The HfP chat thread – Friday 22nd January

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• CB says:

  22 Jan22 January 14:04

  Also the availability data for BA in Seat Spy seems to be way off the mark. Almost nothing that shows available is in fact available when I try to book. Any insight?

  • Anna says:

    22 Jan22 January 17:10

    It’s been like that for months, unless it resolved itself in the meantime and then went haywire again! I think there was some issue with the data coming from BA.

• Tarmohamed says:

  22 Jan22 January 14:52

  Are there any tried and tested meet and greet services for arrivals at LHR? I’m sure I’ve heard there is but can’t seem to figure out what company offered it. Arrivals so from airbridge to baggage claim.

• Oli says:

  22 Jan22 January 15:49

  Back in March I applied to the free IHG card with a special 20,000 points bonus for spending £500. I have received the 10,000 points directly credited to my IHG accounts, but never the other 10,000 that were supposed to be posted to my credit card account. After several calls, today the Creation representative told me that the issue was with IHG. I’ve asked him to raise a complaint as I’m sure i read here that 10,000 points were supposed to be credited by Creation?

  • Grant says:

    22 Jan22 January 16:24

    Have you checked your IHG account?

    • Oli says:

      22 Jan22 January 18:53

      Yes it’s not there

  • Genghis says:

    22 Jan22 January 16:29

    I received mine in Feb I think It was as I should have: 10k to Creation account then transferred in monthly sweep to IHG and 10k direct to IHG. Since Creation offered you the card, failure to deliver is in their court. Raise a complaint and go to FOS if necessary after final answer / 8 weeks. You may need to wait it out. Likely Creation will bung you some cash in lieu before that.

  • Tom says:

    22 Jan22 January 16:39

    I have been chasing this with IHG since June. IHG have told me the issue lies with Creation, so it is interesting to hear you have been told otherwise! Since I first raised the dispute, IHG have on three occasions issued me with ‘goodwill points’ by way of an apology – this week they gave me another 3,500, taking the total to 7,500 since my first complaint.

  • Catman says:

    23 Jan23 January 04:20

    Based on Rob’s valuation 10K of IHG points is worth about £40, is it really worth calling them up and sending untold emails for £40, let alone raising a complaint and going to FOS????

• Super Secret Stuff says:

  22 Jan22 January 15:59

  462 nectar points (288 avios) for a £32 ordinary shop in Sainsbury! Going to make the most of this whilst it lasts!

  • BJ says:

    22 Jan22 January 16:09

    You can multiply the base points x2 or x3 by taking out banking products.

    • Alex D says:

      22 Jan22 January 16:12

      Or an insurance product – I’ve bought a £10 1 day travel insurance policy to France for 1st April

      • James says:

        22 Jan22 January 16:18

        The grifters are out in force

      • Lee says:

        22 Jan22 January 16:29

        Thought you are only eligible with annual travel insurance policy

        • Alex says:

          22 Jan22 January 16:47

          Apologies – the mrs has corrected me after i asked. We paid £33.04 for an annual policy to gain double points on shopping and fuel. Well worth it for us as we have personal cars but drive 25K miles a year for work so plenty of fuel gets paid for!

    • Harry T says:

      22 Jan22 January 17:25

      @BJ what strategy would you recommend for banking products? I assume you mean taking out Sainsbury’s credit cards…

      • BJ says:

        22 Jan22 January 18:23

        Yeah, for you @Harry, tough luck, helps when you’re going grey at SB … the sweet spot is over 50. Time to pamper elderly relatives … @Liz can advise on that 🙂 Just counted out my own over 50s and found I could squeeze out another 12,500 avios for £25 simply by pushing back direct debit date to later next month 🙂 have nit checked if there is a bonus on pet or energy yet. For energy, Bulb is your friend as they pay early exit penalties. The real shocker in my strategy … I’m shopping Tesco not Sainsbury!

        • Harry T says:

          22 Jan22 January 19:42

          I assume my elderly relatives need to be fairly disease free to get the best deals…

          Why are you shopping at Tesco?!

        • Jimbob says:

          22 Jan22 January 20:44

          Are they additive?
          Would Sainsbury’s energy X3, credit card X3 and pet insurance x2 give x8 base points?

    • Super Secret Stuff says:

      22 Jan22 January 18:20

      See im not sure its worth doing it when its just the base points multiplied. Maybe when I need travel insurance again or a points earning visa or mastercard but thats about it

  • AJA says:

    22 Jan22 January 16:20

    I will as well. I got a total of 471 Nectar points points (294 Avios) on £31 spend last Monday! Definitely redeeming 1,600 points on Monday for the 1,500 Avios and then double nectar points until April.

  • Phil says:

    22 Jan22 January 16:32

    297 Avios from a £14.09 shop… which means I’m having pizza and beetroot humous for dinner but I’m quite happy about that!

    • Phil says:

      22 Jan22 January 16:44

      Plus the 24 Avios earned on the BAPP!!! I’m like a child in a sweetie shop.

      • Alex says:

        22 Jan22 January 16:49

        lets see how long it lasts before BA realise what they’ve let happen and change terms

        • Phil says:

          22 Jan22 January 17:08

          Agreed. Worth milking now though!

        • BJ says:

          22 Jan22 January 18:10

          5 months I hope, I just withdrew another 30,000 from the bank for £25 and £400 spend 🙂

        • Rob says:

          22 Jan22 January 18:25

          Avios will be laughing its head off at the big cheque coming from Sainsburys.

        • Super Secret Stuff says:

          22 Jan22 January 18:53

          Wheres a like button when need one for @Rob comment!

          Question is on balance will they gain more or loose more 🤔

        • BuildBackBetter says:

          22 Jan22 January 19:46

          Well, let’s see who blinks first. Sainsbury’s or BA?

    • Colin MacKinnon says:

      22 Jan22 January 21:40

      I’ve had chocolate and marshmallow pizza, but never pizza and beetroot hummus!

• Definitas says:

  22 Jan22 January 16:11

  I have a BA reward flight booking for two people in CE BCN-LHR. At the time of booking I selected the option to pay 7250 Avios per person and £72.50 cash per person. I’m going to hang on to see if BA cancel but, if not, will I have to pay £35 per person to cancel and, if so, would I be better off taking a voucher?

  • Tracey says:

    22 Jan22 January 17:14

    Yes and yes. If you cancel an Avios booking you either pay £35 and have a refund of cash and Avios, or you don’t pay anything and have a FTV for the cash and Avios. Alternatively, just wait to see if BA cancel and then you can have a refund without paying the £35.

  • Anna says:

    22 Jan22 January 17:27

    You will have to pay the fee if you cancel before BA does. It depends whether you will be able to use the voucher within the time frame.

• Keely says:

  22 Jan22 January 16:32

  Afternoon ! Does book with confidence apply to avios bookings please…? Trying to extend a (second..) 241 voucher! Thanks

  • Tracey says:

    22 Jan22 January 17:15

    Yes. The Avios and money get wrapped into the FTV.

    • Keely says:

      22 Jan22 January 20:31

      Thankss so 👍

• Mark says:

  22 Jan22 January 16:52

  Is it possible to send HSBC points to a British Airways account and then move them over into Nector for Ebay spend?

  • Alex D says:

    22 Jan22 January 16:56

    Yes – once your points are in your Avios account you can do whatever you want with them

    • Mark says:

      22 Jan22 January 16:58

      Thanks Alex. 👍

  • Rob says:

    22 Jan22 January 18:24

    Yes, from Monday

• Anna says:

  22 Jan22 January 17:09

  BA changing the goalposts again! The first time I applied a FTV to a new booking, they refunded the amount of the voucher to my Amex. Made another booking recently and this time the response is that they are deducting the voucher value from the outstanding holiday balance. They kindly advise me that if they cancel my holiday they will give me the voucher back …

  • WaynedP says:

    22 Jan22 January 18:12

    Probably preferable to having to deal with an inflow of negative Avios, no ?

  • John says:

    22 Jan22 January 18:33

    What were you expecting them to do?

    They’ll only refund the unused parts of a voucher if the amount is very small

    • Anna says:

      22 Jan22 January 19:11

      Neither of you have read my comment. The voucher was for cash, and was applied to a cash booking. No avios involved at any point. John, I expected to be refunded the £350 value of the voucher which was the exact value of the deposit I paid on a new BA holiday. As I said, the first time I redeemed a FTV this is exactly what happened, so why would I not expect the same thing to happen on this occasion?

      • WaynedP says:

        22 Jan22 January 19:39

        Sorry, I wrongly assumed your Amex card was BAPP, but same comment applies to negative MR coming back into your Amex account if you’re indifferent to the cash remaining with BA.

      • ChrisC says:

        22 Jan22 January 20:11

        I had no problem applying a BA Hols FTV earlier this week as the deposit on a new booking.

        But this was on the phone rather than on-line.

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