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The HfP chat thread – Friday 12th March

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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.

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Comments (335)

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

  • Benilyn says:
    12 Mar12 March 15:51

    Gold biz hit 5k, got my 50k (or is it 52k on referral) posted immediately. The tracker was not showing on the Amex website or app (in case some people are worried).

  • NC says:
    12 Mar12 March 16:21

    In all previous months my Virgin CC has produced a statement on the 10th and the points have posted to my Flying Club account on the same day. This month, no sign of the points yet. Has anyone else experienced delays?

    • Ash Raj says:
      12 Mar12 March 16:48

      Yes funnily enough I had the same issue – statement on the 10th and no point yet. They are usually quite efficient in posting. Hope this wont become a long term issue like IHG!

    • Sean says:
      12 Mar12 March 17:08

      i thought it was every 31 days not same day each month (mine was 3 days later this month 7th from 4th last month).

  • Dan says:
    12 Mar12 March 17:07

    When trying to buy PB through Ernie with Bendy/Beardy, the transaction went through on my apps (with no fee), but it is not showing on my Ernie account… I also did not get the e-mail confirmation either. Does this mean the transaction was declined? Anyone experienced this before?

    • Tom says:
      12 Mar12 March 17:10

      I am afraid that route look appears to be over now. The transaction will be reversed in a few days.

    • Sean says:
      12 Mar12 March 17:12

      Have always had a receipt even if declined.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        12 Mar12 March 17:46

        Yes it will say if it’s declined.

        It does sometimes play up successful transactions show up after a couple working days. I wouldn’t worry for now.

        • Dan says:
          12 Mar12 March 17:56

          Thanks, will wait a couple of days to see what happens. Thought it was strange that I didn’t get the instant e-mail through though, as I made a similar transaction yesterday with a different underlying card in curve and it worked fine.

          • Genghis says:
            12 Mar12 March 18:37

            There’s a rec IIRC at t+2 working days which picks up such transactions and if successful should then post. Give it a couple of days. Such things have happened to me a couple of times. Having cookies on and no blockers is apparently important for the top up process.

  • Roselin says:
    12 Mar12 March 17:56

    My anniversary for the IHG card passed in Jan and I’ve not received the free night voucher as yet, is this usual?? Thanks

    • Jimbob says:
      12 Mar12 March 18:08

      Sadly, yes. Make a formal complaint and you’ll get £150 compo and a promise they’ll look into it, but can promise a timescale due to covid.
      I’m still waiting for my voucher 12 months later

    • Harrier25 says:
      12 Mar12 March 18:08

      My anniversary comes up at the end of this month and if my free night voucher doesn’t appear on the account then I will demand a refund of the £99 fee and if they refuse, I will drag them to the FOS.

      • r* says:
        12 Mar12 March 19:36

        Still waiting for mine since November. Ill be wanting more than £99 if they wont give the voucher tho as the free night is worth more than just the annual fee.

        • Harrier25 says:
          12 Mar12 March 19:55

          Agreed. I’ll hit them hard after Easter if the free night voucher hasn’t been received and report back with what I achieve. I’ll even try to make it slightly more interesting than all the Ernie with Bendy posts!

          • FatherOfFour says:
            12 Mar12 March 20:05

            What free night is this? I have just passed my anniversary and nothing. I assumed the sign-up bonus, was equivalent to the free night. Was this for premium or basic card?

          • TGLoyalty says:
            12 Mar12 March 21:29

            Premium has a free night voucher

          • Jayne says:
            13 Mar13 March 02:03

            Yes, you do that big man.

      • kitten says:
        12 Mar12 March 22:57

        Why not see if they’ll give you £150 (not the first time above, that that sum has been mentioned on here) before you only demand your £99 back?

        • Harrier25 says:
          12 Mar12 March 23:14

          That’s because we were posting at the same time and he’s clearly a faster typer than me!

  • Fola says:
    12 Mar12 March 17:58

    I was trying to pay HMRC with Curve, but £4.99 charge is applied to my bill.This is new to me.Have they just recently intoduced this? I have recently upgraded from Curve blue to Curve metal,but I can still use my Curve blue before the delivery of the Curve metal. Does this have any impact on on the charge? Once I entered the crad, this the message:
    Card type Mastercard/Maestro Corporate Debit/Prepaid (+£4.99)

    • stevenhp1987 says:
      12 Mar12 March 18:16

      Sounds like you have a commercial card… Does it say commercial on the back?

      Only personal Curve cards avoid the fee.

      Contact Curve and ask for a personal card.

      • Fola says:
        12 Mar12 March 18:19

        Yes,it has commercial on the back,but I have always used the curve blue( with commercial on the back) to pay HMRC.

        • Harrier25 says:
          12 Mar12 March 20:27

          HMRC introduced a fee for paying with Commercial/Business debit cards in November last year. No charge if paying with Personal debit cards.

  • bill says:
    12 Mar12 March 18:05

    I read this on another forum:

    The BA lounge in T3 has been temporarily closed since March 2020 – same as the other BA lounges outside London. Unfortunately the BA lounge will not reopen and will be permanently closed now.

    It’s possible there may be some lounge provision when airlines move in to T2 – there was some talk of a oneworld lounge for BA/AA/CX/QR/AY – but that’s all a way off yet.

    • bill says:
      12 Mar12 March 18:06

      sorry, i forgot to mention that it refers to Manchester

      • Anna says:
        12 Mar12 March 19:02

        That’s annoying if true! How are they going to explain that to their CE and status passengers?! It was a nice space to wait for a flight with a glass of fizz even though the food wasn’t anything special.

        • DAJ says:
          12 Mar12 March 19:16

          Agree. I feel that BA need to give some indication as to what is happening regarding lounge provision outside of London when things start picking up. As a frequent user of NCL with travel booked from June onwards, I for one would like to know what the plan is!

        • meta says:
          12 Mar12 March 19:53

          T3 has Cathay Pacific, Qantas, AA lounges. No need for a BA lounge. In fact, I only went in once and turned around immediately and went back to Cathay Pacific.

          • meta says:
            12 Mar12 March 19:55

            But yes, outside London it’s even worse. I think they’ll need to provide access to Priority Pass lounges.

          • PaulW says:
            12 Mar12 March 19:56

            Not in Manchester they don’t 😉

          • Jill (Kinkell) says:
            12 Mar12 March 20:07

            Yes…we did that. The BA lounge was rammed and no where for the 2 of us to sit together. If flying out of T3…Qantas for coffee and Cathay for food!

          • Lord Doncaster says:
            12 Mar12 March 22:59

            T3 Manchester, meta

            Shame if the MAN BA lounge won’t reopen, it was a nice big airy space.

        • David D says:
          12 Mar12 March 20:24

          Might be sent into the 1903 Lounge. Pigs might fly first though.

          • Tiff says:
            12 Mar12 March 21:15

            Love the 1903 lounge at MAN. Good reason to fly AF/KLM and ignore BA. Other comments here reinforce the headforlondon.com bias on this site.

  • Dace says:
    12 Mar12 March 18:18

    What is Ernie?

  • Craig says:
    12 Mar12 March 21:03

    Barclays Avios account showing 25000 collected with Barclays. This is in the app, rewards, see activity, they’ve not been added to my BAEC yet but bodes well.

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