The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 17th March

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John says:

17 Mar17 March 11:56

Applied for Amex business gold – just received email stating going through final checks but need additional information – says who to send it to but NOT what info needed.
Anyone had same? Can you tell me what docs they asked for?
Thanks
- Hotelier says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 12:03
  
  I was asked for ID and proof of address. Points from referral were posted in OH account even before I sent the documentation.
Doug M says:

17 Mar17 March 12:23

Re the Virgin Money transfer points offer. Having been sent the wine offer I found it quite difficult to get any acknowledgement of how to resolve the problem. I stuck to secure messages regardless of initials denials of any points offer and have now received a reply that someone will be dealing with this, cancelling the wine offer and sending a code for the points. I’ll see how it goes, but it seems really stupid to make such a mess of an transfer incentive, why would anyway stay for such poor customer service when there’s no need once you have the points.
- Ghosty says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 12:48
  
  They told me that last Thursday
  no new code yet
  - Bee says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 12:59
    
    They told me that yesterday- said to give it a couple of days for them to withdraw the wine offer and send the correct promo code.
    
    I will give it until Monday before looking into it again.
    - Bee says:
      
      17 Mar17 March 13:45
      
      A call came in from a Virgin agent and I was given the code, just entered it and it worked – now have the 15k points
      A bit of a hassle and no message or email to confirm it.
      - Ghosty says:
        
        17 Mar17 March 15:40
        
        I have just had ‘the call’ as well
        15k points bagged
- M says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 16:18
  
  Yup, I spent quite a long time on the phone to an agent on 5th March – no resolution at this stage.
  Then next week I received a call saying “we will cancel the wine voucher and issue points voucher, please sit tight”.
  Then today (17th March) I got another call with the points voucher – worked without problems in the app.
Jamie says:

17 Mar17 March 12:26

Just wondered if anyone has applied for an HSBC Premier account semi-recently and can shed light on how long the process usually takes? Applied online almost 2 weeks ago now, received a request to provide payslips/bank statement a couple of days later then nothing since!
- Allan says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 20:40
  
  about 1 week for acceptance, another 1-2 weeks for the cards to all be through.
  - Jamie says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 21:26
    
    Thanks Allan. I guess I’ll keep waiting then!
Colin MacKinnon says:

17 Mar17 March 12:31

I was very grumpy in November when I booked a Jet flight on Monday for the following Wednesday, only for it to be cancelled on the Tuesday.

Jet2 refunded the fare immediately, even though I emailed to say I wanted rebooked to the Saturday Ryanair flight. Never pursued, wasn’t worth the hassle for 20-ish quid.

Today, a mystery payment in my account from Jet2. It was that fare difference!
- Lady London says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 14:45
  
  you dont have to accept an involuntary refund @Colin.
  
  If you want a reroute onto the Ryanair flight that is your right. Then Jet2 would be liable for any increased cost if they effectively put you in a position where you had to book it yourself.
  
  Are you saying that’s what Jet2 have put into your account… ie after refunding you the original amount, have they now also refunded you a price difference you quoted them?
  
  If so good show on the part of Jet2.
SimonP says:

17 Mar17 March 14:02

I don’t know if this is new news, but I discovered from my Barclays travel insurance that they do not provide cancellation cover for flights booked during the time we are “not allowed” to travel, regardless of when the actual flight is. Relevant to me trying to book flights now (not allowed to travel) for travel within the US in October (hopefully allowed to travel).
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 14:10
  
  Most insurance companies work like that. It’s a known risk and insurance doesn’t cover you for known risks.
- John says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 14:27
  
  Told again 6 months ago – only insured if legally allowed to travel when booked AND only insured when on holiday if legally allowed to travel when your flight departed.
- Tracey says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 18:39
  
  I phoned up NatWest reward insurance about this during November lockdown and they said I could book for December as the end of November lockdown was a pre-announced fixed date. I was surprised as a previous call, for a holiday that ended up being cancelled, they said that you can’t book when travel isn’t allowed at the time of booking.
  So maybe worth checking.
  - Jackie says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 18:44
    
    Nat West told me the opposite this week. Only covered if no restrictions when you book.
Lol says:

17 Mar17 March 14:23

I’d like to pay a small four figure lump sum into an Aviva pension plan before the end of the tax year and get some points. Apologies to those who think code names are useless but if I use real names I’ll upset someone else! Can I use bendy with beardy or creation underlying to pay the lump sum without incurring a charge? It would be non fronted.
- Josh says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 15:23
  
  im a metal user and I would like to know the exact same thing. Hoping to put around 10k into my pension before tax year ends
- Ste Cox says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 15:25
  
  I have been visiting this site for a couple of years now and I think ‘beardy’ is the only one I havent figured out (although I have an idea which it could be)
  - Lol says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 15:33
    
    Think of Richard B!
    - Ste Cox says:
      
      17 Mar17 March 15:43
      
      ahh… i was wrong with my guess then, I even have that card. haha
- Genghis says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 15:36
  
  Creation almost certainly no or at least not in meaningful amounts. Virgin, I don’t know the latest tbh.
  
  Does the Aviva pension plan (I guess a current or previous workplace pension) offer better costs than you yourself can do via a SIPP?
  - Rob says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 16:30
    
    My Aviva plan only charges 0.45%. It was higher but I had it restructured post banking for £200 or so to remove all trail commissions.
    
    The website also shows a ‘large fund rebate’ of 0.1% but not sure if that is before or after the 0.45%.
    - Genghis says:
      
      17 Mar17 March 19:00
      
      0.45% isn’t bad. Mine are just over 0.1% but that’s as cheap as it goes.
      
      But you can DIY for say 0.3% variable or even less if a sizeable pot on a fixed fee platform.
      
      I partial transfer out my wife’s current workplace pension which is 0.5%.
      
      May not sound much but compounded these savings amount to £££££. You just need to think about it once and then implement once a year maybe. One of those £10k / h tasks I mentioned last week.
      - Anuj says:
        
        17 Mar17 March 20:01
        
        Sadly some pension schemes will close if you transfer out, like Nest. Yes you can reopen it but it does create a lot of faff
- mark2 says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 16:27
  
  From my experience, it is Bendy who will be the problem. He is very inflexible!
- Polly says:
  
  18 Mar18 March 00:07
  
  I pay ours in annually with the hsbc WE or premier card. They also take our PHI premiums monthly direct debit from curve.
Jon says:

17 Mar17 March 14:24

Does anyone know – is the twelve-month validity of an e-ticket (on BA) tied to the booking reference or the ticket number?

(This may be of interest to @Aston100 – following on from my earlier question on page 2 here).

Just curious as I noticed just now that each time my flight got changed (which has happened a couple of times already – involuntary reroute then involuntary date change), a new ticket number was issued, most recently on 31st December 2020 – so would that extend the ticket validity out to 31st December 2021?
- Joe says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 15:52
  
  I noticed this too, and wondered the same!
- Nadeshka says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 16:47
  
  I know a reader on here commented that they were told that it was the original booking date – even though they took a FTV, as it kept the same reference and they could see the original flight. They were therefore refused any reschedule when the later flight was cancelled as already past 1 year.
  
  However I had no issue rescheduling a flight multiple times originally booked in April 2019, flight dates were: April 2020 (cancelled) – March 2021 ( took FTV) – Feb 2021 (cancelled) – June 2021 (current).
  I took a FTV for the March 2021 flights to rebook them for a “more likely” (haha in hindsight) destination for February during the avios sale in October 2020. I still have the same reference as the original April flights and the itinerary still includes all the previous flights (and I have received check-in reminders in the app!)
meta says:

17 Mar17 March 15:12

Covid passports called Digital Green Passports in the EU by 1 June. You can travel if you had vaccine, negative test or recovered from covid in the last 180 days. Children will need to have the test or proof of recovery.
- Zoe says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 15:20
  
  Not sure if we could get one? A step in the right direction though.
- Optimus Prime says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 15:36
  
  So for people with family in the EU that means if you get your 2nd jab before end of June, you’ll need a booster (if it’s available) or pay £150 for a PCR test if you want to visit your family in Christmas.
  - Garry says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 15:41
    
    so if you get vaccinated (which doesn’t guarantee you stop getting covid NOR pass it on) you can skip the PCR tests?
    - Optimus Prime says:
      
      17 Mar17 March 15:46
      
      Most countries are saying they’ll welcome vaccinated tourists without quarantine or testing requirements.
  - ChrisC says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 16:20
    
    I’d assume that the 6 months is a placer and will be adjusted once more data is available on the longer term effectiveness of the vaccines.
    
    Remember not that many people have had two jabs so not much data available.
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      17 Mar17 March 16:44
      
      I assume it’s a 2021 phenomenon anyway.
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 16:43
    
    £80 via expresstest
    - Optimus Prime says:
      
      17 Mar17 March 17:04
      
      Didn’t know about expresstest, thank you.
  - meta says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 18:33
    
    The digital passport is only a temporary measure. Once WHO says pandemic is over the passport will be abolished. Also why would you need a booster, it is not currently known whether this will be needed. The passport will show that you completed a vaccination programme (so if you get Johnson&Johnson one then it’s only one shot).
- The Lord says:
  
  17 Mar17 March 16:25
  
  I would be shocked if they have this up and running by June 1. Not exactly the fastest when it comes to implementation of new ideas which impact all members
  - meta says:
    
    17 Mar17 March 18:36
    
    The presentation included mock designs. Remember discussions have been taking place for months now behind the closed doors. It will be launched for sure as tourist dependent EU countries want it.