The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 11th May

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• High Grade says:

  11 May11 May 11:36

  I have been told by Curve that my £4,500 limit per day is the highest level they have for personal cards. I’ve heard of people who currently have higher limits but wanted to check if these are via the commercial cards they issue.
  Does anyone have a higher limit for their personal card?
  I am metal and put through a lot of spend via my card 15-20k per month. All genuine spend no MS at all.

  • Benilyn says:

    11 May11 May 11:40

    £9k per day personal is out there

    • Harrier25 says:

      11 May11 May 14:01

      Only by accident. If you draw their attention to having a £9k daily limit on a personal card they will reduce the limit to £4.5k. To get my £9k limit back I was forced to revert back to a commercial card.

  • Joe says:

    11 May11 May 12:02

    I have a free personal card with £9k daily limit.

    • Doug M says:

      11 May11 May 14:52

      So did I. When the card had to be replaced because of normal expiry daily went to £2K and no budging for me. I’m not wanting to draw attention to my spend type by complaining too much.

  • MW says:

    11 May11 May 12:10

    I also have a personal with 9k/day. I did have a lower one when I just joined but they upped it after a few (3? 6?) months without me asking.

  • wilsnunn says:

    11 May11 May 12:32

    I have a £9k limit on the free plan. I am not a heavy Curve user but have had it for years.

    • Daniel says:

      11 May11 May 12:47

      Likewise – £9k/day on free plan; also have had it for years, but barely use it.

  • Jack says:

    11 May11 May 14:09

    Just spoke to Curve again – I am metal – confirmed anyone who has £9000 should be a business card but accept that some limits were inadvertently not altered when changed to personal card

    • High Grade says:

      11 May11 May 20:02

      Thanks for the replies all. Sounds like anyone with a personal limit above 4.5k should not rock the boat and draw attention to it.
      4.5k limit can be frustrating some days but works fine for me most of the time. Dont really want a commercial card so I’ll stick with what I have. Curve has been amazing source of points for me when paying suppliers that don’t take credit cards so can’t really complain too much.

• Tazzy says:

  11 May11 May 11:52

  So I have 3 2-4-1 vouchers between my husband and I. 2 are linked to a booking for California in September and the other Mexico in December. The 3rd was for Vancouver in June but it’s now cancelled. It expires in December. Can I call BA and ask them to switch the 2-4-1 voucher to a different booking as I’m now left with the one with shortest validity

  • Doc says:

    11 May11 May 12:06

    BA won’t do it unless you cancel and rebook, which is not a great way to do it. Alternatively take the FTV (yes, the money and the voucher are stuck together) but teh validity is moved to April 2023. You will of course need rewards availability.

  • Reeferman says:

    11 May11 May 12:12

    BA did it for me on a flight they’d cancelled. Worth a phone call

  • MW says:

    11 May11 May 12:13

    There are rumours that Canada is planning on allowing vaccinated travellers to go without quarantine in the summer (I would guess late summer).

    Personally I wouldn’t count on it as there are restrictions on non-Canadians entering and even vaccinated Canadians still have to isolate (and quarantine!).

    • Stagger Lee says:

      11 May11 May 12:45

      Indeed. We’ve got a Canada tripped booked for early June that obviosuly won’t happen. We’ve been leaving it in situ with the thought of switching the trip to September but I just don’t think that will be doable either so will probably just cancel. Hey ho

    • Andrew says:

      11 May11 May 13:40

      Still just 40% of population have received their first dose. USA is 57% – and now offering the jabs to 12-16 year olds.

• Jim Johnson says:

  11 May11 May 11:58

  Anyone with both HSBC and Barclays Premier? How would one go about it?

  • Tiger says:

    11 May11 May 12:24

    Don’t think about it. Barclays closed my account for gaming the income criteria. I was transferring the money in and out from my HSBC account. They could also leave markers on your credit file for doing this. I am currently in the process of finding out if there were any markers left on my file by them.

  • Red Flyer says:

    11 May11 May 12:25

    Yes – salary into Barclays then sweep across to HSBC and no issues so far.

  • Bobri says:

    11 May11 May 12:36

    Salary into HSBC, monthly 1,500 to Barclays, a few direct debits on Barclays.

    • Rachel R says:

      11 May11 May 17:16

      I’ve had both for over a year without issue. Salary isn’t paid into either account but into a third account with another bank.

    • Tariq says:

      11 May11 May 17:38

      Same, but I only transfer £800 per month – this was the minimum for Blue rewards. Switched to Avios rewards a couple of months ago, and haven’t been contacted yet.

• egold says:

  11 May11 May 12:03

  sorry for asking but i can’t get a grip on the rules.
  if I have a BA free card. Am I eligible for the MR bonus?

  • Rob says:

    11 May11 May 12:05

    Gold – no
    Amex Rewards – no
    Green – no
    Platinum – yes (if had none of the above 3 cards in last 24 months)

    • egold says:

      11 May11 May 13:02

      cheers. i’ll never remember 😏

    • Harrier25 says:

      11 May11 May 14:07

      Not quite true because if you currently have a Gold or Green charge card you can call Amex to upgrade to Platinum and receive 20,000 bonus MR points for spending £4,000 in the first 3 months. https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/benefits/upgrade/platinum-charge/index.html

      • Harrier25 says:

        11 May11 May 14:09

        Ahh sorry, BA card….Rob is correct. Never doubt the Master!

      • Rob says:

        11 May11 May 14:11

        People have been turned down for this recently – seems to be going back to invite only.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          11 May11 May 16:05

          It’s once per lifetime now …

• JandeW says:

  11 May11 May 12:09

  Optimistically, we have just booked return flights to Malta from AMS in mid September . Malta plans to run an incentive scheme for independent travellers called the FIT scheme whereby they will offer discounts to travellers staying in 3-5* accommodation. Does anybody know how one can tell if the hotel one is about to book is signed up to the scheme? It all looks rather opaque so far… https://www.euronews.com/travel/2021/04/16/this-is-how-much-you-could-get-paid-to-visit-malta-this-summer.

  • Richie says:

    11 May11 May 12:33

    It’s being announced 1st June, so perhaps the Maltese government website will have details from then.

  • Tracy says:

    11 May11 May 16:01

    I have optimistically booked 9 nights in August too. I have booked 6 nights on points and 3 nights paid at a different hotel just in case it needs to be a paid stay. If I luck in I might get it at both hotels 😂

  • Swifty says:

    11 May11 May 20:29

    Look at the hotels website, they have already applied to the scheme and put on their on webpage, usually with a code

• Joe says:

  11 May11 May 12:15

  Anyone else getting “your account is temporarily unable to access the referral programme” on Amex?

  Could generate links last week, and have not referred anyone at all – wonder if they have a system issue!

  • Sandra says:

    11 May11 May 12:47

    Just checked mine and no issues with it.

    • Joe says:

      11 May11 May 12:49

      Thanks – what a nightmare!

• Rob says:

  11 May11 May 12:33

  As Costa drops Amex tomorrow, cold be useful!

  • Si says:

    11 May11 May 12:40

    Iced coffee and tea are 50p in Costa today and tomo through their app.

  • KBuffett says:

    11 May11 May 13:21

    Have you dropped Pret Unlimted?

    • Rob says:

      11 May11 May 14:14

      Never had it. Rhys did a free month. Might give it a go from next month because, once they reopen seating, I can go back to my old routine of dropping the kids at school and doing my first hour of work over breakfast in a Pret.

      • AJA says:

        11 May11 May 14:25

        Apparently Pret is opening branches in Tesco – first one will be the big Tesco in Kensington – presumably they mean the Tesco on the Cromwell Road

        https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57070368

      • Track says:

        11 May11 May 15:19

        Tesco is the new aspiring destination!

  • Phil says:

    11 May11 May 13:45

    I’ve actually heard from a mate who works at Costa that they may be reversing that decision. The stores have been told to retain and continue using all the Amex POS materials.

• AnotherUser says:

  11 May11 May 12:48

  A bit niche, but can anyone recommend a company to advise on what has become a complex German citizenship application? I’ve applied for citizenship (acquired by descent), but would like advice from a solicitor or similar on how to deal with a problem that cropped up. I’m happy to do forms etc myself, so don’t need a full service, but rather advice on how to deal with the Consulate after they made an (acknowledged) error. Unsurprisingly, solicitors in Scotland are mostly experienced in dealing with UK citizenship applications, so I’m struggling to find someone to advise on a German application

  • AnotherUser says:

    11 May11 May 12:50

    I live in Scotland at the moment and don’t have any plans to move, but EU citizenship would potentially be useful in future

    • Roy says:

      11 May11 May 14:33

      You can problably get your EU citizenship just by voting for independence 🙂

      • Rhys says:

        11 May11 May 14:36

        Do you think the EU will just waive Scotland in after the grumblings in Catalonia?

        • James says:

          11 May11 May 14:46

          The UK will ‘lose’ Scotland and Northern Ireland in the next 25 years. I guess Wales is more likely to string along.

          By that time (c. 2040-50), there will be a strong ‘rejoin EU’ movement in England, all main political parties will push it.

          All good fun – but we’re poorer.

        • DK says:

          11 May11 May 15:03

          After London recognised referendum I think EU will. And definitely a non starter otherwise

        • mark2 says:

          11 May11 May 15:38

          I would say that would be England gaining independence from Scotland and Northern Ireland

        • AnotherUser says:

          11 May11 May 15:51

          I’d be delighted if Scotland is back in the EU soon! An EU passport could potentially be quite valuable if it’s not, though, so it seems worth paying for advice if it ups my chances of getting one. I know it’s quite a niche query, but this blog seems to get a pretty knowledgeable crowd – so if anyone does know a good firm working in this area, do say 🙂

        • bazza says:

          11 May11 May 16:43

          Is that you again James O B?

        • Memesweeper says:

          11 May11 May 18:43

          Now the UK isn’t in the EU there’s less of a precedent for Madrid to worry about.

          The cost to Scotland in joining would be huge. Schengen and Euro would be mandatory thus a very hard border with remaining UK.

        • Nick says:

          11 May11 May 19:07

          Of course the EU will allow Scotland in, there is zero doubt about that. If nothing else it will be a political decision. The Spanish government has already been forced to backtrack and make clear they will not veto it if it’s acquired legally. Scotland will have to agree to move eventually to the euro… but with such a long transition it effectively won’t matter. Look at how long it’s taking Poland and you’ll realise it’s not really a big deal.

        • WaynedP says:

          11 May11 May 21:04

          When a former Chancellor (and briefly PM) campaigns so ardently for Scotland to remain in the Union, you don’t have to be Einstein to work out that he knows exactly how critically dependent Scotland is on the English fiscus.

          Nationalist rhetoric may warm the heart, but it won’t fill the belly.

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