The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 2nd March

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• Ed says:

  2 Mar2 March 09:33

  Anyone able to share a Biscuiteers referral code please?

  • Genghis says:

    2 Mar2 March 09:56

    We got a gingerbread house from Biscuiteers from work at Xmas in lieu of having the normal kids xmas party. RRP was £40 IIRC. It was nice but hardly worth it. V nice tin though.

  • Crafty says:

    2 Mar2 March 10:37

    Try this Ed, should be 15% off for you.

    https://t.mention-me.email/lnk/AMsAAGl6w14AAciaYm4AAF-ODgkAAO87QCkAAAAAAAEZ0gBebpoFekBLj0uGR8S84P73Hji96gABD9s/1/IK8Mry-pBLlHMmvcK02udw/aHR0cHM6Ly9iaXNjdWl0ZWVycy5tZW50aW9uLW1lLmNvbS9tL2ZlL3duMmRiLXBpZXJyZS1oeWRlP3V0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1yZWZlcnJlci1mb3J3YXJkLWVtYWlsJnV0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haWwmdXRtX3NvdXJjZT1jdXN0b21lcnMmdXRtX2NvbnRlbnQ9Y3Rh

  • Kevin C says:

    2 Mar2 March 17:29

    Fenwick have a couple of the Valentine’s Day letterbox biscuits at half price in case you love someone but not quite enough to buy them full price biscuits. They’ve sold out of the big tin now. Won’t stack with Amex of course.

    • Ed says:

      2 Mar2 March 19:12

      Thanks all, 15pc discount stacking with the amex deal did the trick (although the price is still crazy).

• Andrew says:

  2 Mar2 March 09:38

  Thinking about future travel, and a hotel I’d really like to visit is The Greenbrier at White Sulphur Springs.

  Any tips on getting a “best value” booking there for a 2-3 night stay? Even in the current climate and booking ahead for off-season and guessing when the US will reopen, the prices are quite generous once the “taxes” and “historic building fees”.

  I really just want to visit the Bunker, so I could just stay in a Holiday Inn Express, but it seems a shame to go all that distance and not stay in the resort itself.

  • Harry T says:

    2 Mar2 March 11:20

    Ask Emyr if he can offer anything?

  • Michael says:

    2 Mar2 March 12:08

    Solid golf course at the Greenbrier.

• Matt says:

  2 Mar2 March 10:03

  I have 2 flights booked in the 50% avios sale for end of March and start of April, as separate bookings. They have both been cancelled, and I can select alternate dates online, up until the end of the booking period. If I change the dates to early 2022 online (well beyond the 1 year original ticket validity), would I then be able to change them again to the dates I actually want at end of March/start of April 2022 when they become available? Would there be fees for that, or are they waived under book with confidence?

  • Paul says:

    2 Mar2 March 10:14

    Fairly sure if you do the cancellation then you’d be liable for any fare difference for new dates, but if BA cancel on you then ‘free’ change, so essentially, no you can’t ‘double cancel’.

    • Matt says:

      2 Mar2 March 12:53

      These are avios tickets, so flexible generally – there wouldn’t be a fare difference issue. I’m just looking for a way to transfer them to 1 year after the initial dates, >1 year after the booking was made – I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t work, just wondering.

      • Paul says:

        2 Mar2 March 15:15

        I think there is a ‘fare difference’, in that if you want to move them, rather than being forced by a cancellation, you’d lose the 50% Avios discount.

        • Matt says:

          2 Mar2 March 18:06

          Ah, good point. So I’d need to hope that they cancelled me again when things are hopefully back to normal. Probably best not risking it then.

          Thanks

• Simon says:

  2 Mar2 March 10:06

  Anyone else finding themselves getting really annoyed with the ‘moderation’ over at FT? They seem to me to be on a massive power trip, deleting on-topic posts at will, presumably to suit their personal political persuasions.
  If you dare post anything positive about possible end of travel restrictions, you get shut down within minutes. And complaining to the mod team just gets an arrogant ‘we are right, go away’ response.
  Boys with toys…

  • Genghis says:

    2 Mar2 March 10:16

    Their site, their rules. HfP not a democracy, either.

  • Tocsin says:

    2 Mar2 March 10:27

    A ‘topic’ can have facts, opinions and political gripes associated with it.
    I applaud the FT moderators attempts to keep those separate.

  • Andyp says:

    2 Mar2 March 10:41

    Moderation is a tricky job and in general the BA ones in particular have been really good. Like any online forum though there are people who have more leeway than others probably due to the cliques that exist. However i’ve found they mostly keep things on topic and are pretty fair.

    • Rob says:

      2 Mar2 March 11:10

      Moderation is an art and not a science. We also cut more slack (to a certain point) to people with a track record of posting common sense.

  • Aston100 says:

    2 Mar2 March 11:01

    Which forum? the BAEC one?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    2 Mar2 March 11:14

    Isn’t there a separate board? Perhaps post in there

  • yorkieflyer says:

    2 Mar2 March 11:18

    I’m inclined to agree in the current climate that more discursive comments on FT are often deleted with lectures about staying on topic when in uncertain times it doesn’t seem unreasonable to me for a little more flexibility whilst keeping a cap on unpleasantness. Also quite noticeable that certain old timers get away with blue murder, that and the slaps on the risk if you even dare to criticise a moderator has put me off from commentating over there in the main nowadays

    • Mike says:

      2 Mar2 March 12:31

      You need to remember that the “old timers” with tens of thousands of posts have very little life away from FT, how can anyone when they spend so much time on FT. It all means more to them us mere normies who drop in from time to time for tips. There’s a particular issue with BAEC and many are full of it when it comes to their flying stats, lifetime TPs and status.

      You could probably insult their mothers than say a bad word about BA!

      Also bear in mind that the mods are not all in it for the good deed of volunteering their precious time as its often repeated over and over. There’s a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes, invites to events, look at the guesting issues from years ago, the Miles & More mod is also a benefactor. Modding on FT is a gateway to a closer relationship with their favourite company.

      • Lady London says:

        2 Mar2 March 12:44

        Oh dear. Someone will be saying that about the CAA and BA next.

        • Linda says:

          2 Mar2 March 13:18

          Cynical! Those ‘old timers’ have a wealth of information that is hugely beneficial to those of us with limited knowledge. So what if they spend their time on FT and get certain perks for doing so, good for them!

      • Rob says:

        2 Mar2 March 13:15

        I have never seen the BA FT mods, most (all?) of whom I have met at some point, at a BA media event. Not that BA has many media events anyway – it’s not like Virgin, where they are very happy to bung a pile of internet people on a plane and feed and water them for a few days.

        Even if BA gave them all a pair of free CW flights each year – which it doesn’t – it would still be a bad return on time.

        I say this as someone who is occasionally on the wrong end of a memo from FT mods 🙂

        • Mike says:

          2 Mar2 March 16:39

          You’re saying it’s like two teenage girls arguing at the back of the bus over which Kardashian is the best, whereas no Kardashian cares at all what these two girls think or knows they exit.

          Why do many of them have their heads up there then? Pure loyalty to BA, and why?

          Spending 24/7 on FT, HFP or whatever is obsessive behaviour and explains a lot of what goes on over there.

        • Mike says:

          2 Mar2 March 16:39

          *exist

• Youllnever says:

  2 Mar2 March 10:14

  Can anyone kindly remind me what are the downsides of booking flight-only tickets via Amex Travel? Was it just the ABTA coverage? I’m assuming S75/chargebacks would still work? The 3X MR points look good, but will avoid if there’s something I’m not aware of.

  • babyg says:

    2 Mar2 March 10:56

    its just “harder” to get things like refunds, you cant directly talk/phone BA, you have to go via AMEX travel. I had some AMEX travel bookings, these too weeks/months to sort vs direct BA taking hours/days. Got there in the end it just took more time.

  • yorkieflyer says:

    2 Mar2 March 11:22

    There have been some reports that they have been particularly difficult in rejecting S75 claims/chargebacks.

    • Lady London says:

      2 Mar2 March 14:37

      also on flights sometimes apparently Amex has found to have booked people tickets that had restrictions but not telling them eg non:upgradeable. A little suspicion they may also have sold people tickets such as are typically used by holiday operators – which are highly restricted and not supposed to be sold standalone – and not making restrictions clear. OTA’s sometimes do this too.

• whiskerxx says:

  2 Mar2 March 10:14

  Aston 100 – ref supermarket spend, continued from yesterday.
  I believe that Aldi do in fact provide a home delivery service.

  • Genghis says:

    2 Mar2 March 10:19

    Thanks for the reminder. It’s click and collect and available now at my closest Aldi. £4,99 for a slot. May be worth it instead of having to go inside.

    • Crafty says:

      2 Mar2 March 10:38

      Waitrose home delivery is free with only a £40 minimum spend. How much will you really save on the same shop from Aldi, factoring in the £5 collection charge and your time in driving there?

      • BJ says:

        2 Mar2 March 10:53

        Seems very steep!

      • Genghis says:

        2 Mar2 March 11:33

        Once a month big shop will work out much cheaper than Waitrose.

        I currently go to Lidl once a month to stock up – I do like the stuff and reward scheme not bad after having worked out I should split up my purchases to get the cash back straight away – but it’s not the most pleasant shopping experience.

    • Blindman says:

      2 Mar2 March 11:03

      Aldi also do a Free delivery service IIRC so long as you spend over £40

      The click and collect fee is always there regardless of amount spent.

  • Aston100 says:

    2 Mar2 March 10:56

    Thanks Whiskerxx.
    Unfortunately I don’t have a car at the moment so am reliant on home delivery. Aldi is (as Genghis says) click & collect.

    Gonna do a couple more Sainsburys online shops and then decide whether it is worth switching back to Tesco or perhaps some other supermarket like Asda. Both have advantages over Sainsburys (for me anyway).

    Thanks.

    • Anna says:

      2 Mar2 March 11:49

      Aldi does deliver alcohol (and home products) – free for 6 bottles or more!

  • John W says:

    2 Mar2 March 12:03

    I’ve did try Aldi for a while , but think since the stores were refurbished they are not as cheap as they once were . Ive gone back to Sainsburys now I’m getting 1000 nectar per week plus the experience overall is much nicer and you can buy everything you need in one shop = The Aldi experience was not good in my opinion

• 747_Brat says:

  2 Mar2 March 10:39

  @Genghis
  I know you have answered it multiple times here trying to help other commenters, so please accept my apologies in advance. But please could you confirm if my understanding below is correct:

  (1) I am planning to upgrade from Premier to WE soon. I have had my free Premier card for less than 6 months. I remember you posting something about the 6 month clause earlier, which has caused some confusion in my head. Just so that I am not caught off-guard, am I correct in thinking that I won’t qualify for the WE bonus if I upgrade before 6 months?

  (2) My existing Premier points would be transferred to WE card with the same expiry date, which I reckon is 3 years? So the transfer of points wouldn’t necessarily prolong their life.

  Thanks in advance for your help.

  • Genghis says:

    2 Mar2 March 11:34

    1) you can’t have had the WE card in last 6 months to be eligible for both sign up and anniversary bonuses.
    2) correct

    • 747_Brat says:

      2 Mar2 March 11:56

      Cheers, thanks for clarifying @Genghis.

      • Benilyn says:

        2 Mar2 March 13:07

        @747_Brat – how do you go about upgrading?

        Can you have both WE and Premier CC? I quite like the Premier D&G insurance perk.

        • 747_Brat says:

          2 Mar2 March 13:55

          I called the customer care and asked to be upgraded. They are sending the WE card agreement for me to sign and return in the post. That’s about it really.

          You can’t have both WE and Premier cards at the same time. Appliance insurance is something that you will have to sacrifice if you want to upgrade from Premier to WE unfortunately!

      • HAA says:

        2 Mar2 March 15:53

        Have they asked to provide any paperwork, payslips etc?

• Tracy says:

  2 Mar2 March 10:41

  I have added 2 new amex cards to my account and I have plenty of amex offers showing. I got 2 supplementary cards for my OH and he added them to his account. He has no offers. It’s been over a month and plenty of spend on all cards. I have seen this mentioned before but can’t recall if anyone has managed to get offers to appear? Amex CS has not been helpful.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    2 Mar2 March 11:15

    Tried removing the cards then adding them the next day?

    Other option is to “lose” them.

    • Tracy says:

      2 Mar2 March 17:54

      I tried removing and reinstalling same day, didn’t work. Will try removing today and reinstalling tomorrow. Might just have to lose the cards as you suggest…..

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