The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 2nd March

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

We are running 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.

Category

General

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

Andrew says:

2 Mar2 March 16:28

Anyone tried the Daily Mail nectar to M&S voucher route and spent the voucher on food?
maccymac says:

2 Mar2 March 16:34

Notification on Nectar app stating that Nectar will not be available between 11pm tonight and 6AM Wednesday the 7th of March (!??) due to essential maintenance.

I hope they mean Wednesday the 3rd of March and not Sunday (which is the 7th) or even worse still next Wednesday, which is the 10th!
- maccymac says:
  
  2 Mar2 March 16:54
  
  Fixed now… 3rd of March
  - Sundar says:
    
    2 Mar2 March 16:54
    
    In reaction to Budget ? 🙂
- Andrew says:
  
  2 Mar2 March 16:58
  
  Hopefully to get Avios to Nectar transfers back up and running. My eBay basket is filling up!
  - Harrier25 says:
    
    2 Mar2 March 18:56
    
    When should the 500 bonus Avios points be added for converting 1,600 Nectar points to 1,000 Avios because I haven’t received mine yet.
    - Andrew says:
      
      2 Mar2 March 20:30
      
      I think it was 28 days after the closing date, so mid- March
      - Harrier25 says:
        
        2 Mar2 March 20:55
        
        Okay, thanks Andrew.
Ghosty says:

2 Mar2 March 16:40

Virgin Money Current Account
Just phoned Santander/ Alliance & Leicester to change my mortgage DD via Virgin Money and the CS said my sort code ‘does not exist’ despite receiving the card from Virgin, transferring money into it from another bank, and after the call using a online sort code checker.
- Anuj says:
  
  2 Mar2 March 17:01
  
  Just add the virgin account to paypal as a bank account which will set up a PayPal direct debit. (If you’re only doing this for the points and not to switch to virgin permanent)
- Andrew says:
  
  2 Mar2 March 20:51
  
  Is it a newly created SortCode?
  
  Chances are the Sprogitt & Sylvester simply haven’t updated their sortcode look-up file from PayUK.
Anuj says:

2 Mar2 March 16:52

Am I right in thinking the nectar Amex gives more avios per £ than the free ba card?
- Rob says:
  
  2 Mar2 March 17:05
  
  Yes, but it’s £25 after the first year.
  - Andrew says:
    
    2 Mar2 March 17:14
    
    And no 2for1 voucher
Mouse says:

2 Mar2 March 17:00

Have Amex referral bonuses changed recently? I’m seeing 18k for referrer / 50k for person referred on the (personal) platinum and 14k/30k on BAPP. I thought they used to be much lower.
- Rob says:
  
  2 Mar2 March 17:04
  
  There are targetted bonuses being offered – Amex is testing out what works best.
  - Yorkieflyer says:
    
    2 Mar2 March 19:18
    
    Referring each other regularly works best, which is perhaps why neither Mrs Yorkieflyer nor I have been targeted 🧐
Harry T says:

2 Mar2 March 17:21

Has anyone found a good deal for the Economist? I’m getting offered a 50% discount for a year which is £89.50 for print or print and digital for £107.50.
- Alex says:
  
  2 Mar2 March 19:05
  
  I’ve been waiting for an avios annual subscription offer since Nov last year. They did a 3-month one a few weeks back, but come mid-April I’ll be back to looking for an offer…
- Yorkieflyer says:
  
  2 Mar2 March 19:19
  
  Ever thought of being a part time Mountie?
- kitten says:
  
  3 Mar3 March 08:49
  
  won’t bw long till the next avios bonus promo I guess. I mostly did mine in CAD sent hard copy to friend there used the digital myself.
  
  USD rate now around $1.40 and likely to improve in UK favour and CAD likely similar moves so if doing Economist promo again the Mounties look a good bet.
  
  Has anyone seen The Economist on any of the digital services? it’s not on Pressreader neither is it on Readly
- kitten says:
  
  3 Mar3 March 08:50
  
  PS someone said they have repeatedly made use of the student-type £1 for each of 12 issues promo that recurs
Phil says:

2 Mar2 March 18:35

Revolut Question – I’ve recently started seeing a Fee for Adding Money using my Curve Card. Is this being applied to all Curve Cards or is it just because I am using one of the original BETA Commercial Cards?
- Kevin says:
  
  2 Mar2 March 19:06
  
  Yes this has happened since mid of Feb and can’t make use of bendy or any cc now.
  - Harrier25 says:
    
    2 Mar2 March 20:03
    
    Absolute nonsense. Yes, you can still top-up your Revolut account with a credit card. I use Creation IHG and if you make sure its in credit when you top up then there is no interest charged. There is no reason why you would use Curve for this, but if you are being charged by Revolut then you are topping up using a Curve Business/Corporate card.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  2 Mar2 March 20:27
  
  Who is charging the fee? Curve or your credit card?
  
  There is no benefit to using curve to top up Rev as it passes through the MCC and You can top up Revolut directly with a CC
  - Secret Squirrel says:
    
    2 Mar2 March 21:25
    
    See comments like this all the time. Why do some always use Curve for everything using up the annual limit where it could be used elsewhere better?
    Just try a small test purchase first direct.
- Phil says:
  
  3 Mar3 March 10:22
  
  Thanks all – it was Revolut seeking to apply the charge. I actually hadn’t appreciated you could top up Revolut with a CC. Just used my IHG card which was in credit and that appears to have worked.
John W says:

2 Mar2 March 18:54

Off subject of travel a bit …..
Car leasing , anyone can recommend best company in inexperience ( offers \ service ).
I have used nationwide in the past
- John W says:
  
  2 Mar2 March 18:55
  
  Not inexperience ! In your experience
  - Tariq says:
    
    2 Mar2 March 19:44
    
    Do you mean broker or funder? I’ve used a variety in the past and just tend to go with whoever’s cheapest and has access to stock (if the deal is in built stock as opposed to factory order).
- Memesweeper says:
  
  2 Mar2 March 20:49
  
  Lings Cars is worth a look 🙂
  - ash says:
    
    2 Mar2 March 22:49
    
    😂
- Louise K says:
  
  2 Mar2 March 22:12
  
  We are with Nationwide too and I think their prices are very good.
  
  However, we are looking at a Volvo next and their own prices are better than Nationwide – must do the sums first. Can also do an excellent service deal when going down this route.
- Grant says:
  
  2 Mar2 March 22:27
  
  Screen scrapers like leaseloco or leasing.com are a good place to start. Main dealers will often match or beat brokers without the admin fees. Leasing works best if you are flexible and happy to jump on a deal straight away, rather than going in with a specific make and model in mind. Good deals are typically <25% of p11d values when worked out over 2 years and they are limited numbers so go quick. The hot and cold site often features good deals.