m hoping they will extend which is more flexible as +1 isn’t fixed.
Simon says:

18 Jan18 January 13:33

One for Meta / Memesweeper re SPG Amex free certificate progress (£25K), if either had time…

Meta, you said on Saturday’s chat page that, with regard to progress towards the SPG Amex free certificate, on “the points accrual page at the top you’ll see your current spend first for Gold membership then for the free night”. Memesweeper then said he had found it and subsequently bookmarked it.

Clearly, I must be doing something very dim as I can’t find anything like this. On the desktop Amex site, within my SPG Amex account, I have just clicked on “View earned points” (I assume, quite possibly incorrectly, that this is what was meant by “the points accrual page”, only as I cannot find anything verbatim matching this?).

Anyway, having clicked on this “View earned points” button, I’m just taken to a page with “Rewards Activity”, “Date Range”, “Status” (i.e. confirmed, pending, forfeited…) and “Card Member”. There is nothing here about progress towards either the free certiciate @ £25K or Marriott Gold status.

As I say, I’m sure it must be me being a complete doofus and I’m making a right Horlicks of what should be quite straightforward, so if you, Meta / Memesweeper, or any other kindly HFPer could show me the error of my ways I’d be very grateful! TIA. 🙂
- meta says:
  
  18 Jan18 January 13:59
  
  There is a small print above ‘Rewards Activity’ with details. You have to look at it on the desktop site. It won’t show on the mobile site or the app.
  - Simon says:
    
    18 Jan18 January 14:54
    
    Thanks, Meta. I still cannot find it, however. 🙁 I’m using the desktop site, as I was previously, but the only thing above “Your Rewards Activity” — white within a dark blue banner — is “Marriott Points” (on the left) and then “XXXX” (actual points earned). There is no small print for me at all, either on Firefox or Chrome desktop versions. Bizarre. Again, from signing in I clicked on the green “View earned points”, which then takes me to “Your Rewards Activity”, where itemised transactions appear.
    - meta says:
      
      18 Jan18 January 15:43
      
      I’ve just checked. They must have changed the website design over the weekend as @Lev441 says below. It is no longer there. There is no way you can now find out unless you phone or chat. The statements don’t tell you that info after you’ve reached 15k, just a blank statement keep earning to get a free night award. I am still 3-4 months away from switching to using it (now spending forb241 voucher), so hoping they fix it by then.
      - Simon says:
        
        18 Jan18 January 16:28
        
        Many thanks, Meta — now it makes sense.
        
        The old adage of it ain’t broken springs to mind here. 🙂 Thanks in any case.
- memesweeper says:
  
  18 Jan18 January 17:06
  
  You *can* find it, it just a nightmare to navigate to. I book marked this:
  https://global.americanexpress.com/myca/intl/mronline/emea/viewTransactions.do
  … if you have more than one amex you will need to select bonvoy from the drop down.
  - meta says:
    
    18 Jan18 January 17:56
    
    Doesn’t work. I had similar page bookmarked before, but now it’s gone. I do have only Bonvoy card on the account, so maybe it’s only if you have more than one card per account that it’s still showing.
  - lev441 says:
    
    18 Jan18 January 22:03
    
    Ah you’ve found it! It works for me on Desktop only…
    Really do prefer the old layout compared to the new one. Wonder how long we’ll be able to access the link above..
  - Simon says:
    
    19 Jan19 January 19:46
    
    Brilliant, Memesweeper — works like a charm on desktop. Very much appreciated! 🙂
Lev441 says:

18 Jan18 January 13:43

I noticed last night that they’ve updated the points page to the more modern look and there’s no longer progress bars there for the gold or hotel voucher.

Have you checked the pdf statements as they normally have spend information on one of the latter pages…
- Simon says:
  
  18 Jan18 January 16:29
  
  Many thanks for this, Lev441. That would explain things. I will have a nose through my statements just on the off-chance this might shed some light. Again, thank you.
Russel says:

18 Jan18 January 13:49

What does no pre-set spending limit on a new amex card mean?
It does not say what my limit is, only this
- Alex says:
  
  18 Jan18 January 14:03
  
  Is it a platinum? If so it’s a charge card so your spend is basically unlimited(within reason) as you have to clear it at the end of each month.
  - Andrew says:
    
    18 Jan18 January 15:04
    
    On the app there is a tool under ‘statements’ to check your ‘spending power’ – you can enter a test amount for a transaction to see if it would be approved or not.