The HfP chat thread – Saturday 27th March

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

• Reney says:

  27 Mar27 March 09:31

  Hi @Genghis yesterday mentioned that there are points earning debit cards in respond to a question about topping up Monese. The only one I know is Tesco debit but that is no longer opened to new customer. What are others? Would love to add one to my portfolio. I assumed he didn’t mean Curve as that could be hit or miss with top ups in terms of fees. Thanks.

  • Daniel says:

    27 Mar27 March 10:22

    The Natwest Reward CC and Debit Card earns points indirectly. You earn Natwest rewards and can be converted to Avios at a rate which I don’t know but I’m sure you can find by doing a quick Google search.

    • Daniel says:

      27 Mar27 March 10:22

      I mean Current Account, Debit Card and also Credit Card actually

      • Reney says:

        27 Mar27 March 11:12

        Thanks Daniel. From what I can tell you only earn reward on your Debit Card via spend with partners. I’m after a debit card that earns reward like credit cards i.e. X point per £1 on basically any spending posted as purchase.

        • Jamie says:

          27 Mar27 March 11:26

          Good luck with that

        • Daniel says:

          27 Mar27 March 11:27

          yeah not sure they exist… if you are looking for that then what is stopping you from getting a points earning credit card – there are no shortage of them out there – unless you are looking for a card for MS?

    • Jonathan says:

      27 Mar27 March 12:07

      Rob mentioned some time ago that NatWest isn’t mentioned on here (or promoted) at their request since the ability to earn Avios via their accounts is temporary and not permanent

  • Jonathan says:

    27 Mar27 March 12:04

    The Tesco current account only earns Clubcard points on most debit card transactions (certain exclusions apply, I can’t remember them all off the top of my head at the moment), it doesn’t award points on cash withdrawals, direct debits etc, only paying for goods or services using the debit card attached with the current account.

    Maybe it might return again in the future to new customers, or Tesco is aiming to pull away from the banking sector entirely, given that Rob was talking about (some months ago) about them selling off their mortgages portfolio to another bank (which I can’t remember much details about, other than the end of mortgages with Tesco Bank

    • Blenz101 says:

      27 Mar27 March 20:55

      The legacy Tesco bank debit card is great for those that have it.

      The account have pretty much been ignored in terms of checking for MS. They don’t require Curve and the like to generate clubcard points.

      If you have sufficient capital to cycle through the debit card (c£25k a week) you can easily hit the quarterly clubcard limit of £300 of vouchers.

      Whilst Avios is no longer an exit route £3600 of hotels.com rooms per year is a decent return on a free debit card and current account.

      I don’t think the accounts will ever be coming back and sooner or later I expect to be told my account is due to be closed or transferred. That said, they do keep developing the app but it could just been to keep the accounts/security compliant with latest banking regulations. Who knows though!

  • Reney says:

    27 Mar27 March 12:51

    Thanks all, I was only asking because yesterday’s chat seems to suggest there was something out there that I had overlooked. Sounds like no there isn’t.

    • kitten says:

      27 Mar27 March 13:15

      Curve is technically a debit card but it’s a potentiator (see, I got that word off @HarryT) of other cards of all types that do earn points.

      Credit cards have a higher earning percentage of the amount spent, for the card issuer. In fact it had to be capped by UK/European legislation. This even pre-Covid is one of the reasons many cards offering cardholder benefits have been closed as it was the % funding the benefits (such as points or avios).

      Debit cards on the other hand seem only to carry a very small % that seems practically speaking to be not much more than a processing fee. So no margin for benefits.

      Theoretically debit cards like Curve might end up paying more of a credit card processing fee than they were earning on the debit side of a transaction I think. If this got out of hand for a debit card I guess they would use rules, add extra fees or close. (Rev looks like they did that.) And sooner than credit cards (some of which have closed) as there is almost no margin.

      So there are gaps people can think or find to earn points where they can but anything too good that sees volume, or comes up if a particular account comes under scrutiny, is going to get shut down quickly.

    • Dan says:

      27 Mar27 March 16:27

      Exactly, no need to worry about fomo

• Benilyn says:

  27 Mar27 March 09:32

  Big spend on eBay coming, best offers around to maximise points? I see Nectar 9x points, anything else I am missing?

• Secret Squirrel says:

  27 Mar27 March 09:36

  Need advice. Is there an email I can use to take matters higher up at BA? Compliance dept not contacting me after 40 days of account temp locked.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    27 Mar27 March 09:39

    Email the CEO a few times and his office will find someone to actually help.

    It works for extreme cases like this where you are locked out of using 1000’s avios.

    • Secret Squirrel says:

      27 Mar27 March 14:26

      How do you get BA CEO email?

      • Rob says:

        27 Mar27 March 15:02

        BA is all the same – will be sean.doyle@ba.com

        • Secret Squirrel says:

          27 Mar27 March 18:40

          No, just used that email address Rob & received an undelivered mail receipt?

        • whiskerxx says:

          27 Mar27 March 19:21

          seanl.doyle@ba.com

• Benilyn says:

  27 Mar27 March 09:52

  Looking to move chunks of MR across 4 family members (want to close accounts) over to their respective Etihad and/or Emirates accounts. Do the Etihad / Emirates family accounts work the same as the BAEC Family account? Reading both their websites it does look like it.
  Is there anything else I need to watch out for?

  • Rob says:

    27 Mar27 March 10:12

    In theory the new Emirates accounts pool all NEW transfers from all sources but not existing balances. I would try it out with small tests first. No idea about Etihad.

• Bill says:

  27 Mar27 March 10:06

  https://twitter.com/DrAseemMalhotra/status/1375749240044068866?s=19

  Cyprus opening up

  • Ian M says:

    27 Mar27 March 10:16

    That’s all well and good but the freedom loving Boris Johnson has made it a criminal offence to go on holiday…

    • Doommonger says:

      27 Mar27 March 10:39

      However in other news, exceptions include having to deal with second homes…. which is convenient for people like Stanley Johnson unsurprisingly.

      The Doomster

      • terri says:

        27 Mar27 March 11:04

        Whilst travel is possible some people will use the openings in the regs to go abroad – look at the exodus to Dubai in December.

        It’s not the going, that’s the easy bit, it’s the difficulties and cost of getting back that is more likely to put people off. My trip to USA in April was allowed by the regs. However, the £210 testing fees x 3 adults and 10 days self-isolation upon return means I have decided to postpone the trip to later in the year.

        • Chrisasaurus says:

          27 Mar27 March 20:41

          I have a need to be in the USA but so far as I can tell, not one that is allowed under the regs – can ask if you don’t mind what reason you had to travel?

• ayearinmx says:

  27 Mar27 March 11:10

  got my AMEX Business Gold approved yesterday…. do my 3 months start from my application date? approval date? or the date i actually get my card?

  or does it all become clear, once i’m registered etc?

  • Richster says:

    27 Mar27 March 11:15

    It all becomes clear when you register the card in your online account, there are very clear bonus accumulation counters on your account page.

    • Benilyn says:

      27 Mar27 March 11:24

      Not always, 3/3 of my new biz cards had no counters so I just rush to hit the target ASAP 😀

      • ayearinmx says:

        27 Mar27 March 11:28

        haha great…. well that’ll add to the excitement levels somewhat!

        thanks

    • John says:

      27 Mar27 March 12:31

      Amex specifically told me the other day no counter on business accounts.
      This is my third and never had a counter.

  • curious says:

    27 Mar27 March 11:30

    can the spend be on a supplementary card or HAS TO BE main new business card

    • Rob says:

      27 Mar27 March 12:44

      Either is fine.

• Will says:

  27 Mar27 March 11:32

  Anyone else awaiting airtime rewards tracks from Morrison’s – have 21st March inward presently not tracking

  • Joe says:

    27 Mar27 March 11:37

    Two tracked yesterday (20/21 March). Two more to come (22/23 March).

  • Amit says:

    27 Mar27 March 11:39

    Yes, purchase on 20th hasn’t tracked, and Morrisons has now disappeared on my app

  • rams1981 says:

    27 Mar27 March 12:04

    mine from 20th March came through yesterday on Airtime/PAW but no sign on Virgin.

  • Reney says:

    27 Mar27 March 12:57

    I find airtime tends to track 2 days after it comes off pending on my credit card for my Morrison transactions. Purchase on the 24th (evening) came off pending today so I expect it to record on airtime on 30th?

• Harry T says:

  27 Mar27 March 11:38

  Anyone toppled up their Wise account using Bendy and Solihull? Does it attract a cash advance fee or interest?

  • Optimus Prime says:

    27 Mar27 March 14:07

    Wise charges 0.3% for card top-ups. They accept credit cards (not Amex) so Bendy is not needed. If you still go ahead just remember to put Solihull in credit.

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