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The HfP chat thread – Thursday 21st January

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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.

Please only comment under the main articles on the site if your comment is directly related to the topic of the article.  This has long-term benefits as it keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

Old chat threads are hidden from the HfP home page.  If you want to look for something in an old thread, click here.  This brings up all the articles in our ‘General’ category which includes the chat threads.

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General

Comments (197)

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

  • Anna says:
    21 Jan21 January 05:45

    Early tech support question! Revolut saying I need to update the app but it’s not show as needing updating in the App Store. Is it because I only have iPhone 6S?!

    • Save East Coast Rewards says:
      21 Jan21 January 05:56

      It’s possible that’s the issue but seems unlikely. In my App Store it says Revolut needs iOS 11 and above and that works on 5S and later. If you’re running an older version of iOS than this you really need to update it.

      The latest version of Revolut I can see is 7.32 if you’re running the previous version (7.31.2) it might just be a case that the latest version has not propagated to all nodes yet.

      Unfortunately some companies switch on their force update notifications before their updates in the app store have fully rolled out.

      • Jon says:
        21 Jan21 January 06:45

        Virgin Money’s app used to be particularly bad for that. For many months, every time I launched it, about 30 seconds later it would prompt me to update (and prevent me from continuing to use the app) despite my being on the latest version. Bodes well for them switching off web access 😉

        Another one that bugs me is companies that needlessly geofence their apps, so that you can’t download/update unless your app store account country is set to UK. Good way to annoy their expat customers.

        • Chrisasaurus says:
          21 Jan21 January 06:47

          Hertz!

          Bloody app would insist on nagging you to update every launch for best part of a year but when you hit update it’d complain the app was only available in NA. Deleted it in the end

        • BuildBackBetter says:
          21 Jan21 January 07:29

          Geo fencing is not a problem anymore I thought? When u click on update all apps, it updates even those downloaded from other countries

          • Jon says:
            21 Jan21 January 09:01

            @BuildBackBetter – very much still a problem. Hargreaves Lansdown for example (ironically they’ve just forced an app update today, which I encountered shortly after posting earlier).

        • kitten says:
          21 Jan21 January 08:50

          I have 2 apps that have ridiculous geofencing in place. When I try to download from Playstore it tells me “not available on your language”.

          My phone has correct settings, my SIM is correct nationality and so is location. Google works fine so I know the apps arent mistakenly thinking it’s a Huawei (it’s a Xiaomi aka the poor man’s Samsung 🙂 )

          I’ve even tried downloading these 2 apps using an unnecessary VPN in same actual country.

          Anyone got any ideas about any obscure setting on phone I might have missed?

          • Bill says:
            21 Jan21 January 09:09

            Try a different app store

          • The real John says:
            21 Jan21 January 09:26

            The only way I got this sort of thing to work is to clear all data from the play store, then open a new google account when physically in that country.

            Then switch between the UK account and the account for each country you need geofenced apps for.

    • EwanG says:
      21 Jan21 January 06:53

      I have a 6s too, and it was not showing in my list of apps to update. This is how I updated it: go to purchases (in App Store app) then search for it, click into the details of the app and update it from there.

  • John says:
    21 Jan21 January 06:53

    What happens if you exceed the curve blue forex allowance with a large transaction say £5000 worth?

  • SwissJim says:
    21 Jan21 January 07:40

    Another Revolut question please. Why does it want to charge me a fee when I go to top up with my Curve card (linking through even to my IHG card noting comment below) but not with my HSBC debit card or my IHG credit card? I’m guessing it sees it as a commercial card? Though until a few days ago it didn’t charge a fee…

    • Phil W says:
      21 Jan21 January 08:35

      I think they’ve wised up to what’s to MS.

    • YC says:
      21 Jan21 January 08:56

      Is it there no charge to top up revolut directly with creative?

      • Alex says:
        21 Jan21 January 09:52

        Nope – just limited to £700 a week as as it’s a financial service

        • Anna says:
          21 Jan21 January 10:04

          I’ve not had the £700 limit for ages, just have to pay it off immediately (and honourably, of course) to avoid interest charges.

          • YC says:
            21 Jan21 January 10:37

            Do you need to pay off creation same day to avoid interest? Or waiting till statement is fine?

          • stevenhp1987 says:
            21 Jan21 January 10:54

            Does it appear on your credit report as X amount transaction as cash?

          • Anna says:
            21 Jan21 January 11:31

            Interest is applied from when the transaction posts so it’s best to pay as soon as it shows on one’s Creation account (which can take a couple of days).

          • Anna says:
            21 Jan21 January 11:33

            I’ve never checked my credit report, never been turned down for anything, even last year when I had no personal income for 14 months between packing in work and official retirement.

          • YC says:
            21 Jan21 January 11:50

            Thanks all – useful info. Seems a little bit messy

        • DT says:
          21 Jan21 January 10:20

          This limit doesn’t apply to topping up Revolut

  • NG says:
    21 Jan21 January 07:46

    Apologies if this has already been covered somewhere – but as anybody else’s Amex offers stopped being updated? I haven’t had anything new appear for months. Thanks

    • Anon says:
      21 Jan21 January 07:56

      Only platinum cardholders are getting decent offers but doesnt really justify the £565 annual fee. Gold preferred is no longer worth it either at £140 post first year

    • E says:
      21 Jan21 January 08:46

      This seems to be happening to more of us. It’s been the case for me for a few months now and others have reported it. Amex don’t seem to see it as a problem. And it’s affecting people (like me) who have accounts that have always been in good order so not sure what Amex’s policy is now.

      • Daniel says:
        21 Jan21 January 09:19

        I have also been having a lack of new offers – despite also my account always in good order – yet this morning I did receive a new offer for the first time in about six months; presumably after I spoke with Amex earlier in the week on this issue. So hope for others also lacking in new offers.

        • Anne says:
          21 Jan21 January 09:40

          Same here – first new offer since November for me. Not a good offer but quite an exciting morning nonetheless!

    • Ja says:
      21 Jan21 January 09:24

      I have the BA . I have had no offers since about September apart from the shop small which I had to ask for. What a surprise when this morning I see I have 2 offers .

  • James says:
    21 Jan21 January 07:57

    Was it yesterday that BA reintroduced proper catering for CE/CW? If so, any reports.

    • Rhys says:
      21 Jan21 January 08:53

      Supposed to, but we haven’t heard anything. Timings not exact as a lot of disruption at the moment.

  • dezbez says:
    21 Jan21 January 08:12

    Only one article today (so far) – is something big expected to land later today perhaps?

  • Jody says:
    21 Jan21 January 08:14

    Cancelled BA flights on Tuesday, refund was back on my card yesterday! Extremely prompt service.

    • Anna says:
      21 Jan21 January 10:07

      I’m finding straightforward cancellations by phone are going through very quickly but anything applied for online, or complex, or using a FTV is now taking a long time!

      • Nick says:
        21 Jan21 January 10:30

        For flight only, the complex queue is now down to 12 days (plus any time your bank adds) for all except a handful of obscure cases needing specialist fares input. As always, simple refunds are paid immediately. The webform replicates what an agent does so no extra time needed (except it isn’t processed on weekends).

        BA Hols – no idea.

  • N says:
    21 Jan21 January 08:15

    I want to book to DXB then have my flight cancelled so I can rebook to dates that I want in the future. Are BA cancelling DXB at all? How can I maximise my chances of booking a flight that will be cancelled?,

    • Nick says:
      21 Jan21 January 10:32

      Some DXB flights are being cancelled, but not all. Tends to be the same one each day that runs though, so pretty easy to work out.

      • babyg says:
        21 Jan21 January 10:52

        Hmm interesting tactic, i booked flights for the Abu Dhabi F1, but the dates are likely to change… im interested to know this too 🙂 whats the easiest way to do this?

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

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