The HfP chat thread – Sunday 11th April

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Greg says:

11 Apr11 April 11:00

You can’t’ board the plane without the receipt of the booking for the two tests.
Mr. AC says:

11 Apr11 April 11:08

Has anyone flown into Heathrow recently? What’s the border situation re: queues? The press is writing about 6 hours, but that is probably an outlier, I’m interested in the median time it takes to get through.
- Paul says:
  
  11 Apr11 April 11:25
  
  No q for me at 7am terminal 2
  - Mr. AC says:
    
    11 Apr11 April 11:47
    
    Found some recent forum posts on flying into Heathrow. Consensus seems to be 1-3 hours unless you’re on one of the very early flights, as you were Paul.
- Asim says:
  
  11 Apr11 April 12:48
  
  T5 7am on 6th Apr – 45min in the e-gate queue – 90min, if with children / in the normal queue – with 3 staff working the normal queue
- Simon says:
  
  11 Apr11 April 15:17
  
  10 minutes – midday today- very efficient! Make sure you have all your documents printed- it’s far quicker for the Border Agency than scrolling through a phone. You queue for the document check then you actually pass through the e-gate.
- Paasan69 says:
  
  11 Apr11 April 20:29
  
  T2 Apr 6th 5pm arrival. Approximately 1 hour 15 minutes. 5 people working the counters in front of the eGates.
TOBIAS L says:

11 Apr11 April 11:12

Sorry if this has been asked before but I have a question re Amex Plat referral.

I’m on a Plat and my partner only has a BAPP (we cancelled her Gold 6 months ago).

If I refer her for a Plat and she gets accepted, am I right in understanding she wont get a sign up bonus but I still net the referral? How soon after me receiving the 24k is it advisable to cancel her Plat? Has anyone done this / is it worth it?

Thanks!

T
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  11 Apr11 April 11:20
  
  She Won’t be eligible for the bonus as you need 24m since your last MR earning card.
  
  You will still get 24k.
  
  Why bother with Plat? You’ll get the 24k for any card. Free gold or free nectar seem like better choices.
  - Harry T says:
    
    11 Apr11 April 11:26
    
    I agree with TG. Why waste an application for Platinum – she could wait until she is eligible for the sign up bonus again, and she can get all the Plat benefits by being a supp on your account. Just refer her for nectar to get the enhanced referral bonus.
    - Amit says:
      
      11 Apr11 April 11:29
      
      I thought the enhanced referral bonus was only for plat to plat
      - Harry T says:
        
        11 Apr11 April 11:30
        
        It’s for anyone you refer from Plat who is accepted for any Amex card via your link (there’s probably a card that isn’t part of the referral programme but most are).
      - TOBIAS L says:
        
        11 Apr11 April 11:35
        
        My thoughts exactly. If this isnt the case then I will def opt for a cheaper card!
        
        So just to be clear, I refer her with my Plat link but she selects Nectar (instead of Plat) and I net 24k MR and she gets 20k Nectar for hitting spend targets. Can she then cancel within say 6 months without repercussions? Is it worth keeping the Nectar? We hardly shop at Sainsburys.
        
        I know I’ll get skinned for asking this but it’s been a while since I opened a new card…best way to use those Nectar points? Think i read somewhere that transfers to avios are restricted or something because of security?
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        11 Apr11 April 11:55
        
        You’ll bet 24k but she isn’t eligible for any sign up bonus on personal cards.
        
        BAPP is 24m since your last BA earning card
        Platinum is 24m since your last MR earning card
        
        All the rest are 24m since any personal Amex.
    - Chris Heyes says:
      
      11 Apr11 April 12:05
      
      Harry T, TG, It could be that it’s not a waste, could get Hotel status’s with 1 months platinum payment
      That’s what we did, mind we got the sign up bonus as well on two of our Plats
      not bad for 1 months fee each
      Another was 6 weeks fee (there are 3 of us)
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        11 Apr11 April 12:15
        
        She will get all of those by being a free supplementary card holder on OPs account …
      - Harry T says:
        
        11 Apr11 April 14:25
        
        @Chris she will already get the hotel status from being a Plat supp on her partner’s primary Platinum card. Plus the hotel status bundled with the Plat isn’t that amazing in 2021 when you consider that Hilton Gold only requires 15 nights this year and Bonvoy Gold is essentially worthless.
  - The Original Nick. says:
    
    11 Apr11 April 13:10
    
    Where has this 24k MR points from referring come from? I thought it was 12k?
    - The Original Nick. says:
      
      11 Apr11 April 13:13
      
      Just logged onto my Amex account and see it now. Thanks.
- Harry T says:
  
  11 Apr11 April 11:45
  
  She won’t be eligible for the nectar bonus if she holds a BAPP.
  - Harry T says:
    
    11 Apr11 April 11:46
    
    She can cancel at any time, though it may be prudent to keep the nectar card for a few months (it’s free in the first year anyway). You could consider keeping the nectar card for a bit if it gets amex offers you find useful, anyway.
lumma says:

11 Apr11 April 11:23

Has anyone not got their regular bonus offers on their Nectar app this week? Didn’t get any on Friday, my usual day and got a rubbish, triple points if spending £50 offer yesterday.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  11 Apr11 April 11:34
  
  Nothing here.
- The real John says:
  
  11 Apr11 April 11:42
  
  Yesterday was my usual day and none appeared
- Al C says:
  
  11 Apr11 April 11:48
  
  No bonus offers here either, instead I got an offer for £7.50 off when I spend £50
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    11 Apr11 April 12:04
    
    Would have been nice.
- Scott says:
  
  11 Apr11 April 12:18
  
  I got a few offers on Friday, went in store later that day and bought some of the items.
  The app didn’t update my balance as usual within a minute or two of the shop and said that it couldn’t display my balance at this time.
  The points for the £12 spend appeared yesterday, but all my offers are still showing as valid with no sign of any bonus points.
  Kept my receipt in case I need to chase it up tomorrow when their chat opens.
  - Mike says:
    
    11 Apr11 April 15:38
    
    Scott – exactly the same happened to me
- IanM says:
  
  11 Apr11 April 13:55
  
  Yes got mine as normal
PaulC says:

11 Apr11 April 11:29

Have Morrison’s voucher changed from the paper ones? Can the new cards be used at petrol stations?
- Harry T says:
  
  11 Apr11 April 11:31
  
  Yes, you now buy plastic Morrison’s gift cards. You can still use them at petrol stations – I did so yesterday.
  - PaulC says:
    
    11 Apr11 April 11:32
    
    Thanks Harry. Do you take them to the till and get them to add any amount or are they sold in £10/£20/£50 etc going shortly and want to take advantage of money back with bank card.
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      11 Apr11 April 11:36
      
      You can load any value from £10 all the way up to £250 per card.
      
      If you self checkout and the amount you want isn’t shown just press other amount and type in whatever you actually want
      - Harry T says:
        
        11 Apr11 April 11:44
        
        If you do ask the checkout staff to put the value up to £250, some of them find this tricky. You need to direct them to click the bit which allows them to enter a manual value.
rams1981 says:

11 Apr11 April 11:34

Morrison’s update. All items you’d hope for tracked. Virgin shopping weirdly tracked at 5.6 miles/£ rather than 6.
Brighton 7% immediately credited as standard.
First two P A W from 20th March went payable yesterday (10%). Still waiting on rest. Anyone else?
- Dan says:
  
  11 Apr11 April 11:45
  
  I made 6 transactions at Mozza’s during the Amex promotion period. The last 3 tracked fine – with the e-mail coming through a couple of days later. The first three did not. I sent a claim, but really hoping they’ll gave the points and not need me to send through reciepts (for obvious reasons). They are still investigating the claim apparently
- Reney says:
  
  11 Apr11 April 14:24
  
  Your PAW let you add Amex? Mine only allows Visa or Master.
  
  My Virgin CB, Airtime and PAW all tracked. Nothing tracked at all on flight club. Waiting for Virgin CB and Airtime to become payable next weekend.
  - rams1981 says:
    
    11 Apr11 April 15:51
    
    PAW was linked to my curve so not Amex. So Airtime comes just after PAW typically?
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      11 Apr11 April 16:34
      
      I find the PAW website very poor via mobile. Is there an app?
      - Reney says:
        
        11 Apr11 April 17:30
        
        I couldn’t find a PAW app on the IOS store. I just use the site from my app store.
      - Reney says:
        
        11 Apr11 April 17:39
        
        sorry I mean use the website from my browser!
    - Reney says:
      
      11 Apr11 April 17:38
      
      For me PAW and airtime pretty much tracks on the same day. The last one I did Airtime tracked before PAW. Usually when I see it tracks on one, I check the other. Airtime is easier to check for me because of the app format. A while back a few of us had a discussion on the daily chat thread on whether airtime tracks when you are using Curve. I think the conclusion is that it does with some retailers but not always. Better not to use Curve if you don’t want to risk it.
      - Reney says:
        
        11 Apr11 April 17:44
        
        rams1981 your PAW appears to track much slower than mine. My 6 April transaction tracked and became payable yesterday I think (usually it shows pending then becomes payable the next day). Basically mine tracks about 2 days after a transaction comes off pending on my card.
Westy says:

11 Apr11 April 12:12

Hello!

I cancelled my Amex Gold MR cash card >24months ago, but kept the ‘supplementary’ gold credit card (which also earns MR points, although I have never used this)

Will this preclude me from earning the sign up bonus for Amex Platinum? If so, has anyone managed to negotiate with Amex on this?
- Rob says:
  
  11 Apr11 April 14:45
  
  Yes, you’re blocked. You have a personal card which earns MR points. Amex won’t negotiate. Why would they? What’s in it for them? You are already a customer with a MR card.
  - AnotherUser says:
    
    11 Apr11 April 14:57
    
    To clarify, a supplementary card from someone else’s account doesn’t stop you getting the sign up bonus for platinum? E.g. if a platinum holder gives you a supplementary card on their account?
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      11 Apr11 April 15:42
      
      No it doesn’t.
      
      Sounds like this is the companion gold credit card you can apply for if you have a charge card. Unfortunate mistake to make keeping it open if you have no intention of spending on it.
      
      Green to Platinum upgrade is still an option if you actually want a Platinum card.
      - DK says:
        
        11 Apr11 April 18:22
        
        Is Green to Platinum still an option? Amex updated the website to remove it
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        11 Apr11 April 20:37
        
        It’s still an option if you ring them and discuss.
    - Rob says:
      
      11 Apr11 April 19:00
      
      Correct.
  - Westy says:
    
    11 Apr11 April 15:11
    
    Understood – thank you Rob.
    
    (For Amex, they would convert a customer paying £0 fees, and spending £0 through their credit cards, too someone paying £575pa and using their cards heavily, but understand that there’s unlikely to be any flexibility)
Max says:

11 Apr11 April 12:14

Has anyone managed to adjust an existing FT subscription to get an Amex FT offer? I was planning on phoning up to do this, but noticed the small print said the Amex offer only applies to online FT transactions, has anyone had any luck with this on the phone?