The HfP chat thread – Monday 26th April

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bafan says:

26 Apr26 April 02:16

£50 off £200 spend with Amex Travel appeared on my ARCC this morning. Turn up for the books!

Is it valid for cumulative spend or single transaction only? ToCs don’t specify,
- George K says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 04:39
  
  Previous offers were OK cumulatively.
- Tariq says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 05:30
  
  Thanks, is on Plat card too.
- Andrew says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 05:49
  
  Amex being ever the optimists, expecting that £50 is enough of a sweetener for us to book travel in the next month and foregoing the reassurance of booking directly with the airline or hotel for their cancellation and change policies.
  - John says:
    
    26 Apr26 April 06:29
    
    For UK travel I would be happy with £50 off though amex travel rates are often higher than elsewhere.
  - 1ATL says:
    
    26 Apr26 April 07:12
    
    Amex Travel honour the airline policy so they aren’t scheming to diddle you out of anything you’re entitled to unlike some OTA’s I could mention.
    - Andrew says:
      
      26 Apr26 April 07:15
      
      Do they offer FTV for BA flights which you decide not to travel on?
      - 1ATL says:
        
        26 Apr26 April 07:31
        
        yes. under the same conditions as booking direct. message them before purchase if you need written confirmation
      - meta says:
        
        26 Apr26 April 07:31
        
        I’m reading it as book by date, not travel by as it’s only valid on prepaid bookings. So you need to book by 31/05 to travel anytime up to the end of schedule.
        
        Amex Travel have been very good in refunding if you book a prepaid flexible rate at hotels and for car hire.
      - 1ATL says:
        
        26 Apr26 April 07:35
        
        https://travel.americanexpress.co.uk/service/static_page.cfm?page=travel_advice
    - bafan says:
      
      26 Apr26 April 14:18
      
      Agreed. I had a booking with British Airways to visit Hong Kong right before Covid began and when I had to cancel AMEX Travel were very helpful.
  - Tiff says:
    
    26 Apr26 April 09:38
    
    I had no trouble at all in March/April 2020 getting through to Amex travel and getting prompt refunds on several flights, including China Southern and Etihad tickets.
    - meta says:
      
      26 Apr26 April 10:39
      
      Same here for hotels and car hire in Iceland last September. Picked up the phone straight away and all done after taking reference number. Didn’t even have to stay on the line while they sorted it out. Cancellation confirmation came through within 5-10 minutes.
- Andy says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 08:51
  
  On my Amex Plat but not my wife’s card that she’s had for a couple of weeks…
Michael C says:

26 Apr26 April 06:00

“Sri Lanka has been moved to Risk Alert Level 3 due to an increase in coronavirus cases”.
FFoxSake says:

26 Apr26 April 07:02

Has anyone heard any whispers about Qatar extending their “Travel With Confidence” policy for bookings made beyond 30th April?
- FFoxSake says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 07:03
  
  i.e. for bookings made *after* 30th April
  - Benilyn says:
    
    26 Apr26 April 08:47
    
    I thought it was book by 30th April for travel by 31st December?
    - FFoxSake says:
      
      26 Apr26 April 19:10
      
      Yes. That’s what it is currently.
      But I’d like to know what they are doing next, for bookings made after 1st May.
      - Rob says:
        
        26 Apr26 April 19:50
        
        BA is desperate to stop Book With Confidence and had already planned to do so once, before being forced to pull back.
        
        That said I don’t think they have any choice but to let it continue for at least another two months.
ee says:

26 Apr26 April 07:53

Late to the game with Curve but recently took one out. I did some low value vanilla transactions over the weekend backed by Solihull. They went through fine, but no sign of pending transactions on the underlying card. Is there usually a delay like this?
- Alex says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 08:04
  
  Over a weekend yeah you sometimes see a delay. That might just be solihull though as they are a bit slow sometimes I find
  - BuilBackBetter says:
    
    26 Apr26 April 09:09
    
    They are always slow!
- FFoxSake says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 08:05
  
  Your available credit might still have reduced on the underlying card which indicates that it is in the process of posting.
  - ee says:
    
    26 Apr26 April 08:11
    
    Thanks both. Good shout on the available credit – it has indeed gone down by the correct amount!
IanM says:

26 Apr26 April 08:29

Has anyone used the £500 off £200 AMEX discount on a Sportingclass golf membership? FRom looking through their website I can’t really see what you get for your £2000 except the opportunity to spend even more money on costly event golf??
- ken says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 09:29
  
  It looks like they offer discounted green fees at certain courses (10 – 60%).
  
  I doubt if you get much more access, after all many celebrated courses can be played by visitors as long as you have a handicap and cough up the green fees.
  Birkdale £225 per head midweek
  Hoylake £220, Lytham £210
  
  Always suspicious when its a drag to find out exactly what you get for a £2k investment.
  - Will_ says:
    
    26 Apr26 April 10:56
    
    Yeah, I agree. I’ve never heard of Sportingclass before but the picture on their website is from the Grove, which is far from exclusive. If it got you access to courses that were genuinely exclusive – i.e. Queenwood, the Renassiance club or maybe Loch Lomond then you could maybe get some value out of it. If it’s just Woburn, the Grove and Bearwood Lakes then maybe not.
Michael C says:

26 Apr26 April 08:40

Just as a word of encouragement to anyone who had a shivery first jab: had second yesterday and felt 98% fine: just a few duvets at night!
- Mike says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 09:02
  
  I had my first AZ jab late Saturday afternoon, shivering and sweating Saturday night and headache Sunday. Today is just sore joints. Not too bad. I’ve heard that the AZ is better on the 2nd than the first but Pfizer is worse on the 2nd.
  - Jill (Kinkell) says:
    
    26 Apr26 April 09:10
    
    We had 2 nd jab on Saturday ( OxAZ). No side effects this time. First time I had 24hr headache, OH out sorts for about 5 days.
  - Tracey says:
    
    26 Apr26 April 09:11
    
    True, but remember 80% of people suffer no more than an aching arm.
    - Anna says:
      
      26 Apr26 April 09:34
      
      It’s more like 80% of people I know were quite ill from the first AZ jab (including me and OH) We keep saying we must have got bad batch!
      - Rob says:
        
        26 Apr26 April 09:38
        
        I had literally no side effects. Didn’t even feel the needle going in.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        26 Apr26 April 09:50
        
        So you’re one of the 20% 🙂
      - Michael C says:
        
        26 Apr26 April 10:05
        
        Still convinced we had super-protective doses the first time ;o)
        
        Have to agree with Rob, it was quite the most painless injection I’ve ever had!
  - Richster says:
    
    26 Apr26 April 09:38
    
    I had 2nd Pfizer last Fri, Saturday I felt a little tired, sore arm the same both times. Very small price to pay for the potential life-saving effect 🙂 For other AZ takers… reports are that if you take Paracetamol at the recommended dose starting just before the jab and continuing for the rest of the day as per the dose on the packet, then your effects should be much less.
- Lol says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 09:03
  
  +1
- Tom1 says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 09:07
  
  I was exactly the same. Congrats on the double dose 😂
- Erico1875 says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 09:48
  
  I wonder if the side effects late related to how your body would react if you actually got the virus
  I’m 58. WhenI got the AZ Jag, I had a bit of asore throat for about a day. Then about 5 weeks ago I caught Covid.
  I didn’t really have any effect other than a bit tired for a few days
  - Richster says:
    
    26 Apr26 April 10:29
    
    Excellent news that you survived intact! How do you think you got infected with Covid?
  - Andrew says:
    
    26 Apr26 April 13:07
    
    Had a sore throat (tonsil stones) with Pfizer – but I get those every time my body is fighting something.
    
    The second large one (three weeks after the second jag) came out overnight. Woke up this morning to find a stone the size of a maggot dried solid to my lip. I know there’s another one in there, I can feel it.
Alex says:

26 Apr26 April 08:44

Has anyone contacted Dragonpass about the way the 2020 lounge credit extensions have been handled? I was told last year by their customer service that the remaining credits I had acquired via the Dufry membership trick would automatically renew to 2021. Earlier this month, I checked the app and the 6 remaining credits I had were still showing, but the card itself had a “Cancelled” stamp on it. Now it has an “Expired” stamp with an expiration date of March 31, 2021…
- The_real_a says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 09:52
  
  Rob mentioned he was meeting the management shortly. As a data point mine appear still to be valid through 2022.
  - Lady London says:
    
    26 Apr26 April 11:35
    
    Just checked and mine is stamped expired with all the lounge passes I haven’t been able to use in it.
    
    Will be really annoyed if these passes are not recovered. Refunding them would not be a fair option since there’s as good as been no chance to use them as Covid has been going since they were bought.
    - Lady London says:
      
      26 Apr26 April 13:32
      
      And I’m still Platinum as well on Dufry. So not expecting those passes to expire at all. But Dragonpass stamps expired.
  - Lady London says:
    
    26 Apr26 April 11:51
    
    Hum. Just checked and have a note the original validity at the time I bought them was through to August 2021. Not happy at all.
- BS says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 09:54
  
  Mine is OK. Had 6 passes, but only used one. Got it in writing my unused passes would roll over. Membership valid till Jan 2022.
  I should point out I used another code for RED to make me platinum again in the meantime.
- Roger C says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 11:06
  
  My 6 passes are still showing valid until Jan 22
- N says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 13:21
  
  Set up the card and passes via the Dufry option a while back. Contacted support a few months ago, who assured the membership and visits would be extended and retained. Card valid through to Jan 22, remaining passes all still valid.
- Mzungu says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 17:48
  
  Hmm – thanks for making me check. My card is stamped “Expired” in the app, but showing available visits – just about visible under the stamp 🙁
BigSi says:

26 Apr26 April 08:53

Hi, I referred a friend for the Platinum AMEX. He had only the BA free AMEX card and I told him he would get a very decent sign-up bonus applying for the card. After I sent the link he decided to apply for Gold AMEX instead and I said that my understanding is that he will get no bonus. He wants to know if he cancels the new Gold card before earning any reward points will he still be able to put in another application for Platinum AMEX and receive the sign up bonus. Or is it too late and has the 24 month clock already started…
- Anna says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 09:00
  
  It’s usually too late, though if he contacts Amex before he activated the card they might take pity on him. Easy but costly mistake!
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  26 Apr26 April 09:05
  
  Highly likely it’s too late.
  
  Lesson to listen to you in the future!
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    26 Apr26 April 09:06
    
    Give him some advice to dump the free BA for the nectar card too
    - Ed says:
      
      26 Apr26 April 09:18
      
      Depends surely on how much they’re spending on it. If they go above 20k then the value of the 2-4-1 needs to be factored in? Obviously in that case the BAPP should also be considered?
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        26 Apr26 April 09:43
        
        If they spend £20k get a BAPP spend £10k and get the the 2 year voucher + 5k more Avios then cancel for a pro rata refund.
        
        Then get a nectar.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        26 Apr26 April 09:44
        
        It’s actually +7k Avios as you get 2k more for the first supp too.
      - BigSi says:
        
        26 Apr26 April 12:13
        
        Thanks guys. He called AMEX and they said sorry but too late! Lesson learned for the future.