The HfP chat thread – Monday 5th April

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• CH says:

  5 Apr5 April 02:37

  Happy Easter Monday!

  And the last day of this tax year.

  • IF1 says:

    5 Apr5 April 04:30

    Time to realise my Tesla gains before moving to ISA😏

    • Danny says:

      5 Apr5 April 07:22

      UK stock market is closed today so I sold my Tesla shares among others on Thursday which was the last day of trading in the tax year to realise the gains to move to the new ISA year tomorrow.

      • Jonathan says:

        5 Apr5 April 08:00

        Tesla’s primary listing is on the NASDAQ which is open today as Easter Monday is not a public holiday in the USA so you should be able to sell today.

        I’m not sure if the transaction needs to clear today to include in this years tax return.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          5 Apr5 April 08:09

          As long as you’ve sold and got a trading note it’ll be this year.

        • Danny says:

          5 Apr5 April 08:22

          My UK trading platform is closed today so I won’t be able to buy/sell shares even if other world stock markets are opened.

        • The real John says:

          5 Apr5 April 13:46

          That’s a lousy platform which isn’t open during the opening hours of the market.

      • Sundar says:

        5 Apr5 April 11:46

        Can you hold Tesla ( or US-listed stocks) in an ISA account ? You can in a SIPP…

        • The real John says:

          5 Apr5 April 13:45

          Yes

  • Navara says:

    5 Apr5 April 06:56

    Happy Easter Monday !! It’s snowing here this morning

    • Olly says:

      5 Apr5 April 08:43

      @Navara, where is here?

      • Number9 says:

        5 Apr5 April 09:27

        Just started here ( north Bucks) as well.

      • Navara says:

        5 Apr5 April 10:13

        Yorkshire

• IF1 says:

  5 Apr5 April 04:29

  My saved Amex offers are not showing on my new replacement platinum card 😕 never had this issue before, saved offers would always move across to a new card without 24/48 hours (in the last 4 years I’ve been using Amex). I’m going to assume Amex changed something or cocked up on their backend as there was a period of getting no new offers (had to request £175 offer be manually added for example, had 0 offers on the card) and now that issue seems fixed with offers populating over the last few weeks

  Anyone have any experience of this as of late? Are the saved offers still there just not showing, don’t particularly want to do a “test” purchase to see if it triggers the notification email.

  • Jonathan says:

    5 Apr5 April 07:47

    I’ve had this many times (more often than not tbh). The offers have still credited. Main issue is not being able to see the T&C’s so I always screenshot shot my saved offers before getting a replacement card. CS should be able to confirm they are there & the details though.

    • IF1 says:

      5 Apr5 April 11:25

      Thx

• Colin Hawker says:

  5 Apr5 April 04:47

  Wondering if BA will make MLE daily during the summer with consideration to its likely badge as a green destination and the current red status of the ME hubs

  • blenz101 says:

    5 Apr5 April 09:06

    Media reports are that there will be around a dozen or so ‘green’ countries. I haven’t seen MLE specifically mentioned. The briefed list currently includes Canada, UAE, Gibraltar, Portugal, Malta, Israel, Barbados and the US.

    I am sure BA will look to match demand. If the ME hubs do get taken off then daily is unlikely to be required. If the ME hubs aren’t taken off then MLE will still be full of western expats escaping the heat of the gulf in any event during the summer.

• James says:

  5 Apr5 April 06:58

  What time is the Boris announcement today?

  • Jay says:

    5 Apr5 April 11:18

    5pm

• Chris L says:

  5 Apr5 April 07:20

  The gov.uk website not fully updated with the soon to be announced travel rules but there is a small change when looking at how to order lateral flow tests which might indicate what the system is going to be. It says:

  International arrivals
  You can also use this service if you’re an international arrival who’s been told to get a test because you’re exempt from quarantine.

  I’m hoping that means for green countries the testing on return to the UK is therefore free. No doubt the test required before the flight back will still cost, unless of course they allow you to take a box of these with you.

  • Jenny says:

    5 Apr5 April 07:35

    Do you have the link?

  • Jonathan says:

    5 Apr5 April 07:41

    I’m afraid this refers to people like lorry drivers etc who are exempt from the quarantine regulations. There’s no way HMG will be providing free testing for leisure travellers. I also very much doubt they will allow unverified LFT’s as a valid test. Best you can hope for is an online LAMP service like Rhys reviewed the other week.

    • Chris L says:

      5 Apr5 April 07:47

      Fair point, I hadn’t seen that particular line on the site before which peaked interest. Link is below – it had been updated with pharmacies that you can now pick the tests up from.

      https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests

      Guess it’ll be an afternoon press conference later. 5pm is the usual isn’t it but might be earlier as it’s a bank holiday

      • Rob says:

        5 Apr5 April 09:54

        My daughter gets these from school. You take it then go onto the NHS website and click positive or negative. Waste of time.

  • Yuff says:

    5 Apr5 April 07:54

    In the times today it says LFT’s will be free for everyone from Friday so I assume you can take some with you on a foreign trip.
    Although the antigen test I took last week was only €18 to get back into the uk.
    I don’t have a problem taking several antigen tests at that price but the PCR costs are becoming a bit of a joke and rip off. Some of the costs I’ve seen for same day/following day in the uk are ridiculous.

    • Jonathan says:

      5 Apr5 April 08:07

      LFT’s are a screening tool to pick up some additional asymptomatic cases. There’s no way they will allow them to be used to show you are “clean” for the purposes of reentering the country.

      They also send PCR tests from those with recent overseas travel for genetic sequencing to pick up new variants. For this reason they will almost certainly want a PCR or verified LAMP + follow up PCR for positives.

      • Yuff says:

        5 Apr5 April 08:42

        I thought that is exactly what BA’s deal with Qured was 🤔

        • TGLoyalty says:

          5 Apr5 April 09:53

          It is but it’s verified via video

  • Will says:

    5 Apr5 April 08:06

    If we’re trusting people to report back on the results of their lateral flow tests, we may as well not bother doing them.

    I’d personally be quite happy to do one either end both leaving and returning but I don’t see it as practical to be administered at the airport.

    • Yuff says:

      5 Apr5 April 08:40

      Heathrow have been trialling tests that give results in 20 secs with very high accuracy.
      If there’s a will there’s a way, unfortunately this government don’t care about foreign travel

      • Will says:

        5 Apr5 April 12:29

        A 20 second result is fantastic, if it’s a swab, then the bottleneck will be doing the swab and administering that in an airport whilst retaining the integrity of the sample I’d going to be extremely time consuming.

        Testing with self certification is a waste of time, swabbing in the airport will not be practically possible for normal volumes of passengers without huge testing manpower, just look at security screening, you do all the hard work yourself and it doesn’t need to be sterile and they trust you’ll pick up your bag and no one else’s and it’s still chaos when it’s busy.

        I think the government probably do care about travel, they’re just fearful that turning on the travel industry could wreck the entire country very quickly.

        It’s not really just a U.K. problem here, show me a country that’s presently got a covid problem AND a travel industry

    • Tracey says:

      5 Apr5 April 08:57

      Exactly what happens at the moment. You scan the QR code on the test and self report the result. You tell the website the result. You then receive a text and email from NHS with the result you have given them. That text/ email is then accepted as legitimate. Quite unbelievable.

      • Tariq says:

        5 Apr5 April 10:27

        I suppose they’re aimed at a certain type of person. I would expect that those who would ignore a positive result and select negative on the website or who would just not submit their result, would probably choose not to get tested in the first place.

        AFAIK it’s a legal requirement to submit the result of all coronavirus testing to the authorities.

        • Will says:

          5 Apr5 April 12:33

          If your off on a family holiday, and you test positive but family doesn’t and you feel ok you might just click negative. Especially if the refund / rebook status is ambiguous or just related to the one person testing positive.

          I can see some quite decent honest people struggling in that situation.

          Need really rigourous system, guaranteed rebook/refund for entire group if one rests positive coupled with independent test verification if it’s going to be worth doing.

    • Mr. AC says:

      5 Apr5 April 12:33

      The current tests (day 2 and day 8) that you are required to buy (£210) before arriving to the UK are self-administered (they arrive by mail, and you send off the vials to a lab), and you’re not on a video call with anyone when you do them. So you could swab someone else’s nose and throat or just not do a good job with your own if you were so inclined.

      • Jonathan says:

        5 Apr5 April 19:27

        If you don’t do a good job of swabbing yourself then you’ll get an indeterminate result not negative.

        You could swab someone else but how do you know they’re negative & you’re positive unless you’ve both done a test the previous day?

        If you’re symptomatic & travel on public transport then you’re a real sociopath.

• Jenny says:

  5 Apr5 April 07:36

  What time is the announcement today?

  • Anna says:

    5 Apr5 April 07:49

    No specific briefing listed on the news channels. This might be helpful about testing though:

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/coronavirus/rapid-twice-weekly-covid-tests-to-be-offered-to-everyone-in-england-including-home-delivery/ar-BB1fiAAO?ocid=msedgntp

  • TGLoyalty says:

    5 Apr5 April 08:23

    It’s at 5pm

    • Tracey says:

      5 Apr5 April 08:58

      Replacing ‘pointless’ on BBC. Or at least replacing the content, title will still be appropriate.
      😉

      • Oh! Matron! says:

        5 Apr5 April 09:10

        Comment of the day 🙂

      • Lady London says:

        5 Apr5 April 11:10

        🙂

• KBuffett says:

  5 Apr5 April 08:11

  How strictly is Curve’s £9000 daily limit enforced? I need to do full ISA top ups for two people

  • Chas says:

    5 Apr5 April 08:16

    Your transaction will fail if you try to use it for a purchase that tips you over £9,000 for the day.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    5 Apr5 April 08:24

    Strictly. You’ve left it too late.

  • Steve says:

    5 Apr5 April 08:26

    As Chas says, automatically enforced. No gaming of the limit possible AFAIK

    • Reney says:

      5 Apr5 April 08:46

      For me, only creation works with bendy for my ISA account (unless I want a cash fee) and that is subject to the £700 pw limit. So the bendy daily limit isn’t something I can concern myself with – I wish it was!

      • Anna says:

        5 Apr5 April 09:25

        I haven’t had a Creation limit for ages!

      • Travel Strong says:

        5 Apr5 April 09:40

        Are you sure Reney? Have you tried or just read about the limit?

        • TGLoyalty says:

          5 Apr5 April 09:55

          I’m 10000% sure I have it.

          Not everywhere is subject to it but those that are it’s strictly enforced.

          Can’t even use creation to top up HL with any amount

        • Reney says:

          5 Apr5 April 11:19

          Tried, the last time I tested it was last month.

          Same as TGLoyalty, my Creation limit applies only to some things.

• YC says:

  5 Apr5 April 08:30

  I remember Niccolo Polos were advertised here in the past. Anyone have views if these premium polos are worth it? There is a Amex offer + 10% new customer

  • Sandgrounder says:

    5 Apr5 April 08:40

    You can buy a Polo from Cazoo, the £250 off is back on my Plat today. 🙂

  • Peter K says:

    5 Apr5 April 09:16

    I find they are extra minty compared to standard polos and the hole in the middle a bit smaller. YMMV.

    • ankomonkey says:

      5 Apr5 April 10:16

      🙂

  • Rob says:

    5 Apr5 April 09:50

    As with all luxury clothing (and indeed all high end goods) the difference is modest. Will be a higher end cotton, perhaps hand stitching in some areas, more considered width / arm hole sizing etc.

    I have a couple of £1,000 cashmere jumpers which I got for around £250 in sales. Are they far and away better than any other cashmere I own? Yes. But you need to be ambivalent about the £900 difference between that and a John Lewis equivalent, because clearly they are not 10x better.

    • YC says:

      5 Apr5 April 10:46

      Thanks – internet browser (Nicollo) closed now 🙂

    • Lady London says:

      5 Apr5 April 11:14

      That’s a good buy Rob if they actually were worth £1,000 in the first place. I simply won’t buy cheap cashmere.

    • Chris Heyes says:

      5 Apr5 April 12:00

      Rob or just a dearer price. sometimes you can tell, sometimes you cant
      Just makes some people feel better if they’ve paid more

      • Lady London says:

        6 Apr6 April 00:16

        Er….some of us hàve a special interest in cashnere @Chris H. There is a huge difference between quality cashmere and what is sold mass market nowadays. There is no mistaking Plus if you love animals then there are some issues in how the cheap stuff is produced as I saw reported recently.

        I think what you’re saying is this cheap stuff is overpriced. This is definitely correct.

    • The Savage Squirrel says:

      5 Apr5 April 12:33

      A high end hifi enthusiast once told me that the quality scale as you go up is roughly logarithmic … a £100 speaker will be noticeably better than a £10 speaker. To get another similar step up in quality you will need to go to £1000. To get the same step-up yet again you will need to go to £10,000.
      It’s a rough rule of thumb but when you’re aware of it then you do start to see a similar pattern hold true in everything where extreme variations in price are available (hotels, cars, clothes, etc etc etc).

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