Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

The HfP chat thread – Thursday 25th March

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Comments (269)

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

  • Ian M says:
    25 Mar25 March 05:03

    Good morning everyone.

    Idea for a future article.. Which points programmes allow you to book flights / hotels for other people (friends/family) without you having to attend the flight/hotel yourself?

    My points balances are getting to the point where I’m thinking of ways to spend some other than on myself. I have large balances with BA Avios, Krisflyer, Miles & More, Bonvoy, Hilton, IHG and Amex MR.

    • BJ says:
      25 Mar25 March 05:23

      No article requiredom my view, most do either directly or indirectly. Sometimes it becomes a little complex such as due to BAEC HHA or adding names to comments in hotel schemes but most regular readers know most of these things. Others can just ask, preferably after trying a Google search first. It is great how well google search with head for points plus just about any term related to travel and loyalty works.None of that should be taken as criticism of you or your comment. More just a reminder to people to try searching HfP.

      • Swiss Jim says:
        25 Mar25 March 06:16

        I disagree (likewise no criticism, just a different view!). I think many of us have a mountain of points, especially with the limited opportunity to redeem recently. Bringing together into one article (or into a series of articles) would work for me.

        • Andrew says:
          25 Mar25 March 06:40

          I agree, hotel programmes particularly would be useful. Everyone says just add the second person as a named guest – I have tried that with IHG online, then at the contact centre and the hotel still has no record of this.

          • BJ says:
            25 Mar25 March 07:23

            Hilton, Marriott and IHG all allow it. In all three cases calling to make redemptiins for others has been painless in my experience of booking rooms for my sister. My guess is that Radisson allow it too as Rob has previously reported using points to book Park Plaza for his brother IIRC. Accor I am less sure about because of the way their voucher redemption works.

          • Red Flyer says:
            25 Mar25 March 07:32

            I have booked a few times as a gift for my sister and bro in law using cash so they get my Diamond status. She simply checks in as has same surname as me and says I’m following on later. They’ve been upgraded every time and enjoyed the late check out and other benefits too – including us minding their kids for a weekend! 😂

          • Rhys says:
            25 Mar25 March 09:20

            I’ve stayed as Rob countless times. The only time I got into hot water was at Courtyard Luton, when they were really adamant I show ID. I pushed back as hard as I could and claimed that my wallet had been stolen (!) despite the fact that I had clearly just come from a flight….and they begrudgingly let me check in!

          • Yorkieflyer says:
            25 Mar25 March 10:52

            With IHG you can book for another via the call centre. I gave a night to a friend as a honeymoon present, then emailed hotel who did the whole petals and bubbly thing for them

          • WaynedP says:
            25 Mar25 March 11:52

            Gosh, Rhys. Having to lie to preserve an illusion would be a big red flag to me.

            Can’t say hand on heart that I would have acted any differently at your age & stage, so no judgment, but have come to believe at my age & stage that there’s always a price to pay. Usually both personally as well as common good, and usually too high to be worth it, bigger picture.

          • Rhys says:
            26 Mar26 March 21:35

            I don’t think the common good really suffered in this case….!

    • Harry T says:
      25 Mar25 March 07:53

      Can’t people use Google or Flyertalk?

      • Ian M says:
        25 Mar25 March 08:02

        Yeah true, perhaps they should knock headforpoints on the head all together and everyone can move over to Flyertalk? 😂

      • Doug M says:
        25 Mar25 March 08:34

        I use all 3. HfP is fun and I enjoy the comments, I even read the reviews of hotels I’m certain I’ll never stay out. I think quite a number of the people asking EU261 questions would be better served by FT, but suspect they like to be spoon fed by LL (that shameless publicist for BA that she is) amongst others. I think HfP offers a lot to me in terms of things I’d never think of, but crop up here and then are interesting.

        • Andy says:
          25 Mar25 March 08:43

          Also I feel confident I can post a question here without being attacked for the wrong etiquette/not searching old threads properly/upsetting a BA apologist etc unlike on FT sometimes

          • Grammar grub says:
            25 Mar25 March 08:46

            Hmmm, sometimes the halo slips IMO

          • Doug M says:
            25 Mar25 March 08:58

            I don’t see it that way. FT has very knowledgable helpful posters, and very good moderation. New posters are almost always welcomed and if there is some snarky responses they’re often hi-lighted and questioned by the more senior posters, who I think do a great job. The BA forum in particular is brilliant, and I find it friendly, welcoming and helpful.

          • Rob says:
            25 Mar25 March 10:00

            FT works well BUT it requires a high level of advanced knowledge to actually understand what is being written. The structure of verticals also means that it is really hard to get a good overview of what matters to a UK resident because you need to subscribe to multiple forums for a proper overview, and each of those forums is 80-90% irrelevant to a UK reader (except the BA one, obvs). HfP is basically FT turned sideways, with the focus being the country rather than the programme.

          • KP says:
            25 Mar25 March 09:20

            @Doug M – Agree!

          • Doug M says:
            25 Mar25 March 10:49

            Rob, I don’t disagree and obviously you have a considerable degree of expertise here. But I just think with some effort FT is hugely useful, and most definitely (BA forum for sure) quite friendly.

        • Lady London says:
          25 Mar25 March 12:57

          “shameless publicist for BA” 🙂 @Doug M I’ve nearly choked on my coffee 🙂 !!

          (will be giving Spiller &Tait coffee a try soon tx to @Genghis for the recommendation)

      • Chris Heyes says:
        25 Mar25 March 09:05

        Harry T Don’t spoil it, Flyertalk Hmmm look every so often
        But HFP gives the biggest laugh’s It amuses me to look at the comments
        Don’t get me wrong there are some very good articles plus useful advice and comments.
        But loads of laugh’s as well, the one’s I like the best are:
        “i got it” then someone says “i didn’t get it” or “I’m waiting” or “mine came” mine didn’t come, did you see it, i missed it, it’s on mine, not on mine,
        Makes me chuckle every day
        Bytheway did you get it

        • Genghis says:
          25 Mar25 March 09:14

          lol 🙂

        • Harry T says:
          25 Mar25 March 10:01

          I’ve always found the members on flyertalk to be very kind and patient with even fairly silly questions! I do love Head for Points but the level of expertise for more niche topic areas is not on the same level as FT.

      • KBuffett says:
        25 Mar25 March 09:43

        Flyertalk is a bloated mess.

        One could always just stay off the comments?

      • jimc says:
        25 Mar25 March 10:10

        Me too, I was a flyertalk regular back in the day but since HFP started this is my happy place.

    • KBuffett says:
      25 Mar25 March 09:45

      In some countries they need to check ID of guests at check in by law.

      • Yorkieflyer says:
        25 Mar25 March 11:00

        Yes, so ringing the call centre and having the booking in the name of the guests checking in is something I’d advice, after all abroad you generally are asked for your passport on check in, this to satisfy local immigration/police rules, though here in Blighty it will be “papers please” shortly I think if the press are to be believed

        • Sandra says:
          25 Mar25 March 12:09

          I’ve only ever had a query once with IHG when booking a room for my son and putting his name in the additional guest box (same surname) plus a comment in the other box saying he would be the only guest. It was a HI Express in Leeds city centre a couple of years ago and they emailed a form that had to be completed, signed and returned in advance confirming the card details on the account and that anything he charged to the room would be paid although the actual room was paid for on booking. Must have ESP and guessed he was a poverty stricken student!

        • Pete M says:
          25 Mar25 March 13:48

          Just in case people need an audio-visual representation of Papers, Please: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFHHGETsxkE 🙂

  • Andrew says:
    25 Mar25 March 06:12

    9x nectar points on eBay purchases of £15 or more for next 6 days. And you still earn full points even when redeeming nectar.

    • Zander says:
      25 Mar25 March 06:25

      Hi, where are you seeing x9 nectar offer? Is it email or on your eBay account?

    • BJ says:
      25 Mar25 March 06:30

      I saw that, highest I ever recall seeing. Might help some who have still to qualify for their 500 point Virgin Red bonus too.

      • Reney says:
        25 Mar25 March 07:49

        I have made 2 purchases via Virgin Red at Boots. The points associated with the transaction is showing as pending, the 500 points hasn’t turned up yet. Has anyone had their 500 points yet?

    • Andrew says:
      25 Mar25 March 06:37

      And a quick check of a test basket shows that as before it is 9x points, not as per the wording which suggests it’s base points + 9x, so 10x points. Don’t know why they can’t make the wording clearer about what you’re actually going to get.

    • KBuffett says:
      25 Mar25 March 07:00

      Are there any gift vouchers that can be purchased directly from the retailer on eBay (as opposed to buying for some random bloke)? And is there a maximum limit on the 9 additional points?

      I guess what I’m asking is what’s the best way to maximise this offer without buying any ‘goods’ from eBay?

      • Andrew says:
        25 Mar25 March 07:18

        Seems to be just random people selling the odd leftover gift card they have for Boots. There are iTunes encodes which from feedback seem fine and genuine. And I think the limit is 300×9 at a time but not a limit to the number of times you can do that.

      • BJ says:
        25 Mar25 March 07:27

        Before they scrapped them I used to buy NowTV sports week passes from Curry’s ebay store so you might want to check if they have other cards of use to you.

      • Tim says:
        25 Mar25 March 10:02

        I need some new tyres for my car and blackcircles has an ebay shop, seems like a good deal.

    • Gavin says:
      25 Mar25 March 09:18

      In 2017 I used a 10x nectar points offer to buy some gold at spot price. Doesn’t seem to be anything at the right price on eBay this time.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        25 Mar25 March 09:50

        You trusted someone on eBay to send you gold!

        • The real John says:
          25 Mar25 March 15:26

          Why not? The seller should be the one worrying about buyer claiming empty box etc

          • TGLoyalty says:
            25 Mar25 March 16:21

            If you’ve ever tried to claim on eBay buyer protection you’ll know that having a tracking number is treated as gospel.

            But more that they could send you a fake. Ofcourse there are genuine sellers on there I just wouldn’t trust anyone unless I could physically verify they were a genuine gold dealer or that it was gold before parting with my cash.

  • James says:
    25 Mar25 March 06:13

    Anyone been in Heathrow T5 recently? We’re flying with Qatar next week. I’m wondering what the queues for check in are like? Is first class check-in still open? Which lounges are open? Are they busy?

    • Andrew says:
      25 Mar25 March 06:35

      Are Qatar still operating after being put on the red list? I know they are able to operate out of, just not into the LHR, but was wondering if they found that viable operating cargo-only flight inbound. The First Wing and First lounge are open though.

    • Ikaz says:
      25 Mar25 March 07:39

      I currently fly domestic every week from T5 with no luggage or paperwork checks so a different experience. No queues at security, first wing is open leading directly to the first class lounge. The lounge is available for club users, and they have opened a concorde terrace, I am guessing that you have access to it flying first. I didn’t see any other lounges open. No alcohol available in lounge and you order food with a QR code on your phone. The lounge has not been particularly busy when I visit, this might be different at other times of the day.

  • Ant says:
    25 Mar25 March 07:32

    Morning my May bank holiday weekend flights to Ibiza have been canx. These were booked last August v cheaply. Is there a way of moving these to June next year?

  • AviosNewbie says:
    25 Mar25 March 07:38

    Aren’t people using Curve with the morrison’s offer? That way, you only need to register one card with Virgin and Airtime, and can change the curve linked card to whatever you want. I looked at all comments but didn’t find a mention of using bendy.

    • Reney says:
      25 Mar25 March 07:58

      Some nervousness around whether it will track properly I think. For me, my Virgin card had 10 % CB offer, I have previously received advise here suggesting it might not track via Curve. So when there is an offer on my Virgin CC I don’t go via Curve, just in case. That being said when there is no offer on my Virgin CC and at stores I get 1% CB via Curve, I have found airtime does track at Boots even when using Curve. I registered both the underlying card and Curve with airtime so no idea which one it recognised. Not tried it with Virgin FC so no idea there.

    • Toaster says:
      25 Mar25 March 09:20

      Have you actually tried this? It shouldn’t work as the underlying card will only see a transaction to Curve and will not trigger the retailer specific offer.

      • Reney says:
        25 Mar25 March 10:22

        Toaster, Is your question to me? Per my previous response, yes I have made purchases on Boots.com using my curve card and it has tracked on Airtime. Done this three times, it has tracked twice still waiting for the third to track. They take a while. I registered both my curve and the backing card on Airtime. In both cases it is only £1-2. I have only done this with Boots! However, if it is a large amount like Morrison I would not risk it. Is this clearer?

        • rams1981 says:
          25 Mar25 March 15:42

          I’m in this boat and risked the Airtime’s 10% with Morrisons and Curve. Greggs/Boots have tracked historically but still no sign of Morrisons spend from last Sat at Airtime/Virgin/PAW

          • CH says:
            25 Mar25 March 21:38

            I assume the same card registered with all of Airtime, Virgin and PAW. None of them currently tracked for me either, and from I gather, varyingly tracked for others. But unclear if their cards are only registered with a single scheme or not, rather than all 3.

  • BJ says:
    25 Mar25 March 08:12

    A good offer on Samsung Galaxy S21 or Tab S7 through end of April – £150 prepaid Mastercard. Amazon and J Lewis amongst participating merchants so a good opportunity to stack with the various plays at Morrisons right now.

  • JohnT says:
    25 Mar25 March 08:30

    Can a 241 BA avios booking, where one part has been cancelled by BA, be moved to a new date that is AFTER the current expiry of the 241 voucher? Unfortunately new date is also after the “1year from booking” as well, which is a different battle! I know can FTV but this was a 1/2 avios one as well.

    • Anna says:
      25 Mar25 March 09:13

      You’re entitled to re-routing regardless of the expiry date of the 241 but BA isn’t making it easy. Some people have been able to get round the 12 month by re-booking online or through the app. I don’t now if this is possible when only one leg of the flight is cancelled though.

  • Matthew says:
    25 Mar25 March 08:55

    We need to do an emergency trip to Spain as the wife’s mother has been taken ill, has anyone used the LAMP testing at Heathrow prior to travel and any issues or advice?

    • C says:
      25 Mar25 March 09:06

      Some family members used it – they said it was very quick and efficient. Results were back in 60 minutes, iirc.

    • Yorkieflyer says:
      25 Mar25 March 11:07

      Used Collinson Lamp at East Midlands and results back in 90 mins. I would leave 3 hours to be safe in case the test needs rerunning

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