The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 2nd March

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• Mco says:

  2 Mar2 March 11:06

  If I get back on a Monday to the UK is day 2 the Tuesday or the Wednesday for the arrival covid test?

  • Sanya Agarwal says:

    2 Mar2 March 11:25

    Wednesday, Monday is counted as Day 0

    • Mco says:

      2 Mar2 March 18:59

      Thank you

• Martyn Ford says:

  2 Mar2 March 11:06

  I switched to Virgin Money current account two weeks ago. Yesterday morning I paid £4k to my HH Barclaycard – the transaction was successful. Later in the day my current account was showing as overdrawn due to a £4k transaction “Auto Credit Unpaid.” I spoke to an agent last night who said that he could that the transaction was due to be paid back to me at midnight.

  Not only did the money not return to my account but the rogue transaction has completely disappeared. After an age on the `phone this morning this has been raised as a complaint but every person I have spoken to states that they can see no issues from their end.

  I am not hopeful. Advice as to what to do next would be appreciated please.

  • AJA says:

    2 Mar2 March 11:17

    Have you checked your HH Barclaycard account to see if they have received the payment? Also are you overdrawn or do you still have a positive bank balance? Does the payment to Barclaycard show as leaving your Virgin account ?

    • Martyn Ford says:

      2 Mar2 March 11:24

      All is well at Barclaycard. I am overdrawn and the payment leaving my Virgin account is showing.

  • Sandgrounder says:

    2 Mar2 March 11:26

    They had massive problems at VM with transactions not displaying correctly yesterday, apparantly they should be corrected over the next couple of days. As AJA said, have the funds arrived at Barclaycard?

  • yorkieflyer says:

    2 Mar2 March 11:41

    Are you saying the funds were taken twice? If only once and paid correctly to BC then you would be overdrawn if insufficient funds in the Virgin current account? If the second transaction has disappeared then you should be in credit again but potentially the balance hasn’t refreshed?

    • Martyn Ford says:

      2 Mar2 March 11:44

      Thank you all. The funds were taken twice under different transaction references. Barclays has their money, the other one has not been refunded and I am currently overdrawn by that amount.

      • kitten says:

        2 Mar2 March 12:19

        I’d defo want compo and get them to sort it asap as that can harm your credit record

      • AJA says:

        2 Mar2 March 15:04

        Martyn. Take screen shots of the Virgin account showing the two transactions. Also take a screen shot of the Barclaycard account showing only one receipt. I would call customer services again ASAP and ask for an email address to send copies of what you can see. They should be able to sort this out immediately. I would also clarify that this won’t make a marker on your credit record. You should definitely not be charged interested for having gone overdrawn. Have they given you a reference number for the complaint?

        • Martyn Ford says:

          2 Mar2 March 16:46

          Thank you. I am unable to take a screenshot as the second transaction, called “Auto Credit Unpaid” has completely disappeared from the transaction list in the app. This is the problem, they are claiming it didn`t happen.

        • AJA says:

          2 Mar2 March 17:19

          @ Martyn, I am confused. How can your bank balance be overdrawn if the second transaction “Auto Credit Unpaid” has completely disappeared from the transaction list? At a basic level closing balance = opening balance – payments out + receipts in. If the second transaction has disappeared then the closing balance must be positive.

          I don’t have Virgin so don’t know how the statement appears on the app but on Lloyds it shows Account Balance at the top with a list of transactions by date beneath that (most recent at the top) and you can see how the balance changes as payments and receipts are processed.

          There must be a point where the balance switched from positive to negative by the value of the rogue transaction. Can you not show that to Customer Services?

  • Andrew says:

    2 Mar2 March 21:47

    So you raised an issue, you were immediately advised that it was a known issue and would be resolved.

    There was a matched reversal, and it was as if it had never happened.

    There’s nothing to complain about really.

    • Lady London says:

      3 Mar3 March 09:09

      There is actually something to complain about, as for audit purposes when a transaction is reversed both the original transaction and the reversing transaction should still be showing.

      Double entry bookkeeping didn’t become the standard for nothing – everything must be shown including reversals and the original transactions that have been reversed even if incorrect. Otherwise what the provider shows can’t be relied on and I think would fail an audit.

      This is often a problem when incorrect computer processing has to be fixed by running later computer jobs – on no account should the incorrecy transactions be removed a reversing transaction shouldbe added then the correct transaction applied in the accounts. If a company that’s handling my money is not showing me the audit trail I’d be very concerned about their competence and whetherI can trust them with my money.

• Simon says:

  2 Mar2 March 11:13

  Datapoint • Marriott Double Nights Promotion

  The points and elite night credits from a recently completed Marriott stay posted within 24 hours. The stay was a combination of 6 x paid and 3 x redemption nights (but booked using the “customize my stay” trick as opposed to bookending a few paid nights with redemption nights in separate bookings). The stay should have yielded 18 elite nights; only 15 posted. The breakdown showed that redemption nights had only counted for single elite night credits whereas it should have counted for double.

  So, I emailed Marriott and quoted the terms of their offer (which, as you’ll likely know from an earlier HFP article, stipulates that, if booked in the same manner as my own booking, i.e. with paid and points nights booked using the “customize my stay” feature, then redemption nights will count for double elite night credits).

  No reply within 48 hours, which is rare in my experience of Marriott: they’re normally prompt at replying.

  So, I sent them a DM via Twitter and, hey presto, a polite response was received and the missing 3 elite nights appeared in my account.

  Simply posting for anyone looking to book in a similar way or has already done so, but is perhaps missing some elite night credits.

  • Harry T says:

    2 Mar2 March 11:43

    Thanks for the datapoint. In my experience, Bonvoy IT is terrible but the humans at CS do fix things fairly promptly.

    • Aston100 says:

      2 Mar2 March 11:54

      Does anyone have decent IT?

    • Simon says:

      2 Mar2 March 11:56

      It’s weird , Harry — Marriott email responses have served me pretty well over the years, whereas other chains’ email systems have left a lot to be desired. Speak to a lot of others on here, though, including yourself, and the converse is true. It’s odd how the luck of the draw pans out sometimes, I guess. At least Twitter DMs often elicit positive responses across most of the chains, which is something.

      • Harry T says:

        2 Mar2 March 12:23

        Marriott have been good to me over email too. The main issue is that about half of my stays never actually credit, or credit with large errors. And the app is very buggy for me.

        • Simon says:

          2 Mar2 March 12:46

          Agree about the app, Harry.

  • Matthew says:

    2 Mar2 March 18:17

    You should see the Flyertalk thread about it. No one has auto got the nights for the points and cash combo via ‘customise payments’. Glad you managed to get the missing ones 👍

    • Simon says:

      3 Mar3 March 17:37

      Thanks, Matthew. 😉

• Sina says:

  2 Mar2 March 11:30

  Just figured out something that might be of interest to others, I got a couple of One4All gift cards during amex 10% off at Morrisons. I’ve found these are Visa cards and can be registered at Airtime rewards to get extra discount, so if you got any, you could do the same! Transactions track and pay in my experience!

• yorkieflyer says:

  2 Mar2 March 11:34

  I’ll probably finally bit the bullet and bail out on the Amex Plat shortly before renewal unless they offer a decent retention offer, tried half year after getting 15K earlier and no joy.
  The Hilton Gold normally roles over at the end of March I think? How can I tell when the expiry date is? Virtual card doesn’t show it and I can’t see it in the account.

  • Harry T says:

    2 Mar2 March 11:38

    Hilton Gold might continue longer than you think after closing your Amex Plat. Also, Hilton has recently extended status due to the pandemic, so you will probably have benefitted from this too.

    • yorkieflyer says:

      2 Mar2 March 11:43

      indeed, but anywhere I can actually see the current expiry date? I suppose I could call them.

      • Harry T says:

        2 Mar2 March 11:45

        I can’t see it in the app – probably worth using the live chat or calling.

        • yorkieflyer says:

          2 Mar2 March 11:47

          thanks, I thought so

      • Anna says:

        2 Mar2 March 11:46

        They can tell you on the chat facility, or you can message them. My OH is still HH gold from Amex Platinum and he cancelled it 2 years ago this month!

        • yorkieflyer says:

          2 Mar2 March 11:49

          Thanks Anna and Harry T , just logged in on the web to see
          “great news!
          You’re keeping your Gold status in 2021.Enjoy another year of perks including 80% Bonus Points on every stay.”

      • Travel Strong says:

        2 Mar2 March 11:49

        Don’t call. Just leave it be and all will be well, plat or no plat.

  • kitten says:

    2 Mar2 March 11:49

    generally hotel statuses might stick for a while ( or even more) after you cancel. Do NOT ask anyone about this just check your status from time to time to see.

    Priority Pass always stops working immediately as the card is no longer there for them to bill any extras to.

    • yorkieflyer says:

      2 Mar2 March 11:56

      indeed, disinclined to contravene my own advice not to ring in and flag stuff like this!
      Lost patience with paying £575 for Insurance that is flaky at best re pre existing conditions e.g. even high cholesterol and refusing insurance cover for FO advice against essential travel (unlike Nationwide) which also presumably undermined the car excess(has been very useful), Priority Pass next to useless at Manchester or London airports and Long haul always in J.
      Its just about washed its face with the retention offers in the last year but cant really stomach ponying up another annual fee.
      Happy to be argues into remaining!

      • Harry T says:

        2 Mar2 March 12:27

        @yorkieflyer
        Sounds like a good plan. I did well out of Amex offers and a retention bonus, plus an upgrade bonus etc, but felt the product didn’t offer any ongoing value, especially considering my poor experiences with their travel insurance. My hotel statuses and booking through Emyr has diluted the FHR benefits too, and it’s going to be a while before any lounges or travel destinations are open anyway. £575 would be more palatable if they offered a better earnings rate, 0% FX fees and an uber credit (Addison Lee utterly useless).

        • Lady London says:

          2 Mar2 March 12:41

          Uber would be good to have ib UK too as you can use it for UberEats!

        • 747_Brat says:

          2 Mar2 March 12:57

          Looking at Amex’s Uber credits and Eats Pass offering in the US, it certainly makes these cards worth retaining specially in the current climate. Eats Pass alone gives you unlimited free delivery and 5% off orders over $15.

          https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/campaigns/uber/

        • Andrew says:

          2 Mar2 March 13:04

          And I think there is an ongoing benefit of an annual Saks credit of $100 or something, similar to the one off ones we have seen in the UK for Selfridges etc. I do think Amex need to diversify their benefits from being so exclusively travel orientated.

        • Jamie says:

          2 Mar2 March 13:06

          Does it, how often you you be having take aways?

        • Optimus Prime says:

          2 Mar2 March 13:06

          And they’re now giving mobile phone insurance to Plat holders in the US…

        • Youllnever says:

          2 Mar2 March 15:25

          Pretty ironic that you’re still charged fx fee on a travel-oriented card

        • Yorkieflyer says:

          2 Mar2 March 19:26

          And virtually all the offers being London centric… I know I know, i’m the only Yorkshireman profligate enough to pay out £575 for a charge card

• Sauer Kraut says:

  2 Mar2 March 12:04

  Hi – anybody have experience of transferring Amex points to a new Amex card overseas? Might be moving to Germany this summer and have a healthy balance on my Plat card which I would like to carry over? Thanks.

  • Rob says:

    2 Mar2 March 12:32

    Works fine. The Membership Rewards T&C even explain how it works. Bottom line is: a) only one transfer per rolling 12 months is allowed and b) your UK balance is grossed up by the current Euro FX rate, so 100k UK points becomes 115k points in the German scheme.

    • Sauer Kraut says:

      2 Mar2 March 12:52

      Danke Rob! will check the T&Cs

• Mike says:

  2 Mar2 March 12:24

  On Curve, a refund from a flight that was booked with an old card but still active credit card account has ended up in Curve Cash, is there anyway to get it onto the new credit card?

  • Travel Strong says:

    2 Mar2 March 15:27

    You can use curve, pointed towards curve cash, to pay off (any) credit card balance, new one or any other.

  • Travel Strong says:

    2 Mar2 March 15:29

    * correction: replace [any] with [most]. Not all cc companies accept curve card numbers. But if you are a points collector, you will have a few in your wallet that will.

• abc says:

  2 Mar2 March 13:07

  Is there anything useful you can do with 10-15k Miles& More Miles that are expiring at the end of the month?

  • Rob says:

    2 Mar2 March 13:11

    Transfer to Heathrow Rewards – but they are locked there, you can’t move to Avios. Shopping vouchers are your only option.

  • Lady London says:

    2 Mar2 March 14:31

    Amazon vouchers – that’s how I cashed out my final residue when I dumped M&M

    Some things on Worldshop aren’t ridiculously bad value – I’ve bought Bose and latest Anker.

    The Miles&More spendable merchants list varies by which country site you select of Miles&More. Yes, you can order from another country site. Germany has the biggest selection but the UK version has Amazon option.

  • James says:

    2 Mar2 March 20:43

    Can you advise how you can tell which points expire and when? Thanks.

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