Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

The HfP chat thread – Thursday 18th February

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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.

Comments (384)

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

  • Aston100 says:

    BJ, unless I’m mistaken, earning hasn’t been a problem especially in recent times. It’s the burning that is difficult and may continue to be so for some time.
    Right?

    • BJ says:

      Not a reason to stop earning though, I am quite happy even to move the pawns around the board 🙂

  • KS says:

    Need a bit of advice. A Sixt branch refused to rent to me recently because I have less than 1 year on my UK driving licence (I hold another driving licence that is 7 years old). With the same set of licences Sixt has rented to me in the past and also approved me for Fastlane in October/November. With Fastlane, they made a point of asking for both the licences to be uploaded. Initially customer service repeated branch’s decision and reason (less than a year on UK licence) but that is flawed based on their T&Cs and asserting Fastlane doesn’t determine eligibility. There is a lot of back and forth over emails (nobody answers the phones!) and they _seem_ to be coming around to accepting an error.

    My question is, if they do accept they made an error, what can I expect as service recovery? FWIW, I did have to pay extra to another car rental to get a car in a lower category for the same duration.

    If they don’t accept their fault, what are my options? Can/should I go through mcol? Or something else?

    • KS says:

      This was a prepaid booking.

    • Charlieface says:

      I would expect the cost of an alternative booking with another provider, or if that wasn’t possible, then any other transport youma have used

      I suppose I have two questions
      1. Was the other licence actually usable in the UK, given that you already have a UK licence?
      2. If it was, why did you show the UK one?

  • Aston100 says:

    Look forward to it.
    Thanks.

  • rams1981 says:

    devil is in the detail here i.e. how the upgrade voucher works. £144 for a voucher could be great value for a single traveller

  • Aston100 says:

    Data Point (sort of).
    After receiving the Pfizer jab this afternoon, I have got exactly the same kind of headache that I had when I once tried a Viagra tablet.

    Coincidence?

  • Roger says:

    What’s going on with Curve Metal and likes of HL (ISA) ?
    Doesn’t work with underlying IHG for me.

  • Rob says:

    I have removed some comments on a specific topic as a goodwill gesture to the company involved. The information was leaked accidentally due to an IT issue.

    It was our decision and not theirs, but their existence was causing them problems and we are not here to make peoples lives or jobs difficult in what is already a complicated time to do any job. This is, after all, just a hobby / bit of fun for the majority of us.

    We will have the full, official story on this very soon.

    • BS says:

      It’s a shame, as it’s public domain now.

      Either way I was considering moving from my current establishment, but that offer does not cut it for me.

    • DK says:

      A bit surprised as usually their IT is ok unlike so many other major banks. And don’t get me even started on HSBC

    • Sean says:

      A fine editorial judgement

    • 747_Brat says:

      Woah, what did I miss? 😀

      Had a very busy day at work and just visited HfP to read comments.
      Am I correct in thinking this is related to the Google’s ‘Android suggestions’ goof-up, that Rob posted about on Linkedin, and that it is related to the bank that is planning to offer Avios for switching current account?

      • Super Secret Stuff says:

        Yep

        • 747_Brat says:

          Thanks for confirming @Super Secret Stuff 🙂
          Cheers.

          • Super Secret Stuff says:

            It’s better than what I was expecting but the Jury is out on weather it’ll sway very many peoples choices

          • 747_Brat says:

            @Super Secret Stuff
            Tbh if it is indeed what other miles & points websites are proclaiming (25k Avios Bonus), I will take the offer to switch.

            I am terribly sick of HSBC’s shambolic service, and the fact that I am still chasing them for issues I have had since upgrading to Premier back in December has left me tormented. I wouldn’t think twice before jumping the ship on to the Avios Bank!

      • Alan says:

        ditto…intrigued and would be interested to know

      • Aston100 says:

        747 Brat.
        I read the comments in question earlier today, but would never have worked it out based on what you just wrote!

        • 747_Brat says:

          @Aston100
          Haha, I just connected the dots and linked DK’s comment with Rob’s Linkedin post couple of days ago. I am actually surprised my brain was still working to connect the dots, after getting knackered at work! 🙂

    • BJ says:

      Hope you receive a suitably good reciprocal gesture of goodwill.

    • NC says:

      No Avios earning for ongoing spending = damp squib. Not even as good as the Tesco Bank account was.

  • DK says:

    Do you need a debit card details to initiate an account switch?

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