The HfP chat thread – Saturday 20th 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.

Steve says:

20 Mar20 March 10:49

Doesn’t look like they work with MVNO networks like Sky, Virgin mobile etc
- Connor says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 11:03
  
  They just send the money to your Paypal instead.
  - Anuj says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 11:12
    
    Are you sure ? Tried to set my mum up but it wouldn’t let me go any further after selecting other for network
  - Steve says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 12:58
    
    Sending to PayPal is a thing?
Mikeact says:

20 Mar20 March 10:54

Thanks, Talkmobile not supported.
Andrew says:

20 Mar20 March 11:12

I wouldn’t describe the offers as “amazing”, “better than nothing” might be a more appropriate description.
- Greg says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 12:54
  
  Yes, but it’s easier to sell his referral when the offers are “amazing”.
  - Alex says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 14:37
    
    I can share tomorrow how many used my amazing code)
    - Graeme says:
      
      22 Mar22 March 13:39
      
      Make that 11 😉
- Andrew says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 13:36
  
  For a start the offers are targeted and come and go, so you might have Morrison’s now for a few weeks and then not see again for a year. Like the Amex offers, these are a bonus and one shouldn’t get too attached to them if they come and go, so calculating how much you’ll save based on what you’re offered today is quite meaningless.
- Reney says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 15:46
  
  Do you have big enough mobile bill to cash them out against? I have earned 6 months worth of phone bill using just one Morrison offer! I’m currently WFH full time and have downgraded to £6 per month GiffGaff goodybag (more than enough).
Richster says:

20 Mar20 March 11:18

I got the eMail from AAdvantage that my miles will expire in 6 months. As I’m unlikely to travel in the US before that, what other options are there to prevent the miles from expiring? Last year I think I did something on AwardWallet? that gave me 5 miles… I can’t remember now… is there something similar this year or some other way to keep them current?
- ChrisC says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 11:28
  
  There is a thread on the AA board of flyer talk on this very subject (though it’s very US centric as to be expected some of the suggestions will apply over here) so have a look at that.
  - Richster says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 11:32
    
    Thanks ChrisC, looking now…
- Louie says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 11:35
  
  The Awardwallet comment still works.
- RussellH says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 14:26
  
  Comment on the Award Wallet blog.
- Lyn says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 20:06
  
  Have you tried signing in to you AA account and checking if you have any current promotions? They had one in December which gave most people 100 free miles just for activating the offer as some sort of “thank you” promotion. Their miles should last 2 years.
  
  Otherwise buying something small through their eShopping site might work if award wallet doesn’t.
  - Mikeact says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 21:23
    
    I have a ton of unused AA miles which show as valid with no expiration date..but then they do go back 20+ years.
    - Lyn says:
      
      21 Mar21 March 04:33
      
      That changed though. I also had some of those “unexpiring” miles from well over 20 years ago. They gave notice and swapped them quite a long time ago for normal “expiring” miles but at least gave a bonus of something like 25% in the process. So I think you may find they are subject to expiration as well.
mart says:

20 Mar20 March 11:35

Soon to change my utilities – which are easiest to top up with amex? Thanks!
- BuildBackBetter says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 11:42
  
  Read Crafty’s comment previous page
- Harry T says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 12:20
  
  Octopus allow top ups.
  
  If you this link, you can get £50 for signing up.
  share.octopus.energy/green-otter-673
  
  I (my gf) also gets £50, in the interests of full disclosure. We are very pleased with Octopus customer service so far.
  - Harry T says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 12:21
    
    Should say they allow Amex top ups! And I meant “use this link”
  - CH says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 12:37
    
    Kudos to you for the disclosure and not describing it as “amazing” 😉
    - Harry T says:
      
      20 Mar20 March 12:38
      
      Ha I don’t think I can get excited about utilities or airtime rewards 😂
  - RussellH says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 14:31
    
    Octopus CS were a total pain for several months.
    They kept telling me that I had to increase my D/D from £10 to ~£90, even though I owed them nothing because I topped up with Amex.
    After the third time I wrote them a somewhat rude e-mail, suggesting they actually **read** all the previous e-mails they had been sent, and the complaints about my £10 D/D have now stopped (touch wood).
    - Harry T says:
      
      20 Mar20 March 15:22
      
      Sorry to hear that Russell, I’m glad it was sorted in the end. We’ve had the odd mishap when switching to them due to our complex meter, but they seem well intentioned and the overall CS experience has been affable and responsive.
    - BJ says:
      
      20 Mar20 March 18:53
      
      Scottish Power cancelled my DD three times in 2 months andbtgen complain I don’t pay them.
      - Crafty says:
        
        20 Mar20 March 21:43
        
        BJ, I am pleased with the resolution of my months-long complaint with Scottish Power following the transition from Yorkshire Energy. They comped my (significant) balance. I have reason to believe the call centre are incentivised on number of days to resolution; if you feel you have genuine reason to complain, then in my view you may do well out of them.
  - southlondonphil says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 18:05
    
    You are your own GF? That’s progressive! 😀
AJA says:

20 Mar20 March 11:51

Tokyo Olympics to go ahead but without overseas spectators.

“Based on the present situation of the pandemic, it is highly unlikely that entry into Japan will be guaranteed this summer for people from overseas.

“In order to give clarity to ticket-holders living overseas and to enable them to adjust their travel plans at this stage, the parties on the Japanese side have come to the conclusion that they will not be able to enter into Japan at the time of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. This conclusion will further contribute to ensure safe and secure Games for all participants and the Japanese public.”
- Harry T says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 12:42
  
  It’s a shame, really. But I think the Japanese government needs to host some kind of event so they don’t lose all the money they’ve invested into the project. I suspect the hotels etc will be sorely disappointed though.
- WaynedP says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 12:47
  
  What a great pity for Japan and it’s people who really deserve to have the opportunity to showcase their country and its impressive, industrious culture.
  
  Ever impressed by Japanese World Cup fans cleaning up litter in the World Cup stadium stands in 2018.
  - AJA says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 12:54
    
    It is a shame but I think it’s better than cancelling the Olympics entirely. And as far as I understand it the Japanese public will be allowed to attend.
  - BJ says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 18:56
    
    And very unimpressed with those who left it behind in the first place.
- Nadeshka says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 15:19
  
  Public support is not there for the games, I think majority of Japanese want it cancelled tbh, rather than risking another wave of lockdowns afterwards.
  However Japan cannot cancel the games without having to pay out billions to the Olympics organisation in compensation, the Olympics would have to cancel themselves and they’re not going to. So it’s going ahead with probably empty stadiums, which is disappointing all round I think.
  
  We have rebooked our spring trip for Japan for now the third year in a row. Third time lucky right??
  - Rob says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 16:04
    
    If spectators are allowed I would be surprised if the Japanese couldn’t fill them.
    - BJ says:
      
      20 Mar20 March 18:58
      
      If they allow them then they will almost certainly limit the numbers.
- George1976 says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 17:32
  
  Not really a surprise. It’s been obvious for months that this would happen. Wouldn’t be surprised if stadiums have reduced capacities for locals
Boffinboy says:

20 Mar20 March 11:54

Was planning to convert 50K Avios to Nectar points as getting good value on 241 as family of 4 (one lap child) is really challenging. Website suggests conversion Avios-Nectar is unavailable, and you have to call 9-5 during the week. Is that normal? Or something odd going on…
- AJA says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 12:02
  
  Online transfers from Avios to Nectar have been disabled for a few weeks now. It’s due to trying to set up 2FA to prevent fraud. You have to call and it takes up to 10 days to be actioned.
  
  Nectar to Avios online transfers still available.
  - Boffinboy says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 12:09
    
    thanks for confirming!
James P says:

20 Mar20 March 12:06

Need to sell some shares denominated in USD (approx 94K worth) and get them over to my GBP bank account – looking to find the most cost-effective option as Fidelity charge a 1.75% currency conversion fee. Looks like TransferWise will be the best – anyone have any recent experience with them?

Other caveat is that I want to avoid a credit check when I open an account as I’m about to apply for a mortgage. Doesn’t look like TransferWise do unlike e.g. Revolut. Can anyone confirm?

Thanks!
- Boffinboy says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 12:10
  
  Have transferred significant sums using Transferwise and always been happy. Unsure on the credit check though. I would assume not if you aren’t actually creating the “account” option they have.
  - Sam G says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 13:07
    
    Have sold shares and received payments in US and had the money deposited into my US Transferwise account a few times now with no trouble. Just double check the account details, the whole US wire/routing/ACH thing still confuses me at times!
    - RussellH says:
      
      20 Mar20 March 14:35
      
      Transferwise recently issued me with revised (improved was their word) US a/c details. It does actually look better as there is now just one set of bank details whichever system you use.
      Have not actually tried to use it yet, though.
  - Steve says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 14:42
    
    I would think you’d need their account option? Usually you need to enter recipient bank details in your name for the sale of shares?
- the_real_a says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 15:05
  
  The cheapest method i found was as follows.
  
  Transfer from US account into UK HSBC account in USD
  Transfer USD to Revolut (£4 HSBC fee)
  Change USD to GBP in revolut (Near enough Spot rate)
  Transfer Revolut GBP to your regular current account. (Free)
  - Benilyn says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 18:16
    
    This is great I’ll try
    I made a mistake of transferring a chunk of USD from selling shares to my HSBC USD UK account, and their FX fees are horrendous…
- dragonfly says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 16:36
  
  Ditto here for Wise (previously transferwise). Have transfer £ to US$ own account and funds arrived the next day. I paid with a mastercard, additional fee – if direct bank transfer to wise then no fee. Just register with wise then do a small transfer first to test. I have a friends referral from wise which give friends free fee-transfer up to £500. If you want, I can email you the referral link (note: am not pushing for this per se). I also have accounts set up with ofx and xe – but their rates have not compared well against wise. Before I did a transfer, I logged into wise, ofx and xe to check and wise always came out better (even with the fee + credit card fee). If you have a large amount to transfer, then register for all three and see which one will give you the best. I have used ofx in the past, and their rates were good, but more than a year ago their rates were not much better than banks!
- dragonfly says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 16:41
  
  Forgot to say that there was no credit check with wise or xe to register. I registered with ofx years ago so forgot if they did a credit check. Best to register first, then do a small transfer say US$ 100 and see. I did this to make sure that the funds went into my own account without any problem before I did more transfers.
  - James P says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 18:09
    
    Thanks everyone for the advice – looks like Wise seems to be the best option. Although @Steve, you’re right that I would need recipient account details. Will probably drop them an email to see if they really don’t do a credit check for the multi-currency account option (website only refers to US customers).
    
    @dragonfly, thanks for the referral offer – would be glad to take this up if Rob could connect us via email.
- Alan says:
  
  20 Mar20 March 18:45
  
  I have been using Transferwise for some time. The service is very good but their fees seem to be creeping up. Last week when transferring £12,000 I paid £80 in fees.
  - BuildBackBetter says:
    
    20 Mar20 March 19:22
    
    Which currency? And was that paid by bank transfer? I see a fee of 42 gbp to convert to EUR by bank transfer.
- Track says:
  
  21 Mar21 March 03:05
  
  If you have a respectable brokerage on the US side, ask them to convert USD proceeds to GBP (they likely have access to multi-currency accounts) and wire funds to you in GBP, to your GBP account.