The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 28th April

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

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

Historically, the daily ‘Bits’ articles were the de facto repository for random comments and questions. With the news flow being lighter, we are running fewer ‘Bits’ articles.

The comments under this article are where you should post questions about travel and, indeed, anything else on your mind. At this tricky time, and given that many of you are at home, we want the HfP community to have a place to chat.

Please only comment under the main articles on the site if your comment is directly related to the topic of the article. This has long-term benefits as it keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

Old chat threads are hidden from the HfP home page. If you want to look for something in an old thread, click here. This brings up all the articles in our ‘General’ category which includes the chat threads.

Category

General

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

Rob says:

28 Apr28 April 15:25

Weird. How can they afford this? And why didn’t I get it?!
- Neil says:
  
  28 Apr28 April 15:40
  
  I’ve just got a 1% offer from Halifax for the same dates
  - Robert says:
    
    28 Apr28 April 16:31
    
    Got similar Halifax email but it’s only 0.5% for me (Halifax Clarity)
    - Harrier25 says:
      
      28 Apr28 April 16:49
      
      Me too!
mutley says:

28 Apr28 April 15:29

Ditto re wine flyer, also the 2750 from Hackett as well 🙂
Sandra says:

28 Apr28 April 15:36

Hotel Du Vin spend £250 get £50 back until 21/7 has appeared on my Gold card today, first 8000 to register. Also Red Carnation hotels spend £350 get £75 back until 30/9 is there and I’m fairly certain is also new. Hopefully with hotels opening shortly there will be more because the rest of my offers are mostly all pretty useless!
- WaynedP says:
  
  28 Apr28 April 15:58
  
  I’ve had the identical Red Carnation offer on my BAPP since before Rob’s article of 12 April re free 1 yr Leaders Club membership for LHW, because I looked up LHW hotels in South Africa and read about the link between The Oyster Box and Red Carnation which only rang a bell because of the Amex offer.
  - Andrew says:
    
    28 Apr28 April 16:08
    
    Hopefully some more generous offers for the big chains arrive soon.
    - Anna says:
      
      28 Apr28 April 16:20
      
      +1, didn’t get to use the Hilton, IHG or Marriott offers last year!
      - David says:
        
        28 Apr28 April 23:50
        
        !
Travel Strong says:

28 Apr28 April 15:39

I also got this just now for my Horizon, but I assumed it was nonsense i.e. was *not* on top of the 0.5% I already get… But that’s just what i assumed… in reality, who knows!

Back in the realms of facts/reality: I’ve checked all recent statements and I am still getting 0.5% on Horizon each month.
Travel Strong says:

28 Apr28 April 15:44

I know they likely wont enforce it, but i’m not activating the offer as the T+C’s say: “When this offer ends, you won’t receive c@sh back on further credit card purchases.”
- Stuart Evans says:
  
  28 Apr28 April 16:33
  
  Isn’t that outrageous and very sneaky
- Travel Strong says:
  
  28 Apr28 April 17:24
  
  It would be sneaky if the actual intent of the clause is to kill off horizon cb… but I doubt it is. I’m just being cautious. If they wanted to kill off the normal cb, they could just do it and send notice to card holders.
Super Secret Stuff says:

28 Apr28 April 16:02

Got a third retention offer on the same Amex card within a year, hehehe. Also they mentioned they are trying get more offers as businesses open up so watch the offers tab. 10k MR just for keeping the card.

As per usual: said i was considering cancelling (which for once I am, to switch to BAPP), first time went abroad and they were useless, second call went to Brighton and sorted it quickly.
- Super Secret Stuff says:
  
  28 Apr28 April 16:03
  
  Gold CC and previous retention offers were spend related
  - Dayle says:
    
    28 Apr28 April 16:39
    
    Any tips? I’ve had the Bus Plat for couple months and spent the £10k, phoned up and they could only offer 2x points for 3 months
    
    I was considering downgrading to Gold but no spend x get y offers possible
    - Super Secret Stuff says:
      
      28 Apr28 April 17:46
      
      I put a how too list somewhere in the comments once. Basically just say you’re thinking about cancelling and show that you know exactly what the card offers.
      
      Sometimes they do give you a bonus points per pound thing on BAPP, once I got given the choice. Just depends. I’d take that offer personally as it is better than nothing and would mean you earn 3 Avios (worth 4.8p at Sainbury) per pound
      - Super Secret Stuff says:
        
        28 Apr28 April 17:49
        
        2.4p at Sainbury’s. Been a long day
    - Memesweeper says:
      
      28 Apr28 April 20:52
      
      2x points is pretty decent. Should make it easy to justify the card fee for a couple more months.
      
      I got a year free on a business gold when I asked, towards the end of year one. What wasn’t offered when I asked (separate call) was an upgrade route from Gold to Plat business, which I might have been interested in.
      - Dayle says:
        
        28 Apr28 April 22:27
        
        I took the double points but only keeping until the supps come in, then I’ll downgrade to Gold – don’t think I’ll put too much through it though, better returns from feeding IHG and letting it flow through
Stuart Evans says:

28 Apr28 April 16:46

I am trying to book Alaska Air flights for late Jan/early Feb 22 using Avios, now that they are fully part of One World. A month or so ago I called BAEC and was told they couldn’t do anything because of the migration process but it ought to be possible from 23 April. I have tried to book on-line multiple times but to no avail (although less convenient AA flights with a connection are available). I also don’t see availability on AA.com

Given BA have understandably closed their Indian call centre because of Covid, I am reluctant to call them when they are so busy. But has anyone had any success booking Alaskan flights on-line using Avios recently?

Thanks
- Memesweeper says:
  
  28 Apr28 April 20:55
  
  I would keep looking online — it should show up if available on BA.com
  
  The call centre queues jump after a wave of cancellations but are usually ok, feel free to try when it suits you.
- Lyn says:
  
  28 Apr28 April 21:35
  
  This is probably a very silly question, but are you by any chance confusing Alaska Airlines and American Airlines?
  
  I am just asking because you refer to AA.com, which is American Airlines, not Alaska.
  - Stuart Evans says:
    
    28 Apr28 April 21:43
    
    No – not 🤔 Because AA/BA are both in one world, it ought to be equally easy to book AS flights on either website. I was wondering whether the functionality had been implemented since AS joined OW
    
    I guess I’ll call BA tomorrow
    - ChrisC says:
      
      28 Apr28 April 22:33
      
      Just because Alaskan is now part of one world it does not immediately follow that all fares and rewards are available.
      
      BA com for example only has access to the lowest level of AA rewards (sAAvers) whereas AA offers higher cost rewards (and in greater number) to its own members and it could be the same with what Alaskan makes available to partners.
      
      And it could also be that Alaskan hasn’t made any reward seats available yet.
Louisa says:

28 Apr28 April 16:50

If I have a Amex cash back card can I qualify for a welcome bonus on the gold credit card?
- Rob says:
  
  28 Apr28 April 16:55
  
  No, because you have a personal Amex card.
  
  You CAN get the bonus on The Platinum Card or BA Premium Plus, because those cards have different rules.