The HfP chat thread – Friday 2nd April

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• Wally1976 says:

  2 Apr2 April 08:27

  Hoping the collective wisdom on here will know the answer to this…

  M&S current accounts closing in August… If I empty my account now and close it (or transfer out) does my Regular Saver Account interest automatically get paid up in full to the end of its term (as if I’d paid in £250 a month).

  That seems to be what the information says but it’s a bit unclear. Also, what happens to that money now that you don’t have an M&S current account for it to drop into?

  • Anna says:

    2 Apr2 April 08:40

    I’ve been wondering the same – they haven’t said that the Regular Saver accounts are closing as far as I know so I assume that the deduction would be transferred over to any new account you open, no idea what happens if you just close the account. It makes more sense for me to find a decent switch deal at this point, though.

  • BJ says:

    2 Apr2 April 09:09

    I believe you can get the switching bonus for moving your M&S account to HSBC or First Direct (usual conditions on previous accounts don’t apply apparently). Suggest you check with them about this and if your Regular Saver would be transferred too since it’s all essentially same bank.

    • Anna says:

      2 Apr2 April 09:22

      Thanks BJ – we have our joint account with FD, though, so I don’t think I’d get away with it!

      • BJ says:

        2 Apr2 April 09:28

        Try HSBC then. It was probably the Lewis site I saw this on so check there.

        • TicknBash says:

          2 Apr2 April 09:42

          Moved mine over to FirstDirect yesterday.

          They’ve updated their switch bonus criteria that previously excluded M&S customer’s eligibility.
          Now it is just excluding HSBC Customers.

          I believe the regular savers would be closing too, but we will be paid the full 12 months interest.

        • Anna says:

          2 Apr2 April 09:51

          I will, I had assumed that having the FD account would exclude me from other HSBC offers.

        • Andrew says:

          2 Apr2 April 21:15

          Nope – I have a FD current account which I use as my main current account. I had an M&S Current Account that just had 2x£2 charity direct debits and £1k rotating M&S>FD>M&S on a monthly basis.

          I used the current account switching service to switch my M&S account to HSBC and I *have* received the £125 switching bonus (I’ve upped the £1k rotation to £1,750). I’ve retained my FD account.

          Can’t comment on regular saver, but I did open an HSBC MasterCard at the same time as my current account – that came with an additional unexpected bonus of £25 worth of Rewards points with the first transaction.

    • Number9 says:

      2 Apr2 April 09:45

      Anyone know of any FD referral bonuses ? I did look but if there is any they have alluded me.

      • TicknBash says:

        2 Apr2 April 10:23

        Nothing from FD at the moment, just the switch bonus.

• Reney says:

  2 Apr2 April 08:32

  Morning all, quick question. For the Tesco and IHG CC if a transaction incurr a cash fee, will it show in pending right away? Or will I need to wait till it comes off pending? I have tested it but just realized due to the Easter weekend it might not post until Tuesday. So far no cash fee on pending.

  • Anna says:

    2 Apr2 April 08:42

    For doing what? For cash-like transactions IHG IME doesn’t incur a fee but does accrue interest immediately unless you pay it off.

    • Alex says:

      2 Apr2 April 08:52

      Yeah for IHG, nothing will appear and on your monthly statement it will say “interest on cash” and be however much, I’ve never had more than £3.50. Even on the statement though it won’t tell you which transaction caused this so you need to ask them.

    • Reney says:

      2 Apr2 April 08:52

      I’m making a mortgage over payment. I’ve actually done it many times before. Have to pause every so often to wait for my overpayment limit to reset and always worried that coding changes. So I just wanted to check in general if they are posting a cash fee will it show right away or will I have to wait till the transaction comes off pending.

      • Anna says:

        2 Apr2 April 09:23

        I meant is it going through bendy/Che? Both will incur interest.

      • Genghis says:

        2 Apr2 April 09:25

        Any cash advance fees on creation post with the transaction.

        • Reney says:

          2 Apr2 April 09:40

          Thanks Genghis, when it posts? Or will I know when the transaction is still pending?

  • Connor says:

    2 Apr2 April 12:34

    Tesco tends to be next day after pending.

    • Raveon says:

      2 Apr2 April 14:05

      Does Ernie to IHG via bendy attract interest?

• Roy says:

  2 Apr2 April 09:01

  Morning.
  Does anyone want to share a referral code for Igloo?

  • Ian says:

    2 Apr2 April 09:29

    Happy to! Thanks:

    https://refer.igloo.energy/iant7928

    • Roy says:

      2 Apr2 April 09:39

      Done. Thanks.

• MarkB says:

  2 Apr2 April 09:04

  Morning all

  Wanted to share a pleasant surprise I got from AmEx this week. Called to cancel my PRG card as I had just passed the first anniversary and received the annual bonus points. They tried the usual ‘sell’ to get me to stay, but I resisted and said I wanted to cancel. They then offered me 10,000 free MR points (in addition to the anniversary points). No catch, no requirement to retain the card for any period of time. They posted the next day and I called again to cancel and they’ve processed it with the pro-rata refund of the fee. Has anyone else seen anything similar with any other cards?

  • BJ says:

    2 Apr2 April 09:21

    Nice surprise for you Mark … but it’s been reported here a few times in recent weeks 🙂

    • Jonathan says:

      2 Apr2 April 09:31

      I think if everyone starts doing it, Seagulls will will enforce minimum timeframes before the bonus pints will be added, like right around the card’s anniversary etc, to stop people gaining bonus points to stay, then cancelling as soon as the points are awarded

      • AJA says:

        2 Apr2 April 09:39

        Bonus pints only available from 12 April though? 😀

        • Jonathan says:

          2 Apr2 April 10:21

          Typo error that I’ve only just spotted, oops!

          I think anyone who reads it can tell which word I’ve meant to have written

• Anna says:

  2 Apr2 April 09:09

  Looking hopeful for travel to the US this summer? I’ve just checked flight prices to MIA in August and the J seats I paid £1500 each for via BA holidays are now nearly £3k each!

  • BJ says:

    2 Apr2 April 09:26

    Hope you don’t have any hassle getting your refund.

    • Anna says:

      2 Apr2 April 09:53

      BA holiday so I’d just get a FTV for the deposit.

  • Harry T says:

    2 Apr2 April 09:40

    We will be allowed to travel there soon, I think. The time to book was definitely some time ago, unless the opening up triggers transatlantic price war.

    • Andrew says:

      2 Apr2 April 10:03

      Which it will as they all put back a full schedule as at the moment they are only selling for a limited number of flights.

    • BJ says:

      2 Apr2 April 10:17

      Doubt it, USA is giving their economy a multitrillion dollar boost. There is no economic need for even 100k Brit tourist so they won’t give a toss without a compelling political reason to withstand the public health risk. I cannot see one anytime soon but you never know, it’s politicians we’re talking about.

      • The Lord says:

        2 Apr2 April 10:20

        There is no reason for them not to though?

  • The Lord says:

    2 Apr2 April 10:19

    Times and Sun got a full write up of what travel might look like this summer

  • ChrisC says:

    2 Apr2 April 17:58

    £3.5k now for SFO. I pais arounf £1.5k last Sept via BA Hols

    Maybe the price bump before a sale?

• Craig says:

  2 Apr2 April 09:11

  The tedium of cancelling and rebooking 8 IHG bookings because the rate when down by 1000 points a night! #firstworldproblems

  • BJ says:

    2 Apr2 April 09:24

    I’d have done it too, easy enough done while listening the news at the same time.

    • Craig says:

      2 Apr2 April 09:40

      Third time now, chasing the rate down.

      • Anna says:

        2 Apr2 April 09:54

        Do you find that after you’ve done a certain number of page changes on the IHG website it has a sort of tantrum and refuses to let you do anything else for a few hours? Doesn’t seem to affect ipads, just my laptop.

        • Craig says:

          2 Apr2 April 10:01

          It really slows down that’s for certain, I use iPhone and iPad. One for booking and one for cancelling.

  • Steve says:

    2 Apr2 April 11:31

    You got me hopeful, just checked some of my bookings and a lot have more than doubled, glad I locked in the pricing when I did.

    • Steve says:

      2 Apr2 April 11:35

      Just seen the thread on page 1, you really are a lucky chappy Craig!

  • ChrisC says:

    2 Apr2 April 12:57

    I was checking mine yesterday as have sod all else to do.

    Saved 1.5k on one night. Other nights of the same trip (but booked separately) went up. One night by 15k points.

    Job today is checking cash rates for changs

  • Anna says:

    2 Apr2 April 13:58

    Ha – just checked my Kimpton Charlotte Square booking for May – I paid 32,500 points per night, it’s now 65k!

  • Ming the Merciless says:

    2 Apr2 April 17:03

    Thanks. 6000 points saved.

• Mikeact says:

  2 Apr2 April 09:15

  Lloyds voucher..again. I just wanted to post the following as a follow up to yesterday’s comments.
  @meta
  Hi, I’m still not sure I understand your predicament . Is it similar to my scenario going forward ?
  My next Lloyds voucher expires at the end of October this year. A week or so before I will be looking to book a long haul to, say, Cape Town for the following October (22)
  This gives me 12 months to think about it, and the destination, as I may change it to somewhere else in the same Zone, which is all you can do with a destination change . If BA cancel the flight (Oct 22) then as at present, the voucher will be returned,with refund or BA will accommodate you on a different flight to get you there. Of course, no one can foresee where we will all be at that time…rules may change again..but this was from the ‘horses mouth ‘….in writing.

  • Anna says:

    2 Apr2 April 09:28

    I think the issue is that your voucher will still expire at the end of October, even though it is tied up in a booking, so wouldn’t automatically be returned if the booking was cancelled. Avios.com have been telling people that because the voucher has expired, they are not eligible to make a new booking with it, though this does seem to depend on which CSA you get. If you’ve got something in writing to preserve your voucher’s validity then presumably you will be in a much stronger position if this happens to you!

    • meta says:

      2 Apr2 April 12:20

      My issue was:
      1. I had a flight booked with Lloyds voucher for May bank holiday (booked in Sep 20). The return flight was cancelled by BA. EC261 rights kicked in.
      2. I asked to move to August bank holiday, same destination, same number of Avios, same charges (short-haul so fixed). Plenty of Avios seats available. Avios.com team refused to move, said I can only have my Avios and taxes back and voucher since it was expired couldn’t be extended. This was contrary to the email I received from the same team which said that they’ll extend it to 31 Oct.

      3. I tried 4 times with various agents and they all refused. Then I sent the email to Avios.com team citing them full EC261 and stating their final position.

      4. They came back and said no rebooking, but they can now give me vouchers back with 31 Oct expiry. I accepted that and rebooked later for August bank holiday.

      Overall it was totally pointless exercise from Avios.com team as charges and Avios were back in my account within 24 hours and I could just rebook. The more I think about the whole system BA has set up is to make less willing/able customers give up.

      @Mikeact If BA cancels your EC261 rights kick in.

• James. says:

  2 Apr2 April 09:43

  Has anyone has any issues with travel insurance since COVID?

  Have had a claim rejected as though accommodation was booked (3-6Apr) a flight wasn’t.

  We didn’t get round to the flights as was hoping for some late minute deals but haven’t been able to book anything since Oct last year.

  • Anna says:

    2 Apr2 April 09:58

    What was the reason for cancelling (e.g. was it in a country you couldn’t travel to due to FCO advice)?
    Did they say your claim was declined specifically because you didn’t book flight? This sounds odd as obviously flying isn’t the only way to travel.

    • James. says:

      2 Apr2 April 10:23

      Travelling to Alicante. Accommodation was booked through AirBnB but no travel was booked. So no planned evidence leaving the UK for Spain. Accommodation booked in July. Flights suspended from October so think that’s a little unfair given the travel date is this weekend and legally we can not leave the UK and legally can not enter Spain (I am correct that we are no longer classed as EU citizens)?

      • James. says:

        2 Apr2 April 10:26

        The term they are using is that we have not booked a “trip”

      • Anna says:

        2 Apr2 April 10:47

        You can enter Spain now, I think they lifted the restriction on March 30th, however of course it’s now illegal to leave the UK for a holiday. I’ve never heard of you having to prove you had an entire trip planned (why else would you book accommodation?), but as always it’s going to be down to the Ts and Cs of your policy. You’re perfectly entitled to challenge the insurer’s decision but it just goes to show the risks of booking non-refundable anything!

        • James. says:

          2 Apr2 April 10:52

          Are the UK still classed as EU citizens? If not then we can’t enter my understanding:

          Only citizens and residents of EU or Schengen states, Andorra, Monaco, the Vatican City (Holy See), or San Marino; or holders of a long-stay visa issued by an EU or Schengen state, may transit Spain in order to travel to their country of habitual residence

        • TGLoyalty says:

          2 Apr2 April 11:31

          No but the the ban on UK travellers was lifted March 30th

          https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/spain-british-tourists-summer-holiday-b1821204.html

        • Jonny O says:

          2 Apr2 April 12:08

          Not exactly… I would be cautious. The blanket ban on entry into Spain for UK nationals has been lifted as of end of March, but Spain has specified that entry is for Essential reasons only and documentary evidence may be required. I would not expect this to last through the summer, but for now, these are the regulations from Spain for UK nationals

  • Andrew says:

    2 Apr2 April 11:18

    I’ve just had my annual renewal through from Aviva. No point renewing it as I’ve no idea when we’ll be allowed to leave the country. Last year’s was clearly a waste of money, but at the point of renewal I had outstanding planned trips (that were refunded).

    It makes a few clarifications about the insurance company’s expectations for refunding accommodation. Ie, must go through the motions with the credit card company first.

    But, I’d agree with them. A trip isn’t a trip if you haven’t booked travel.

    • Anna says:

      2 Apr2 April 12:37

      What if you were driving to Scotland or Wales for a holiday? Clearly you wouldn’t be booking any travel but you would have accommodation. It’s still a trip even though it doesn’t require crossing the sea.

    • Lady London says:

      2 Apr2 April 19:46

      not necessarily. Could easily have been deciding to travel by car or boat eg Bilbao, or multucountry tour that was going to be flexible for some bits or booked gradually.

      Is the underwriter of your policy by any chance Axa?

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