The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 24th March

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• fivebobbill says:

  24 Mar24 March 10:23

  Can anyone remind me please of the phone number to transfer points between Marriott accounts, I know I’ve seen it in here somewhere before but have been struggling all morning trying to find it.

  • WaynedP says:

    24 Mar24 March 10:47

    I’ve successfully used 0203 564 6335 in the past.

    There was a recent HfP comment that identified one current dead and one current live number, so possibly above no longer works. Try and see.

    • WaynedP says:

      24 Mar24 March 10:58

      Found it.. mart’s comment at 09:36 on 16 March (et seq) in General Chat Thread, pg 2

      Verifies 0203 564 6335 as best option. Good luck.

      • fivebobbill says:

        24 Mar24 March 11:03

        Brilliant Wayne, just got sorted, thank you!
        How on earth do I search for a particular chat, been searching for ages?!

        • WaynedP says:

          24 Mar24 March 11:39

          Glad to hear.

          Chat search isn’t HfP’s strong point, but I feel that’s a minor issue compared with all the other good stuff provided by Rob & team and HfP community.

          I’ve adapted to take screenshots of useful info which I transfer to my Notes app usually on a weekend when the “What you missed on HfP last week” post appears (like the recent FQTV and FQTS ticket codes for optimum loyalty program credits). Definitely a useful one to have for future reference.

          As for searching, first stop is Google Advanced search limited to HfP site and search string using words I can recall from comment/article.
          Best for historical posts, not so good at capturing recents.

          So I just loaded recent Chat Thread posts from last two weeks and used Ctrl+F (find on page) “Marriott” and scrolled through occurrences if there were more than the default one that shows up on every comment page. Took about ten minutes to locate which isn’t too bad, and a very small contribution given the value I’ve derived from others’ wisdom & kindness here.

        • Rhys says:

          24 Mar24 March 11:51

          We had to remove comment search unfortunately because indexing the 563,000 comments on the site was causing some SERIOUS issues.

        • fivebobbill says:

          24 Mar24 March 14:25

          Thanks again Wayne. you went to a bit of trouble there, much appreciated.

• Paul Pogba says:

  24 Mar24 March 10:31

  The Telegraph reported yesterday evening IAG had mortgaged its slots at Heathrow (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/03/23/british-airways-owner-mortgages-heathrow-slots/), does this suggest their financial position is becoming precarious and it might be wise to cash Avios out as Nectar? Lots of people got cold feet with Virgin a few months ago and transferred to Hilton, do any of them regret it?

  • Secret Squirrel says:

    24 Mar24 March 10:32

    Yes

  • KP says:

    24 Mar24 March 10:32

    Re Virgin…that’s a question Rob should answer 😀

    • ankomonkey says:

      24 Mar24 March 10:39

      I heard Rob didn’t cash out and nowadays all HfP events/meetings come with unlimited sausage rolls from a well-known chain bakery.

  • Ian M says:

    24 Mar24 March 10:39

    The 50k avios monthly transfer limit to nectar is a bit of a problem with that approach

  • Jonathan says:

    24 Mar24 March 10:46

    BA/IAG will survive. They probably won’t be anywhere near as profitable for next 5 years as they deal with reduced demand & paying back the additional financing they’ve done this year but there’s a fundamentally strong business model.

    They would also be one of the last left standing in the industry if there’s another bad summer season so may well be better off in medium to long term.

    By all means cash out 50k/month if you’re sat on a million plus Avios & spend £400/month on groceries as 0.8p isn’t bad but I wouldn’t be converting any to wine or any of the other low value alternatives.

    • Ian M says:

      24 Mar24 March 10:50

      That’s my action plan at the moment. Sat on over a million avios and comfortably earn an extra 50k avios a month. Converting to Nectar and giving myself £400 vinyl shopping budget per month on eBay 😀

    • Rhys says:

      24 Mar24 March 10:53

      Don’t forget BA is now in a stronger position now thanks to agreements hashed out with its cabin crew and other staff. With the removal of the 747 fleet capacity is lower too, so when travel recovers BA could quickly find itself doing well.

      • Ian M says:

        24 Mar24 March 11:12

        The question of course is when that ‘when’ is..

        • Yuff says:

          24 Mar24 March 12:16

          Come September, things will look much better with vaccine boosters etc

      • Chris Heyes says:

        24 Mar24 March 12:52

        Rhys Yes i agree well put I think IF/When the recovery comes BA will be in a very strong position going forward.
        The only problem with that is it puts Virgin in a very week position going forward.
        Yes Virgin has managed to get a limited amount of finance, but that is just survival money without it would have gone under.
        Now it may survive, but it was weak before covid it will be weaker still going forward.
        That isn’t to say it will go under, but the quicker and stronger BA comes out the weaker other airlines will be

    • Paul Pogba says:

      24 Mar24 March 11:43

      I’m brutal and more in favour in maintaining moral hazard and avoiding the socialisation of losses through Schumptarian creative destruction/administration but it’s likely IAG/BA would be bailed out. Whatever the route, that doesn’t discount the possibility that the BAEC/Avios scheme could be devalued as part of a restructuring.
      Another way I’m thinking of this is, if the Avios->Nectar rate is deemed too generous could it be recalibrated making it beneficial to cash out to Nectar now and transfer back once the rate is adjusted.

      • Andrew says:

        24 Mar24 March 11:52

        Absolutely.

  • Andrew says:

    24 Mar24 March 11:26

    The benefit with the Avios/Nectar partnership is that you can cash out to Nectar for safe keeping if you’re concerned and then transfer back in 6 months if you’re not longer concerned and want to spend them on flights instead. Nothing is lost. The difference with the Virgin cashout last year was that it was a one-way transfer.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      24 Mar24 March 11:36

      There’s absolutely 0 chance BA will go under in the next 6 months

      • kitten says:

        24 Mar24 March 20:13

        +1 more likely any fundraising is them building a war chest to strengthen their position for when things start back up again

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    24 Mar24 March 13:16

    Slots at Heathrow are just like any intangible asset – if you can make some money out of it or get some funding against it, why not?

  • @mkcol says:

    24 Mar24 March 17:15

    I’m delighted I did cash out to Hilton as it’s given me much more opportunity to use the points than I was getting leaving them with Virgin.
    YMMV!

  • yorkieflyer says:

    24 Mar24 March 21:06

    half and half / no

• Phil says:

  24 Mar24 March 11:50

  Couple of Quick Queries;

  (1) Radisson Rewards eGift Card Redemption – Off the back of a recent HfP article I redeemed 25k points for a £50 Amazon eGift Card. Though I received an email confirmation of the redemption from Radisson Rewards, 10 days later I am yet to receive the eGift Card. Did anybody else do this and have they received the gift card? If so, how did you receive it?

  (2) Morrisons/Virgin Shop Away – How long does it generally take for a transaction in Morrison’s to track to Virgin Shop Away? Also would a transaction track the same day that the card was registered with Virgin Shop Away (where the card was registered before the transaction).

  • John says:

    24 Mar24 March 12:12

    I have made numerous txns in morrisons via Virgin Shop Away but still yet to see any txn track

    • John says:

      24 Mar24 March 12:12

      I should add, with amex card (same card as I’ve previously used without issue)

      • Phil W says:

        24 Mar24 March 13:39

        Thanks John. I’ll keep my fingers crossed it comes through. Likewise I used an Amex.

    • Secret Squirrel says:

      24 Mar24 March 14:13

      My morries instore va store transactions not tracked 1.5 weeks on.

      • 747_Brat says:

        24 Mar24 March 15:16

        Which card did you use @Secret Squirrel?

  • Rob says:

    24 Mar24 March 12:33

    I redeemed on Saturday and received it yesterday – exactly the same, £50 Amazon for 25k. The email comes from a company called SVM, you could easily delete it as spam.

    • Phil W says:

      24 Mar24 March 13:38

      Thanks Rob, I’ll re-check my Deleted Items as I was checking the Junk.

    • Phil W says:

      24 Mar24 March 13:43

      That was exactly what happened! All sorted now.

• John says:

  24 Mar24 March 11:55

  “I think it is very difficult to persuade the UK population to sit at home, or holiday at home when everybody’s been vaccinated,” says Dr Micko.

  (Got the share price up anyway)

  https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2021/0324/1205811-ryanair-new-uk-routes/

  • Phil says:

    24 Mar24 March 12:12

    I trust Dr Harold Shipman more than Dr Micko.

  • Anna says:

    24 Mar24 March 14:04

    They’re not trying to persuade, though, are they, if they don’t want us to travel they’ll just extend the illegality of it?!

    • WaynedP says:

      24 Mar24 March 14:36

      Classic (and probably deliberate) misrepresentation of reality which is lost on most people reading it, who are led to believe it is their choice whether to be persuaded or not, and who develop greater propensity to create merry hell when govt issues a law curtailing a perceived individual freedom that was always subservient to the greater common good.

      Widely prevalent in tabloids and on social media and easy to spot with just a basic knowledge of propaganda, which I wish could somehow be introduced as an essential life skill for the generations of people who have been fortunate enough to avoid growing up in a time of war.

      • yorkieflyer says:

        24 Mar24 March 21:32

        perhaps you could clarify whether you’re for or agin it?

        • WaynedP says:

          24 Mar24 March 22:28

          Always against distortions of truth.

    • yorkieflyer says:

      24 Mar24 March 21:40

      We’re all used to a certain bluntness from Mr O’Leary but he is perhaps being more cautious in his language than usual. I guess he’s pondering the Daily Mail headlines in July if their vaccinated readers are prevented from taking their annual grant tour with the old bill demanding to see their papers at the airport.
      I’m no fan of mop top but I suspect he will do everything to avoid banning summer sun after being the Christmas Grinch

      • WaynedP says:

        24 Mar24 March 22:31

        I think you’re right about the PM desperately seeking to avoid repetition of Christmas Grinch accusations.

        I had some pity for him when I saw Bristol protest placards reading “Boris is a tyrant”, which really must have offended his libertarian principles.

• James says:

  24 Mar24 March 12:02

  Does Halifax Stocks & Shares ISA accept Amex?

  • Harrier25 says:

    24 Mar24 March 13:32

    No, only by current account transfer.

• Blair says:

  24 Mar24 March 12:35

  You choose how much to transfer at a time of your choosing. It doesn’t autocredit.

• stevenhp1987 says:

  24 Mar24 March 12:40

  My monthly bill is £8pm and the minimum you can credit is £10…

  My Laithwaites order should pay out in a couple of weeks then I’ll know what happens.

  I assume it just puts my account in credit.

• Yorkie Aid says:

  24 Mar24 March 12:40

  And you can send excess credit to any mobile number you like – if you’re feeling generous!

  • Reney says:

    24 Mar24 March 13:50

    Does the recipient have to download airtime (giff gaff user)? At this point I might earn more than one year of mobile bill.

    • Yorkie Aid says:

      24 Mar24 March 17:59

      No, the number you type in certainly just gets the credit added if it’s a PAYG – I don’t know what happens if it’s on contract.

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