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The HfP chat thread – Sunday 25th April

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We are running this daily chat thread on Head for Points during the coronavirus outbreak.

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General

Comments (216)

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

  • Connor says:
    25 Apr25 April 13:11

    Got my Business Platinum this week. Banner for the £150 off a £1000 spend is on my account. Any chance of it being applied?

    • Benilyn says:
      25 Apr25 April 13:19

      Why wouldn’t it be?

      • Connor says:
        25 Apr25 April 14:45

        The offer wasn’t actually on my account, I meant any chance of Amex adding it on.

      • Rob says:
        25 Apr25 April 16:02

        You need to opt in. If it isn’t under ‘Offers’ then you may need to ring for a chat. Offer ends on 30th April remember.

    • APB says:
      25 Apr25 April 15:17

      I had the same issue with an offer on one of my personal Amex cards. I took a screenshot and called them and they added it manually after they had checked that the subscriber limit hadn’t been reached

      • Connor says:
        25 Apr25 April 15:35

        They’ve said they need a screenshot, but I can’t get the banner ad for it to appear again even after refreshing about 100 times lol. No luck for me it seems.

        • APB says:
          25 Apr25 April 15:38

          That’s what happened to me and I didn’t screenshot it the first time but it reappeared a few days later

  • Sam says:
    25 Apr25 April 14:00

    Hi all, I’m going through some tax admin today. Is there any difference between salary sacrifice vs increasing your pension contributions (and as a result employee contributions are higher than the employer contributions)? If there is a difference, what is it?

    I know the employer could also contribute NI contributions on a higher salary if you go down the salary sacrifice route but my pension contributions are taken at source and then NI is paid on the net figure after pension contributions.

    My employer currently pays in 6%, I used to pay in the same but I increased it to 10%. I have no separate SIPP and I use all my ISA 20K allowance. Currently no other debts.

    Also the 40k maximum pension contributions p.a, does that include the employer’s contributions also in a year (as well as the employee’s)?

    • Lady London says:
      25 Apr25 April 14:32

      not an expert but so far as I know the 40k pa includes employer as well as employee.

      I believe salary sacrifice to be the better route as if paid directly by employer under this arrangement then your salary stays in a lower tax band potentially. If you take the money then pay it yourself into your own pension then yes at the end of the year you can reclaim the overpaid tax but it’s messy.

      Always better to stay in low tax bands. Especially if other things start happening like CGT and income being treated closer together for tax purposes or losing the ability to claim other allowances due to tax band or being taxed amounts that turn out not to be fully refundable in future. So cleaner not to take the salary in the first place.

      • Sam says:
        25 Apr25 April 14:35

        Thanks LL. Yes I put in a higher % so I can stay below the amount where I don’t start losing my personal tax allowance – I can’t go into the lower tax bracket than that so will still be a higher rate tax payer.

        But on my payslip salary is X, then pension contributions are taken leaving Y and then Y is what income tax and NI is paid on so to my eye the net effect is the same of salary sacrifice v increasing contributions. Not sure if I’m missing something here.

        • David D says:
          25 Apr25 April 18:14

          Only reason to make individual contributions is to make up for any year missing out on the maximum allowance per year for the previous 5 or 6 years. Then you can complete a self assessment to claim back the income tax.

      • Joe says:
        25 Apr25 April 14:47

        You wouldn’t have this hassle – you would just update your tax code to reflect anticipated pension contributions.

    • Joe says:
      25 Apr25 April 14:49

      Sam – if your pension contributions are taken before tax and NI, that is salary sacrifice. It doesn’t matter how much your percentage contribution is – it’s salary sacrifice. It would be better to increase percentage taken by salary sacrifice rather than make a net contribution after tax – you will save a small amount of NI by doing so.

      • James says:
        25 Apr25 April 14:55

        Another point is that your employer also pays lower NI amounts, and some employers pass it back to the employee – mine does as additional pension contribution.

      • Sam says:
        25 Apr25 April 14:55

        Thanks Joe, that is my point as in I think the way my employer does it already is in effect ‘salary sacrifice’ without me knowing as such!

        • TGLoyalty says:
          25 Apr25 April 15:23

          Yes it is.

          Salary sacrifice is the time and NI/tax efficient way of doing it for both you and the employer.

          • Sam says:
            25 Apr25 April 15:30

            Thanks James and TGL.

          • Genghis says:
            25 Apr25 April 15:45

            Indeed. If HRTP and through salary sacrifice likely saving 2% Ee NI and any extra if any employer passes on of the 13.8% Er NI.

  • NP says:
    25 Apr25 April 14:07

    Does anyone know how long it takes to receive the 10,000 bonus points with the IHG Rewards Club Credit Card. I hit the £200 spend in the first month, but only my transaction points have posted to my account, not the bonus. Not sure whether/who to chase either, is it Creation or IHG direct?

    • Raveon says:
      25 Apr25 April 16:24

      Should have landed with the transaction points (mine did anyway)

    • Anna says:
      25 Apr25 April 17:13

      Yes, I seem to remember the sign up bonus points posting very quickly – it’s Creation you will need to contact, which is a pain as their CS is not the greatest.

    • M says:
      25 Apr25 April 17:47

      I signed up to creation recently and the bonus points were in my IHG account a few days after my first statement was produced (the bonus points were showing in my creation app before my first statement was created, so if you have not seen them in your creation app at all, I imagine you should chase creation).

    • NP says:
      25 Apr25 April 18:31

      Thanks, I’ll try Creation CS

      • Matthew says:
        25 Apr25 April 21:10

        I remember my bonus points posting directly into my IHG account a little later after hitting the spend. They never showed in my creation credit card account at all.

  • Dubious says:
    25 Apr25 April 14:39

    I have a BA Avios booking that BA cancelled (routing is SIN-LHR). When I look on Manage My Booking for alternative travel dates (towards the end of this year) each date selected returns a message that there is ‘No Availability’. This is despite the flights being open for sale for cash.
    This happens even when the new dates are within 365 days of the original booking date.

    Does any one know if this a localised issue with the website or a general change in BA’s policy?

    • ChrisC says:
      25 Apr25 April 15:00

      You don’t need avios availability if BA has cancelled the flight but you do have to call to be rebooked.

      • meta says:
        25 Apr25 April 15:08

        If it has just been cancelled, wait a few days and try again on Manage my Booking. If the current flight is imminent, then call and reschedule.

      • Dubious says:
        25 Apr25 April 15:08

        Ah I see – so it is a manual telephone job.
        The second problem is that it was booked during the earlier Avios 50% off sale so they are now requesting to top-up the Avios to a non-sale price.

        • meta says:
          25 Apr25 April 15:32

          They are not allowed to do this by law. Look at the advice by Lady London, Jonathan and me in the last 2-3 weeks on the daily chat. This gets asked daily.

          If it has been cancelled in the last 2 days, just wait a few days and it might show in Manage my Booking. I managed to move online my Maldives flights from March to December a day or two after cancellation email when it was cancelled also booked during the sale.

          • Dubious says:
            25 Apr25 April 15:49

            Thank you – I will try again. The cancellation came through about a week or two ago (flight originally due to operate at the end of this week) but this was only the first agent spoken too – will try another one.

            It’s funny – I do read a lot of the threads and remember them on this topic from some time back but when a cancellation actually occurs it’s how it’s suddenly hard to remember the specifics of what was read…and when that was. 🙂

          • Amo says:
            25 Apr25 April 16:36

            Rob – it might be worth having a dedicated page covering consumer rights and best practices for cancellations during a 50% off Avios sale. If only to start building pressure on BA very publicly that these sorts of tactics will not be taken lightly by their customers.

          • Optimus Prime says:
            26 Apr26 April 12:05

            @meta – is your new date in December within 365 days of the original booking date? And was it a flight booked during the 50% avios sale?

        • TGLoyalty says:
          25 Apr25 April 15:43

          They should move it regardless of Avios availability and you shouldn’t part with any extra Avios or money.

    • Harry T says:
      25 Apr25 April 17:07

      There’s a series of terrific threads on flyertalk with wikis etc that answer all these BA related questions, with more knowledgeable posters available to help. I wish more people were aware of that.

  • MCO says:
    25 Apr25 April 16:21

    Doing a MCOL against BA and have a couple of questions

    1. There is hardly any space in the claims particulars. I can only write around 3-4 lines and include the EC261 text. I guess it covers the basics but not in depth. Is that all they need?

    2. Is there anything I need to specify? PNR’s? Do I need to send the copies of letters/tickets to the court?

    There doesn’t seem to be any place to upload supporting documents. Are they not required?

    • A says:
      25 Apr25 April 17:33

      https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/762843/mcol-userguide-eng.pdf

      This covers q1 – you can serve more detailed particulars directly

    • meta says:
      25 Apr25 April 18:58

      Are you doing it online? I managed to put my 1000 words claim in.

      You don’t upload any documents you just list them and if court asks then you must provide them.

      • meta says:
        25 Apr25 April 19:01

        Sorry that was 1000 characters. Be concise. I just mentioned the actual articles (EC261, Article 8, 5b or similar). Remember to actual quote UK articles, not EC as this is currently the law.

        • Mco says:
          25 Apr25 April 20:23

          How would I find the UK equivalent. Can’t find it through Google searches.

          • Sukes says:
            25 Apr25 April 20:51

            Section 3 of the European Union Withdrawal Act 2018 (Withdrawal Act 2018) directly incorporates EC261/04 into UK domestic law and The Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers’ Licencing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (APR Regulations) amend EC261/04 to make it compatible with domestic law. For text of the latter see https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2019/278/contents/made

        • Mco says:
          25 Apr25 April 20:30

          Ok found it. It’s now UK261 but can’t find any of the legislation on it as to what I need to quote. Would that be the exact same as EC261?

          Also my letter before action quoted EC261. So is that letter still valid?

          • meta says:
            25 Apr25 April 21:35

            I would say it is as it is known what you meant. Letter before action is just you notifying them that you will be starting legal proceedings if they don’t respond favourably. You can then proceed with formal legal action in which you can even be more specific.

            UK261 is exactly the same as EC261 and will be as such until it is changed by parliament (unlikely for years to come).

        • MCO says:
          25 Apr25 April 23:21

          Thank you Meta. Sukes & A

  • mutley says:
    25 Apr25 April 17:05

    My wife has 115000 MR on her Amex Plat business, ( thanks to Rob and the 100K bonus for £10k spend) I have 85000 on my personal plat, can we amalgamate these points to one or other of the cards? The ultimate aim is to send to the Amex dollar card and then to Krisflyer

  • Morris says:
    25 Apr25 April 17:17

    I am considering opening a Platinum ICC (dollar) card and have a few general questions for those of you with one:

    1) What are the gateway airports for the IAP programme? Are there any gateways that are not UK origin? Is it possible to simply search and book via the Amex Travel site, or is it only call in?

    2) Does the Priority Pass allow access to Priority Pass restaurants that are excluded in other versions of the card issued elsewhere?

    3) How often do they offer promotions or bonuses (Amex Offers, increased point earnings, transfer bonuses, gifts, credits, etc.)?

    4) What are your experiences utilizing the insurances? Are they a hassle and full of bureaucracy (especially with regard to delayed flights and connections, and rental cars)?

    Many thanks!

    • the_real_a says:
      25 Apr25 April 18:33

      4) Insurances are UK based. Regular annoyances typical of all insurances, however i made several claims over the years and received payments. 90 day trip limit outside of the UK was very useful for me, as was the car rental insurance. Since the insurances are little issued the claims handlers sometimes needed correcting on some of the T&C`s… underwriters were usually on the ball. I cancelled the ICC beginning 2020 so experiences are prior to this.

      • Morris says:
        25 Apr25 April 18:46

        Many thanks. If you happen to feel like commenting on any of the other points, by all means 🙂

        It’s hard to find detailed information about this card…

    • TGLoyalty says:
      25 Apr25 April 19:07

      Re 3) I’m sure Rob has mentioned they don’t have Amex offers.

  • MiddleEngland says:
    25 Apr25 April 17:30

    My wife and I have seperated and with her permission I am clearing out her BA Exec acount now it is not in the Household account (cancelled bookings I made had gone pro rata to her). When I look to book on my account SOU – IBZ shows the expected Avios plus reward saver from £1 upwards; when I go from hers it shows the same Avios plus from £46. Any thoughts?

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