The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 27th April

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• Rhys says:

  27 Apr27 April 08:45

  Edinburgh update: I took all your advice yesterday and decided to go to Outsider as it was just round the corner from the hotel. They’re currently serving the lunch menu all day as indoor dining has to close at 8pm, but I had a fantastic dinner. Nobody told me it had such great views either!

  • Harry T says:

    27 Apr27 April 08:52

    The views were a special surprise 😉 glad you enjoyed it

  • Phil says:

    27 Apr27 April 15:59

    @Rhys – Sorry for the weather today in Edinburgh!

• M says:

  27 Apr27 April 08:47

  Thanks @Yorkieflyer for your answer yesterday 🙂

  • yorkieflyer says:

    27 Apr27 April 13:59

    glad it apparently worked for you, a great use of points and the voucher!

• Dave says:

  27 Apr27 April 09:13

  Am considering paying some of my tax bill off with Billhop to make sure we hit the £4K Amex platinum spend on my wife’s new Amex platinum ASAP. If I pay enough off that we hit the £4K spend before the annual fee hits on the first statement can we still cancel or will they be really difficult about allowing me to cancel?

  • Genghis says:

    27 Apr27 April 09:23

    You just cancel. Fin.

  • Jonathan says:

    27 Apr27 April 09:35

    Cancelling is fine. I signed up for the business platinum added 5 sup cards for bonus points. Spent the required sum earned over 100k MR points within 7 days and cancelled the card before the fee even hit. My only concern is about future applications but I’ll wait a bit longer than required.

  • Rob says:

    27 Apr27 April 09:44

    They don’t care, it’s all automated anyway.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    27 Apr27 April 09:47

    You’re worrying about 48/30 days * how many days you’ve held it but will pay 2-3% on 4k = £80-120 … doesn’t make sense.

    • Dave says:

      27 Apr27 April 09:51

      @TGloyalty My wife accidentally made the big purchase we were planning on the wrong Amex card so we’re going to struggle to hit the spend requirements. If I pay my tax bill of £2500 it will cost me £73 and we’ll hit the spend. However as it’s likely we’ll only just scrape over the line at the end of the three months if I don’t do that then that’s three months worth of card fee so greater than £73. I think so anyway?

      It’s quite possible I’m not thinking straight though! Happy for suggestions to do it a better way

      • TGLoyalty says:

        27 Apr27 April 10:10

        Has the item already been delivered. I’ve found most companies will refund and recharge if you explain. Phone call is worth £73.

        Personally, If cashflow isn’t an issue (which It may not be since you’re paying taxes early) I’d look at what offers there are to see if they sell gift cards that you could use at a future date – like Harrods £200 get £50 – these also count as the full spend not the discounted amount ie £200 not £150.

        Or just buy gift cards for your normal supermarket. Having the morrisons offer would have been great as saving 7-10% in the process, it is highly likely to be back too.

        • Dave says:

          27 Apr27 April 10:45

          Thanks those are great suggestions!

        • TGLoyalty says:

          27 Apr27 April 12:06

          Personally I’d bank on M’s 7-10% coming back in the next 2 months and pay £96 of fees in anticipation because It’ll be offset by £250-300 off my future shopping than pay billhop £73 now but I’m a gambling man 🙂

      • Anna says:

        27 Apr27 April 11:35

        There have been a few instances where friends and partners haven’t done what they’re told and used/applied for the wrong card! Think I will be accompanying my OH & his Plat card to the BMW showroom on Friday to collect the new motor 😬😂

        • meta says:

          27 Apr27 April 14:04

          @ Anna Not just partners, any family members. I made a big fuss over the weekend when my mum bought an expensive item on a debit card. I thought I trained her well, she hasn’t made such a mistake in the last year or so, but…

• Reney says:

  27 Apr27 April 09:26

  Morning, investing question today. Just wondering if people tend to put money into the s&s isa in April (if you can afford to do it in one go) and buy something in one go which saves on cost if purchasing something that incurs a transaction cost, or invest through the year and therefore feels like you are averaging out the purchase price but incurs more transaction cost. Thx

  • A says:

    27 Apr27 April 09:45

    pound cost averaging for me over the year

  • M says:

    27 Apr27 April 10:02

    I recommend a blog post by bankeronfire regarding lump sum investing: https://bankeronfire.com/lump-sum-investing

    I also recommend the blog in general 🙂

    • Genghis says:

      27 Apr27 April 10:22

      +1 It’s a v good blog.
      I pay into 2 x ISA at the start of the tax year: sell in GIAs and buy in ISAs at the same time. I then top up GIAs every month.

    • ken says:

      27 Apr27 April 11:41

      Excellent blog

      Never saw the point of dripping in say £1k a month rather than £12k in one go, particulalrly if your timescale is long.
      Its the same logic as moving from equities to cash, because you think (guess) the market is over valued – you are likely to be wrong.

      Repeat the mantra…

      Time in market, time in market, time in market.

    • Lawro says:

      27 Apr27 April 14:54

      Thanks for the excellent recommendation – hadn’t come across the blog before

  • Genghis says:

    27 Apr27 April 10:24

    You could even do both:
    https://monevator.com/cheapest-stocks-and-shares-isa-hack/

  • BuilBackBetter says:

    27 Apr27 April 12:55

    Investing lumpsum beats pound cost averaging. Statistically market goes up approx 70% while it has gone down 30%.

  • Reney says:

    27 Apr27 April 14:22

    Thanks all!!!

  • The Savage Squ irrel says:

    27 Apr27 April 22:01

    At the risk of being controversial …
    There is a long term historical trend that market returns are good in winter and nonexistent in summer (“sell in May” and all that). Despite it being well recognised it still hasn’t been destroyed by market efficiency. So does this make the best time to load up your ISA every year September??? That’s what I do anyway.
    As you’ll know though, the important thing really is to contribute what you can every year; ideally the max, and let it compound. Using it on the first day possible in April gives the longest time for it to generate a return, but if you’re still working on using up the allowance in the next March then that’s far better than not using it at all. The rest is relatively minor stuff.

• Chrism20 says:

  27 Apr27 April 09:33

  For those in Edinburgh that use Esso to collect Nectar/Avios it looks like the two sites at Queensferry Rd next to the Holiday Inn and the one at Lothianburn just off the bypass will shortly be switching to BP apparently.

  That will only leave Willowbrae which is a Tesco site and Fordel in Dalkeith as the only Esso sites in the immediate area.

• Secret Squirrel says:

  27 Apr27 April 09:40

  How long does Radisson gold status take to update from Amex Platinum? Mines been a week today & still no update. Thx

  • TGLoyalty says:

    27 Apr27 April 09:53

    either a few days or a few months. perhaps its to do with your application timing and when they process.

    • Secret Squirrel says:

      27 Apr27 April 10:01

      Thanks TGL, the Radisson account was new so maybe that’s what’s holding it up.

  • Kai says:

    27 Apr27 April 14:13

    For me they opened a new Radisson account by mistake.

• PerkyPat says:

  27 Apr27 April 10:11

  Dont know if this has been reported, Lufty starting flights from NCL to FRA on 28 June, presumably instead of the pre covid MUC service

• WaynedP says:

  27 Apr27 April 10:23

  Referred my wife for Amex Plat from my BAPP in hope I can pay the £1,750 hotel quarantine cost via Amex to meet the sign-up bonus.

  Does anyone know if ctm accept Amex ? If not perhaps PayPal, or will I have to sign up to Revolut or Curve to achieve ?

  Also, if travelling alone, will the Amex Plat card in my wife’s name let me into the airport lounges without her physically being with me ?

  • Matt says:

    27 Apr27 April 10:40

    No, although you can get a supplementary card in your name which would (or at least the priority pass card that comes with it would)

  • QFFlyer says:

    27 Apr27 April 14:21

    Rev & Curve don’t accept Amex either.

    • WaynedP says:

      27 Apr27 April 16:05

      Thanks – I was under the misapprehension that was a key attraction.

      If CTM don’t take Amex or PayPal on hotel quarantine package, I guess I’ll just be earning my next Virgin Upgrade voucher sooner than expected, which is better than nothing.

      • Paul says:

        27 Apr27 April 22:36

        CTM do take AMEX for the quarantine hotel package

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