The HfP chat thread – Monday 12th April

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Craig says:

12 Apr12 April 02:12

I’ll start as I’m at work! Harrods offer on my Platinum, £50 off £200 spend.
- Andrew says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 02:27
  
  A great offer, on all my supps too. Free Now taxi app 50% back up to £7 too.
- Tarmohamed says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 02:29
  
  Got it on 3 of our personal cards on the same billing account:
  Platinum
  Suppl Platinum
  Suppl Plat Gold
- Youllnever says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 02:52
  
  Got a slightly different offer: 20% back up to £50
- Benilyn says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 05:57
  
  Shame not here, just £100 of £500 Agent Provocateur…
- mradey says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 07:23
  
  Same Harrods offer on my Centurion. Limited to first 7,000.
- lumma says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 07:37
  
  Mines 20% off up to £50.
  
  Now does this mean up to £10 off when spending up to £50 or up to £50 off when spending £250?
  - Andrew says:
    
    12 Apr12 April 07:40
    
    The latter. They word the offers like this a lot these days. The Free Now 50% up to £7 is the same – max discount £7 on a £14 ride, or £6 on a £12 ride etc.
- Harry T says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 07:44
  
  You guys excited for a moderate discount on three pairs of socks? 🤪
  - Alex says:
    
    12 Apr12 April 08:13
    
    Harrods does have an Apple kiosk, so maybe a decent way to get a discount on an accessory
    - Andrew says:
      
      12 Apr12 April 08:26
      
      Or an iPhone using multiple cards. I can save £200 of my annual fee in a blink with this offer.
      - andy says:
        
        12 Apr12 April 08:37
        
        Can you pay for something using two different cards? Like ask them to put £200 on one card and £200 on another?!
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        12 Apr12 April 08:49
        
        Yes.
      - Harry T says:
        
        12 Apr12 April 10:05
        
        I saved £200 of my annual fee by downgrading to the gold charge card 😊. It’s interesting that I have never received a Harrods offer when I’ve held the Platinum card.
    - Rob says:
      
      12 Apr12 April 09:44
      
      ‘Kiosk’ is a bit of an understatement 🙂
      - Alex says:
        
        12 Apr12 April 10:25
        
        Haven’t been to the physical store in years 🙂
- Waddle says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 13:21
  
  I’ve got spend £1,000+ in a single transaction for £150 back on my Biz Plat. Says it is a “Backing Businesses Offer”. Possibly because I just signed up?
  - Rob says:
    
    12 Apr12 April 15:03
    
    That’s been there for a couple of months. Still trying to find a way of spending mine ….
- Andrew says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 13:40
  
  Yes, no problem
  - sloth says:
    
    12 Apr12 April 14:50
    
    thanks
Secret Squirrel says:

12 Apr12 April 07:53

Anyone on here had a successful status match – IHG Spire Elite to Marriott Platinum?
A few success stories noted over on statusmatcher but not many documented.
- gareth says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 08:04
  
  On statusmatcher people have noted it down as match where as it should be noted as a challenge. I don’t believe Marriott are currently offering the challenge but it was something previously that was available(think Rob may have written extensively about it)
  - C says:
    
    12 Apr12 April 09:56
    
    Looks like the match is closed, unfortunately. Too bad, as [assuming international travel from the UK is permitted] I have 14+ Marriott nights booked over the summer.
    - C says:
      
      12 Apr12 April 09:56
      
      (and would appreciate an upgrade from my Amex Platinum provided Gold status)
- memesweeper says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 08:08
  
  I did, and was accepted — but there was another lockdown and couldn’t make the stays requirement.
  - Secret Squirrel says:
    
    12 Apr12 April 08:42
    
    Thanks Memesweeper, sounds promising then. Do most get the option of free breakfasts with Marriott Platinum or have others received the other “Perks” they document?
    - Harry T says:
      
      12 Apr12 April 09:05
      
      I did 25 nights as Platinum last year and received free breakfast (where applicable), 4pm checkout, and suite upgrades at every stay aside from an airport overnight stay.
      - Secret Squirrel says:
        
        12 Apr12 April 09:30
        
        Good to hear Harry T. I have a stay planned next year so I thought trying statusmatch just to get free breakfasts for the stay. I will drop back to Gold afterwards.
      - Harry T says:
        
        12 Apr12 April 10:03
        
        Have you considered booking via Emyr to get free breakfast with a STARS/Luminous rate? I wouldn’t be keen to use up a “once in a lifetime” status match.
  - memesweeper says:
    
    12 Apr12 April 13:41
    
    indeed, I got all the perks
Chrism20 says:

12 Apr12 April 08:10

Is anyone having issues with the IHG iPhone/iPad apps? Started about a week ago that I could not login to the iPad one. When you enter the account number and password the sign in button goes feint in colour and nothing happens. Then yesterday the iPhone one was crashing when I selected on a property so I deleted and reinstalled and now it won’t let me login as per the iPad app.

App is version 4.49.4 and the iPhone is on version 14.4.2
I can login to the IHG website fine and have made a reservation so it is not an issue with the account.
- ChrisC says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 08:20
  
  The problems I’ve been having in intermittent crashing on both phone and iPad which then sorts itself out then starts crashing again.
  
  Infuriating at times when you actually want to book rather than just check how many points you’d save if you rebooked!
  - Chrism20 says:
    
    12 Apr12 April 09:14
    
    Thanks. Glad it’s not just me. I’ve only just noticed over the last week or so. Has it been going on longer than that?
    - Jill (Kinkell) says:
      
      12 Apr12 April 09:33
      
      I had the problem on iPad app and website on the house wifi , but could log in etc on mobile when out and about. Lasted weeks. Contacted IHG who were not overly helpful, our ISP who were baffled. Then. it all seemed to resolve and I’ve no idea wether it was IHG or ISP or the IT glitchy fairies!
      - Chrism20 says:
        
        12 Apr12 April 10:24
        
        Ok after meddling about with it I think it’s a problem with the linking of the saved password and facial ID.
        
        When I delete the saved password from the passwords section in my phone and also disable the facial ID for the app without saving the password it logs in immediately and doesn’t crash.
        
        It may be worth trying if you are experiencing something similar.
Alex says:

12 Apr12 April 08:15

Out of curiosity, what is PAW? Perks at work? I’ve seen it mentioned alongside Airtime Rewards and the Virgin Shopping portal, but haven’t ever used it. Does it operate like XEXEC (benefits portal used by some corporates in the City)?
- 747_Brat says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 08:22
  
  Yes, exactly like Xexec but it also allows you to store your credit/debit cards for tracking in-store purchases, which I don’t think Xexec allows.
  - Alex says:
    
    12 Apr12 April 10:28
    
    Yeah, I don’t believe Xexec has that option.
    
    So I guess if one’s employer doesn’t use PAW it’s not really accessible?
- Andrew says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 09:14
  
  Pretty much. I’ve got it from an employer from 10 years ago and a separate log in for my NHS employer. It’s open to anyone with an .NHS email address.
  - CH says:
    
    12 Apr12 April 21:11
    
    Are there any differences between the logins? As in what you see/offers, not your actual login credentials (!)
Crafty says:

12 Apr12 April 08:33

Warning to anyone considering asking Creation for a limit increase. I did so last week on IHG Premium – having struggled for years on £2,400. Not only did they decline to increase it, they actually reduced it – without telling me – to £1,100!
- Secret Squirrel says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 08:43
  
  Good advice!
- Jonathan says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 08:44
  
  Création are not increasing limits as a blanket policy at the moment so I wouldn’t advise any contact that might result in a review of your spending habits at the moment. There’s no potential upside!
Ali M says:

12 Apr12 April 08:35

As I the only weird one or does anyone else get the buzz from the buzzing in BA rewards app when the avios go up 😎
- WaynedP says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 10:40
  
  Nope, it also put a smile on my face when I checked this morning @Ali M
  
  But I also smiled when I learnt new word “haptic” (and its Greek etymology) first time, which describes the buzzing and vibrating sensation on an iPhone when those Avios zoom up in the App.
  
  And the Eurowings plane wearing sunglasses in HfP article of 9 March 2021 also made me smile, so make of all that what you will.
  
  “weird” may or may not be a little strong, but perhaps something to be kept under one’s hat in polite company, I’m sensing 🙂
  - Ali M says:
    
    12 Apr12 April 15:26
    
    agreed fully there 😜
    yes thinks like that make me smile always
Andrew says:

12 Apr12 April 08:45

IHG AMB is running the renewal promotion again this year where you get a free night certificate (up to 40k value) when you have one stay at an IC/Kimpton before end of August, following renewal. Could be worth it – might net off the cost of renewal, especially if it applies to renewal for 40k points rather than cash.
- ChrisC says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 09:17
  
  The limitation is that this voucher has to be used by 30th November.
  
  I could more than likely earn it it’s the using that could be a problem because as far as I’m aware you can’t make a prospective booking without it being in your account whereas you can for the weekend certificate.
- Rob says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 09:41
  
  This is not live yet. HfP policy is usually not to cover stuff that isn’t live because there are always a bunch of readers who never read the small print (as you can tell from the comments!).
Rob says:

12 Apr12 April 09:50

Not sure if anyone else has noticed, but on a mock one way redemption in J between HKG > LHR the taxes/fees have now risen to £350.

Used to be c. £35
- Rob says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 10:05
  
  Did you click to the final payment page?
- Babyg says:
  
  12 Apr12 April 10:08
  
  i just checked, initial price shown is £350, but clicking through it goes back to £35.. phew..