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The HfP chat thread – Thursday 11th February

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Comments (355)

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

  • RogerC says:
    11 Feb11 February 12:46

    Thanks again for those providing phone numbers for my quest in getting my Qatar teacher tickets moved to October – they cancelled the Whitsun flights.

    My question now is this: they are claiming that the original T+Cs of the ticket preclude any extension beyond the end of September. I don’t doubt that those conditions exist, but do my EC261 rights to rebook override this date restriction – or are they within their rights to say this?

    • Aston100 says:
      11 Feb11 February 15:27

      ***Thanks again for those providing phone numbers for my quest in getting my Qatar teacher tickets moved to October – they cancelled the Whitsun flights.

      My question now is this: they are claiming that the original T+Cs of the ticket preclude any extension beyond the end of September. I don’t doubt that those conditions exist, but do my EC261 rights to rebook override this date restriction – or are they within their rights to say this?***

      Hold tight.
      I see they’ve just extended the Healthcare Professionals promo. Need to book by September 2021 and complete travel by end of March 2022.
      Given the Teacher promo launched some 6 months after that one, it is possible that they will extend the Teacher promo too. Logically, it would be book by March 2022 and travel by end of September 2022 or something like that.
      Fingers crossed.

  • dezbez says:
    11 Feb11 February 12:51

    Nectar really does seem to be the gift that keeps on giving. A £115 shop this week has yielded almost 1000 points. Has it always been this good, am I being ‘spoilt’ as a new customer or have I just being lucky with all my offers?

    • xcalx says:
      11 Feb11 February 13:08

      I can’t get on to sainsburys online. Keep going round in circles “This account already exists please log in ” Phoned them twice since the merger, passed to back office. try again in 48hrs, still nothing. No problem getting onto nectar.

      • BJ says:
        11 Feb11 February 14:53

        Try changing the password on your Nectar account, and then try logging into Sainsbury’s with that new password.

        • xcalx says:
          11 Feb11 February 16:06

          I have tried that a good few times a pop up says this account already exists please log in. I think the problem stems from us sharing one nectar account and asking for it to be split and mrs xcalx keeping the original and me getting a new account. Neither of us can get online now. I will try calling them again but getting fed up with them saying to wait 48 hrs and try again. The Nectar points are showing for in store shops so it must be down to passwords but no joy changing them, still get the pop up

    • Chris says:
      11 Feb11 February 13:17

      You’re lucky. I never get more than 5 items with bonus points and they max out at about 150.

      • Aston100 says:
        11 Feb11 February 15:29

        ***You’re lucky. I never get more than 5 items with bonus points and they max out at about 150.***

        This is similar to my experience.
        I’m onto my 4th Weekly shop and once again I have 6 items with a combined total of about 300 points or so.

        I’ve been told these past few weeks (on this site) that the better points offers will come, but they are not coming soon enough.
        As things stand, I was benefitting more at Tesco.

    • MattB says:
      11 Feb11 February 13:25

      I usually get that many from a £20 shop

    • TGLoyalty says:
      11 Feb11 February 13:47

      Lucky it seems. If I was to stack mine tomorrow / Saturday I’d probably get 500 for a very cheap targeted shop but in reality itd be for £50 proper shop. Still not bad.

      Do people see offers for non Sainsbury’s branded items?

      • ChrisC says:
        11 Feb11 February 13:55

        Not via the app but I have had vouchers thrown at me from the printer at the till – I currently have printed vouchers for hovis bread and cereals

      • dezbez says:
        11 Feb11 February 13:57

        I’ve had a couple of generic offers which could be used on other non-Sainsbury’s products eg spend £4 on cereals, spend £3 on Asian foodstuffs

      • Super Secret Stuff says:
        11 Feb11 February 16:41

        They only target you for non sainsbury items once they know you really well

        • TGLoyalty says:
          11 Feb11 February 17:48

          Been shopping there for over 15 years with this card. Not every week but quite often.

          • Super Secret Stuff says:
            11 Feb11 February 18:40

            It’s about regularity as well. So they understand what items you buy frequently and then target offers for them

    • C says:
      11 Feb11 February 14:28

      Popped in yesterday to get a few extras and bagged 265 points for £3.50 spend. Not too shabby. My favorite was the 70 points for a 28p tin of chopped tomatoes.

    • Andrew says:
      11 Feb11 February 14:40

      That’s a bit disappointing.

      I’m looking at 950 points on an £18 shop when I repetatriate on Sunday.

      Plus a further bonus of 500 points when I put the £36 of Diesel it’ll cost me to drive from Perthshire to the South.

    • BJ says:
      11 Feb11 February 14:50

      Been the same for the offers you refer too since they relaunched the app. Nothing to do with you being a new customer. Potential return on Nectar during the past three years have massively outweighed clubcard as I highlighted many times. Rob wouldn’t hardly give it the time of day though as he disiked the fixed 0.5p value, and most readers couldn’t see the wood for the trees, Their loss, while a few of us won big time. I imagine a lot of the best bits will dry up soon though given the partnership with BA.

    • Aston100 says:
      11 Feb11 February 15:30

      ***Nectar really does seem to be the gift that keeps on giving. A £115 shop this week has yielded almost 1000 points. Has it always been this good, am I being ‘spoilt’ as a new customer or have I just being lucky with all my offers?***

      As I wrote below, I get around 300 points across 6 items every week for the past 4 weeks.
      I do over £100 per shop.
      Not impressed thus far.

      • Aston100 says:
        11 Feb11 February 15:32

        Above even.

        God these comments sections are frustrating to use.
        Proper forum software cannot come soon enough.
        I don’t know about others, but I’m quite prepared to pay a very small subscription fee if it meant a better user experience with proper forums and search ability etc

    • Peggerz says:
      11 Feb11 February 18:45

      Hi @Dezbez.
      It’s been my local supermarket for a few years now and has been really good for a while. I am picking up 600-900 Nectar points in excess of my spend for a while, but now with the BA tie-up I’m happy. And I am not purchasing anything I would normally buy.
      Newbies to Sainsbury’s have to be patient whilst the cogs in the Nectar system work out your spend and favourites.

  • YC says:
    11 Feb11 February 13:42

    Noticed Fairmont Windsor is now taking bookings for August onwards. Renderings look good. Do people recommend Windsor and things to do in the area?

    • Rhys says:
      11 Feb11 February 13:46

      Legoland? 😉

    • Rob says:
      11 Feb11 February 13:48

      Unless there has been a change, the manager of this place is the guy we know from his time running the CP at T4 (both Arora owned) so I am hoping we can get an early look at this.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      11 Feb11 February 13:49

      You’d probably need to define things to do 🙂

      There’s a big castle with plenty of restaurants, cafe and bars nearby if that’s allowed by then.

      • ChrisC says:
        11 Feb11 February 13:57

        If you asl me it’s a fluffing stupid place to build a big castle right under the heathrow flight path

        • YC says:
          11 Feb11 February 14:00

          William the Conqueror didn’t have planes though

        • The cyclist says:
          11 Feb11 February 14:22

          I love Royal Windsor, loads of stuff to do, Legoland, The castle, cruising on the Thames and I can’t get enough of the Queen.

        • Lady London says:
          11 Feb11 February 15:36

          🙂 ChrisC.

          We’ll ask the Queen to move then, shall we?

        • Tony says:
          11 Feb11 February 23:26

          Same with the Tower of London,, right under two flight paths. Bad planning on behalf of the Normans.

      • YC says:
        11 Feb11 February 13:58

        Itching to book more tentative staycations (just need more things to look forward to!) But £400 for weekend nights is comparable to the Langley where recognition is good

      • Lady London says:
        11 Feb11 February 15:40

        Restaurants : Heston Blumenthal Restaurant and also pub at Bray, is Tom Kerridge’s pub at Marlow?, Manoir aux Quatre Saisons for exquisite food, nice walks along the river and IIRC an interesting pub at Sonning which is not too far. It’s Royal Berkshire for a reason.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          11 Feb11 February 17:53

          30-45 min drives there.

          Is it coppa club near the river in Sonning?

          • Lady London says:
            11 Feb11 February 17:59

            Can’t remember we walked along the river at Sonning and it was very close to the river – could see it as you approached. On a corner, oak beams, massive fireplace blazing, restaurant upstairs. All most welcome on a chilly Sunday.

            My fave used to be The Leatherne Bottel at Pangbourne for a Sunday but no idea what happened after the original owner (Keith, I think) went.

  • Tony says:
    11 Feb11 February 14:17

    Can you pay seagulls with creation – with or without bendy?

    • Pangolin says:
      11 Feb11 February 14:23

      yes (with bendy)

      • DarrenS says:
        11 Feb11 February 15:00

        Isn’t there a limit? Some of transactions go though, some not. I would like to know the rules, if there are any.

    • 747_Brat says:
      11 Feb11 February 15:18

      Can you feed Seagulls directly with revolutionaries or does it need to be routed through bendy?

    • Anna says:
      11 Feb11 February 15:20

      They charge for that though, unless you have the paid version. I find the revolutionary route better.

      • 747_Brat says:
        11 Feb11 February 15:27

        Who charges – Bendy or Revolutionaries?
        Sorry @Anna but it wasn’t very clear from your comment.
        Thanks for your help though. 🙂

        • Aston100 says:
          11 Feb11 February 15:39

          ***Who charges – Bendy or Revolutionaries?
          Sorry @Anna but it wasn’t very clear from your comment.
          Thanks for your help though. 🙂***

          Neither.
          Overpay Interconty to get a positive balance.
          Then go Interconty > Che Guevara
          Wait a day or so
          Then go Che Guevara to Speedy Yanks

          In anticipation of derogatory responses from plonkers who think I’m trying to be super clever and cliquey with the codewords, it only takes a few moments to work them out, and thats not the reason for codewords at all.

          • 747_Brat says:
            11 Feb11 February 16:00

            Thank you very much @Aston100
            And ignore the plonkers! 🙂

          • Dace says:
            11 Feb11 February 16:31

            Why do you need to overpay Interconty before funding Che G?

          • stevenhp1987 says:
            11 Feb11 February 16:42

            Took me a while to figure out Speedy Yanks..

            @Dace, presumably because Revolut is a cash transaction (4829) which would otherwise incur cash advance interest.

      • Tony says:
        11 Feb11 February 15:37

        So non-fronted legacy black incurs charges? I might take a look at the revolutionaries route in that case.

        • Dace says:
          11 Feb11 February 17:02

          @stevenhp1987 but if you do that, then what is the point as surely using the positive credit balance on Interconty does not acquire points, no?

          If this is the case does Beardy allow direct payments to Che G via Bendy or do you have to overpay that too?

  • Rich says:
    11 Feb11 February 14:55

    Refund data point: easyJet taking about a month at the moment.

    Requested a refund for cancelled flight on 13/1. Just appeared on my Amex today.

    No such luck with Hostelworld, who have warned me to expect a ‘significant amount of time”. Sadly chargeback unlikely, as it was done via Curve and original purchase was March 2020.

    • Lady London says:
      11 Feb11 February 15:44

      Hum.
      Doesn’t sound good about Hostelworld future then overall. Unless you used it to book The Savoy or something?

      If you paid by UK credit card I think it’s time for you to ask card for Section 75. I’m pretty sure chargeback would not work.

      • Rich says:
        11 Feb11 February 16:17

        Paid by Curve with underlying credit card, so S75 wouldn’t apply.

        Curve Protection only applies for 120 days.

        Annoyed with myself. I originally accepted their offer of a voucher for 125% in lieu of refund. Tried to use it in Autumn, and it turns out Hostelworld vouchers can only be applied to the 10% deposit, not the full price.

        Paid £66 deposit originally. I’d need to do £825 of booking by November to use the voucher!

      • bafan says:
        11 Feb11 February 21:49

        “Hostelworld is in talks with lenders to secure a new €30 million debt facility as it reported a low number of bookings during the fourth quarter due to the coronavirus crisis.

        The interest rate on the five-year facility is expected to be set “in the low to mid-teens”, the company said, adding that terms will include that Hostelworld maintain agreed cash levels and provide certain security.

        The company said the trading deterioration it experienced since the end of August continued throughout the fourth quarter with minimal booking demand and average booking value (ABV) contraction.”

        https://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/hostelworld-in-talks-to-secure-30m-debt-facility-as-covid-bites-1.4457115

        Agreed.

        • kitten says:
          12 Feb12 February 03:49

          I wouldn’t finance them in a hurry. The issue is their business model and branding have an issue becausr it sounds like their core business has been shared rooms (with strangers).

  • Doogie says:
    11 Feb11 February 14:56

    Rebooked my March 2020 2for1 redemption trip to Japan to March 2021 as soon as avios availability opened up.

    That’s the BA5 to HND been cancelled by BA – was concerned was going to cost me as it’s still going at the moment but they’re obviously making schedule changes. Looks like can currently re-date it to January next year, so will hold off to move it to when suits.

    I still have my BA6 coming back, originally booked at full midnight redemption price but hadn’t bothered to phone up and have the 2for1 adjustment done as expected cancellations etc – is it worth doing this before it’s cancelled or just waiting and doing everything in the one call? My BA5 doesn’t have domestic connection on it currently as that was broken on website when I first tried to book it as well…!

  • Anna says:
    11 Feb11 February 15:26

    For readers asking about car payments yesterday. Now my Easter trip is cancelled I’ve decided to buy a new car instead of leasing. BMW has confirmed they will accept up to 2 x £1000 payments for the deposit, and will accept IHG MC for the rest. Monthly payments can be made on Amex, though not the final (optional) payment. However, you can overpay so presumably could pay it all off on Amex by the end of the financing term.
    This is a game changer for this year, really, might be worth getting another Platinum this year rather than waiting another 12 months. OH’s 2 year hiatus is up next month, but I didn’t think we’d have enough Amex spend to fill BAPP, Gold and Platinum. I’ve now cancelled my BAPP and going to have a 2 year gap on that.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      11 Feb11 February 15:41

      You can only make 1 over payment per month and

      Last payment can only be made by debit card or BACS.

      • Anna says:
        11 Feb11 February 16:19

        Yes, but if you overpay enough to get the final payment down to a minimal amount, it shouldn’t really matter.

    • Aston100 says:
      11 Feb11 February 15:44

      Anna, what prompted you to purchase instead of leasing?
      I’m currently waiting for decent leases on cars to appear again.

      • Anna says:
        11 Feb11 February 16:18

        Leasing options not that great and my current financiers (like I’m some major business player 🤣) VW & Santander not coming up on any leasing company searches. Plus I’ve saved that much money with the cancellation of celebrations for my retirement, mine and OH’s 50ths, our silver wedding anniversary next month and our UAE trip at Easter of course. Might as well pay a bit more and own the car at the end of it. I laughed hollowly when the sales rep asked how much mileage I currently do – I last filled up my car before Christmas and still have half a tank left!

        • Colin MacKinnon says:
          11 Feb11 February 20:51

          Our flying instructor Graeme has a nice petrol automatic Clio for sale at around £1500. My Volvo XC70 cost me £1500 too, but is SORN’d while the boss is away. Her Citroen C4 auto diesel has just £30 a year road tax – and sips fuel.
          (her previous auto cars were Renault Vel Statis 3.5 V6 petrol, Jaguar X-type 3 litre , Citroen C5 3.0 V6 petrol – she had two, and they are our definite favourites!)
          Just can’t bring ourselves to buy new!
          ps I put a huge dent in a rear passenger door in the Volvo, but still passed the MoT – we are real Mediterranean drivers!

          • Polly says:
            12 Feb12 February 00:05

            I have an burgundy convertible xc70 too year 2002, shamefully old, but love it.. hardly a mile on it for months… roof jammed tho..

    • JDB says:
      11 Feb11 February 16:38

      Anna, thank you for the info. Out of interest, when you say BMW, is the financing with Alphera which I think is their finance company? Just wanted to know if Alphera takes Amex!

      • TGLoyalty says:
        11 Feb11 February 17:02

        So in my case it was a brand new BMW so it was through the main BMW finance Branded finance provider.

        My understanding is Alphera are part of BMW and offer car finance through many different avenues (except BMW and Mini) but I suspect the back end systems are the same. It’s worth trying the automated payment line to find out if it takes Amex.

    • Allan says:
      11 Feb11 February 23:17

      BMW offer discounted rates for NHS, teachers, military and police. Contact their park lane garage.
      I’ve been unable to pay anything extra to BMW FS by card since COVID as they say they can’t do it while working from home.

  • 747_Brat says:
    11 Feb11 February 15:30

    Data Point:
    Creation reversed a duplicate transaction for which I had raised a dispute in July 2020. So nice of them to still remember me after 8 months! 🙂

    Anyway, happy to get my money back finally!

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