The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 7th April

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N says:

7 Apr7 April 12:54

Any ideas on what I can do with leftover Eurostar points?

Got a few accounts with 80 and 90 points in them, and can’t transfer them out as not multiples of 100
- Stanley says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 16:17
  
  Make an omelette. Or maybe a nice stew ?
  - N says:
    
    7 Apr7 April 16:49
    
    Thx m8
Fola says:

7 Apr7 April 12:57

Has anyone had any issue with Capital on Tap lately? They have blocked my card now for two transactions which I have explained that are business-related. One is at a fuel station and the other is at a mechanic garage.

It looks like they are beginning to be strict on what the card is used for, if that is the case I am not going to renew my membership.
- Lady London says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 13:28
  
  Sounds like some other problem. Perfectly reasonable you would refuel repair and maintain cars used for business.
  
  Is CoT like Amex in that the card is backed by you personally rather than liability of the business? If so then what you use it for and how you choose to pay card fees and charges is between you and your accountant as to sound practice.
  
  On a Business card the interchange fee cap does not apply so merchant pays a higher %. This is why a card may cover itself by reminding you the card is supposed to be used for business expenses only. Perhaps you need to call them and ensure ‘they know you know’.
  
  A card would have to be very profitable for me to put up with this kind of hassle.
  - Rob says:
    
    7 Apr7 April 13:57
    
    To be fair to COT, they will lose their Visa / Mastercard licence if they are seen as too lenient on non-business use. We saw the same with Curve when the card was theoretically for business use only.
    
    Amex treads more lightly because it is combined judge, jury and executioner, albeit it risks blowback from retailers if too many shops complain that too many cards with uncapped retailer fees are in circulation.
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      7 Apr7 April 14:02
      
      Fuel and repairs are a legitimate business expense though.
      
      Fuel and maintenance is a massive part of some businesses overhead!
    - Char Char says:
      
      7 Apr7 April 14:37
      
      Seems Morrisons have banned the Amex business card now, not sure about personal ones
      - Tracey says:
        
        7 Apr7 April 18:42
        
        I used a personal Amex in Morrisons today.
    - Char Char says:
      
      7 Apr7 April 14:38
      
      I don’t think Curve really care anymore about the non business spend use and Amex certainly have never questioned anything. Seems like COT are being OTT!
      - Rob says:
        
        7 Apr7 April 14:41
        
        All of your Amex Business statements come with a warning printed at the bottom telling you not to use the card for non-business spending. I’m not saying they do anything about it, but you will never be able to claim you weren’t told.
        
        Many HfP readers also had their Curve cards cancelled for non-business use. Curve doesn’t care now because it stopped issuing business cards.
  - Fola says:
    
    7 Apr7 April 15:53
    
    Exactly! They also have refused to remove two Curve cards (which are no longer valid due to re-issue )used for repayment into the account. They’re now asking for Business Bank statement to unlock the account.I will probably see if they will give a refund on my £99 membership fee if I cancel the card
- the_real_a says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 15:35
  
  Was that the reason for the block though? Or was it security related as unusual transactions? Fuel and aggregators such as Izettle Glint etc (that garages like to use) are all considered high risk transactions before a profile is known.
  - Fola says:
    
    7 Apr7 April 15:54
    
    They said because they don’t think those are business related transactions
Rob says:

7 Apr7 April 14:10

FYI, here are the new Amex referral deals which are running for a limited period. We have been asked not to write about them until next week to avoid confusion over the Business and Amazon card offers.

Gold – you get 12k, new member gets 32k
Platinum – you get 24k, new member gets 50k
BA – you get 6k, new member gets 9k
BAPP – you get 12k, new member gets 30k

If you want a link to apply yourself, email me at rob at headforpoints.com and one of the team will be happy to oblige.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 14:19
  
  No Nectar or Bonvoy promo planned?
- FFoxSake says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 14:21
  
  Just for clarity, we can mix and match here right?
  e.g. if i refer from a BA card I get 6k, but they are still free to choose any card, and if that card was a Platinum they would get 50K?
  - Rob says:
    
    7 Apr7 April 14:26
    
    Yes
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    7 Apr7 April 14:41
    
    Even better previously you only got the boosted offer on the referred card ie I wasn’t seeing the 30k BAPP before today.
  - Andrew says:
    
    7 Apr7 April 14:43
    
    And the other way too – if you have Platinum then if they take BA (free) you still get 24k?
- r* says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 15:01
  
  If its been over 24 months since someone has had a plat/gold/ba but only 21 months since they had an SPG card, does that prevent all amex bonuses or would all but the bonvoy card now give a bonus? Or at this point is it just better to wait another 3 months and start the cycle?
  - Anna says:
    
    7 Apr7 April 15:11
    
    You could get the bonus for Platinum or BAPP at this point, but either of these would re-set your 24 month gap for another SPG sign up so it depends how important that is for you.
  - Rob says:
    
    7 Apr7 April 15:21
    
    You can get BAPP or Platinum but not Gold, free BA, Nectar, Bonvoy.
    
    You’d need to do the maths on applying now with the higher rewards vs waiting 3 months and being able to start with Nectar.
- Blair says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 15:14
  
  How soon after taking out Plat could they cancel for me to still get the referral?
  - Rob says:
    
    7 Apr7 April 15:19
    
    You get the referral as soon as the application is approved – about 4 days before they even receive their card. However, cancelling within 14 days is treated as voiding the contract so your bonus is likely to be removed.
- Alex says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 16:00
  
  How limited is the period? My 24 months don’t expire until mid-May…
  - Lee says:
    
    7 Apr7 April 16:21
    
    12th May I think
- YC says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 16:47
  
  Pretty tasty… If you are Plat, worth referring OH for the other cards even if they are not eligible for the bonus. Unless their 2yr is approaching
  - Tariq says:
    
    7 Apr7 April 17:11
    
    My other half just passed two years since cancelling Gold, at the end of Feb, so we will definitely be going for Plat referral!
- Rob says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 19:08
  
  Yes, any card is OK unless it earns Membership Rewards points.
Manya says:

7 Apr7 April 15:25

Hi all, I have a flight booked out to Mexico City and returning via LAX in late May. The flights were booked last year using a 2-4-1 companion voucher whilst BA also reduced AVIOS costs by 50%.

Is there any way of seeing whether either of these routes has recently had flights
cancelled? Given likely UK restrictions on being able to holiday abroad I’d prefer if flight(s) were to be cancelled so that I could rebook without AVIOS or £ cost at a later date.
- Rob says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 16:08
  
  Bets are off for anything after 17th May because of the potential changes in the UK travel rules. It wouldn’t matter if it was being regularly cancelled at the moment. Both BA and Virgin are doing daily LA flights though, I think, even now.
- Frankie says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 21:36
  
  BA243 (LHR to MEX) hasn’t had any cancellations for a while and goes daily. You can check previous 7 or 10 days for free on Flightaware.co.uk I’m very optimistically booked on it for 17th May.
- Frankie says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 21:39
  
  Correction. It’s uk.flightaware.com
Mike says:

7 Apr7 April 16:04

Just got an email that my HSBC WEMC annual fee is waived for next membership year.
- YH says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 16:27
  
  Just got this too. Nice, that’s my second year paid for then I can switch back to Amex Plat after my 24 month break.
BuildBackBetter says:

7 Apr7 April 16:04

Ooh! Big news. HSBC WE card annual fee waived.
- BuildBackBetter says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 16:05
  
  Lol, few seconds behind Mike!
Ali M says:

7 Apr7 April 16:04

HSBC mastercard fee being waived for an year – just read an email. Hurray
- DJ says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 16:17
  
  I think they might have my renewal date wrong, since mine supposed to be September. But it is now showing as 3rd April …
  - BuildBackBetter says:
    
    7 Apr7 April 16:31
    
    Extension for my card was exactly 12 months. Call them to confirm.
Lula says:

7 Apr7 April 16:05

Just had an unsolicited email from HSBC saying that my WE mastercard annual fee has been waived for 1 year. Wasn’t expecting that and was considering asking them for it, so it’s saved me a phone call!
- Mike says:
  
  7 Apr7 April 16:12
  
  I called them 3x, they refused to budget to waive the annual fee for this year!
  - Nigel W says:
    
    7 Apr7 April 16:38
    
    Same here Mike, I asked them last December before my membership renewal was due (For the previous membership year) and they refused