The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 11th May

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J says:

11 May11 May 06:51

Email from Curve – they’re crowdfunding again. Make of that what you will 😉
- Sina says:
  
  11 May11 May 07:12
  
  3x increase to my investment in Curve since 2019! Not bad at all!
  - J says:
    
    11 May11 May 07:17
    
    How does one cash out? Not that I’m really all that bothered for the £30 that mine is presumably now worth 😂
    - GT says:
      
      11 May11 May 08:34
      
      “How does one cash out?”
      
      You can’t! It’s a private company, so the shares are illiquid. In most cases, you simply have to wait until an event like an IPO, acquisition etc.
      
      For this reason, I’d take valuations with a ‘pinch of salt’.
      
      I see one of their top line numbers is Gross Transaction Value of £2.6billion. I wonder if they will break this down further ….
      - Rob says:
        
        11 May11 May 09:19
        
        It’s all HMRC payments from HfP readers.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        11 May11 May 09:27
        
        I meet your HMRC and raise your NS&I payments!
      - Rob says:
        
        11 May11 May 09:34
        
        Amusingly, now my Lufthansa card is dead, I applied for an HSBC WE yesterday so I could pay HMRC with Curve. They turned me down. This is despite being one of the handful of people in the UK to have a Jade account.
      - Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
        
        11 May11 May 09:27
        
        About a year ago they published their top 10 issuers by GTV. Let’s just say that Virgin and Creation were heavily overweight compared to their market share.
        
        https://thefintechtimes.com/are-challengers-always-going-to-be-the-secondary-bank/
      - Amy says:
        
        11 May11 May 10:05
        
        @Rob: Did they give any reason why you were turned down for the WE card?
      - Rob says:
        
        11 May11 May 10:47
        
        Apparently I fail their credit scoring, which is intriguing given that the amount of cash HSBC has of mine is enough to cover all the credit card spending that I, and indeed my two kids, are likely to do in their entire lifetimes.
      - Andrew M says:
        
        11 May11 May 10:15
        
        @Rob. I’m also Jade and they initialy offered me a 250 pound limit when I applied for the WE card. Thankfully increased to something more acceptable on appeal.
      - Youllnever says:
        
        11 May11 May 13:15
        
        @Andrew M how did you manage to get that initial limit for the WE card? The card’s summary box PDF states that the minimum limit issued is £5000.
      - Andrew M says:
        
        11 May11 May 20:35
        
        @Youllnever It was a few years ago now so the initial limit may have changed. I applied in a branch for the Premier Current account and the WE card at the same time. The branch staff member informed me that the £250 limit had been initially offered on the card but he immediately got on the phone to the credit card team and negotiated a more sensible limit.
- Genghis says:
  
  11 May11 May 09:18
  
  Just said I’m interested for £50k+. Who’s with me?
  (this is how WallStreetBets works, right?)
  - Bobri says:
    
    11 May11 May 10:57
    
    This is the way
    - mr_jetlag says:
      
      11 May11 May 18:52
      
      🚀💎👋
  - Mr. AC says:
    
    11 May11 May 23:38
    
    We like the stock!
BuildBackBetter says:

11 May11 May 07:10

Amex Wheely offer – would it work cumulative?
- C says:
  
  11 May11 May 07:15
  
  The last one did.
- Andrew says:
  
  11 May11 May 07:22
  
  I can’t see how this one couldn’t – even at their prices, £200 is one expensive journey!
  - Alex M says:
    
    11 May11 May 09:27
    
    Cheaper than adlee Wimbledon-Heathrow (and much cheaper Wimbledon- LGW).
Simon Diggins says:

11 May11 May 07:26

Question about future travel vouchers and the Amex 241 – for the future booking does the 241 scale up? So I still get 241 on the Avios additional spend up to the new value of the ticket?
- Rob says:
  
  11 May11 May 07:29
  
  No. The FTV is fixed. If Avios prices increase (or taxes increase) you need to add to the voucher.
  - J says:
    
    11 May11 May 07:51
    
    But surely you’d only need to add additional Avios for one of your two seats, not both? So the 241 is still worth ‘half’ even if you’ve had to top up the first half? (Which I assume is what Simon meant, unless I’ve misunderstood 😉
    - J says:
      
      11 May11 May 07:56
      
      Related: has anyone had a 241 booking, on which they’d only booked the outbound leg, converted to an FTV, and any idea what then happens in terms of adding the return leg later? Assuming you still can…
      
      I’m unclear as to whether the return would have to be added by (a) the expiry date of the FTV, (b) whatever date you book the new outbound leg for, using the FTV, (c) the original 241 voucher expiry date, or (d) something else… Any ideas?!
      - Anna says:
        
        11 May11 May 08:48
        
        Also yes – I have an FTV for 3 x one way seats MAN-LHR-VIE. It’s my understanding that that basically equates to 50ishk avios plus a 241, which can be used towards another booking before April 2023.
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      11 May11 May 07:57
      
      Yes.
      
      An FTV is just your original payment suspended in a voucher wrapper.
      
      When you use it your points are completely refunded then the correct amount taken again for the next flights. 2-4-1 counts as 2-4-1 no matter what the new Avios cost and any additional cash is taken from a new Amex you provide.
- Steve says:
  
  11 May11 May 09:26
  
  What is the current FTV expiry date? Is it X months from when you request the FTV or always 30 April 2023?
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    11 May11 May 09:27
    
    All the same date April 2023
  - Rob says:
    
    11 May11 May 09:35
    
    4/23
  - Steve says:
    
    11 May11 May 10:23
    
    Sounds good. I’m biting the bullet and booking a LON-EDI/INV/MAN flight using my Apr-22 expiring 241. To then cancel and get an Apr-23 FTV.
    
    With things opening up I feel BA will pull their book with confidence soon/with little to no notice, and personally not confident I’ll use the 241 by Apr-22.
Frankie says:

11 May11 May 08:26

Hello everyone. I’m travelling to Mexico next Monday, which is under FCDO advice of essential travel only. Please can you recommend any insurance. I have heard Battleface are suitable. Are there any others? Thanks in advance.
- Tracey says:
  
  11 May11 May 08:48
  
  Staysure are often quoted. Also advice may change on Monday.
  - meta says:
    
    11 May11 May 10:03
    
    FCDO advice is very likely not going to change on Monday. It has no relation to green,amber, red list. Government said as much. This is why for example FCDO advice against non-essential travel for some Greek islands has been removed, but they are still on amber list.
- Diydegsy says:
  
  11 May11 May 08:48
  
  I am going to Mexico as well hopefully in June so would be interested in any answers to this reply. Let me know if you find anything suitable Frankie?
  - Frankie says:
    
    11 May11 May 10:24
    
    Battleface seems to be the most suitable and I will go for them. Staysure seems to only cover for Europe travel against FCDO advice.
- BuildBackBetter says:
  
  11 May11 May 11:35
  
  Trailfinders mentioned here
- Sukes says:
  
  11 May11 May 21:53
  
  Campbell Irvine travel insurance
Red Flyer says:

11 May11 May 08:33

Anyone know when Avios availability for Iberia will be loaded for travel outbound 25/4/22 as only up to 28/3 at the
moment?
- roberto says:
  
  11 May11 May 08:36
  
  It’s a season thing. The new dates will be along in a while
roberto says:

11 May11 May 08:37

In other news my Virgin Miles from the credit card turned up today.
- Joints&Piles says:
  
  11 May11 May 11:27
  
  Still waiting for mine
roberto says:

11 May11 May 08:43

And secondly I am in Portugal today at Pinecliffs and the staff here are just starting to come back to work after being on furlough for the last 6 months.

The weather is looking good, the bars and restaurants are having a final luck of paint and the people I spoke to are eagerly awaiting the Brits to arrive en mass as from next week.

Cursory gut feelings is that it’s very safe here at the resort and across the Algarve generally.
- Anna says:
  
  11 May11 May 08:54
  
  Enjoy – I’m sure it’s safer than a lot of places! It’s a very meh 9 C here with rain forecast later.
- Michael C says:
  
  11 May11 May 09:12
  
  Roberto, just outside the main entrance to the resort (almost opposite the small general store) is Sal e Pimenta – v decent food, great prices.
- David S says:
  
  11 May11 May 10:13
  
  Did you need both vaccinations 14 days before travel go get in ? We are due to fly on 24th to FAO but my wife only has second dose on 22nd. And were there long queues to get through security etc ?
  - roberto says:
    
    11 May11 May 11:16
    
    David, I drove – I live 4 hours away.
    
    No pcr tests req and went through the border at 120kph.
    
    Enjoy your trip.
HAK says:

11 May11 May 09:14

NHS App:

So, from what I am reading, it is going to be mandatory to have proof of vaccination via the NHS app for travel? As someone who does not actually own a smart phone, I wonder whether an alternative will be allowable? Hummmm.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  11 May11 May 09:24
  
  It’s not going to be mandatory. It’s only if the destination has an exemption for vaccination.
  
  EU green pass initiative will open up travel for those fully vaccinated with an EU approved vaccine OR recovered from Covid positive in past 6 months OR a negative test.
  
  Read past the sensationalist headlines.
  - meta says:
    
    11 May11 May 10:09
    
    Digital green pass is being launched on 1 June in some countries. In some EU countries it might be used for entry into restaurants if you want to dine inside and events. Some trials are happening this week. Non-EU residents will also be able to download and upload proofs before QR is generated to enable border crossing and entry to restaurants/events.
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      11 May11 May 12:00
      
      Those restaurants and pubs can have someone else’s business’s as far as I’m concerned.
      
      Or I’ll start refusing to share space with anyone without a health pass for all types of infectious deceases and infections which might actually kill someone Of my age/medical status
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  11 May11 May 09:25
  
  For those without a smartphone you will also be able to request a proof in written format by calling 119 after May 17th.
  - HAK says:
    
    11 May11 May 09:34
    
    Thanks for the information. The Luddite in me shall continue to oppose the acquisition of a smartphone thus allowing me to continue to annoy my wife.
    - Louie says:
      
      11 May11 May 09:51
      
      And there’s me thinking I’m the only one. Though I’m wavering…
  - meta says:
    
    11 May11 May 10:12
    
    Yes, but it might not be possible to travel as easily. Paper proof will be accepted for border crossing, but I imagine border officials might reject it a few months down the line if everyone else is carrying the digital pass…
    - Optimus Prime says:
      
      11 May11 May 10:13
      
      Then people whose surgeries are refusing to grant access to health records are screwed. Yeah I know the answer is ‘change GP’ but how long does that take?
      - John says:
        
        11 May11 May 11:49
        
        Took me a week from calling a new GP to being fully registered on their system.
        
        Getting NHS app and vaccination records visible is another matter
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        11 May11 May 11:59
        
        Took me 24 hrs