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The HfP chat thread – Monday 29th March

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Comments (321)

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

  • Chano says:
    29 Mar29 March 10:19

    Hi. What’s the latest on the cancellation fees for Avios bookings within Europe when booking the £1 tax flights? I keep seeing a £35 cancellation fee per person but the few times I’ve canceled (it’s been a while) I only lost the £1 tax. I also remember stories of people making several bookings on slightly different dates who eventually got charged a full fee? Which one is it? I seem to be getting more value if I increase the part avios/part cash ratio but happy to pay the extra avios if I get that flexibility (it makes a difference when booking for the whole family). Thanks!

    • David wakelin says:
      29 Mar29 March 19:35

      Definitely the £1 tax is all you loose – it’s only the cash part of the booking you loose up to a maximum of £35 regardless of where you fly.

      • Brian W says:
        29 Mar29 March 23:01

        I was under the impression this was ‘fixed? That’s certainly what was reported on Hfp not that long ago. If you wanted your Avios back having gone for the £1 RFS option you had to cough up the other £34.

        Has this reverted back now to you only losing the cash element paid upon booking and all of the Avios are returned?

        • Chano says:
          30 Mar30 March 10:56

          not sure. I remember reading that some people were losing the £35. But my experience matches that David said.

  • Ian_H says:
    29 Mar29 March 10:24

    Hilton Garden Inn – Hatton Cross. Some advice please guys, for the first time in a VERY long time I will be flying into/out of LHR T5.

    I have a car to collect / drop off from Hertz (appears to be Bath Rd area) and and on the way out of the UK will be wanting to take advantage of my CE baggage allowance.

    I have tentatively booked the night of arrival and pre-departure at the above property.

    On arrival I’m guessing Tube to Hatton Cross and then a short sprint to the Hotel? Is the bridge and “back road” preferable or should I stick to the main rd? The following morning I will need to be at Hertz early ish to collect my hire / any tips/tricks from those in the know?

    On Night before departure I assume there is no night before baggage check-in for CE so will need to drop car at Hertz then get over to the Hilton GI Hatton Cross (with luggage) , and the following morning at silly o’clock get from the hotel to T5 – undecided if tube is best option with luggage or just suck it up and take a cab.

    Any pointers gratefully received 😉

    • Rob says:
      29 Mar29 March 10:27

      I find it easier to walk down the main road and go into the hotel via the back door – even if the back door is shut it is only a 30 second diversion to the front. Far easier than the bridge. This means you leave Hatton Cross to the right, ie so you are facing the Atrium Hotel, and then turn left and keep walking down the main road.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      29 Mar29 March 10:29

      I thought you were still able to drop luggage the night before.

      If not Why wouldn’t you drop luggage at hotel prior to dropping car? There’s atleast a free 15 mins at the hotel if not an hour (I can’t recall)

      • Lady London says:
        29 Mar29 March 12:08

        yes, weirdly, possibly only with Silver? status, you can still drop luggage at T5 the night before. Though in Covid ideally I’d want to try to find out how late desks are open in case needed. Weirdly, on the day I still think it’s only 3 or 5 hours ahead you can check luggage so much better the night before.

        This used to be jolly useful for ex-EU’s where your ticket would bring you back through London on the way out – you could check your luggage for the ex-London leg the night before. Then fly to EU say Oslo, then start your longhaul from Oslo, back to London without luggage as you’d already checked it in at a desk for the LON-SFO leg, say.

        HGI Hatton Cross (on the A30) and Hertz (A4) are on opposite sides – South and North – of the airport. Hertz runs shuttle buses from/to the terminals – let them know ahead for your hire and call when you are ready for pickup. Perhaps someone knows which terminal has the best bus connection to the HGI, Hertz will pick up/drop you at any of them. Taxis will cost a lot.

        Alternatively there are bus stops near Hertz on the Bath Road but you’d have to walk 300yards? from bus stop to an entrance to the perimeter road Hertz is on as you can’t leap over the fence between the perimeter road and the A4 Bath Road.

        Or, do what Oh Matron! did and cycle to Hertz 🙂 Bus with your Brompton folding bike then unfold it at bus stop to ride to Hertz works well if small luggage.

        • Chris Heyes says:
          29 Mar29 March 14:07

          LL I’m just a lowly Blue Pleb, but we always drop our luggage off at T5 the night before, always have been able to, except short while when 9/11 happened,
          so i don’t think Status enters into it.
          We travel Business or first so not sure if ticket class is why
          We don’t travel economy so not sure if economy is precluded

  • George K says:
    29 Mar29 March 10:30

    And now for something a bit different…

    I’m one of those who jumped on the prospect of having a couple of BA trolley carts from the 747 blowout sale last year, with the intention of turning them into small restoration/conversion projects. It now appears that I’ll never have the time to get this done, so was wondering if anyone had a good idea/recommendation as to who would be able to undertake such a project (for a price, of course). Ideally, I’m aspiring at an end result that’s not too far from the stunning stuff that Bordbar sells!

    Any suggestions?

  • Mike says:
    29 Mar29 March 10:33

    Solihull, Beardy, Hong Kong, Express, Bendy. What’s the best way to dip these? Only know Bendy – Solihull – Beardy?

  • 747_Brat says:
    29 Mar29 March 10:37

    Have few Air New Zealand points expiring soon. Any tricks to save them?
    Thanks.

  • Suck My Points says:
    29 Mar29 March 10:50

    Seeking stocks & Shares ISA advice.

    I’m sorry, I know this has been discussed many times, but after 90 minutes searching and hunting I can’t find the good comment threads I know are in here somewhere.

    I have £55k to invest and first I want to make use of this year’s 20k ISA limit before 5th April. I have previously used Nutmeg for a hands-off approach but their fees seem quite high. I am willing to put the effort in to learn my way around DIY investing but presumably to get invested before 5th April I’d just be looking at funds rather than individual stocks.

    What products should I look at for a low fee, beginner-friendly stocks and shares ISA using a fund, and/or in future DIY investing?

    As a purely secondary consideration, are there any such products that allow contributions from CC or ~ (that symbol is me joining in with all the codenames btw)

    The two I’ve got on my research list so far are Vanguard and HL.

    A thousand thank yous

    • Reney says:
      29 Mar29 March 10:58

      I think you just need to put the money into the ISA by end of tax year. You don’t have to have invested it all by then.

      Did you look at the money saving expert section for ISA recommendation?

      • Suck My Points says:
        29 Mar29 March 11:00

        Yes, MSE is quite low on detail but pointed me at Vanguard.

        V. useful point about the cut off date, thanks

        • Mike says:
          29 Mar29 March 11:06

          Vanguard is generally good because the fees are very low and they’re more of a tracker fund. I like HL because of the range of funds that they have. Ultimately depends on what your risk appetite is. E.g if you’re bullish on FTSE, I believe some of the FTSE tracker funds have a management fee of 0.04% (+ HL charges 0.45% fee annually), that’s one of the lowest in the markets afaik.

    • Genghis says:
      29 Mar29 March 11:13

      I think a key aspect of this is timing. Best thing might be to get £20k in Vanguard Investor ISA by 5 April. V easy to set up.

      Fund equity options:
      – FTSE All World (VWRL) ETF (distributing ETF so can be moved to other platforms), OCF not the cheapest.
      – FTSE Developed World (VEVE) + FTSE Emerging Market (VFEM) in something like 89:11 (I’ve not updated my spreadsheet for a while) – this is the cheapest option but requires a bit of admin to get the allocations correct
      or FTSE Global All Cap – OCF a bip more than VWRL but includes small cap. An accumulating version so easy admin.

      How old are you? Do you need some fixed income allocation to “water down” the equity “alcohol”?

      Then in the new tax year, you can put another £20k.

      Consider putting the balance into a General Investment Account.

      For proper long term buy and hold, I recommend opening iWeb (now £100 to open, £5 a trade, and they’re not the quickest to get set up so don’t recommend this for 20/21) and then go with HSBC FTSE All World C. If you’re interested in this option, and you bank with HSBC, one option could be to open the ISA there and then transfer to iWeb whenever.

      • Optimus Prime says:
        29 Mar29 March 12:47

        Those of you working at a financial institution – do you disclose your trading accounts and ask your broker to send a monthly statement to your employer?

        At my current place you have to do so unless you’re trading with Vanguard (because they only offer diversified ETF’s or funds). Even if you’re trading only those kind of products with Interactive Investor I have to send a monthly statement because their platform allows me to buy/sell individual stocks.

        • Genghis says:
          29 Mar29 March 13:08

          We don’t if trading passive index funds, which is all I trade (not just at Vanguard, mine you). It’s all an honesty system anyway and the controls in place (currently) to police it are rather poor. If someone wanted to commit market abuse, only the truly stupid would get caught.

        • BuildBackBetter says:
          29 Mar29 March 14:13

          We were given a choice of 5 brokers / platforms who send trade details to employer directly

    • Neil says:
      29 Mar29 March 11:17

      There is useful broker comparison on the Monevator web site and there is a good free guide to ISA’s on the advisor site – the lang cat ( langcatfinancial )
      If you still have the nutmeg isa then you might also want to think about transfers too

    • BuildBackBetter says:
      29 Mar29 March 11:19

      As suggested by others, start with a Vanguard account and you can move to a proper trading platform later.
      II and Iweb are good for buy and hold and large portfolios.
      Fidelity and HL are good for smaller portfolios.

    • Suck My Points says:
      29 Mar29 March 11:25

      Many thanks all. That takes away the time pressure and gives me a reading list for what to do after 5th April.

      Much obliged.

    • Harry T says:
      29 Mar29 March 11:27

      Look up the broker comparison table on Monevator, and read all their articles on passive investing and brokers, if you have the time.

      Generally speaking, you always want to keep fees as low as possible, as they eat your returns significantly over time. Vanguard has low fees (percentage based) but if you are putting over 50k into a S&S ISA, the general rule is that a flat fee broker may be more cost effective. The table on Monevator is helpful here.

      Personally, I am using vanguard at present and buying the FTSE Global All Cap index fund. HL is popular but the fees are relatively high. I have found Vanguard very easy to use.

      A decent book to read regarding passive investing is Smarter Investing by Tim Hale.

    • Reney says:
      29 Mar29 March 11:34

      Out of curiosity, to the experts, why no one ever seem to mention lifetime ISAs here?

      • WaynedP says:
        29 Mar29 March 11:41

        Eligibility age limit 18-40

        Until the likes of my children (early 20’s) start reading HfP, I think comments will be few. Haven’t even managed to interest them in an Amex referral from Dad yet 😕

      • Stanley says:
        29 Mar29 March 11:43

        Need to be under 40 to open it, with various limits on how it can be withdrawn and used….. Makes it a bit niche for an average HFPer ?

      • Genghis says:
        29 Mar29 March 11:49

        If you’re going to buy your first house, then great.

        For me, they’re just too restrictive:
        – accessed at 60 (I want to retire way before then),
        – only £4k a year which eats into normal ISA allowance,
        – generally on the more expensive platforms with another set of trading fees etc etc.
        – not that profitable for HRTPs+ vs pensions, notwithstanding LTAs and AAs: £4k into LISA = £5k after tax, but £4k into pension for a HRTP is £6,667 pre-tax, then under current legislation, assuming a basic rate tax payer in drawdown would be 6667 x 85% = £5,667 after tax.

        • Harry T says:
          29 Mar29 March 13:51

          @Genghis other problem with LISAs is the penalty for early withdrawal. Doesn’t exactly encourage young people to save.

          • BuildBackBetter says:
            29 Mar29 March 14:17

            The penalty is there to provide liquidity if someone has to withdraw for emergency purposes. The 25% bonus should be encouraging people to save, but unfortunately many people want money now rather than in the future.
            Best to keep the limit outside ISA’s 20k.

        • BuildBackBetter says:
          29 Mar29 March 14:16

          Another is lack of platforms to move the account. Very few platforms accept inward transfers. Probably because the amounts are going to be small and not worth the paperwork hassle.

          • Reney says:
            29 Mar29 March 16:33

            ‘ Best to keep the limit outside ISA’s 20k.’?? I’m confused by this advice. The LISA limit is part of the 20k.

    • Babyg says:
      29 Mar29 March 11:35

      A travel blog site for stocks & shares advice? I say throw it all into Dogecoin!

      • Joints&Piles says:
        29 Mar29 March 12:20

        A travel blog with a readership of “high net worth” people with vast incomes (compared to me age 48 who’ll be lucky if I can retire at 148 – unless my current £3k Bitcoin gain becomes £300k like Reddit said it would)

    • WaynedP says:
      29 Mar29 March 11:54

      Seriously, above thread is worth a screenshot or cut-and-paste and file for future reference.

      No fee wisdom from Genghis always valuable.

      • Reney says:
        29 Mar29 March 12:00

        +1 I’ve started an album just for useful HFP advice to save me searching after reading a suggestion a few weeks back.

        +1 Thanks to Genghis and others too.

        • Genghis says:
          29 Mar29 March 13:09

          Happy to help. I enjoy talking about this stuff.

          • BLT says:
            29 Mar29 March 13:51

            @Genghis – Agree with all you say above, just a quick question – any reason you stick to VWRL etc over something like the lifestategy 100?

          • BuildBackBetter says:
            29 Mar29 March 14:20

            @BLT – some think LS funds have a slightly higher bias towards UK shares, especially FTSE100. FTSE100 arent the darlings of the market as some are in old economy sectors, low growth potential etc.

          • Genghis says:
            29 Mar29 March 14:40

            Exactly. LS100 has a 25% UK bias. UK is currently just over 4% of FTSE All World. Why overweight the UK by 6x when the market has already decided on capital allocation? There are no currency considerations either: something like 81% of the FTSE All Share is the FTSE 100, itself deriving something like 75% of its profits from overseas. Lifestrategy isn’t a bad choice, just not a great choice.

            Other considerations:
            – structure of the funds. VWRL is an ETF. Lifestrategy is an OEIC (fund of funds). Platforms generally provide cheaper platform fees for ETFs.

            – if held in a general investment account, and you’re going for something like Lifestrategy 60, the whole fund is considered an equity fund for tax purposes (i.e. and subject to dividend tax (and the £2k allowance) as opposed to savings tax (and the prevailing allowance depending on your income tax rate), whereas having two separate funds separates these out.

          • BLT says:
            29 Mar29 March 19:42

            Thank you BBB & Genghis. Makes sense. All my investments are in SIPPs and ISA’s. I will revisit these as aim to retire (or achieve FI) before 50, so every penny counts.

    • Chris Heyes says:
      29 Mar29 March 12:53

      Suck My Points, No matter what anyone tells you, “there are “NO” beginner- friendly stocks and shares, study, look, study again, then think can i lose the money
      One thing I can tell you is “some get it right, but some get it incredibly wrong”
      That’s not to say you can’t make money, because its easy if you get it right.
      Buy on the way down (don’t wait for the bottom nobody knows when that is)
      Sell on the way up (don’t wait for the peak nobody knows when that is)
      Follow that and it’s easy to make money, try to make more and it gets a lot harder “Don’t get greedy”

    • Joe says:
      29 Mar29 March 13:57

      Fineco Bank is excellent. Easy to set up. Tonnes of options. Very low fees.

      • WaynedP says:
        29 Mar29 March 15:19

        Always wise to do proper due diligence, especially if the name sounds like it would be at home in a Looney-Tunes cartoon.

        Some months back, Genghis mentioned little-known feature of a trading platform that doesn’t use 3rd party custodian account.

        Lower fees, but bigger risk to investor. Caveat emptor & Scientia potentia est both well heeded.

    • Guernsey Globetrotter says:
      29 Mar29 March 14:35

      Given you are talking >£50k to invest also consider the Interative Investor platform, as their fixed fee approach can work out OK cost wise on bigger portfolios (minimising fee drag is one of the key ways to maximise long term returns). There’s a decent summary and review of their services here : https://moneytothemasses.com/saving-for-your-future/investing/interactive-investor-review-is-it-the-best-broker-for-your-money
      Also, to riff on the comments that Chris Heyes made on timing of buying/selling and generally not being greedy, I will leave you with the great Warren Buffet’s thoughts on timing the market: “Be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy”. 🙂

    • DK says:
      29 Mar29 March 14:54

      If you don’t have HSBC Premier abs want one you can open the account, invest 50K into ISA with them (or check Direct Invest) and qualify for Premier. You can invest in Vanguard funds for £42 annual flat fee say.

  • SM says:
    29 Mar29 March 11:09

    Hi

    Looking for some advice please, we have got tickets booked (2 adults, 2 children) using 241 LHR-CHQ for mid April, flights cancelled by BA, called in to rebook to Crete or one of the other Greek islands for end of May BH weekend, however, the CS tells me there is no availability for any of the destinations we are looking to travel for the dates we prefer. My question is are BA obliged to rebook us on to another airline – EU241 or do we just have to pick a date with availability on BA? I was annoyed when the CS agent suggested that the booking on his system appears to be a third party booking when its a 241 booking using Avios! He even suggested third parties are allowed to book using Avios, at which point I politely decided to hang up and call again with the hope that someone knowledgable would asnwer my call next time! Thanks.

    • Rob says:
      29 Mar29 March 11:12

      BA is obliged to rebook you, but they won’t.

      You will need to buy new tickets for cash with another airline and then take BA to CEDR arbitration or sue them via Money Claim Online (we have guides to doing both on the site) to reclaim your money.

      • SM says:
        29 Mar29 March 11:15

        Thanks Rob, just wish BA would do the right thing and not give passengers a hard time. We live in hope!

      • Babyg says:
        29 Mar29 March 11:44

        My understanding is BA are obliged to rebook to the PAX to the same destination (they MAY agree to something else, but they arent obliged to). SM is looking at booking other Greek islands, therefore i don’t think SM will be entitled to flight re-imbursement for a completely different destination, sure if SM re-books CHQ with another carrier then i agree, but otherwise the costs of new flights will be on her, and she will only be entitled to refund of her original flights?

        • SM says:
          29 Mar29 March 11:49

          I wasn’t sure either, would Rob or someone have the link to the webapge on BA that gives details on the 300 mile alternative airport rebooking policy, is this time restricted? i.e will BA rebook to an aiport within 300 miles of the original airport if the travel date is within 14 days of cancelled flight? Thanks.

          • Anna says:
            29 Mar29 March 12:28

            BA is obliged to pay the full cost of your flights to the same destination, in the same cabin class. The 300 mile rule is their policy, not part of EU261 so I wouldn’t risk booking anything other than your original destination airport.
            Also looking like there’s a good chance foreign travel still won’t be permitted at the end of May so you would be stuck with the Ts and Cs of your new flights at that point.

    • Lady London says:
      29 Mar29 March 12:29

      It’s possible the agent you spoke to was under the misconception that you could only be rebooked to flights with avios seats available.

      Have you checked if BA is selling seats to your booked destination for cash on dates you would want? I’ll bet they are. If so then under EU261 you have a right to be rebooked onto any available seat(s) in same cabin as you booked. BA absolutely is not allowed to insist on there being avios seats available if they cancelled your original flight.

      Law is EU261 which supersedes anything BA might say, any untrained agent, any lacking BA system, procedure, rule, terms on BA bookings, practice etc. Applies however the ticket was booked eg avios, travel agent, promotional discount or reduction etc., and to each seat of a 241.

      So if you can find seats being sold on a date that you want for your original route, call again and request them. Escalate to supervisor if you have to.

      Many have trod your path so keep notes of calls, time/date, who you spoke to etc in case you end up having to follow Rob’s advice.

      One last thing : have you tried to change the date yourself in Manage My Booking online? sometimes you can.

      • SM says:
        29 Mar29 March 12:43

        Brilliant, thanks both, I would have tried online, however, the booking is currently split on two PNR’s so thought it’s best to do this over the phone so both bookings can be modified at the same time ensuring we all travel on the same flight!

        • Lady London says:
          29 Mar29 March 13:42

          Ah. a flight cancellation only gives you these rerouting rights across all the flights on *same* PNR.

          If you can, assuming both PNR’s qualify, try to move each online yourself as a first choice. It will make your life simpler.

  • ee says:
    29 Mar29 March 11:24

    Does anyone have the Facebook Code for Donald Russell? I think it was £10 off when spending £50 but can’t find the comment from a few days ago.

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