The HfP chat thread – Thursday 6th May

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• Benilyn says:

  6 May6 May 09:19

  Anyone applied to the Amex International Currency Card recently? Did you experience them coming back to you being very slow? Mine is very delayed (in comparison to a normal Amex UK card which is super quick)

  • Rob says:

    6 May6 May 09:22

    It used to take 6-8 weeks back in the days when I applied for mine!

    • Benilyn says:

      6 May6 May 09:25

      Crikey….

    • Phil says:

      6 May6 May 09:46

      I applied back in 2014/5 and it was tortuous, nearly 5-6 weeks.

      • meta says:

        6 May6 May 10:26

        I called new accounts with reference number I got when I applied in 2018 and sent them immediately the requested documents (I think they ask for passport and some other docs, I can’t remember now). It took about a week to get the approval after I sent them the documents and another 10 days to get the card. So overall, 2-3 weeks.

        • Chas says:

          6 May6 May 19:31

          I got mine 2 years ago (now cancelled) and my experience was similar to meta’s.

  • Morris says:

    6 May6 May 10:26

    I actually received my approval e-mail yesterday. I started the process on April 21, so do the math 🙂

    It probably would have been approved even faster had they not needed to translate my proof of address (residing in a non-English language country).

    I wrote up a very detailed, step-by-step account of the process, requirements, and insights in the FlyerTalk Amex forum (should still be within the first page of threads).

    • Rob says:

      6 May6 May 10:41

      In the old days they insisted on you supplying a letter of recommendation from your bank ….

      • Morris says:

        6 May6 May 10:58

        Yes, I read about that during my research on the card. I would have been a bit taken aback if they demanded that, seeing I have an 18-year relationship with Amex and zero payment issues, ever…

    • The cyclist says:

      6 May6 May 11:06

      That’s Magic…………Morris

• James says:

  6 May6 May 09:20

  So called up Amex this morning ready to go to the Plat using this offer https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/benefits/upgrade/platinum-charge/index.html

  But apparently they don’t take applications over the phone any more, so I have no idea how to take advantage of the offer

  • Doug M says:

    6 May6 May 09:24

    Call again different agent different story?

    • James says:

      6 May6 May 09:34

      Oh has that worked in the past? I might give it a shot this afternoon instead

      • Doug M says:

        6 May6 May 12:20

        Not sure for this specific issue. But general advice is try again as often inconsistencies between agents.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    6 May6 May 14:19

    FYI it’s now once lifetime

    • James says:

      6 May6 May 14:46

      Thanks, it will be my first upgrade to Plat, but now seriously considering staying on the Gold Charge so that I can get that new Deliveroo credit

• john says:

  6 May6 May 09:46

  Can anyone tell me if I will get hit up for cash advance fees by Barclays if I take cash out an ATM (in the UK) on the curve card backed by Barclays Hilton CC? (My Curve limit is £200 per day I think)

  • Jonathan says:

    6 May6 May 11:01

    Depends on whether or not they notice the MC code. You could do a test transaction of say £20, then see if anything hits your account (usually no more than few days later) that you don’t want. The cash withdrawal limit for bendy blue cards is £200 PCM, not a daily limit, nor rolling 30 days.

    • Sean says:

      6 May6 May 12:11

      Cash limit on my bendy blue is NOT £200 PCM – I have £1000 per day. I withdrew £500 yesterday across 2 underlying cards.

      • Jonathan says:

        6 May6 May 13:14

        How do you get that limit ? I thought the cash withdrawal limits are the same for all users (based on which bendy card they’ve got, though I doubt many people would have black

        • John says:

          6 May6 May 14:45

          No, the limit is £1000 for most people but if you withdraw more than £200 a month you *may* be charged.

          I am blue and have never been charged even when I went over the £200 per month threshold but I don’t withdraw cash any more.

        • Ash says:

          6 May6 May 14:53

          withdraw £600 per day for a long time no fees

        • Chas says:

          6 May6 May 19:42

          Ash – £600 pd onto a credit card? Sounds like you’re begging either Curve or your credit card company to shut you down….

      • Chas says:

        6 May6 May 19:40

        The higher limit from curve is if you withdraw cash at an ATM backed onto a *debit* card. If you read the T&Cs, it makes it clear that the limit is £200 pcm for withdrawals with a credit card sitting behind the transaction.

        • Magic Mike says:

          6 May6 May 19:59

          I’ve done 1k/day cash bendy>beardy, up to around 30-40k/yr max and not been shut down or charged (yet!).

          But I put real transactions through bendy too and don’t take the proverbial in other ways (no Ernie for example).

  • Jay says:

    6 May6 May 11:29

    No fees, that is my typical configuration 😉

  • Richster says:

    6 May6 May 11:51

    I did this the other week, used a Halifax ATM to take out cash via Curve to Barclaycard HHons, no cash advance fee was noted. Result!

• Amo says:

  6 May6 May 10:15

  I’ve booked the outbound leg for a trip to Japan using a 241, paying approx £800 in booking fees. My questions are can I book the return online? I can’t see the 241 voucher in my account anymore and when I just called the agent was incredibly unhelpful. Secondly, is it better to book the return leg as a stand alone booking? A mock booking showed fees as only £50 – versus a return which had total fees of ~£1100. Finally, Is this another case of calling at 1am or is online better? Apologies for the noob questions!

  • Travel Strong says:

    6 May6 May 12:36

    I’ve been fighting my way through these issues recently too for the first time, and my first q would be: when are the return tickets becoming available? Are you trying to add on a return that you can see online now? Or one that is released tonight at 1am for the 26th April 2022?

    I’ll let others comment on the pro/cons of booking japan as seperates or returns as its not something I have experience of.

    • Sam G says:

      6 May6 May 12:53

      Japan is one that can make sense to book separately (as long as you have enough avios to do so) and then call up at your leisure and they’ll fix the Avios (but not the taxes)

      Downside is 2 lots of potential cancellation fees & if something happens to one leg then they won’t be willing to adjust the other leg if there isn’t Avios availability

      otherwise you need to call up (Japan or US number at 00:50 or thereabouts if you’re trying to get seats at release) and ask them to add a sector to your existing booking and give them the booking reference

• IF1 says:

  6 May6 May 10:35

  Harvey Nichols on platinum today £200 spend £50 credit, first 6000 to save…bit crap

  • IF1 says:

    6 May6 May 10:37

    + supplementary cards

    Shame my 3rd new supp card doesn’t have any offers yet

    • Eligold says:

      6 May6 May 11:04

      I got offers on new platinum a day after activating

      • IF1 says:

        6 May6 May 12:16

        I guess it really is random, is the platinum a supplementary card?

        • egold says:

          6 May6 May 13:10

          no

  • Ste Cox says:

    6 May6 May 10:40

    My Plat was spend £150 get £30

• AnotherUser says:

  6 May6 May 10:38

  Some IHG hotels to offer 2359 checkout. Anyone seen this in the wild? https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/intercontinental-hotels-late-check-out-b1842594.html?amp

  • Rob says:

    6 May6 May 10:54

    We are covering this over the weekend. Business Traveller has the link.

    • johnny_c-l says:

      6 May6 May 11:05

      Will be interested to read if this passes your test as a genuine benefit given the T&Cs state “subject to availability and operational requirements of participating hotels”.

      Probably low risk of not getting late checkout given their marketing is anchored to this of course.

  • Jay says:

    6 May6 May 11:31

    Total gimmick, mid week only, subject to T&C’s – cheap way to get free advertising.

    • AnotherUser says:

      6 May6 May 17:47

      Ugh – valid “only for bookings made from 05 May 2021 to 01 June 2021 (both dates inclusive) (the “Booking Dates”) for stays at participating IHG Hotels & Resorts in the UK between 17 May 2021 and 02 June 2021”. Not exactly a long term thing, then!

• Joe says:

  6 May6 May 10:42

  Had an interesting AmEx anecdote yesterday/today. I presume I’m not allowed to share direct links to the AmEx site here, but I was browsing yesterday and saw that in on one of the 2 sections where the business cards are advertised, the restriction clearly stated was no MR card for 3 months, not 6, for the sign-up bonus (and this page with the ‘error’ is still live for both Gold and Plat). I took a screen shot, applied and was accepted this morning. I called up to ask, and they said it should be 6, but that I can raise a complaint after receiving the card. Unsure if others have come across this before, but I will let you know how I get on!

  • Rob says:

    6 May6 May 10:53

    This mistake has been there forever. It is absolutely 100% six months but as you have a screenshot ….

  • Jay says:

    6 May6 May 11:33

    I have an agent chat that stated me 3 months. I questioned it and he said it was definitely 3 months. Took a copy of the chat and points paid out 24 hours after hitting £5K

• Reeferman says:

  6 May6 May 10:45

  If you have sufficient AVIOS, book on-line – albeit at 1am when they become available (assuming the dates are vital to you). You can then phone BA at leisure and ask them to add the return leg to the outbound 2-4-1 booking. They’ll refund the AVIOS due, but will not adjust the taxes – which will save you ±£300 compared with a r.t. booking.
  If BA’s policy on this has changed recently, am sure someone will shout out

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