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The HfP chat thread – Friday 16th April

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Comments (258)

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

  • Si says:
    16 Apr16 April 05:59

    Morning all,

    Is there a minimum time required after closing a personal Amex gold card and then reopening new one? (Ignoring the 2yrs required for welcome bonus).

    I closed my GC on 3rd april after referring my OH. Could they immediately re-refer me back and recceive the enhanced referral bonus if done before closes on 12th May?

  • Michael C says:
    16 Apr16 April 06:19

    Any minor, minor chance of AA LHR-BOS in late Aug. leaving from T3 with the lovely lounges?
    And of the lovely lounged being open?!

    Just off to He-de-Hi static caravan in Dorset for the w/end: Hope everyone has fun!

    • Andrew says:
      16 Apr16 April 06:27

      The lovely longes being CX and QF unlikely to reopen in the short term even if AA did move back and open their own lounge.

      • Michael C says:
        16 Apr16 April 06:49

        Thanks Andrew – I was presuming the same, but guess I was looking for some false hope: got to love those noodles/cocktails, respectively ;o))

        • Andrew says:
          16 Apr16 April 07:02

          Agreed. The dining room in the CX First lounge is my favourite place at LHR. Let’s hope it returns later this year.

    • ChrisC says:
      16 Apr16 April 06:36

      I’ve seen rumours of July.

      Depends which ‘lovely lounges’ you mean.

      QF won’t be open until they start operating (? Next year at earliest) for example.

      Others depending on what flights are operating and if they think it’s worth opening. Could be some consolidation to save money.

    • Anna says:
      16 Apr16 April 08:53

      I’m wondering the same re our flights to MIA at the end of July! But obviously the main thing is being able to go at all lol.

      Are you going to one of the Haven sites? We went to a couple of the Dorset ones when my son was younger. He said they were the best holidays ever, better than Disney 😂

  • Stu says:
    16 Apr16 April 07:31

    I’ve been guilty of cherry picking from my Sainsbury’s Nectar offers and not buying much else there as we still prefer Waitrose for our weekly shop. I’ve been bagging upwards of 700 Nectar points a week so far … however, this week randomly I have no specific item offers, only a 5 x Nectar points when I spend £40 in store.

    Anyone else had this?

    • KBuffett says:
      16 Apr16 April 07:42

      We’ve been doing full shops twice weekly
      at Sainsbury’s and have zero Sainsbury’s offers this week.

      We dropped Waitrose for Sainsbury’s and this week I’ve received 6 x spend £60 get £12 off vouchers from Waitrose.

      I think the way to game this is to completely switch to another supermarket when the deals dry up and wait (and ensure you’re properly registered for marketing etc with all of them).

      • Oli says:
        16 Apr16 April 08:33

        Oh thanks. I was wondering why I never get Waitrose offers. I just realised I had not filled my marketing preferences.
        As for Sainsbury’s, I now have a weekly delivery with them, get 20 points offers a week, out of which only 2 or 3 are worth more than 10-20 points.

    • Oh! Matron! says:
      16 Apr16 April 08:24

      Same here: Just the staples, such as milk, tomatoes, bananas. I got celery and peppers yesterday, which made me happy 🙂

    • Pid says:
      16 Apr16 April 08:36

      You have previously been lucky. I have been doing similar and only buying the elements in offer and never had much more than about 150 points per week.

      Still got the normal batch this week though.

    • Stu says:
      16 Apr16 April 20:31

      Thanks all, and damn! Looks like we’re a little bit screwed as we’d really only want to shop at Waitrose or Sainsbury’s … have to say we used to get loads of (e.g.) £15 off £80 at Waitrose but not had any in months. I suppose they’re not going to coax you to shop there when you’re already … shopping there! Might have to go on holiday for a couple of weeks … oh wait 🙁

  • Chris Heyes says:
    16 Apr16 April 07:39

    Ready to hit my spend for another 241 but able to delay hitting it until July
    But should I ?
    Is there still a 2.5 years expiry on at the moment ?
    If so Does Rob know when it’s likely to end.?
    Unfortunatly miscalculated all our spends £500 off hitting 241 Voucher
    £300 off hitting £15k spend on Gold (Partner) Early June
    plus Partners brother £700 off hitting £15k spend again on Gold Early June
    I like my 241s to cover two Septembers as we always go away early Sept
    Already got next Sept 2022 241
    Fighting a loosing battle here unless the 241 has 2.5 years extension still on until June ish ideally

  • KBuffett says:
    16 Apr16 April 07:44

    Spend £300 get 20% back everytime at Hackett on most of my AmEx cards.

    • Harry T says:
      16 Apr16 April 07:53

      I’m amazed I don’t have this on a single card or supp.

      • KBuffett says:
        16 Apr16 April 08:08

        Some of the offers mentioned by others on here don’t show up on my card upto 48 hours later. It may have something to do with caching etc.

        Also, I just realised, it’s valid instore only!

        • Harry T says:
          16 Apr16 April 08:10

          Thanks. I have spent at Hackett in the past on a few of the cards, but not for a long time on some of them. Hackett seem to be quite clever at making sure their Amex offers don’t coincide with their best sales though, anyway.

          By the way, if you do buy from Hackett, don’t forget you can join their 65b club (free) and receive ten Avios per pound.

          • KBuffett says:
            16 Apr16 April 08:18

            You’re right about them being ultra cautious to ensure offers don’t stack.

            Bicester is not specifically excluded (I only skim read the terms). I think buying a gift card and waiting for their sale could be an option, but thats risky and it wouldn’t surprise me if they go under.

            The Club 65 thing is fiddly, I had joined a couple of years ago and hadn’t bothered to check it purchases stacked.

            Personally, I think we will see heavy discounting for such retailers, once they see that demand for this sort of wear hasn’t picked up to previously levels.

  • Benilyn says:
    16 Apr16 April 07:45

    Is there a way to book QR redemptions at their QR rates with Amex MR? i.e. not at BAs inflated rate, eg QR DOH-LON on Qatar site is 42.5k, but BA charge 62k for it. AA has 42.5k as well.

    But with Amex MR not being able to be converted to QR or AA points, but stuck. There is the International Dollar Card, which if I do my math right (using GBPUSD 1.37 and 3:2 to QR) will require c46.2k UK Card MR to get 42K MR into my QR account.
    Is there any other simpler route?

    • Harry T says:
      16 Apr16 April 07:56

      Bonvoy conversion.

      • meta says:
        16 Apr16 April 08:21

        Open Amex ICC card and transfer your UK balance to that card with uplift of currency exchange. Currently it’s 37% so 1k MR points become 1.37k. Qatar Privilege club is a transfer partner of ICC card. 3MR points to 2 QR points. You’d get more with that than Marriott transfer, but there is a fee of $100 on the Green Card so need to factor that in.

  • Ana says:
    16 Apr16 April 08:05

    How much time do I need to wait to close a card after I subscribe to it?

    • Alex says:
      16 Apr16 April 10:54

      You don’t really, you could cancel it the next day. Depends why you got it. If it’s for a sign-up bonus for example just wait for it to post and then cancel.

  • IanM says:
    16 Apr16 April 08:09

    Just on lounges – of the hotel variety (Hilton Exec and IHG Club rooms) any hint when these might reopen in the UK? Will they reopen as regulations permit or will hotels keep them closed to save money?
    I’m guessing that in the US they will be open much more quickly?

    • Harry T says:
      16 Apr16 April 08:11

      I don’t think anyone can really say! I suspect it might be a while before they considering lounges to be worth opening, unless there is a massive rebound in tourism from domestic travellers.

    • Blair says:
      16 Apr16 April 12:58

      A lounge ‘experience’ will return once indoor dining is permitted. that’s what has largely been done in the past year. Lounge is either locked or open but with just hot and cold drinks. The lounge ‘experience’ is breakfast in the main restaurant and drinks and canapes served in a bar/restaurant to eligible guest. Not a total cost saving, but certainly a saving when a bar man is controlling portions. if the lounge for you is just somewhere to sit quietly with a coffee, then I suspect you only have a month to wait.

    • Chris says:
      16 Apr16 April 12:59

      Been travelling for work and CP’s and Hiltons are starting to give out drinking/ snack tokens on check in. Have been pushing that they should just fill the minibar … Personally i tend to value the soft drinks and mild coffee upgrade if I’m staying for a few days

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