The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 12th May

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bafan says:

12 May12 May 19:17

A question I should probably know the answer to – can I use a e-voucher on taxes and fees for an award ticket? I found out yesterday that I couldn’t use it on a multi-city booking online…FT advice was to call up and book but the Millennial in me can’t abide speaking on the phone…

O/T: I emailed my GP yesterday about having prescriptions renewed and she text me from a number titled “GPSurgery” confirming that it had gone through – I didn’t even have the number saved. I love technology :).
- Rob says:
  
  12 May12 May 19:40
  
  Don’t think so …. you certainly can’t do it the other way around and I think they are treated as different ticket types by BA. However BA could convert your FTV to a cash e-voucher (if it only contains cash) and use that.
- Doc says:
  
  12 May12 May 21:52
  
  Definitely not for redemption booking. Tried to do this 2 days ago. BA said No.
The Original Nick. says:

12 May12 May 19:27

O/T, If I was to book a WT+ flight LHR-JFK return how many Avios would it cost to upgrade to CW? And how much would I have to pay in Taxes? I don’t know how to find out. Thanks.
- Harry T says:
  
  12 May12 May 19:40
  
  I think there’s an article on HFP that lists the Avios prices for each destination. You would be able to calculate the Avios needed for the upgrade by subtracting the Avios for WT+ from the required Avios for CW. Or you could search for Avios flights and compare prices.
  
  Just be aware that not all fare classes can be upgraded.
- GaryC says:
  
  12 May12 May 19:48
  
  From memory of doing this for an upcoming flight in November (though using a GUF voucher), it’s about £250 extra in taxes/charges + 40000 avios (depending on peak/off-peak).
- Clive says:
  
  12 May12 May 19:50
  
  Most cash bookings can be upgraded with Avios either at the time of booking or later on, depending on availability. Only the lowest economy (World Traveller) fares (Q, O and G) cannot be upgraded with Avios at any time. There must be reward flight availability in the next cabin for you to be able to upgrade to it using Avios. You won’t be able to upgrade with Avios at the airport or on board
  - Harry T says:
    
    12 May12 May 19:51
    
    Yes, Clive is correct, my apologies.
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    12 May12 May 20:12
    
    My advice is NEVER upgrade while buying the cash flight.
    
    The taxes are normally quoted at eye watering prices and you can’t utilise the 24hr cooling off period.
TK Net says:

12 May12 May 19:38

Barclays Premier – how do they check/verify 75k gross salary? Does it include annual bonus for example? Deducting pension contributions etc would mean less than expected net salary..
- Connor says:
  
  12 May12 May 21:59
  
  They don’t when signing up. It will be assessed with net payments into the account so your net salary into the account would need to be about 52k minimum.
  - Bs says:
    
    13 May13 May 06:34
    
    After tax, ni, student loan, 12.5% pension, it comes to a shockingly low £44k/year net.
r* says:

12 May12 May 19:56

Is it normal that the spend tracker that shows how much is left to trigger the bonus for a new plat amex shows 30,000 bonus points rather than 50,000?
- Rob says:
  
  12 May12 May 21:09
  
  Yes, they aren’t good at changing these during promo periods.
The Original Nick. says:

12 May12 May 19:58

Thanks.
meta says:

12 May12 May 20:03

6 months especially if it is in different calendar years. But last time this happened to me was 2-3 years ago, they have probably changed the systems since then…
Spaghetti Town says:

12 May12 May 20:48

Has anyone used easymoney Innovative finance ISA?

I have nearly a house deposits worth of money sitting around in premium bonds earning practically nothing.

Not going to put it all in, only some, but just losing out with inflation.
- Magic Mike says:
  
  13 May13 May 08:48
  
  Read the reviews on Easymoney: https://www.4thway.co.uk/candid-opinion/property-peer-to-peer-lending/
  
  I wouldn’t touch them with a bargepole.
  
  If you want to do P2P then Zopa, but their lending rate is pretty slow at the moment so you won’t be able to do more than a few k a month.
The Original Nick. says:

12 May12 May 20:50

I’ve always been able to upgrade my WT+ ticket if bought direct on BA unlike if you buy a batch ticket (not a BA published fare) from an OTA (Amex Travel) for e.g. I looks like it’s 24000 Avios E/W – LHR-JFK plus the taxes. Thanks again for the info.