The HfP chat thread – Saturday 15th May

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General

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Gilly says:

15 May15 May 10:53

Can anyone advise me on which credit card to get please? I’ve read through the articles but wonder if I’m missing anything.
I have 12K GBP to put through a credit card within the next 3 months. The total yearly spend will unlikely be much over 15K (including the initial 12K).
I already have a standard Amex Membership Rewards card so can’t capitalise on many new cardholder Avios bonuses. Anything stand out? It’s just me, so companion vouchers are not a big draw. The Nectar one maybe?
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  15 May15 May 10:55
  
  Have you had a BA earning card in the last 2 years? That bonus is available
  
  Even if the bonus isn’t available is a 2-4-1 voucher any use? If not then I’d recommend gold credit as spending £15k and ordering a supp would net you 28k points and up to £120 of Deliveroo credits if you use it twice a month.
  - Gilly says:
    
    15 May15 May 11:16
    
    Nope never had a BA card – just Amex Gold which I then converted to standard MR card to keep the points alive.
  - Gilly says:
    
    15 May15 May 11:22
    
    ….and I could down grade to the free one after I go the bonus yes? 2-4-1 not overly attractive as I’m pretty much always a single traveller.
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      15 May15 May 11:34
      
      Just get rid of it and reset the 2 year wait.
      
      Some people are targeted for a higher referral bonus for BAPP worth asking Rob if you don’t know anyone else who is.
      
      Nectar is a higher earning card 1.25 vs 1 via free card.
- Genghis says:
  
  15 May15 May 10:56
  
  BAPP for the sign up bonus at least?
  - Gilly says:
    
    15 May15 May 11:27
    
    So glad I posted as the way I’d read I thought that as an existing AMEX customer I wouldn’t get the bonus… but it seems I can. Thanks
- BuildBackBetter says:
  
  15 May15 May 11:49
  
  Amex ICC (but with fx charges) or if you run a business, Amex business cards?
Jonathan says:

15 May15 May 11:17

Has anyone had any retention offers for beardy plus cards ? Or have the CSA just simply processed the request without any effort to try to encourage another year with the card ?
rams1981 says:

15 May15 May 11:22

Morrisons update – 10% PAW, 10% Airtime and now 8% Virgin all gone payable from March spend. Unreal return with IHG points too from underlying card. Spend was with Curve and all tracked.
- Harry T says:
  
  15 May15 May 11:34
  
  Damn good work!
- Maximus says:
  
  15 May15 May 11:42
  
  Nice one, what does PAW stand for? 🤗
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    15 May15 May 11:44
    
    Perks at work.
- s says:
  
  15 May15 May 12:51
  
  you missed at least 2 more stackable avenues 😉
  - BuildBackBetter says:
    
    15 May15 May 13:03
    
    M more and hongkong I assume?
    - s says:
      
      15 May15 May 13:28
      
      nope, so make that at least 4 then!
      - rams1981 says:
        
        15 May15 May 14:10
        
        Going to share what these are?
  - rams1981 says:
    
    15 May15 May 13:11
    
    I also got Morrison more points. In the end built up £150 or so of free Morrisons shopping. What’s any other? I didn’t have any offers on cards I have fit money off Morrisons
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      15 May15 May 13:15
      
      Virgin card offer
      Virgin miles
      Airtime
      More x2 (you get for buying M’s GC and for spending later)
      
      Unfortunately I completely forgot to register my paw account next time round …
      - BuildBackBetter says:
        
        15 May15 May 13:34
        
        But OP wont get the virgin points as he used ihg. Even as a second order, its either virgin or hongkong.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        15 May15 May 14:41
        
        Offer not point but yes I know … the question was what were the others.
        
        But using Creation opens up
        It’s own double dip opportunity anyway.
        
        Possible we will see an offer via curve to allow a creation opp.
      - Reney says:
        
        15 May15 May 18:25
        
        did anyone manage to get Virgin points I only managed the triple stack, As I kept forgetting to bring my more card. None of the fly club points tracked at all.
Chris says:

15 May15 May 11:23

Are any UAE based HfP readers looking like I am at spending 10 days in Portugal before heading back to the UK?

I’m a little confused as to whether a British passport holder, flying direct from Dubai to Lisbon (EK has a 4x weekly service), is allowed to enter Portugal – from what I can see it’s restricted to essential travel.

Presumably the recent announcement to say they’ll let Brits in supposes that they are flying direct from the UK?
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  15 May15 May 11:33
  
  Is 10 days in Bahrain an option?
- Gilly says:
  
  15 May15 May 11:52
  
  I’m in Oman and trying to weigh up the options for me at the moment. One thing to consider (wherever you route yourself) is that the day you land is counted as day 0 so you have to spend 11 nights there to guarantee you don’t still trigger the UK ‘red list’ quarantine requirements.
  There is a useful facebook group for (mostly ME based) people trying to navigate the ever-shifting sands – ‘Returning to the UK from a red list country (Summer 2021)’ (Rob – please delete if its not OK to mention a facebook group on here)
  - Chris says:
    
    15 May15 May 12:30
    
    Great thanks Gilly. Was aware of the 11 days – can imagine a lot of folks have been caught out by that though.
    
    @TGLoyalty, Bahrain is amber versus green for Portugal so more restrictive once back in the UK. Cases are also on an upward trajectory so I wouldn’t be surprised to see it go red list. I have friends going to Portugal from London so 10 days there is ideal – if they let me in!
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      15 May15 May 13:12
      
      Id probably just take whatever amber country would let me in. It’s an extra pcr test and week in your own home vs £2-3k for a family.
      
      I believe it’s flights from U.K. only and does mention resident in past 14 days for other countries.
      
      This link may help https://www.visitportugal.com/en/content/covid-19-measures-implemented-portugal
      - Chris says:
        
        16 May16 May 03:19
        
        Thanks TGLoyalty, seems that avenue is shut for now. Agree that amber is no hardship once back in London, green would be even better though.
Matt says:

15 May15 May 11:48

Hi all can I use the creation free night voucher at six senses properties? Thanks
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  15 May15 May 12:02
  
  Not from what I can tell.
Ryan says:

15 May15 May 12:01

I think it would move you away from the “Curve Rewards” plan. For me, I wouldn’t even risk it, 3% back at Argos, Boots, Wilko etc is worth £100s a year
@mkcol says:

15 May15 May 12:05

Did we know that BA Cityflyer are doing LTN-NCE/GRO/BUD/LPL?
- Rob says:
  
  15 May15 May 12:50
  
  No …..
- Bill says:
  
  15 May15 May 13:22
  
  Please clarify with full details or source
- Richie says:
  
  15 May15 May 14:02
  
  Any reliable source for this rumour?
- Sam G says:
  
  15 May15 May 14:30
  
  These are charters
- @mkcol says:
  
  15 May15 May 16:59
  
  It may just be charters as mentioned in replies.
  
  Was just a passing comment from long standing friend who’s crew for CityFlyer who said that they were doing those routes.
Anna says:

15 May15 May 12:13

Positive Amex Platinum data point – hit the £4k spend yesterday, 50k sign up bonus posted this morning (even though the tracker said 30k). I’ve had 83k MR points from it in 4 weeks! Now the dilemma of whether to cancel. The fee has just hit so if I can persuade Amex to change it to monthly I might hang on a bit longer …
- Aston100 says:
  
  15 May15 May 12:20
  
  Wait a couple of weeks and then phone to say you want to cancel.
  Given the experiences posted here, you might get a retention offer.
  I know we got 35k recently despite barely spending anything and only holding the card for 5 weeks.
  - Anna says:
    
    15 May15 May 12:27
    
    Problem is player 2 whose card it is has a much deeper voice than me!
    - Peter K says:
      
      15 May15 May 12:46
      
      Get a Darth Vader voice changer? 😂
      
      Being serious though…has anyone managed to get a retention bonus ringing up and just getting security done by their partner but doing the talking themselves?
      - Anna says:
        
        15 May15 May 13:19
        
        We had a mask which did that but I gave it to my friend’s kid 🤣. I think someone said the other day that Amex will only deal with the main account holder when it comes to cancellation/retention offers.
      - AnotherUser says:
        
        15 May15 May 13:55
        
        I did, a while back
    - Toaster says:
      
      15 May15 May 14:37
      
      Is it not possible to use the secure chat facility when logged in to your account online? I’ve used it a few times pretending to be my partner but for things like querying a transaction, checking renewal date.
      - Anna says:
        
        15 May15 May 14:55
        
        No – retention offers have to be negotiated by phone!
    - Tracey says:
      
      15 May15 May 16:43
      
      I am often the voice of my son, rarely been questioned. Either some of the people working at overseas call centres don’t automatically know which British names belong to predominantly which sex or the local call centre workers don’t care or are too woke to question it. On the rare occasion it has been queried, I just say I’m his mother and you should have it noted that I have authority to access his account.
- Paasan69 says:
  
  15 May15 May 12:54
  
  It was mentioned here on the daily chat yesterday evening that if referred there is now a 70k signup/spend bonus for the Platinum card. I’ve been considering taking out the Platinum card for a while but have held off due to limited travel possibilities. A 70k bonus might just be what could move the slider to signing up. Would anyone be able to shed some more light on how to receive this generous offer?
  - Peter K says:
    
    15 May15 May 13:00
    
    Email rob [at] headforpoints.com and ask for a referral.
    
    He should be able to fix you up with something.
    - AnotherUser says:
      
      15 May15 May 13:57
      
      Happy to share a link for 70k if anyone is struggling to find one, though I’d presume HfP can share one 🙂
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    15 May15 May 13:02
    
    Not wise to stick your private refer a friend link on the internet. Especially as it’s against Amex’s terms of the programme.
- Sharon says:
  
  15 May15 May 13:21
  
  Hi Anna – how long was it from the card was activated until the fee was charged, if you don’t mind me asking. Thanks
  - Anna says:
    
    15 May15 May 14:00
    
    About 4 weeks
- James says:
  
  15 May15 May 15:57
  
  Says very clearly on the tracker that enhanced bonus points from referrals will not show on the tracker, just the usual base offer, but will be added.