The HfP chat thread – Thursday 25th March

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memesweeper says:

25 Mar25 March 18:13

“is it an extension of status or an extension of time to collect TPs“

It’s an extension of status — earned TPs still wipe out on the anniversary as normal.

Under normal circumstances I’d suggest hitting your run as soon after the start of a new TP collecting year as possible. Under current circumstances I’d not book anything, unless it’s with the BA BWC guarantee. Very few TP runs are all BA — sounds high risk to me as you’d be beholden to other airlines flex/refund/voucher policies, and other jurisdictions’ consumer protection laws.
- @soundnomad says:
  
  25 Mar25 March 20:44
  
  thanks.. hadn’t considered the other airlines involved. good point.
  Maybe have to wait it out for another year and go for gold >sept 9th 2022.
  
  The way things are going any savings and benefits might just be offset by covid tests and red tape. Back to the drawing board.
JohnT says:

25 Mar25 March 19:50

Well done to Colm W on Virgin quiz, are you one of ours? Sadly ranked 196 out of 300. If it was this Rhys then 5th is not too bad… Good fun.
- Rob says:
  
  25 Mar25 March 20:05
  
  Yes, our Rhys. He is kicking himself, apparently made a couple of unforced errors …
  - Alex says:
    
    25 Mar25 March 20:15
    
    5th out of 300 is exceptionally good! Well done Rhys!! 👏
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  25 Mar25 March 21:08
  
  Virgin quiz?
  
  Was there a zoom quiz or something?
  - AndyGWP says:
    
    25 Mar25 March 21:49
    
    Not till May 😉
- Travel Strong says:
  
  25 Mar25 March 21:15
  
  Very impressive Rhys! I was consistently in the ~40 rankings through each round. 2 failed questions due to operator error / misclicking with a jump of the screen, but wouldn’t have changed my outcome much!
Rts says:

25 Mar25 March 21:21

As an FYI… I just tried cancelling my gold card after receiving my annual 10k bonus for spending £15k pa. They just gave me another 10 points to stick around… Worth calling in and trying your luck!
- Peter K says:
  
  25 Mar25 March 21:25
  
  I’d want more than 10 points 😉
  - RTS says:
    
    25 Mar25 March 21:35
    
    the “k” was cruicially missed out in my post haha…
- BJ says:
  
  25 Mar25 March 21:43
  
  Better than the 5 Nectar points in the ‘rub here’ game.
- Harry T says:
  
  25 Mar25 March 22:14
  
  Nice, welcome to Club 10k, the exclusive retained Gold cardholder club 😊
  - RTS says:
    
    25 Mar25 March 22:44
    
    But did they retain you as a goldcard holder for longer than a week though…. 😀
- Genghis says:
  
  25 Mar25 March 22:19
  
  So you’re cancelling next week then once you’ve transferred the points out?
  - RTS says:
    
    25 Mar25 March 22:43
    
    Obviously! 🙂
Alex says:

25 Mar25 March 22:35

Normally I keep spending on BAPP as Amex makes up 95% of my spending. My partner however triggers 241 then moves to an MR card so we keep building avios at a higher rate and MR at a decent level as-well for anything non-avios we want to do travel wise.

Our spending is modest compared to many here though who I know trigger 241, then hotel free nights, then another bonuses etc.
yorkieflyer says:

25 Mar25 March 23:11

Daily Mail email, yes I know but just wondering “ENJOY 10,000 NECTAR POINTS WITH YOUR FREE EQUITY RELEASE QUOTE”
Benilyn says:

25 Mar25 March 23:29

Have people found when opening new amex accounts (in particular new biz accounts with the promo of extra bonus points), that any large spend (£1k+) is not added as points normally i.e. they don’t show up in “Your Points Activity” as a line item, but just as an “Adjustment”… and therefore messing up your bonus spend targets. If so, easy to get resolved?
- Amar says:
  
  25 Mar25 March 23:51
  
  Very easy – had the first £2k of spend not count towards the bonus. Called up and they sorted it out in 5 mins
  - Benilyn says:
    
    26 Mar26 March 00:54
    
    Thanks will try tomorrow!
  - Tarmohamed says:
    
    26 Mar26 March 02:56
    
    Thanks for the heads up.
TGLoyalty says:

25 Mar25 March 23:35

Cancel BAPP and spend on Bonvoy or nectar.
Eric says:

26 Mar26 March 00:40

Virgin dosen’t charge the 2.99% FX fee if the transaction is made in the EEA – anyone knows how are the exchange rates used? Does it tend to be competitive vs Curve for example?
- John says:
  
  26 Mar26 March 01:12
  
  It will be the mastercard exchange rate which you can see online the next day