The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 9th February

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

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.

Category

General

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

BSI1978 says:

9 Feb9 February 05:30

Not flight or travel related (albeit wish I’d made it back over to lovely Chennai again for this test) but James Anderson is helping warm the cockles this morning with some beautiful bowling.

Happy Tuesday all.
- Yorkieflyer says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 08:54
  
  Crown Green?
- 747_Brat says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 13:50
  
  It was a good game of test cricket. Root & Anderson took the game away from India.
  
  I am worried about the pitch for the 2nd test, which surprisingly is also in Chennai. The pitch had deteriorated considerably by the 5th day. Not sure how it will play out in the 2nd test.
  - BSI1978 says:
    
    9 Feb9 February 17:34
    
    It will presumably be a different pitch…? Toss could however again be key (not that this detracts from Messrs Root, Jimmy & Stokes).
- dezbez says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 16:18
  
  One fantastic over from Anderson took the game from them. 👌
  - 747_Brat says:
    
    9 Feb9 February 19:47
    
    Anderson’s delivery to dismiss Shubman Gill was a ripper, an absolute beauty of a delivery!
LR68 says:

9 Feb9 February 07:11

Received my Tesco to Virgin bonus yesterday but the amount is 1,000? I thought it was supposed to be 2,000, have I misunderstood the promo?
- S879 says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 08:58
  
  Same. Could someone please post the WhatsApp number for Flying Club as I would like to transfer mine to Hilton. Can’t see it online. Thanks.
  - RussellH says:
    
    9 Feb9 February 10:46
    
    +44 7481 339184
    
    It is showing at https://www.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/flying-club/contact-flying-club.html as I write…
    - S879 says:
      
      9 Feb9 February 14:31
      
      Thank you
- TJ says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 10:32
  
  +1 an IT glitch perhaps?
- Max says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 12:23
  
  Same here, only received 1000 instead of the promised 2009 points
  - Max says:
    
    9 Feb9 February 12:23
    
    * 2000
Andrew says:

9 Feb9 February 07:55

Data point for the Platinum £175 credit – I bought something via the virtual personal shopping service at Selfridges last week and payment was processed via a WorldPay link, so wasn’t expecting it to trigger the Amex rebate, which was fine as I would have spent it at some point before July, but the credit is showing on my account today, so unusually WorldPay does trigger it.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 08:18
  
  not really unusual worldpay is a credit card processor rather than an intermediary like paypal
  
  I would expect worldpay 3C etc to trigger all offers
  - Andrew says:
    
    9 Feb9 February 08:23
    
    That’s good to know, I always assumed WorldPay was considered an intermediary so wouldn’t trigger.
    - RussellH says:
      
      9 Feb9 February 10:51
      
      WorldPay was created when the Royal Bank took over NatWest and merged their previously separate merchant acquirer businesses. IIRC it was demerged and floated to release capital following the Royal Bank’s implosion in 2009/10.
      They are own a significant number of the terminals in smaller retailers etc.
- Bill says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 08:19
  
  I tried unsuccessfully to use the Birmingham personal shopper. They failed to contact me at the calendar time and then after I chased up the appointment they engaged with me but provided no feedback on the item I wanted (ie. In stock or not). In the end I stopped at Currys and will try a different branch of Selfridges next time
  - Andrew says:
    
    9 Feb9 February 08:21
    
    This was through Dior mens at the London store, was quite an efficient service.
Andrew says:

9 Feb9 February 08:39

eBay offering 6x bonus nectar points in addition to the usual base points when you spend £15+
Anna says:

9 Feb9 February 08:48

Following on from the IHG issue with trying to charge for stays which don’t require pre-payment, I’ve emailed the reservations office at the Kimpton Clocktower to ask if they’re aware of the problem, pointing out that people are going to choose other hotels rather than risk having to chase up a refund if the stay doesn’t go ahead.
- Chrisasaurus says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 08:58
  
  Just for clarity though are you certain that was a charge and not a pre auth in the card being used to guarantee the reservation?
  
  As an example I get the safe key screen doing Tesco online grocery shop and no money is taken
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    9 Feb9 February 09:36
    
    yup safekey does trigger on pre auths I’ve had it for FHR bookings for example
    - Anna says:
      
      9 Feb9 February 11:36
      
      Never had it with an IHG booking before. Harry T said he got fully charged for his Mr & Mrs booking so I didn’t want to risk it.
- Aston100 says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 11:04
  
  Hi Anna, you talk about the Clocktower often.
  Therefore, I presume you thoroughly enjoy the place.
  Can you tell me what you think of their breakfasts?
  Reading Rob’s review from late 2019 (when booking reward nights rather than a cash rate), he seemed to suggest that breakfast costs £26 per person if going for the full cooked options
  Did you pay that, and did you feel this was good value (is it 4 of you that travel?).
  I’m aware there are numerous eateries in the vicinity, so I’m pondering my options.
  
  Thanks.
  - Anna says:
    
    9 Feb9 February 11:35
    
    Hi Aston100, sadly we’ve only made it once and subsequent bookings have all been cancelled. Probably mention it a lot as it was the last time we managed to treat ourselves to a night away (small violin), and also because we probably got the best treatment as Spire of any IHG hotel we’ve stayed in!
    I’d recommend breakfast just because of the gorgeous surroundings, however it’s not an expensive option. If you book it separately it was £18 per head for the buffet, but you can also wait until 10 am and order from the brunch menu where you can get e.g. eggs benedict plus coffee and juice for about £10 each.
    I’ve also noticed that there’s sometimes an option to add buffet breakfast to a standard booking for about £13 for 2, which is a steal.
    Finally, if you book through Emyr you get breakfast plus the $100 credit which together almost covers the cost of the room!
    Hope this helps – and hope we can go back soon …
    - Anna says:
      
      9 Feb9 February 11:38
      
      They do cocktails with brunch which I had fully intended to sample, however the effects of the free-flowing wine and bar credit spent on cocktails the night before put paid to that 🤣
    - Aston100 says:
      
      9 Feb9 February 11:49
      
      Thanks. I was looking to use my points for a booking.
      As I observed elsewhere on this site, with IHG, there always seems to be a big difference between the breakfast price selectable when making a cash booking, versus what you have to pay when booking reward nights.
      On the dates I have in mind, it is £12.60 per room (£6.30pp) when booking the stay with cash, vs the £18pp that you saw (or £16 + £10 = £26pp that Rob commented on) when booking with points.
      - Anna says:
        
        9 Feb9 February 12:28
        
        Yes – I rounded it up to £13 as I could remember exactly; £18 was what we were quoted at check in but we’d already decided to go for the brunch option. (There’s mini Tesco and Sainsbury’s across the road if you want to pop out for a paper for a really civilised morning experience!)
        In future though, I’d book with Emyr (unless there was a really good deal for booking direct, as $100 would comfortably cover dinner in the excellent restaurant and you still get points and night credits. It’s not the greatest redemption at 25k points versus around £100 for a cash stay. It must be one of the best deals anyone will ever get with Emyr!
- Jamie says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 13:11
  
  Why on earth would you do this?! He didn’t book a room at the Clock tower did he?
  - Anna says:
    
    9 Feb9 February 15:13
    
    Why on earth would I do what, book via Emyr? For all the reasons anyone books with him, not sure what the issue with that is!
    - Jamie says:
      
      9 Feb9 February 20:12
      
      ??? Randomly email the Clocktower, which as you know is not a Mr & Mrs Smith hotel, and which is where Harry’s problem yesterday came from.
      - Aston100 says:
        
        9 Feb9 February 21:08
        
        I’m going to assume this is confusion caused by difficulty in working out which reply goes against which comment.
Maria J says:

9 Feb9 February 09:32

I’ve been downgraded on my flight to DXB from First to CW. It was booked with 2-4-1. What are my rights here? Thank you!
- Rob says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 09:49
  
  You get 75% of the Avios back for the return leg, so if it was 80k each-way then you get back 60k per person.
  
  BA won’t want to do this so CEDR arbitration may be necessary but you are 100% certain to win. CEDR will give you 60k x 1.6p each as it cannot award Avios and 1.6p is the price they use.
  - Anon says:
    
    9 Feb9 February 10:15
    
    Is this the case even if you eventually accept the downgrade and BA offset the Avios cost?
    - Rob says:
      
      9 Feb9 February 10:37
      
      You have to accept the downgrade, because until you’ve actually taken the downgraded flight you have no right to compensation. BA is not allowed to ask you to sign away your legal rights – this is specifically part of the legislation. Any bit of paper they make you sign saying that you waive your rights is worthless in court.
- Sandra says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 09:56
  
  See page 4 of yesterday’s chat
- Maria J says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 10:03
  
  Thank you very much!. Very appreciated it!
  - AJA says:
    
    9 Feb9 February 10:35
    
    Do not accept a refund of fare in the meantime. And to get the 75% you have to actually fly and claim retrospectively.
- Lady London says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 17:43
  
  remember you claim the 75% for each seat even on a 2-4-1 – so 2 times 75% of the cost for the first seat.
Allan says:

9 Feb9 February 09:34

HSBC Premier – what is the cheapest and easiest product to have in order to qualify in addition to the £75k income? I remember some talk recently about a small investment but then this could cause more work / complexity with capital gains.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 09:38
  
  There’s a allowance of c£12,500 on capital gains per year and you only need to declare when you are over the threshold.
  
  So I really doubt a small investment will make any difference.
  - Allan says:
    
    9 Feb9 February 09:48
    
    True. Confusing though as they say you can’t open an investment account unless you have a current or savings account with them, not much use when you also need the investment to open the current account!
- Genghis says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 09:47
  
  Someone previously mentioned £100 cash held in a general investment account.
- memesweeper says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 13:09
  
  Don’t overlook insurance — they had competitively priced life insurance last time I checked
- Mouse says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 16:10
  
  Also, if you’re worried about capital gains you can put a small amount of cash in a General Investment Account but don’t invest it in any funds. 0% return is not much worse than what you can get elsewhere at the moment for instant access savings!
Michael C says:

9 Feb9 February 09:54

Apropos of not that much, Four Season have left Sao Paulo after just 2 years (or rather, have “stopped managing”). All this, while it’s nº 1 in traveller-ranked TA!
- The Savage Squirrel says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 10:07
  
  High TA ranking is not necessarily correlated ( and could even be inversely correlated?) to profitability….
  - Michael C says:
    
    9 Feb9 February 10:30
    
    …or indeed to niceability!
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  9 Feb9 February 11:48
  
  terminated by mutual consent. Wonder what it’ll become when it reopens post COVID19 restrictions.
  - Michael C says:
    
    9 Feb9 February 12:25
    
    I was wondering that, TG: obviously no-one even remotely interested in renting until Brazil nears some form of normality!