The HfP chat thread – Saturday 24th April

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• Aston100 says:

  24 Apr24 April 02:25

  Oh looks like I’m the first on here today.

  I was wondering, where do lorries fill up?
  Surely they can’t always head to a motorway service station (the only place I’ve ever seen lorries filling up), especially if they are driving around in the rural parts of the country.

  I mean, have you ever seen a lorry filling up at a normal petrol station?

  I fear this will keep me up all night.

  • Tarmohamed says:

    24 Apr24 April 02:33

    Yes I’ve seen a lorry fill up at my local BP petrol station in town.

    • Aston100 says:

      24 Apr24 April 02:38

      Your local petrol station can handle great big artics can it? 🤔

      • QFFlyer says:

        24 Apr24 April 03:21

        Yeah, I’ve seen a lot of servos with a separate truckstop, which has all the fuel pumps (diesel only I assume) but with a much higher canopy. Pretty common in Australia but I’ve seen them in the UK too.

        They look like this:
        https://www.fkg.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/bp1-1024×683.jpg

        • kitten says:

          24 Apr24 April 12:07

          There’s one on the left IIRC just after you leave Dover towards London

      • Jayne says:

        24 Apr24 April 03:46

        Typical Aston. Contrary for the sake of it.

      • AJA says:

        24 Apr24 April 09:13

        The tankers that deliver the fuel to petrol stations are pretty big so I think most stations would be able to take trucks even those with trailers.

  • Si says:

    24 Apr24 April 05:07

    Attics (Cat 1 / Cat C+E) will mostly fill up at motorway services due to access issues.

    Rigid (Cat 2 / Cat C) will fill up where they like assuming they can get the truck in and the forecourt roof is high enough.

    You get to know the petrol stations you can use. You often cause a bit of mayhem when you arrive but if you need fuel, you need fuel!

    To make the answer topical and about points though, there is a company fuel card called Fuel Genie that can be used to pay for fuel at Tesco and Sainsburys – while still earning Clubcard or Nectar points. That can be very lucrative…

    My biggest truck has nearly a 400ltr fuel tank. I always fill it up at the local tesco before heading into europe – lovely points pay day!

    Hopefully you can get some sleep now 🙂

    • Chrisasaurus says:

      24 Apr24 April 07:28

      What’s the range on a full tank, then?

      • Si says:

        24 Apr24 April 07:51

        Artics run at about 7mpg (although that is improving a lot now). Our 18-tonne rigids are 13-14mpg and the luton vans at 20-24mpg depending on how loaded/heavy they are. (My car is 36-42mpg).

        I can stack a lot of nectar and clubcard points over the course of the year with the company vehicles.

        Sometimes if only going local, I will take a vehicle that’s low on fuel as I know I’ll have time to fill it up!

    • Lady London says:

      24 Apr24 April 12:11

      @Chris Heyes will be jealous. That comes close to his family member filling up 8 or 9? vans at work on Tesco.for 2? years

  • Bazza says:

    24 Apr24 April 06:17

    Some of the have fueling stations at the depot

  • Erico1875 says:

    24 Apr24 April 06:58

    Companies with fleets will have their own pumps.

  • Ken says:

    24 Apr24 April 07:13

    If it’s a large operator they likely will have their own bunkered fuel at their base. Normally the cheapest option per litre & wastes least time.

    Alongside the motorway ones there are other HGV only sites which you never see . Normally near ports or container depots.
    If you detach your trailer you will get in most places (vehicle height then being limited factor.

    The pumps are high speed ( tanks say 600 litres ) and payment via fuelcard were the price is fixed weekly in advance. So this weeks price is 98.7 for Keyfuels and 100.2 for BP.

    • Magic Mike says:

      24 Apr24 April 07:23

      Ah so they don’t pay list price at the motorway services…? Motorway service fuel is a ripoff normally, I will never fill up there.

      • Sandgrounder says:

        24 Apr24 April 08:02

        No, commercial fleets will generally have a fuel card and pay the same price at every site on the network, as Ken says usually set weekly.

    • Jonathan says:

      24 Apr24 April 07:28

      That’s a huge saving compared to Joe Public, far more than I thought was the profit margin for the forecourt. Are those prices net of VAT?

      • Ken says:

        24 Apr24 April 08:13

        Those prices are before VAT
        There are also times when the net price at Tesco or Asda comes very close to the fuel card price, so I suspect the supermarkets profit margin varies a lot with local competition and throughout the year.

  • Mike says:

    24 Apr24 April 12:26

    Aston – great question. I hope you got some sleep in the end

  • Andrew says:

    24 Apr24 April 12:34

    Even with all of the answers, you have to think sensibly about stuff.

    The motorways run out at Perth, you can drive another 250 miles before running out of road.

• Aston100 says:

  24 Apr24 April 02:52

  @george, in regards to your dilemma (posted yesterday lunch time) about closing an Amex with 397 MR remaining and not sure where to transfer it to.

  Wife and I have successfully managed to get Amex live chat to round up our balances (about 350 MR and 400 MR) on PRG cards to 500 MR and move them to BAEC a goodwill gestures.
  First one went without a hiccup. Second one required the agent to check with someone else first.

  • QFFlyer says:

    24 Apr24 April 03:25

    Could also transfer them to Nectar (min 1), Radisson (min 3) or Hilton (min 200 and increments of 50).

    Even if Amex round them up to 500, wouldn’t you need the min 1,000 to transfer to most Airlines?

  • DT says:

    24 Apr24 April 04:27

    Considering it’s a minimum 1000 MR to transfer to Avios, this seems like a suggestion that will be a time wasting exercise. Would be interested to see if 397 MR would get rounded up to 1000 for free, but I have my doubts

    • Kevin B says:

      24 Apr24 April 09:06

      It’s a minimum of 1000 but then can be in increments of 500

      • DT says:

        24 Apr24 April 09:46

        Yes but Aston is recommending that someone who has just 397 MR left, who wants to close their account, to call Amex and ask them to round up their MR to transfer to BAEC. Which seems unlikely to happen.

  • The cyclist says:

    24 Apr24 April 09:28

    2.52 in the morning? I bet the “wife” isn’t happy with you online at that time!!!

    • TGLoyalty says:

      24 Apr24 April 10:05

      Assuming Aston is in the U.K. …

    • Lord Doncaster says:

      24 Apr24 April 15:08

      I thought most partners slept in seperate beds these days a la Sybil and Basil Fawlty.

• NG says:

  24 Apr24 April 04:20

  Hi,
  Just want to know if my amex referral points would still post to my account if I cancel my card after the friend has successfully applied?
  Thanks

  • Jenny says:

    24 Apr24 April 06:56

    Why would you cancel before your points arrive?

  • Andrew says:

    24 Apr24 April 08:01

    The points usually arrive the day after they apply (sometimes before they are even told their applicant is successful if it’s not an instant decision). So just wait until your points arrive and then cancel.

  • Peter K says:

    24 Apr24 April 09:06

    In answer to your question. No, you won’t get your points if you cancel before they arrive.

    • Jenny says:

      24 Apr24 April 09:48

      Because on closure your MR balance closes up

• Ian M says:

  24 Apr24 April 06:56

  Miles & More question…

  Does anyone know how I can see when miles are due to expire? The transaction history page only shows me as far back as 1st January 2020. I see that on the 1st January this year some miles expired. There must be a way to see when the next set of miles are due to expire??

  • Blair says:

    24 Apr24 April 09:10

    Same problem here. If you sign up to their e-statement you get told each quarter what is about to expire. But in lieu of a solution from M&M, I have started logging when miles were earned on my own log.

  • Rob says:

    24 Apr24 April 10:05

    You can’t until the start of a quarter, then the next lot show on your statement. AwardWallet shows it as well.

• Jonathan says:

  24 Apr24 April 07:33

  BA Spas at LHR & JFK not reopening according to TLFL.

  Showers will remain though.

  I struggled to get appointments even in advance when travelling in First & didn’t think they were that great so have mixed feelings. If they use the space for something else like decent sleep pods or a relaxation area (no food, drink, kids or devices) then it may even be a positive but I imagine it will just be roped off.

  • mark2 says:

    24 Apr24 April 07:43

    +1 a disappointment

    • Andrew says:

      24 Apr24 April 08:04

      Never used on departure but always used on arrival – an Elemis facial after a champagne breakfast in the arrivals lounge was always nice. BA back to its old tricks of cutting corners where they can.

      • Anna says:

        24 Apr24 April 09:22

        When we’d had a really early connection from MAN it was really nice to have a mini facial or shoulder massage to perk us up a bit before the long haul. On TLFL yesterday it was suggested that BA move to a system of allowing people to pay for extra treatments on top of the free one – I’d definitely take advantage of that if it was available as depending on flight times we can end up with 4 hours or more between flights sometimes.

        • Mikeact says:

          24 Apr24 April 09:40

          Or pay with Avios ?

        • Andrew says:

          24 Apr24 April 09:54

          And TLFL’s suggestion, which many airlines like Emirates do in their hub lounges, which is to offer a free treatment for First and Gold passengers with business class having to pay. This seems reasonable.

        • James says:

          24 Apr24 April 11:25

          It always was available

  • TGLoyalty says:

    24 Apr24 April 10:36

    Problem with a company like BA is the first thing to go out of the window is spend on the customer experience.

    They should have invested in refurbishing their lounges and planes instead they put it all on hold and will suffer the consequences for years to come.

    101 cost cutting culture but so counterintuitive to building a profitable sustainable long term business.

    • Andrew says:

      24 Apr24 April 12:47

      Agree with every word of that TG.

    • Harry T says:

      24 Apr24 April 14:58

      @TGLoyalty
      Couldn’t agree more!

      • Tim says:

        24 Apr24 April 15:56

        No offence lads, but let’s not forget IAG lost £6b last year? Fairly logical not to offer extra freebies or spend tons more on improving services in this climate. Maybe a sensible complaint 1/2yrs after recovery, but not now?

        • TGLoyalty says:

          24 Apr24 April 22:00

          @Tim their “product” is the experience the lounge, the spa, the planes etc

          Any company that cuts investment into product completely will suffer the consequences for far longer than the short term cost saving.

          I’m not saying all investing should continue no matter what and tough choices might’ve had to have been made on what to continue with but cutting everything is a terrible idea.

  • Lady London says:

    24 Apr24 April 12:59

    the extra space might help with social distancing from the restaurant in the Arrivals Lounge

    • babyg_wc says:

      24 Apr24 April 21:46

      Really? Social distancing a concern when you’re just about to board a non social distanced flying tin can? You should work for BA PR 🙂

• KBuffett says:

  24 Apr24 April 07:35

  Any tips on what to see and do in Cornwall this weekend gratefully received

  • Freddy says:

    24 Apr24 April 07:38

    I’d look out for the rows of rangerovers to see along with packed roads and locals shaking their fists at invaders with their germs

    • Secret Squirrel says:

      24 Apr24 April 08:25

      You know Cornwall well then especially the locals…😂

  • Brian says:

    24 Apr24 April 09:05

    Go to the beach…Water is actually quite refreshing these days. Walk part of the coastal path if hiking is more your thing.

  • Mikeact says:

    24 Apr24 April 09:42

    As I’m currently down here, the forecast is really rough seas this weekend….loads of, safe, viewing points to pick.

• Chrism20 says:

  24 Apr24 April 07:40

  Possibly something with my Facebook algorithms but for the last four or five days I have been receiving anywhere between five and ten notifications from HFP and a lot of it is articles from days or a week ago.

  • Rob says:

    24 Apr24 April 10:03

    Odd. I noted something similar happened on LinkedIn with more older (and often out of date) stuff showing up.

• Sieyes says:

  24 Apr24 April 08:29

  I’m thinking about getting a supplementary Amex for myself. For the most part because sometimes I don’t want the attention that the Platinum gets you. I was actually surprised this is still a thing… but the last time I was in the rural US, I got several remarks in small-town diners and similar places about “oh, what’s that?” etc. I feel like sometimes I just don’t want any of that, just a normal card without any attention, but still collect my points.

  So then the question is: gold or green? I guess green would make the most sense for that purpose? Is there any obvious downside to using the green card over the gold (or the plat for that matter) for daily expenses? Not talking about hotels or car rentals, of course.

  • Andrew says:

    24 Apr24 April 09:57

    Do you mean a supp from your Platinum account or a second card account? If you’ve not considered the former, for the purpose you outline, this might be better – get a gold card as a supp in your own name for times when you’re shopping in Aldi and don’t want people’s reverse snobbery at the checkout. I’m not sure, but I think you might be able to request the supp is green.

    • Sieyes says:

      24 Apr24 April 10:30

      Yeah, I meant a supplementary card for myself on the same account. And the two choices for that currently are gold and green. My understanding is that for points purposes, it doesn’t matter which of those it is, so I might as well go green… but I wanted to see if anybody here knew of a reason I missed.

  • Memesweeper says:

    24 Apr24 April 10:43

    I had a green sup on my plat as I didn’t want to look flash. I’ve come round to thinking classic green is the nicest Amex design in circulation.

    • Sieyes says:

      24 Apr24 April 11:58

      Sounds good, I might do that then. It’s kinda funny that I don’t think I’ve ever seen a green Amex except on pictures! But I guess it’s not a very common option around here, because you won’t think of getting one unless you think about cards, and then chances are you’ll get something “better”.

      • Andrew says:

        24 Apr24 April 12:50

        Yes it’s a nice classic design and ironically basic stuff is really on trend – Aldi have just launched a range of heavily own-branded clothing today. And yes makes no difference on points earning and benefits – just carry your Platinum with you for accessing certain lounges such as Plaza Premium or Eurostar.

        • Lord Doncaster says:

          24 Apr24 April 15:11

          In the era of social distancing, are people really getting close enough to see what type of card you’re paying with at the checkout?

          I mean… pickpockets don’t lurk around the Aldi checkouts with zoom lenses to see the colour of your card

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