The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 27th January

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BJ says:

27 Jan27 January 16:38

My BA cancellations and refunds have gone very smoothly to date. All I am left with are two reward flights with JAL that I need to cancel with £140 at stake. Can I take a FTV for cancelling a partner reward flight to preserve the £140? If so, are there any reports that BA would allow me to take the £140 as avios at the reported 0.8ppa instead of having it tied up as cash inside a FTV? If not, I am assuming I just wait patient to see if JAL cancels the flights so that I can have the refund fee-free. Ideally I prefer not to take a FTV.
- Harry T says:
  
  27 Jan27 January 18:23
  
  Genuinely unsure about the FTV. Tbh I fancy your chances of a cancellation and full refund. I was in a similar situation last October and they cancelled my JAL and CX flights.
  - Andrew says:
    
    27 Jan27 January 19:06
    
    I’ve got CX booked with Avios for end of April – currently CX are cancelling flights on a daily basis 2 months in advance leaving just one flight a day out of LHR (not the one that I’m booked on), so I’m holding out until it’s cancelled and then get the full refund.
    - BJ says:
      
      27 Jan27 January 20:27
      
      Doing the same with JAL, just trying to figure if there is any useful alternative.
  - BJ says:
    
    27 Jan27 January 20:25
    
    Were those standalone reservations? Do you mean BA let you cancel them FOC even though the airlines still had them scheduled?
    - meta says:
      
      27 Jan27 January 21:26
      
      @BJ are you flying London to Tokyo on JAL? They are now down to 1 flight per day. They moved my April flight a week ago from morning departure to evening, so I was able to cancel for free.
Jimbob says:

27 Jan27 January 17:58

Doesn’t sound like hotels are opening before 8th March in the UK, at the earliest.
Think I can safely cancel my booking for Bath in half term
- memesweeper says:
  
  27 Jan27 January 19:01
  
  I won’t see you there then 🙁
  - Jimbob says:
    
    27 Jan27 January 19:18
    
    I’d managed to nab one of those nice vault rooms at the Indigo on reward points too 😭
- Harry T says:
  
  27 Jan27 January 19:18
  
  I’ve become resigned to never staying at the Langley again…
  - M says:
    
    27 Jan27 January 19:52
    
    Snap
    - babyg says:
      
      27 Jan27 January 19:58
      
      i booked for June – surely there will be some kind of normality by then…. interestingly their rates seem to fluctuate between 36-60k points… i bagged a weekend at 40k per night…not sure id stump up 60k…
      - Harry T says:
        
        27 Jan27 January 20:07
        
        Which weekend is that? The different points rates reflect the dynamic rewards table, with some dates designated as Off Peak. Marriott is also discounting the off peak dates by 10% points.
      - babyg says:
        
        27 Jan27 January 20:43
        
        June 19/20 rates have gone back up to 50/60… they seem to bounce around…
      - Harry T says:
        
        27 Jan27 January 20:51
        
        Thanks, I’ll keep an eye on the calendar.
Philipw says:

27 Jan27 January 19:06

Has anyone had a credit limit decrease on the Creation Premium IHG card?

Had a warning to say I was at my limit abs when I looked it was because they cut it from 6300 to 1200!
- Jonathan says:
  
  27 Jan27 January 19:48
  
  Wow! Were you using it? They cut my limit on the white card from 10k to 1k a couple of months ago but I hadn’t used it at all for about 6 months!
- Genghis says:
  
  27 Jan27 January 20:18
  
  A few years ago there was a wholesale reduction in limits of about 20%. I got mine reinstated after calling. Didn’t bother with wife’s as not really needed. Give them a call up and see what they’ll do for you.
  - Jimbob says:
    
    27 Jan27 January 20:35
    
    This is why I always leave mine maxed out, can’t reduce it then 😝
    - Andrew says:
      
      27 Jan27 January 20:56
      
      Although they can end your credit agreement, moving you to repayment only, and once the debt is cleared the account is closed.
MarkH says:

27 Jan27 January 20:17

Evening all – finally got round to finishing my self assessment and wanted to pay the tax online.

Do I have to take into account the processing time (3-5 days according to the website) so the payment shows in my account before end of 31st Jan?
Or do I just have to have made the payment on the website by then?

I was planning to split into 3/4 payments as it is approx £10k in total so the later would be preferable.
- aviosnewbie says:
  
  27 Jan27 January 20:39
  
  Double check this, but I think you have until 28 Feb to make the payment. You need to file the return by 31 Jan, but can pay until next month-end
- Andrew says:
  
  27 Jan27 January 20:51
  
  Yes, no penalty for paying by end of Feb this year
  https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55802865
  - Lev441 says:
    
    27 Jan27 January 21:01
    
    Incorrect – if payment not made by 31st January, you will be charged interest on the tax due amount even if the late filing fees not applicable until 28th Feb….
    - MarkH says:
      
      27 Jan27 January 22:52
      
      Yes that’s how I understood it as well.
    - Polly says:
      
      27 Jan27 January 23:49
      
      That is so sneaky…
      - Louie says:
        
        28 Jan28 January 00:49
        
        You only need to have paid by 31 January, the payment will be reflected on HMRC’s website as the payment date regardless of how long they take to show it on your account.
        
        31 January has always been the date interest starts to accrue and 28 February the date any unpaid tax for the previous year attracts a penalty (unpaid payments on account for the current year paid won’t attract a penalty then).
        
        What has changed this year is that no penalty for late filing of the return will be imposed until 28 February rather than the usual 31 January.
  - Brian W says:
    
    27 Jan27 January 21:22
    
    Where has @Andrew been for the last week? 🙄😂
  - AJA says:
    
    27 Jan27 January 23:22
    
    Bizarrely the the government has given a concession saying if you file by 28 Feb you will not be charged the £100 late filing penalty but you will be charged interest on any tax due by 31 Jan.
    
    So you can delay filing but it will cost you. If you’re ready submit it do it now and make sure HMRC has money in their account by 31 Jan 2020. This effectively means payment by close of business this Friday.
Chris says:

27 Jan27 January 20:20

I have 35,500 Amex Membership Reward Points and never known what to do with them. I noticed a new quick due to the Avios/Nectar linkup.

Amex points can be exchanged at a rate of 1:1 for either Nectar or Avios points HOWEVER exchange Amex Points for Avios at 1:1 and then exchange for Nectar you are getting 1:1.6 .

If the maths works out and its permitted its boosted the floor value of my Amex points from £177.50 to £284.00

Have I got this right?
- Jimbob says:
  
  27 Jan27 January 20:37
  
  Where have you been for the last 72 hours?
  - Andrew says:
    
    27 Jan27 January 20:54
    
    For the last week in fact – since the partnership was announced! But yes Chris – correct – you can now cash out your MR points from Amex, via Avios to nectar to have 0.8p per MR point to spend at Sainsbury’s, Argos or eBay.
- Super Secret Stuff says:
  
  27 Jan27 January 20:51
  
  Bit slow on the uptake but yes that is true
DAJ says:

27 Jan27 January 21:14

This may have been covered/answered previously so apologies if I haven’t been able to find it:

Paid for flight using FTV – significant time change takes place (excess of 8 1/2 hrs change) which would usually allow refund. In this scenario, could a refund be requested as a cash refund (onto card) or is the expectation that any refund would be given via another FTV? Ideally I would prefer a cash refund but didn’t know if this scenario had been explored.

Cheers
- AJA says:
  
  27 Jan27 January 23:29
  
  I think you can get a cash refund. Call BA and ask. The worst they will do is offer another FTV. You can of course reschedule flights to later in the year if that works for you too.
ComeFlyWithMe says:

27 Jan27 January 22:04

Are there any recommendations on how to resolve with Barclaycard if they credited the wrong amount of reward points (i.e. too less)? Don’t seem to be getting very far with the generic customer service team responses after 30-60 minute hold times on their phone line too.

They keep saying to contact Hilton directly, but it’s about them depositing the right amount of points (and they actually agree on the number that should be deposited, but that is not the number actually deposited).
- AJA says:
  
  27 Jan27 January 23:36
  
  Are you saying you had x points on your Barclaycard statement and y points have credited to your Hilton account? If so contact Hilton and ask them to verify why. Say you were sent by Barclaycard to them. I bet they will say Barclays only transferred y. Then you can go back to Barclaycard. Long winded I know. Sorry.
Chris Heyes says:

27 Jan27 January 22:06

What you need to remember most (not all) people “Will Break the Law” if they can get away with it. what most on here tend to either forget or choose to let it slip their mind.
During the War there was whole scale looting going on Mainly in London, Plus black market racketeers, nothing really has changed most people will always break the law if they think they wont be caught.
It’s to what degree, one can always make an excuse to why it’s not really “me” officer
- Brian W says:
  
  27 Jan27 January 22:17
  
  That’s quite a strong statement @Chris Heyes.
  
  Can you evidence were you are getting the data from that most people will “break the law” as you claim? The reported likelihood, so far, seems to be the vast majority are adhering to the law through this latest lockdown (90%+ suggested in the last week in the UK).
  
  Or is this just your opinion and not based anything factual?
  - Chris Heyes says:
    
    28 Jan28 January 08:50
    
    Brian W, Just in case you come back to your post, you can try and “quote” reported claims, but let me give you a fact (wont be in any facts)
    I broke the law last week, by walking past my local small Tesco to walk to town to buy a loaf of bread plus other stuff and get a take away Costa
    I admit to breaking the “LAW” because i could have got my bread from Tesco round the corner from me.
    My excuse would be going for exercise, but really a lie lol
    - Brian W says:
      
      28 Jan28 January 12:17
      
      Gotcha @Chris Heyes, the answer to my question is that it’s just your opinion.
      
      Waking past Tesco’s to buy groceries at another shop, within walking distance, ie still remaining local, certainly isn’t breaking the law though so you’re more compliant than you think!