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The HfP chat thread – Saturday 20th 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.

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General

Comments (206)

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

  • JohnT says:
    20 Feb20 February 09:22

    Check here but should be ok!
    https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2020/12/28/what-amex-sign-up-bonuses-are-you-still-eligible-for/

  • Emily says:
    20 Feb20 February 09:56

    Hi! Looking for some advice/thoughts on the BA refund process. We booked tickets to the Bahamas in 2019 for travel in April 2020 which of course didn’t happen. We took a travel voucher in the hope of rebooking the following year (ever the optimist). Towards the end of summer we rebooked to travel at the end of March 2021 (foolish optimism driven by the fact that we’d just come back from Bodrum) – we had to top up as the fare had gone up. Last night BA cancelled the flight which we were anticipating. Are we still able to get a refund for the flight given we’d rebooked using a travel voucher? Thank you!

    • Jonathan says:
      20 Feb20 February 12:09

      Under EU261 law (which was copied and pasted into UK law following Brexit) if your flight gets cancelled you’re legally obligated to receive a refund. Only applies to flights starting and or ending in a EU country and or the UK

    • AJA says:
      20 Feb20 February 12:31

      Yes you can get a refund in cash now that BA has cancelled the flight.

  • Frankie says:
    20 Feb20 February 10:01

    EasyJet Belfast to Gatwick on Thursday – they were letting anyone put their bags in the overheads.

    • lumma says:
      20 Feb20 February 10:30

      You’re not banned from using the overheads, you can only take on bags that would fit under the seats if you haven’t got one of the extra legroom or upfront seats.

      • Frankie says:
        20 Feb20 February 10:56

        It was discussed here on Monday (on HFP) that they are indeed banning you from using the overheads. That’s why I mentioned it.

        • kitten says:
          20 Feb20 February 12:49

          They just say that to imply there’s a safety or an efficiency reason to not let you carry anything other than a small bag on board whereas in fact it’s just a revenue grab making you pay for a bigger one.

          Of course the rule is mostly going to disappear on board as if it’s latched properly having luggagw in the overhead rack is a lot safer.

  • Munch says:
    20 Feb20 February 10:06

    Has anyone had experience applying for Amex for a 19 year old? My son has been working for the last year – £15k / year. What have people put in for other household income? Would I include my income in this part of the application?

    • Alex says:
      20 Feb20 February 10:20

      I got my first Amex at 18 – I put in my own personal income, which was around £18-20K at the time I believe. I had no issue in getting it(BAPP) and it had about £5K limit if I remember correctly. Amex don’t have a minimum income requirement anymore so provided he has a good credit score he should be fine

      • TGLoyalty says:
        20 Feb20 February 10:39

        Credit card approvals and credit limits aren’t really connected to reality lol

        I remember applying for an MBNA card outside a football ground as an 18 year old because the girl was “fit” and you got a free scarf (on application not approval). Never in a million years did I think my c£10k income (part time gap year job I started a month earlier) would get me a card let alone a £6k credit limit!

        • lumma says:
          20 Feb20 February 10:45

          Ha. I got a free hat.

          MBNA were terrible looking back. Here’s a load of blank cheques you can write to yourself…

        • Harry T says:
          20 Feb20 February 11:15

          Did you get the girl and the scarf, @TG?!

          • TGLoyalty says:
            20 Feb20 February 11:45

            Haha she now knew my age and my pitiful income so safe to say no lol

            it was all about the scarf anyway

            I’d forgotten mine in the car!

    • TGLoyalty says:
      20 Feb20 February 10:32

      There’s no definition of household in the application so I’d treat it as anyone in my household.

    • Rich says:
      20 Feb20 February 10:52

      It’s worth his checking his credit file with Credit Karma or MSE, to check everything is in order. MSE and Amex themselves also have an eligibility checker which can avoid wasting a credit search on a refusal.

    • Super Secret Stuff says:
      20 Feb20 February 11:49

      In answer to your question, I got a nationwide cc when I was 18 with a £2k credit limit. Used it for a bit then got amex gold with a higher credit limit

    • Jack says:
      20 Feb20 February 13:47

      I applied back in March for the platinum everyday back when I was 18 and got accepted. Use the Amex eligibility checker first though

    • Rory says:
      20 Feb20 February 16:57

      My first Credit Card was the Amex Plat, got it when I was 19. Never had any issues.

    • Chris Heyes says:
      20 Feb20 February 19:03

      Munch if he’s living at home Household income is exactly what it says
      if he’s in the household all the income can be counted
      it’s a nice workround for kids

  • TGLoyalty says:
    20 Feb20 February 10:06

    It’s £1 + £4 if you use it within 5 days

    Which is limited at the moment with a distinct lack of retailers

  • BLT says:
    20 Feb20 February 10:08

    I’ll give you £5 to stop posting unsolicited referrals!

    • Andrew says:
      20 Feb20 February 10:16

      +1

      • Sam says:
        20 Feb20 February 10:57

        It’s consistent and actually unfair to other people when you post them unsolicited…if its not your trading 212, it’s your energy one or airtime rewards or a bank switch. Are you that desperate for referrals?!

    • TGLoyalty says:
      20 Feb20 February 10:34

      lol to be fair it’s an increased rate and unless someone posts about it how would anyone know about it.

      I think it’s a nice scheme and should provide a little bonus on everyday spend.

    • Brian W says:
      20 Feb20 February 10:35

      +1 it’s incredibly irritating.

    • mr_jetlag says:
      20 Feb20 February 11:56

      even solicited ones are sometimes annoying, I’d love a house rule that referrals can only be under related articles and only if Rob/HFP don’t provide their own.

      • Navara says:
        20 Feb20 February 12:21

        “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.“

        • Chris Heyes says:
          20 Feb20 February 18:57

          Navara You of cause mean you want HFP Community to have a place to “Chat”
          That doesn’t mean everybody does

        • Navara says:
          20 Feb20 February 20:02

          @Chris Heyes
          Those are Rob’s words not mine from the top of the page. On the ..wait for it ….CHAT THREAD

    • Aston100 says:
      20 Feb20 February 12:28

      I think referrals should not be allowed unless they are from HfP.

      • kitten says:
        20 Feb20 February 12:45

        I think it’s classy and polite to post one’s own referral only once for each product unless repeated requests dont get someone else posting a code.
        After a certain point posting one’s own code repeatedly for same provider just begins to look greedy or even needy.
        It’s even worse when unsolicited.

        Why not give others a chance to consider posting theirs.

        • BP says:
          20 Feb20 February 13:27

          Rob should make 747s referral code a banned word 🙂

        • BLT says:
          20 Feb20 February 15:12

          @Sina – you’re comment makes no sense. What would happen if everyone decided to post a referral for all the trading sites, energy providers etc. It’s a rule to keep the forums clear for chat.

    • kitten says:
      20 Feb20 February 15:55

      Well… we try to share.

      If I wanted to be in a souk I’d be looking at HUKD daily. I don’t, and I thought the house rule Rhys posted of first reply only to a request was about right.

      • bafan says:
        20 Feb20 February 16:51

        LOL reading HUKD makes me so stressed. People aggressively looking for promo codes to save an additional £1.85 on something they probably don’t need.

  • Matt says:
    20 Feb20 February 10:52

    I have 3 fees due, Virgin + , BAPP & Plat Amex.Really don’t want to pay all this out.
    My decision was to cancel Platinum. No real benefits to me accept insurance, but at the moment, thats not really worth it as well.
    If I’m offered 50,000 Amex points to keep the Plat, just wondering if it’s still worth it. Am I correct that 50,000 points converted to Avoid and then converted to Nectar will basically give me £400 spend in Sainsburys?
    If I keep the Plat, then maybe cancel the Virgin, but that’s useful to have a non-amex rewards card in Curve.

    • Andrew says:
      20 Feb20 February 10:56

      *If* being the key word there – no guarantees you’ll be offered anything from Amex to keep platinum.

      • meta says:
        20 Feb20 February 11:04

        If offered, why not just bag the points, transfer out and then close the card 2 weeks later or earlier?

        • Matt says:
          20 Feb20 February 11:18

          I actually said that to Amex, and the guy said well, thats up to me. Wouldn’t feel morally right, but they definitely have made money from me.
          Amex said I can just call when the fee hits in a week or two and reduce it with the points straight away by £225. Or wait for the occasional ‘Earn & Burn’ promotion where the points value is doubled. But if it is worth £400 in Sainsbury’s, then its worth keeping to see if any offers come along at some point.

      • Matt says:
        20 Feb20 February 11:14

        Just taken 50,000. Still pondering whether to call back and just cancel it as its still a lot of initial cash outlay.

        • Ben says:
          20 Feb20 February 11:24

          What did they offer you? I was declined anything on the phone a few days ago

          • Matt says:
            20 Feb20 February 11:31

            Ben, I may be wrong, but I get a feeling that if you just call and get through to customer service, then you may not get anywhere. When I called in this time, the automatic voice asked the reason to call, so I said Cancel Card. Maybe I was put through to a mention department. Bit like calling Sky etc., when you want to cancel.
            I didn’t call to get an offer, I had made a decision to cancel and had paid off everything early.

          • Matt says:
            20 Feb20 February 11:31

            Retention department, not mention

    • Harry T says:
      20 Feb20 February 11:16

      Take the points from Amex, then cancel! If the card isn’t valuable for you, it still won’t be in a month, most likely.

      • Matt says:
        20 Feb20 February 11:19

        Definitely in the front of my mind. I have taken the points, so we’ll see.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          20 Feb20 February 12:00

          Just take the points and change to monthly billing. Then decide how things change over the next few months.

          • Lady London says:
            20 Feb20 February 12:12

            +1
            do above and keep options longer for now
            BAPP looks the weak card out of your lot…. unless you really really need 241’s. I’d consider swopping that out sometime this year especially if anything else offers a voucher that comes along

          • memesweeper says:
            20 Feb20 February 12:36

            +2

            I’d bin the BAPP unless putting a high spend through and need a voucher

          • Matt says:
            20 Feb20 February 12:55

            Monthly billing?

          • Matt says:
            20 Feb20 February 13:00

            Interesting comments on losing the BAPP first. I was only thinking of keeping it because of the the recent change between BA and Nectar, so its a good driver of Avios, but although I keep thinking I will use the couple of 2-4-1’s I’ve never used them (or the Virgin companion vouchers). I thought because of Avios, BAPP was better then Plat.
            I also have a quite large credit limit on BAPP that helps with my credit score, but maybe the sisn’t that important.

          • TGLoyalty says:
            20 Feb20 February 13:21

            You can ask for your Plat fee to be billed monthly works out £1 more a year due to rounding.

            I’d bin the BAPP only worth holding while spending £10k for a 2-4-1.

          • Matt says:
            20 Feb20 February 13:37

            OK TG, I thought a charge card is only a monthly Bill. Is this something different?

          • Matt says:
            20 Feb20 February 13:40

            Sorry TG, being dim today, I just realised you meant monthly billing for the fee. Hadn’t thought of that. Thanks.

      • Super Secret Stuff says:
        20 Feb20 February 11:51

        +1

    • Matt says:
      20 Feb20 February 11:40

      Thanks Rich, I’ve taken it. If I get a Waitrose offer or two, then basically the card is paid for.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      20 Feb20 February 11:47

      Move your platinum to monthly billing

  • Phil W says:
    20 Feb20 February 11:04

    eBay Selling Advice. I’m looking to sell a reasonably high value item to a friend, who wishes to pay by credit card to take advantage of an interest free offer on his card. I don’t run a business and don’t have any means of accepting a card payment. Is selling the item via eBay during a £1 max fee offer a good route to go down. I’ve never sold anything on eBay before so it’s new to me. Is there anything I should be aware of? Could somebody else buy it before him? Apologies, these are probably really dumb questions.

    TIA

    • Andrew says:
      20 Feb20 February 11:09

      Just be carful of capital gains tax implications depending on the value of the item. But it’s probably unlikely anyone would buy it “off the shelf” before he did if it’s high value without negotiating on price and you can always cancel the sale anyway.

    • Optimus Prime says:
      20 Feb20 February 11:10

      You’ll be stung by PayPal fees – I think it’s 2.9%?

      • Andrew says:
        20 Feb20 February 11:18

        I think that might have changed now with their new payment processing thing “in house” – it’s all wrapped up in the final value fee which is just £1 this weekend.

        • ChrisA says:
          20 Feb20 February 12:34

          I’m not sure about that – I listed some Lego today which sold very quickly. The buyer did not select PayPal after I asked them to kindly not to, but it has still come through to me as a PayPal transaction I’ve received the amount minus 3%.

          • Travel Strong says:
            20 Feb20 February 13:47

            @ChrisA – that’s not how it works. You change your ebay account to receive sale proceeds direct to your bank. It’s all on your account settings, no onus on the buyer.

          • The real John says:
            20 Feb20 February 16:49

            You cannot ask to be moved to Managed Payments, ebay will tell you when they want it to happen. You cannot refuse and once you move you cannot use paypal to receive money from ebay sales any longer.

            Currently mainly business sellers have been forced to migrate but a small selection of personal accounts have also been transferred.

            The category I mainly sell in is banned by Adyen, so I cannot be moved over yet (and I don’t want to, for reasons best kept quiet, despite having to lose the extra 3% to paypal). I guess ebay will eventually get Adyen to agree to it.

        • Optimus Prime says:
          20 Feb20 February 14:09

          That hasn’t been rolled out to everyone yet.

    • Matt says:
      20 Feb20 February 11:26

      If it is your friend, why does it have to go on eBay? They can buy directly from you using PayPal where it is best they send the money to you as a Gift. They pay the fee and the price you sell at is net to you. This is better than them buying ‘goods’ from you as Paypal can hold the money for awhile, especially of you haven’t sold goods before. They may contact you to say that they will release the money once you have provided proof of tracking and the item is delivered. So its best as a ‘Gift’ to family and friends, and even then, Paypal may hold payment for extra 24 hours.
      The question is really how much is the CC promotion worth to your friend, because it is cheaper and easier on both sides to do a bank transfer, unless they don’t have cash funds.

      • Phil W says:
        20 Feb20 February 11:33

        They don’t currently have the funds, hence the desire to use a CC. Glad I asked as it doesn’t sound as straightforward as I’d hoped.

        • Matt says:
          20 Feb20 February 11:38

          It is actually simple, and it’s good that you know the buyer. I would recommend they use their credit card via Paypal to your e-mail address, but they select Gift. Then it’s easy, no questions asked. You can work out the PP fees between you. If it is a large amount, then Paypal might just hold it for 24 hours before you can download to your bank.

          • Mikeact says:
            20 Feb20 February 12:39

            +1 Dead easy. And to ,maybe, limit any other potential buyer, choose the 1 day listing option this weekend.

        • kitten says:
          20 Feb20 February 15:01

          And they might be earning points on the CC 🙂

        • Bazza says:
          21 Feb21 February 09:08

          Use the “offer” option on eBay. If you do go that way because then the only person who can buy it is the one you allow to buy it. Set a ridiculous high buy it now price.

          • Ali says:
            21 Feb21 February 14:04

            Be careful with accepting an offer with the £1 fee promo as sometimes they are excluded from the £1 fee and liable for the full final value fee (10%)

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