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The HfP chat thread – Saturday 10th April

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Comments (337)

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

  • Anna says:
    10 Apr10 April 11:28

    If anyone fancies a trip to BOS in F BA has released *6* avios seats (out of a cabin of 8) for March 30th next year, still showing the erroneous off-peak price. I double checked on ba.com in case Seatspy was playing up again but they are definitely there. Nice family trip possibly if your Easter school holiday falls in that week.

    • Harry T says:
      10 Apr10 April 11:43

      I’d totally be game but I have my last set of exams in early April – or should do based on previous years. Thanks for sharing anyway!

      I’m flying to BOS in F this August – booked £683 business flights exLUX and upgraded them to F with Avios. BA has cancelled the bejesus out of the flights so I’m going to try and reroute from the UK if US travel looks doable this summer. I’ll let you know what you have to look forward to in March 😊

    • Rupert says:
      10 Apr10 April 13:51

      Just a small point, having done the LHR BOS route many many times. Is this a good use of points in first? Particularly the home bound crossing, the quickest I have flown it is 5 hours 20 mins on the BA day flight. It was like a long rail journey. BTW the BA lounge at Logan is very nice boarding from the lounge straight to the plane.

      • Harry T says:
        10 Apr10 April 14:42

        @Rupert thanks for providing some
        food for thought. We’ve never flown First so I think we will enjoy it. We also have quite a few Avios in the household account, and we don’t live near London, so we want to use them up a bit.

        • Rupert says:
          10 Apr10 April 16:30

          I’m sure you’ll have a great time. Boston and surrounding area is fantastic. Shopping food and history. Try to get out to Lexington and Concord. Early April will be the reenactment of Paul Reveres ride, “ the regulars are coming” ( not the “British”). Just some advice, I see many tired transatlantic tourists arriving and jumping in a hire car. This after a long flight, champagne wine etc. Bad news. Massachusetts state police are hot. I would advise you stay first night at the Hilton, connected to terminal E, where you arrive, or the Hyatt. Both my favourites. Fresh next day for fun.

          • Lyn says:
            10 Apr10 April 20:53

            Sound advice if you can manage this. I used to have to do this occasionally for work, minus the champagne etc. and it was always a bit of a nerve-wracking drive from the airport. Things may well have changed since then, but Boston drivers didn’t have the best reputation.

            Hope you manage to get to Boston and really enjoy it. First as well.

        • GaryC says:
          10 Apr10 April 23:09

          I’ve done the route many times, and think it’s a good use of points to upgrade to First. The First dining area in the revamped lounge at Logan is very good, a much nicer and more relaxed space than the rest of the lounge, with good views over the apron and with excellent food, wine and service. Yes, it can be a very short flight, but unless your plan is to go for record consumption of LPGS, I think F makes the added comfort and ease of sleeping even more valuable. When flying this route regularly pre-Covid, my usual routine was to try to get to Logan about 2-2.5 hours before departure, relax with dinner and wine in the lounge, pop a melatonin pill, board, ask the cabin crew to make up my bed as soon as possible after wheels up and then sleep as much as I could. Also, don’t forget that you get access to the Concorde Breakfast Room in the T5 arrivals lounge, which is a much more civilised place to begin your day.

          • Sussex bantam says:
            10 Apr10 April 23:56

            There is also (or at least there used to be) a daytime flight which left at 8am. My routine was to stay overnight in the Hilton at Logan before the trip home and then catch that flight.

            Early start helped beat the jet lag and all day to enjoy the flight. I preferred it to the lack of sleep on an overnight return flight of only 5 hours or so.

      • Anna says:
        10 Apr10 April 20:56

        We want a short break for my OH’s retirement that week (longer one to come after GCSEs), and want the perks of F like the Concorde Lounge. We want to re-visit BOS anyway and it’s one of the very few destinations with F availability next year. We’ll be getting a cab from the airport and staying in the city for 3/4 days. Looking to get the day flight back in J – agree the lounge at BOS is very pleasant.

    • pauldb says:
      10 Apr10 April 16:26

      Does anyone’s Easter holiday fall this early? Perhaps private schools. Easter 2021 is 17th April so most 2 week holidays seem to start on the 2nd or 9th. Perhaps BA have realised this and reset the dates: will 23rd/24th be peak?

      • Anna says:
        10 Apr10 April 20:53

        Quite a lot of state schools like my son’s have Easter holidays that week, especially Catholic ones as they like to be in school just before the Easter weekend for mass. So if Easter weekend falls late, they often return before the actual Easter weekend for this.

  • YC says:
    10 Apr10 April 11:29

    If currently on amex gold and looking to move to ARCC+BAPP (quick succession of applications to take advantage of good referrals). Is it better to go ARCC then BAPP (thinking being high annual fee is less likely to get declined by amex)?

    • Harry T says:
      10 Apr10 April 11:41

      Shouldn’t make any difference, although your final sentence appears contradictory. I assume someone is referring you? Self referrals are considered by some to be unwise.

      Make sure you open your ARCC before closing your Gold card, as you could lose your membership rewards if you don’t have an ARCC linked to the same MR account before cancelling the Gold. Btw sometimes Amex accidentally make two MR accounts so ensure they really are linked.

  • Niall says:
    10 Apr10 April 11:34

    Apologies as I’m sure this has been asked before, but I have an issue where my saved offers have disappeared when I get sent a replacement card, but available/unsaved offers are still there. The Amex chat was no help. Are the offers still there?

    • the_real_a says:
      10 Apr10 April 12:04

      Mine flowed through automatically in 24 hours the couple of times ive needed a replacement card.

    • HeadingForNoPoints says:
      10 Apr10 April 17:06

      I’ve had this very recently, the old offers didn’t “flow’ over to the new card but when I went to use an offer and I got the redemption email, checked with CS and backend shows all my old offers saved, they are just not showing online.

  • Adrian says:
    10 Apr10 April 11:40

    Rhys/Rob. Any idea when Heathrow are planning on moving flights back to their normal terminals? I’ve a flight to LAS in July which I’m hoping to be able to take (Boris and sleepy Joe permitting). Heathrow departures shows this as T3 which is the normal terminal. I don’t want to book car parking and then have to get from T5-T3 or vice versa, thank you.

    • Jonathan says:
      10 Apr10 April 12:12

      T5 long stay parking is sandwiched between T5 & T2/3 business parking so you could book long stay to hedge your bets & if it remains T3 then walk 2 mins to T2/3 business parking & hop on the T3 bus there.

    • Clive says:
      10 Apr10 April 13:56

      Why not book with someone like DriveFly who cover both terminals and will happily switch you

  • Keith says:
    10 Apr10 April 11:46

    I’m someone who has always approached this hobby as a ‘point rich – cash poor’ person. However, owing to a change of circumstances I now find myself with £30,000 in my current account and no idea what to do with it. I am in my early thirties. I have made full contributions to my LISA this year and last year and might look to buy a house in the next couple of years or so (currently renting). So hfp’ers – what am I supposed to do with this? Any help much appreciated.

    • Sam says:
      10 Apr10 April 11:57

      Premium Bonds is prob the best/least risky place as it’s your house deposit and relatively short term. Savings accounts are another option but for 1/2%, I personally wouldn’t bother

      If you have the right cards, you can get some points while adding the funds

      • Genghis says:
        10 Apr10 April 12:18

        Agreed. Keep it as cash if you plan on using it as a deposit in the next couple of years.

    • pigeon says:
      10 Apr10 April 12:07

      Tracker fund.

      Putting the cash into a bank savings account seems low risk, but really, with minuscule interest rates, it’s high risk because you might never have enough for a deposit.

      • Harry T says:
        10 Apr10 April 12:23

        @pigeon
        Savings returns are low at the moment but the markets are extremely volatile, so I wouldn’t say this is a good time to put money needed in the next couple of years into S&S.

      • kitten says:
        10 Apr10 April 12:45

        Market risk though. Could hit the ground whole market going down just when you need your deposit For 1-2 years (even in times which could feel more normal) it’s not worth taking any sort of market risk.

    • Harry T says:
      10 Apr10 April 12:22

      The short answer is you need to decide what your short, medium and long term financial goals are. If you are planning to buy a house in the next couple of years and you don’t already have large amounts of savings then this money is best to use for a deposit and other associated housing costs.

      If you’re buying in the next couple of years, then I think it’s best to max out the LISA each year and then keep the rest of the cash for a deposit in the highest interest earning savings and current accounts you can find (MSE always good for this). 30k sounds like a good amount for a 10% deposit on your first house, unless buying in London. Bear in mind that a LISA can only be used on a property worth up to £450,000, if you are thinking of buying after another couple of years of saving.

      It doesn’t make sense to keep the money for a deposit in S&S or other volatile investments, if you’re looking at buying within the next two years. S&S should be held for a longer period ideally to maximise returns.

    • memesweeper says:
      10 Apr10 April 12:24

      short term — premium bonds
      medium term — ETF tracker in an ISA

      the problem with cash medium term is inflation risk, stocks avoid this as they generally go up with inflation, but stocks come with risks of their own. You could hedge your bets with 1/3 PBs 2/3s ETF in ISA.

      • Harry T says:
        10 Apr10 April 12:27

        Serious question, why do Rob and a lot of commenters love premium bonds right now? I know that the average returns can be decent if you pay in a lot but it’s still the luck of the draw. There are still decent savings pots like Virgin current account, Nationwide current account, and the Chip App where you can earn 1.25-2% guaranteed interest on savings.

        • Christophe says:
          10 Apr10 April 12:33

          Volume of cash is a factor. The Nationwide current account is only up to £2.5k I think, whereas premium bonds are £50k.

          And at £50k it’s almost* statistically impossible to win much less the average returns.
          *YMMV of course.

        • Tariq says:
          10 Apr10 April 12:43

          A combination of gambler’s fallacy and the ancillary MS opportunity. I’ve been Erni’ing for months and won nothing, but slowly working my balance up thanks to the interest free purchase rate on the Sainsburys Nectar credit card.

          I wonder if making smaller deposits to spread out your PB number ranges makes it more likely that you’ll win rather than buying big blocks of numbers?

          • AJA says:
            10 Apr10 April 13:13

            @ Tariq, what is the amount you are purchasing each time? I have a few blocks of 500 which have won nothing in the 10 years since I bought them (perhaps I should sell and rebuy?). I now buy at least £1,500 at a time giving me a block of 1,500 numbers. I find it takes about 4 months from the month after purchase to start winning.

          • Magic Mike says:
            10 Apr10 April 21:17

            @tariq nope you have just as much chance whatever PB numbers you have, assuming you believe Ernie is truly random and not pseudorandom.

        • AJA says:
          10 Apr10 April 12:46

          The point is that with the maximum £50k invested in Premium Bonds you are likely to achieve the same rate of interest as the accounts you mention but you have instant access to the cash and you have a chance that you may win somewhat more than the minimum £25 prize.

        • CH says:
          10 Apr10 April 13:16

          I suspect part of the issue too is the relatively limited amounts that those accounts can take. And others may take the CBA approach to having to manage multiple accounts with small(ish) balances – though if one is happy to keep on top of multiple cards and points balances, that’s probably not exactly a valid argument!

          And re: the Chip app, don’t forget the £1.50/4 weeks fee reducing the returns!

        • YC says:
          10 Apr10 April 14:35

          Also premium bonds is tax free. Saves the inconvenience of filling in tax returns/digging up all the tiny amounts of interest

          • Harry T says:
            10 Apr10 April 14:43

            I’m not a higher rate taxpayer (yet) so the personal savings tax allowance isn’t going to be an issue for a bit.

            Good point about the Chip account – I’m just keeping 2k there now in the free account.

        • Rob says:
          10 Apr10 April 15:10

          It’s not the luck of the draw – I’m sure a Maths A-level student amongst us can tell you the odds of being within £50 so ‘average’ returns with £50k invested.

          Ignore the big prizes. Focus only on the 1 in 34,500 chance of winning £25.

          £50,000 gets you a return of £207 (8.28 wins x £25) with a small bit of upside from a bigger price. This is 0.41% which beats almost everything on the market for £50k.

          However, if you are a higher rate tax payer like me who has used his £1k interest allowance, it is effectively 0.85% (or, put another way, I’d need to get 0.85% from a taxed account to beat premium bonds). Even if I could get 0.85%, premium bonds is still better due to the small chance of winning one of the bigger prizes.

          • Harry T says:
            10 Apr10 April 15:26

            Thanks, Rob, that’s a very helpful explanation. From a financial planning perspective, do you think most people who aren’t planning to buy a house or make a large purchase in the near future would be better off investing most of that 50k in stocks and shares though? Presumably the long term returns would be substantially better if you parked some of the cash in an emergency fund/premium bonds and invested the majority?

          • Rob says:
            10 Apr10 April 16:04

            It should be part of a broader mix. You don’t want all your assets in the same boat. After the 1929 crash, for example, it took 25 years for the markets to return to their previous record level. 2007 and 2000 took four years (this is US Dow data).

          • Genghis says:
            10 Apr10 April 15:42

            Only £500 interest income allowance as a HRTP.

          • Sussex bantam says:
            10 Apr10 April 23:37

            MSE has a very interesting explanation (if you’re into statistics) and a calculator https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-bonds-calculator/

            With 50K invested you have a 85% chance of winning at least £350 a year which is 0.7% tax free.

        • Bobri says:
          10 Apr10 April 22:59

          Also, no tax on winnings

    • The Savage Squirrel says:
      10 Apr10 April 12:54

      Well I’m going to say it as nobody else has…
      Until you need it for a deposit, use it as additional float to increase your bending and similar activities. This will return far more than any savings vehicle 😉 .

    • Yorkie Aid says:
      10 Apr10 April 14:16

      If at all possible I would try to bring forward the house purchase. You will likely make close to nothing on £30k in savings or PBs but if house prices continue increasing at the current rate the average house price would have gone up by more than £30k within 2 years.

      • Harry T says:
        10 Apr10 April 14:42

        This is also a great point.

        • Genghis says:
          10 Apr10 April 16:41

          @Harry T. We keep around 18 months’ expenses in cash (if one of us loses our job etc). Everything over and above this gets invested. Yes, you may lose in the short term but in the long term, you’re much more likely to win.

      • A says:
        10 Apr10 April 15:14

        But equally, if it would mean buying an unsuitable property now and then moving within a few years factor in paying stamp duty twice and also the fact that you only need to fund the deposit on the increase in property value not the full increase (assuming your salary multiple would allow you to borrow the required amount).

        • Yorkie Aid says:
          10 Apr10 April 16:04

          Although no property is ever likely to be perfect it would indeed probably be foolish to buy an unsuitable property – in any circumstances. Although the immediate funding requirement might not reflect the full increase (if any) in house prices, the monthly repayments and eventual repayment of capital certainly will. Mortgages are not “free money.”

          • Paul says:
            10 Apr10 April 16:12

            Houses prices are more likely to go down rather than up over the next couple of years in my opinion. So could end up being the opposite

      • Yuff says:
        10 Apr10 April 17:39

        I am doubtful house prices can continue rising at their current rate. That is not to say they won’t but it’s not a one way bet.

        • Yorkie Aid says:
          10 Apr10 April 18:13

          Of course house prices might go down. But equally they might not. We’ll only know in the fullness of time. Someone a lot smarter than me once said “it’s time in the market that counts – not timing the market.”

    • Andy D says:
      10 Apr10 April 23:44

      I completely misunderstood the question at first and assumed you were asking what to buy in the current BA sale!

  • Phil says:
    10 Apr10 April 11:49

    My wife currently has the BAPP and cancelled her Amex Gold back in January. Am I right that she’ll have to wait 24 months from January to be entitled to the Amex Plat sign-up bonus?

  • Greg says:
    10 Apr10 April 11:53

    Any ideas on how to spend £3000 in three months? Low expenses at the moment.

    • Tracey says:
      10 Apr10 April 12:12

      Book a flight then cancel

    • Genghis says:
      10 Apr10 April 12:13

      Booze and birds (in an outside area from Monday). Then squander the rest?

    • pigeon says:
      10 Apr10 April 12:21

      Tell the police you’re going on holiday.

    • Harry T says:
      10 Apr10 April 12:25

      If you have a very solid financial position, then buy gift cards/amazon credit you can use for your day to day expenses for the next year or so. If you don’t have that much liquidity then you can try more devious methods.

      For example, if you are trying to hit the minimum spend on an amex then paying your council tax and buying amazon, Morrison’s and John Lewis gift cards should be a solid means to hit the spend.

      • Russ says:
        10 Apr10 April 12:48

        Careful Harry, we know we don’t look after these things like we do money after the novelty drops off. I’ve used loaded cards (in error) to open tins of paint, pointing work with new plaster board and scoring linoleum.

    • Alan says:
      10 Apr10 April 12:46

      Prepay your utility bills. Outfox the market will probably save you money and lets you overpay on Amex (no referral codes though).

  • Chris says:
    10 Apr10 April 12:28

    Wayyyy off HfP topic, but is there still a chance of getting a vaccine if I rock up to a vaccination centre late in the day, or has this sort of thing stopped now? I’m nearly in cohort 9 🙂 (aged 48)

    • TGLoyalty says:
      10 Apr10 April 12:39

      Call your doctor you’ll probably get a vaccine.

    • AJA says:
      10 Apr10 April 12:50

      You can always just try turning up at a vaccination centre and taking your chances. I just came back from my local pharmacy having gone to pick up a prescription and they got all excited thinking I was a vaccination candidate. They were disappointed when I told them that I wasn’t but I did ask if I could have my second one. They would have done so but unfortunately not enough of a gap since my first one. They have had 5 no-shows today!

      • kitten says:
        10 Apr10 April 13:02

        Hmmm. Was it that well-qualified Dr. Boris’s ‘not enough of a gap’, or the provider of the vaccine’s ‘not enough of a gap’

      • Anuj says:
        10 Apr10 April 13:39

        We’re in that awkward spot where they really could open it up to younger ages but then that risks not having enough second doses left especially with the oncoming supply constraints.

    • Louise K says:
      10 Apr10 April 13:04

      Try late in the day.
      I got mine this way – AZ jab and I’m 46. No questions asked.

    • Clive says:
      10 Apr10 April 14:02

      I had mine this week and the enter was dead. Upon enquiring why the said that there was a shortage and priority given to those who had booked and for second doses. This may have changed now the Moderna has arrived

    • Tracey says:
      10 Apr10 April 20:10

      Late in the day is variable at the moment. Local mass vac centre has closed as early as 2.30 some days and not opened on others.
      Pharmacies, who are offering the jab, often run lists of people who will take a last minute call to get their jab.

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