The HfP chat thread – Thursday 8th April

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• Damian says:

  8 Apr8 April 09:19

  Does anyone know how the 2 + 8 quarantine rules work for someone travelling from GVA to LHR for 5 days. They have already booked Fit to Fly PCR for return to GVA that happens to fall on day 2? All the ones I have seen only do a package for day 2 &8.

  • Nick Burch says:

    8 Apr8 April 09:28

    The rules only changed on Tuesday, so not all providers have updated their sites to let you book just a day 2 test for a shorter trip

    A Fit To Fly PCR won’t meet the requirements for a Day 2 test – a day 2 one must be RNA sequenced if positive for one thing. However, a Day 2 test may meet the Fit to Fly rules.

    Best to talk to the people you have booked with, and see if you can swap the booking to a Day 2 one, and see if they’ll include enough on the Day 2 negative certificate to cover flying.

    • Damian says:

      8 Apr8 April 11:36

      Thanks Nick, will call them.

• Johnny5a says:

  8 Apr8 April 09:42

  Not a major one, Costa Coffee
  “From 12th May, we’ll no longer accept American Express in store
  You can use all other major credit and debit cards to pay.”

  • Russ says:

    8 Apr8 April 09:57

    Kind of related I find it interesting that Costa have never stopped selling coffee at their garages but Waitrose still won’t open their free machines if Covid really is the reason.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      8 Apr8 April 10:08

      I’m sure It’s about crowding around the machines which used to be placed near the entrances.

    • Jonathan says:

      8 Apr8 April 10:55

      I was always amazed at the willingness of people to queue for 5+ mins for a cup of mediocre coffee. You could make better at home/in the office for about 15p worth of beans & milk & minimal effort.

      • Will says:

        8 Apr8 April 11:32

        Milk I’m coffee? Hang your head in shame

        😉

      • Rob says:

        8 Apr8 April 11:46

        You’re not paying for the coffee. You’re paying for 30 minutes hire of their sofas.

        • Genghis says:

          8 Apr8 April 12:42

          Indeed. Tim Halford in the Undercover Economist (old now but a bit of a classic IMO) has a good section on coffee shops.

        • Rob says:

          8 Apr8 April 14:24

          Rhys and I are paying £15 / day for WeWork hot desking at the moment …. could just spend the same £15 visiting 6 coffee shops for 90 minutes each ….

          That said, as WeWork coffee is free and I probably drink six cups per day, you could argue that I pay the same for the benefit of a proper desk than I would if I used coffee shops ….

        • The real John says:

          8 Apr8 April 13:10

          I thought that comment was referring to the free coffee at Waitrose…

    • James says:

      8 Apr8 April 12:50

      Genuinely always thought that the Waitrose free coffee tasted nicer than Costa.. Then again I never really rated Costa coffee

      • mark2 says:

        8 Apr8 April 14:28

        I agree and much better than Starbucks, but that’s not difficult.

        • Jake Taylor says:

          8 Apr8 April 17:59

          Going off on a bit of a tangent here, but given that Starbucks coffee is 100% Arabica, one thing you really can’t say about it is it serves bad-tasting coffee. Perhaps if you load it up with syrups yes, but as a pure coffee it’s objectively first-rate.

        • kitten says:

          8 Apr8 April 19:56

          @Jake Taylor are you serious? Arabica is not a guarantee.

• Amy says:

  8 Apr8 April 09:49

  Are the new raised Amex referral bonuses permanent or for limited period only?

  • Jody says:

    8 Apr8 April 09:53

    I think I saw yesterday that it’s until around the 12th of May, so only temporary.

    Can you refer someone as soon as you have a card? I’m thinking of referring husband for gold card so I get 12k (we’ve both given up on the 24 month gap so he won’t get anything), then once he has that, him referring me for the premium BA card (for which I do have a 24 month gap since my last one), so he’d get 12k and I’d get 30k. Just wanted to make sure there aren’t any restrictions on how long you’ve held the card before you refer?

    • TGLoyalty says:

      8 Apr8 April 11:17

      No restrictions.

      • Amy says:

        8 Apr8 April 12:04

        More confused now 🙁
        Is it limited time offer until May as Jody suggested or has no restrictions on the end date as TGLoyalty suggested?

        • TGLoyalty says:

          8 Apr8 April 12:23

          It has an end date.

          I was answering Josh’s question that There are no restrictions on time before you can refer.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          8 Apr8 April 12:24

          Jody’s. I don’t even have a josh in my phone. Apple is surpassing itself these days.

• Russ says:

  8 Apr8 April 09:53

  We’re packing away all our gear into storage and I remember there was an option to use Tesco vouchers to pay for that. I can’t see a link on Tesco’s site so has that gone and if so what’s a painless alternative? Thanks

  • Russ says:

    8 Apr8 April 09:58

    Ah ok just have to pay then. Thanks Rob.

  • Lady London says:

    8 Apr8 April 10:45

    Try and get a fixed price deal if you can. They all have initial deals free or close, say, for 1-3 months.

    Depending on the branch and how busy it is try to find a manager who will give you a fix for 1 year or more or for “life”. Read the small print carefully and keep verification of promise made if you do find one. Watch out for ancillary charges such as access charges, negotiate extended hours/days for access as you may find small print gives unuseable hours with extra charges for more etc.

    Everything is negotiable and a lot can be given free in order to get you in there.

    Once you’re in and the inertia value of moving or logistics difficulty applies, they’ve got you. Their plan is a continuous escalator of inflation-busting charges and fees programmed at specific intervals from your start date on plus likely ‘annual’ increases. Find the right branch of one of my the majors and negotiate as above. Then check your statements to check they’re charging you correctly. This, ongoing.

    Note I’ve twice had stores deny previous agreements made including one manager who simply refused to honour an agreement made by his predecessor that still had months to run. I’d put in the storage industry as slimier than most estate agents.

    • Lady London says:

      8 Apr8 April 11:57

      PS If it’s a corporate relocation and your employer is paying there can be some amazing deals for the removal co to just store your stuff ‘between moves’ if necessary for years.

      A collague of mine was paying about £10 pm for storage of the contents of his 3 bed house. He’d actually been back from Malaysia for 3 years and was on his second house move since returning before he asked them to bring the stuff from storage. Was one of the UK’s most upmarket removers that offered this.

      On the open market that storage could have cost £00’s pm at the time. As he didn’t need to access his stuff taking this option worked.

      • Russ says:

        8 Apr8 April 16:05

        Thank you for the tips on securing a good deal and the heads up on the shady side Lady London. I’ll keep an eye on them.

        • Lady London says:

          8 Apr8 April 16:34

          I only ever give tips on mistakes I’ve made myself 🙂

          Hence I give quite a few of them 🙂

        • Sukes says:

          8 Apr8 April 21:56

          Russ I’ve found increasingly storage companies try to strong arm you to buy insurance cover through them, usually at extortionate rates, as a ‘term’ of the storage contract. Make sure you can arrange your own insurance and the storage company will accept a third party’s policy. I’ve found Quote Monkey to be very transparent and reasonable for buying insurance for items in storage.

• Zoe says:

  8 Apr8 April 09:55

  Just got an offer for a no fees for balance transfer Santander credit card, seems to also be publicly available. Very kind of them to offer it to someone with one of their own offset mortgages. Not sure how generous they are with credit limits.

• AlanC says:

  8 Apr8 April 10:11

  Bit of advice please.
  I took out the Amex Plat last June for the first time. I have only used the 2 Waitrose Offers and a couple of Fine hotel stays as a benefit of the card. When and how should i ask for any retention off/bonus i have read of on HFP.
  Phone or Live Chat? Now or nearer renewal.
  Thanks
  AlanC

  • Harry T says:

    8 Apr8 April 10:18

    Ring during the day and try to speak to Brighton. Explain why you are thinking of cancelling. If they don’t offer anything to retain you, ask explicitly if there any retention offers.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    8 Apr8 April 10:18

    Now! There won’t be anything when travel / shopping is back to normal.

  • Ste Cox says:

    8 Apr8 April 10:20

    You will have to phone up, dont ask for a retention offer though.
    In the past I have just said that i am checking into my options as i cant see the value in keeping it at the moment.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      8 Apr8 April 11:18

      I made sure I asked “is there anything available if I want to cancel”

    • Harry T says:

      8 Apr8 April 11:21

      Last time I called, the agent was happy to cancel without offering anything. I then specifically asked for a retention offer and she put me through to a very nice british lady who gave me 10,000 MR. This was for my gold card, which I had already received a retention for a few months prior. Don’t ask, don’t get!

  • Waddle says:

    8 Apr8 April 10:25

    No need to way till closer to renewal. Ring up during UK business hours. Say you are thinking of cancelling the Platinum but are “keen to keep it because of the benefits” and ask “are there any offers or deals around to motivate me to keep it?” Worked for me last year during the height of the pandemic – was offered 20k with no spending requirement.

    • Waddle says:

      8 Apr8 April 10:25

      No need to wait*

      • Anna says:

        8 Apr8 April 12:33

        I just got 7000 MR points for mentioning cancelling gold.

        • Harry T says:

          8 Apr8 April 12:55

          7000 is a bit of a random number, Anna! Wonder how they decide these things?

        • Anna says:

          8 Apr8 April 13:47

          No idea! It’s now showing on my points balance though.

• Mummy55 says:

  8 Apr8 April 10:16

  Sorry if this is a daft question, but can you cancel/close an Amex gold on line?

  • Vit says:

    8 Apr8 April 10:24

    No. As far as I understand and based on experience, you’ve to call in.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    8 Apr8 April 10:27

    Yes Via chat but worth a call to see if there is a retention offer.

  • YC says:

    8 Apr8 April 10:57

    Agent on chat was happy to close the account on chat previously

  • Anna says:

    8 Apr8 April 11:00

    It’s quite easy to cancel via the chat, they will ask you if you want to call and speak to an advisor but just say no if you’re definitely closing the card. It takes about 5 minutes; just remember to have your security answers ready to submit.

    • AlanC says:

      8 Apr8 April 13:45

      Huge thanks for all the advice. Called just now. Initial – i think offshore agent passed me a UK rep who offered me 35,000 MR points. Took his hand off!!
      AlanC

      • YC says:

        8 Apr8 April 14:17

        35k retention for plat i’m assuming and not gold?

        • AlanC says:

          8 Apr8 April 14:35

          Yes Plat.

      • Mzungu says:

        8 Apr8 April 19:03

        I called to cancel Plat, and was offered 50K to keep it, no ties. Kept it for a couple of weeks to refer OH for BAPP (was almost at the 24 months point) then cancelled once the 18K referral hit 🙂

    • Mummy55 says:

      8 Apr8 April 18:20

      Thank you for all reply’s. Will do chat!😀

• Lady London says:

  8 Apr8 April 10:22

  Card question : I need to pay on a US website that accepts Mastercard or Visa US ones only. Does anyone know how I can generate a virtual or throwaway MC/VS to use for this transaction? being shipped within US to my friend whose address I’d ideally not want to pay from.

  Does UK Rev do this? @RussellH mentioned something about Wise.

  Unfortunately there’s no way round paying with a US card on this site. Could have used Paypal a few years back as my registration was US but Paypal moved me to UK paypal a few years back without asking me and is now more geographically limiting (and a p in the a if you have to deal with them).

  • stevenhp1987 says:

    8 Apr8 April 10:30

    I’ve found that using a zip code made from numbers in your postcode and padded with zeros will work with some cards (e.g. AB12 3CD would be 12300).

    Could try that with a UK Card. My Barclaycard Travel card works fine on US sites in this manner.

    • Lady London says:

      8 Apr8 April 10:52

      Tx @Stephenhp this site that does not work. This is a site that knows what it’s doing to geoblick as its pricing in non-US markets is 2.5x. I even believe they have some kind of manual checking. A MC or VS with a US-type early digits identifier is what’s needed.

      Previously I could have just gone there and sorted it but I need to order before any of us will be allowed back into the US.

      • Lady London says:

        8 Apr8 April 10:55

        an alternative might possibly by something that could provide virtual ACH account numbers but a virtual US MC or VS would work best.

        • memesweeper says:

          8 Apr8 April 11:04

          I have a US account you could use if the amounts aren’t likely to trigger lots of money laundering questions —

          memesweeper

          protonmail

          com

          ( … this is a one person limited offer as I know her Ladyship IRL )

        • Andrew says:

          8 Apr8 April 14:18

          Have you considered an E-Visa Gift Card?

          https://usa.visa.com/pay-with-visa/find-card/buy-gift-card

          If you click through to Vanilla Gift, they sell e-gift Visa cards that can be used online.

    • Ghosty says:

      8 Apr8 April 10:57

      I use that system for my ‘zip code’ when paying at pump in US gas stations

  • Joints&Piles says:

    8 Apr8 April 13:29

    There are services like US Unlocked, Skrill, Payoneer, but while I have heard people talk of them I’ve never used them myself and I think they usually have a set-up cost.

    Search something like “US virtual credit card”

    • Lady London says:

      8 Apr8 April 20:09

      Tx Joints&Piles not sure about the other ones you kindly mention but I have looked at US Unlocked and thought it costly with a few gotchas. I will take a look at the others on your list though.

      Stephenhp1987, Ghosty, Andrew also thank you. I will take a look at the gift card idea soon too. @memesweeper thank you so much may I contact you back if needed?

  • Blindman says:

    8 Apr8 April 14:48

    This site?

    http://www.getcreditcardnumbers.com/

    • Lady London says:

      8 Apr8 April 20:19

      Tx Blindman. Very interesting info. Not sure if it covers the extra step of masking but highly, highly interesting. One to read thoroughly with a Campari in the sunshine I think.

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