The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 30th March

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• Mouse says:

  30 Mar30 March 17:29

  Virgin 50% bonus on buying points just fell into my inbox, they must be getting desperate for cash again…

  • AJA says:

    30 Mar30 March 17:33

    I think that’s a response to BA offering a similar 50% bonus Avios promotion yesterday

    • Ed says:

      30 Mar30 March 18:16

      I’m not buying until I know what Rob has done with his Virgin miles.

      • Peter K says:

        30 Mar30 March 18:29

        😁

      • mr_jetlag says:

        30 Mar30 March 19:33

        If He’s Still In, I’m Still In! 🚀

        • Magic Mike says:

          30 Mar30 March 20:01

          I cashed out some to Hilton this week to reduce the risk, seven figures with Beardy was too much…

• Joe says:

  30 Mar30 March 17:35

  They appear on my statement as “Marks Electrical”.

• Zoe says:

  30 Mar30 March 17:38

  I have been thinking about Rob’s comment yesterday about most of his daughter’s classmates on holiday in the Maldives or similar right now. I think that I understand that she attends a fee paying school. Parents at that school are I assume hoping that in due course their children will be lawyers, bankers, doctors etc. I’m not sure that I’d want my health or wealth looked after by someone who is being taught (by the actions of their parents) that rules can be bent or don’t apply to them and that their desires are the most important thing. I absolutely understand that some families find it hard to totally comply as to do so would mean no food on the table but this seems to be at the other end of the scale. Is there a stronger word than selfish?

  • Aston100 says:

    30 Mar30 March 17:43

    “merchant banker”

    • 747_Brat says:

      30 Mar30 March 17:56

      Comment of the day @Aston! 😂

      • kitten says:

        30 Mar30 March 19:00

        b****ie good comment @Aston100

    • Chrisasaurus says:

      30 Mar30 March 20:30

      I think this might be the quote of the century

    • GaryC says:

      30 Mar30 March 21:33

      It reminds me of a very old joke about the collective noun for bankers…a wunch 🙂

  • Rob says:

    30 Mar30 March 17:45

    The next Queen went to my daughter’s school so if there is any rot, it starts at the top 🙂

    • kitten says:

      30 Mar30 March 19:02

      I thought Camilla had some sort of status that meant she will not actually be Queen? Morganatic marriage or something.

      • ChrisC says:

        30 Mar30 March 20:12

        Constitutionally the wife of a King automatically becomes Queen even if they don’t use the title. (There was some consternation that Diana could still have become Queen until the divorce was finalised is anything had happened to The Queen for example.)

        When they married it was agreed at the time then when Charles became King that Camilla would be called ‘Princess Consort’ but that was at the time when there was still significant public feeling against her.

        Constitutionally the wife of the Prince of Wales is also the Princess of Wales even if they don’t use the title. So legally Camilla is the Princess of Wales but used the Duchess of Cornwall as her title (Duchess of Rothsay when in Scotland)

    • Anna says:

      30 Mar30 March 19:30

      Camilla? She will be Queen automatically when Charles succeeds, whatever anyone thinks. For a republican I know an embarrassing amount of royal trivia 🤦🏻‍♀️😂

  • Paul says:

    30 Mar30 March 18:08

    If everyone went to maldives covid would be gone. Every little helps. Selfless maybe.

  • Nick Booker says:

    30 Mar30 March 18:18

    I am carrying out some Covid compliance work, its clear there is a ‘class’ and I use the term loosely that think the rules just don’t apply to them. I had four people approach me where I was working today, independent of each other, pointing the finger at a rogue ‘business’

    • Zoe says:

      31 Mar31 March 08:13

      Nick are you hearing some interesting excuses?

  • Tariq says:

    30 Mar30 March 18:34

    🤣🤣🤣

  • Blindman says:

    30 Mar30 March 18:49

    Dominic Cummings?

  • Colin MacKinnon says:

    30 Mar30 March 18:51

    I studied law, but never became a lawyer. But it taught me a huge amount about the English language, which was useful as a journalist.

    It has then come in useful during the Covid crisis, interpreting the rules, regulations and requests.

    Yes, you might call that refusing to accept “rules can be bent or don’t apply to them”.

    I call much of what comes out of parliament and from the statute drafters sloppy.

    A good law student should be encouraged to think creatively. As should doctors and scientists (see my post the other day about the London bus journey and medical research).

    Check Neville Shute’s novel Ruined City, written and set in the 1930s, for a simple easily-read explanation of creative banking.

    • SwissJim says:

      30 Mar30 March 19:25

      Absolutely. Read the rules (I doubt few on here have). You can do far more than you might think. Whether you or I think you should is an entirely different matter.

      • Blair says:

        30 Mar30 March 20:30

        Exactly, it’s not about bending the rules; it’s about having the resources to be willing to stand behind your interpretation of them. Those with deeper pockets have always been able to do so. Don’t blame them, don’t judge them, elect better MPs if you want tighter laws. Some of us though are of the view that looser laws are a check against government overreach.

        • Chrisasaurus says:

          30 Mar30 March 20:48

          Hmmm

          No, I will blame people for doing the wrong thing – you’re really just defending “Not touching; can’t get mad” and honestly as a grown up that argument annoys me hugely, but as a parent it simply depresses me

  • Chris Heyes says:

    30 Mar30 March 22:25

    Zoe, Zoe OOOooo Rules are always bent how naïve to think otherwise
    You only need to read HFPs one day to realise that
    Just think about it did you go past a local shop whilst lockdown was on
    to go to a shop you wanted to go to ?
    That’s called bending the rules
    I’m sure hand on heart most if not all have bent the rules during lockdown
    Strange people are ? if it suits it wasn’t me officer comes to mind lol
    You shouldn’t be reading HFPs if you can’t except rules to be lets say bent or twisted.
    HFPs actively encourages bending not being unlawful of course

    • GaryC says:

      30 Mar30 March 23:51

      Many things in life are shades of grey and this is no different. We’ve probably all broken the speed limit, but it doesn’t mean we think it’s ok to do 70 in a 30. Walking past a store to go to one further away is not the same as taking a holiday in the Maldives under the pretence of viewing a villa. Being enthusiastic about points collection and enjoying the tips on this site, isn’t the same as lying on insurance policies to collect clubcard points for a fictitious pet. Etc.

    • Zoe says:

      31 Mar31 March 08:17

      I of course understand that rules get bent, l would love to hear how the parents are explaining it to the children? ‘Dad l thought you are only allowed to meet one friend in a park?’…

  • TGLoyalty says:

    30 Mar30 March 22:32

    Visiting and staying in second homes was officially allowable from yesterday.

    • Tiff says:

      30 Mar30 March 23:53

      It’s slightly weird that the unenforceable guidance has consistently been stricter than the actual law. I guess that is on the advice of behavioural “science”.

• PaulC says:

  30 Mar30 March 17:51

  Here’s an interesting question. Is there anyway of paying off a Sainsbury’s loan via bank transfer details they have given me using an AMEX?

  • Nick Booker says:

    30 Mar30 March 17:54

    I am interested in that answer too

  • Peter K says:

    30 Mar30 March 18:31

    Not via billhop. Tried that and it bounced back as unpaid as it’s to a financial company.

  • kitten says:

    30 Mar30 March 19:06

    someone was using solihull as the last stop to a similar payee. so if you can get to that point sounds like it would work.

    Might it matter though which clearing bank is handling for Sainsbury’s?

• HFPPAWVSVABAXXXEMS says:

  30 Mar30 March 18:17

  I think it would be a good idea for HfP to create an acronym page people can refer to? Should be a fairly quick job. Can be updated periodically.

  • Blindman says:

    30 Mar30 March 18:50

    Love to know what yours means!

    • Mo says:

      30 Mar30 March 19:17

      Boredom has lead me to come up with some guesses

      HFP – This website
      PAW – Google comes up with Pambwa Airport
      VS – Virgin Atlantic
      VA – Virgin Australia
      BA – British Airways
      XXX – Probably shouldn’t Google this..
      EMS – Google comes up with Embessa Airport

      So this person is either from or will be vacationing in Papua New Guinea?

      • Blindman says:

        30 Mar30 March 19:35

        I was joking 🙂

        PAW is Perks at Work which is used on this site.

        EMS European Monetary System?

• mutley says:

  30 Mar30 March 19:47

  Apart from the current 8400 Avios for print and digital subscription to The Economist is anyone aware of any other deals re taking out/renewing subscription.

  Thanks

  • Blair says:

    30 Mar30 March 20:32

    Yes, many airlines have one but it may not be that actively promoted. If you search for a scheme name and The Economist you will find some. M&M had one last time I checked. You may need to clear cookies before each search. Overall the offers are rubbish at present though.

• Tracy says:

  30 Mar30 March 20:10

  The current Marriott promotion for double elite night credit ends 27th April. Does that mean including 27th, so checkout 28th?

  • Blair says:

    30 Mar30 March 20:34

    Worth booking and finding out? That’s what I’ve done. I wouldn’t have any faith in what Bonvoy phone or twitter agents tell me, or indeed hotel staff. So I’d rather adjust my work to fit the days that week and take the punt on a stay 26-28 Apr

    • Tracy says:

      30 Mar30 March 22:06

      Don’t really want to book and find out as it would be a mattress run…..

• mr_jetlag says:

  30 Mar30 March 20:12

  In non-lockdown related news…

  It seems the Virgin Red app tracks the exact date when I earned my VS voucher. It’s in the activity tab. Could be useful for those still checking statements.

  • thehornets says:

    30 Mar30 March 21:00

    Very useful – thank you! Got mine yesterday with the message “You have qualified for a credit card reward voucher”

  • Tom1 says:

    30 Mar30 March 21:52

    Thanks!
    Also shows nice amount of detail for redemptions – ie the booking ref and the number of points used.

    Also shows when you have redeemed a voucher but unfo doesn’t show which voucher, nor whether you have used a half/full voucher. Either way, think it’s an improvement!

    • Sean says:

      30 Mar30 March 22:46

      except i have 13 entries that say you have qualified for a voucher – that is no help at all

  • Harry T says:

    30 Mar30 March 22:42

    Thanks, that’s handy. Does anyone know when a voucher earned in July 2020 expires?

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