The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 9th March

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• cha says:

  9 Mar9 March 10:38

  Anyone have first hand info/experience in regards to traveling UK-CANADA in terms of quarantine/hotel/tests, when travelling with small kids.

  Thanks

  • SR says:

    9 Mar9 March 11:41

    Check out the Facebook group “Canadians in the UK”. A few people have shared their experiences!

  • The real John says:

    9 Mar9 March 15:40

    Flyertalk has plenty of discussion

  • Boi says:

    10 Mar10 March 03:45

    Sorry Cha, might be late for you- I travelled with 3 kids. It was a fuff as you have to apply for travel authorisation (separate from eTA) because not everyone is allowed into Canada right now. My family had to do the full 14 days quarantine but I was given an exemption by the immigration official as I was deemed essential…….their quarantine is certainly more strict than UK. At the time we travelled there was no need for covid test-now you need 1 before boarding a flight and another on arrival (you have to stay in an airport hotel for upto 3 nights awaiting results-totally enforced.

• Lev441 says:

  9 Mar9 March 11:05

  Definitely something up with curve at the moment.

  Ernie & HMRC failing but other transactions going through…

  Particularly annoying now that I have a £30k VAT bill due at the end of the month..

  • BlueHorizonUK says:

    9 Mar9 March 11:33

    Are the transactions going through with 3DS verification or without as I believe the error is down to 3DS but Curve being very coy about the exact issue. Paying HMRC is a feature of Metal so not sure how long they expect this feature to not work and to not compensate.

    • lev441 says:

      9 Mar9 March 12:11

      The transactions are going through via the app – saying theyre completed, but then get the decline email almost straight away. Amounts that i’ve tried to put through have gone through as pending on the underlying card..

      • Ali M says:

        9 Mar9 March 14:11

        😭😭😭

  • Dace says:

    9 Mar9 March 16:30

    What is Ernie?

    • Blenz101 says:

      9 Mar9 March 17:24

      NS&I. I think somebody mentioned the underlying payment provider changed to Barclays recently and as a result some people have had their preferred way of MS cut off.

      Has been spoken about here daily for months albeit in vague code. NS&I won’t cutting the route off because of comments on here though. There will have been a no doubt exponential spike in MS type payments costing somebody somewhere in the chain as more and more people jumped in.

      I can’t recall if when 3v came crashing down if NS&I did anything to the accounts involved at the time re:source of funds. From what I’ve read here I would have thought they would be obliged to investigate under KYC rules.

• aDifferentSimon says:

  9 Mar9 March 11:09

  easyjet now booking until 30/9/22

  • Jody says:

    9 Mar9 March 11:51

    Brilliant, thanks for this.

  • Ali M says:

    9 Mar9 March 14:12

    thanks for this 😍

• pigeon says:

  9 Mar9 March 11:17

  I started a MCOL case against Virgin Atlantic about an EC261 matter. They didn’t respond to the court papers, so now I have a default judgement against them.

  Of course, I hope they just pay it. But if they don’t, it seems like I’ll need to work hard to enforce this. Any tips?

  • Genghis says:

    9 Mar9 March 11:24

    Escalate to the high court and send round the HCEOs? (Hope it then makes it onto the telly).

    • Super Secret Stuff says:

      9 Mar9 March 11:33

      I would try just ringing them first.

      Then as Genghis alludes too, would make one hell of a news story if an anonymous tip were to mysteriously end up with a news service! 😉

      • Anna says:

        9 Mar9 March 11:53

        I’m sure there was a story a few years ago about court enforcement officers turning up at BA’s HQ to recover a debt!

        • ChrisC says:

          9 Mar9 March 12:38

          I think it was actually against Iberia or Vuelling who had an office at Waterside rather than BA.

          They did threaten to impound an easy jet plane a Gatwick once as well

          HCEOs are Sherrifs and have more powers than a mere bailiff including right of entry.

        • pigeon says:

          9 Mar9 March 12:42

          As much as Virgin has annoyed me and tried to screw me over, I just want my money!

          Bailiffs boarding a Virgin flight to raid the bars and then auctioning the booze would make an excellent story, but I really hope it doesn’t come to this. I’d rather they just quietly send me a cheque and we can then move on.

  • kitten says:

    9 Mar9 March 13:55

    phone them

    ….entertaining though the suggestions of other posters are 🙂

    Ask to speak to their Legal Dept and provide the confirm your bank account details for the settlement.

  • Phil says:

    9 Mar9 March 15:41

    Michael Lukes is the Legal Director responsible for Regulatory & Compliance issues. It wouldn’t be difficult to send him a letter and/or email entitled Enforcement Action. I suspect that might speed things up.

• Dan says:

  9 Mar9 March 11:22

  Anyone elders nectar offers absolutely abysmal this week. We have three nectar cards and the offer for this week have been 6 per card each with either 10/20 bonus points. The other one is better but still a major decline from a couple of weeks ago when it totalled 1000 across the three cards.

  • John says:

    9 Mar9 March 11:24

    Been lots of people saying same on board all week

  • Andrew says:

    9 Mar9 March 14:06

    Just got my new ones for this week:-

    10pts – 1pt Semi Skimmed
    10pts – Any Jam or Honey
    20pts – Fresh figs
    20pts – Olive Spread
    20pts – Easy Peelers
    20pts – Genoa Cake
    120pts – Drury Lane Ham
    30pts – Raspberry Trifle
    20pts – Jazz Apples
    10pts – SC&C Dip
    10pts – Coleslaw
    10pts – Soup
    10pts – Bread
    20pts – Melon
    10pts – Carrots
    20pts – Tangerines
    10pts – 12x500ml Bottled Water
    20pts – Diet Ginger beer
    10pts – C&S Mash
    20pts – Mango

    So 420 extra Nectar points at Sainsbury’s or use my £10 off £40 voucher at Tesco.

    • Ali M says:

      9 Mar9 March 14:55

      10 off 40 @ Tesco ? how did that happen?details pls 😍

      • Sandra says:

        9 Mar9 March 15:45

        I have been sent 1 x £7 off £50 & 2 x £5 off £50 to use over 3 consecutive weeks at Tesco, probably because I’ve spent very little there since Xmas & usually it’s been my daughter who has been home from uni using her card for odd things & I’ve paid her back. I doubt I will use the vouchers as last week I went to Lidl and probably will this week too as I don’t need much. I’m hoping Tesco will increase their offers in a few weeks to maybe £10 off to try & woo me back. Nectar points this week are rubbish too, small amounts adding up to about 200 in total so I doubt I will use Sainsbury for a while either.

    • PJJ says:

      9 Mar9 March 15:59

      Got my weekly offers this morning and just done an offers shop only
      Spent £12.45 and got 520 bonus points
      10 pts – loose potatoes (2)
      10 pts – any soup
      50 pts – ginger preserve
      60 pts – haddock fishcakes
      60 pts – singapore rice noodles
      60 pts – wholemeal bread
      60 pts – 4 pt milk
      90 pts – golden delious apples
      120 pts – 400g cheese
      All items Sainsbury’s brand

      • PJJ says:

        9 Mar9 March 16:03

        I miscalculated is was 520 bonus points on a £10.21 shop

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    9 Mar9 March 14:48

    They cannot have an unlimited marketing budget. It had to stop sooner than later.

• Josh says:

  9 Mar9 March 11:35

  Hi all,

  About to read 10k spend for amex plat biz and 100k points. I dont want to convert them away from MR yet until I know where I want to use them, however I want to cancel this card asap.

  It’s in wifes name. Last personal amex she had was closed in Jan 2020. Is there a card I can open that wont reset the 24 month period but will also allow me to move her MR points to so I can cancel the biz card?

  If not, where’s best place to keep them?

  Thanks!

  • Amar Dattani says:

    9 Mar9 March 12:00

    I think downgrading to the gold card wouldn’t affect your personal Amex card clock and still let you keep the MR points . . . but I’ll let the experts confirm 🙂

    • Amar Dattani says:

      9 Mar9 March 12:01

      And obviously avoid the fees . . .

  • Rob says:

    9 Mar9 March 12:11

    No, basically. It would need to be a Membership Rewards-earning card, and those are the exact same cards that block her from getting a new bonus on a personal Amex.

    However, BAPP would not be impacted under the 24 month rule so she’d still be fine to get that in Jan 2022.

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    9 Mar9 March 14:49

    Move them to ICC card

• Augustiner says:

  9 Mar9 March 11:51

  Am I right in thinking I can book EasyJet flights early May from Bristol to Bilbao and if they are cancelled move them cost free and without cost increase to October half term Bristol – Tenerife?

  • Anna says:

    9 Mar9 March 11:58

    Yes – I’m hoping for exactly this, £40 pp from MAN to Bilbao! If they don’t end up being cancelled you can still move them to another date/airport though you’ll have to pay the fare difference.
    However, the flights haven’t been cancelled yet, even though other readers have had early May flights to other destinations cancelled some weeks ago, so it is a bit of a gamble.

    • Jody says:

      9 Mar9 March 13:17

      Hopefully they’ll cancel them soon Anna. I’ve got Corfu flights in early May that I’m wanting to get cancelled.

      On the brightside, now that flights are out until September 2022 I’m trying to decide where to book our cancelled Alicante flights to.

      • Anna says:

        9 Mar9 March 13:32

        Let us know where you decide! I can get a week’s accommodation free near Malaga at Feb half term but I’m tempted to go for Canaries for better weather …

        • kitten says:

          9 Mar9 March 13:57

          I think Easyjet will try to fly its holiday destinations in May and then onwards.

        • Jody says:

          9 Mar9 March 14:34

          At the moment we’re considering the end of May/early June to make use of the extra bank holiday next year. Husband doesn’t work Fridays, so if we got a flight late Thursday evening, then came back the following Sunday, we could have almost a week and a half away and it would only cost him 3 days annual leave.

          Currently considering Majorca, Menorca or Malaga. Looking at various gluten free bloggers and googling to see which may be the best option, but it seems like all 3 might be pretty good!

        • Jody says:

          9 Mar9 March 15:25

          Decided on Majorca. Flights all changed. Cost to us £81, actual cost of new flights should be £430.

        • Anna says:

          9 Mar9 March 16:01

          Result! I think Spain is pretty good for special diets these days, one of my Spanish cousins doesn’t eat wheat or dairy. The supermarkets also always have a better selection of sugar free products than over here.

        • Jody says:

          9 Mar9 March 16:17

          The selection of GF goods in Spanish supermarkets appears to be far superior to ours! One of the reasons we decided to do Spain. We’re going to Tenerife for New Year (also moved easyJet flights!) and am hoping it will be good dietary wise.

• roberto says:

  9 Mar9 March 12:01

  Curve replied to my issue about using the card to pay Amex. They said

  “I’m really sorry to hear that you’re experiencing a problem while trying to pay with your Curve Card.

  It seems that the 3DS version used by the merchant might be incompatible with the version implemented by Curve. Let me assure you that we’re currently investigating this issue with the relevant team and we’ll get back to you as soon as we have any updates.

  Just to manage your expectations, we don’t have a set timeframe to resolve this for you at the moment and I’d suggest using an alternative payment method for this transaction.”

  This looks like an issue that might run and run.

  • Anna says:

    9 Mar9 March 12:04

    Thanks for this roberto, surely it’s going to hurt Curve if they don’t get this sorted soon?!

    • Jayne says:

      9 Mar9 March 14:49

      And your points collecting.

  • Tonyb says:

    9 Mar9 March 14:50

    That doesn’t sound good I was just about to switch to Curve Metal I think I will hold off

  • Jonny says:

    9 Mar9 March 16:59

    Also had several HMRC payment attempts fail today with Curve Metal. Got verbatim the same response from Curve customer service .

    For me the whole point of Metal is to settle large bills that don’t accept CC. I’ve just been charged my Curve renewal. Feeling annoyed. If this is widespread/blanket failure, can @Rob escalate with them?

    • Blenz101 says:

      9 Mar9 March 17:29

      Is it curve fronted that is failing then? Paying tax bills is certainly a feature they do advertise for metal.

      Doubt they would have much time loading up NS&I savings accounts though.

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