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The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 18th May

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Comments (397)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • Olver says:
    18 May18 May 16:29

    Just want to check my assumptions, my partner and I are sitting on 150K MR points across several cards and am just thinking of what the best course of action from here. We don’t really fly BA so Avios would not make much sense and as far as I can see converting to Nectar would be the next best thing.

    • Harry T says:
      18 May18 May 16:39

      If you’re wanting to clean out your balance, make sure you have a good reason to do so. It’s best to keep your points in a pluripotent form until you absolutely need to convert them – this retains flexibility and avoids devaluation (to an extent).

      If you don’t want Avios but need to clear out your MR balance before closing the cards, then converting to Marriott Bonvoy can be sensible as you can share the points with each other (between Bonvoy accounts) and the points can be used for hotels and also converted to a large variety of airline miles (more than amex MR).

    • Andrew says:
      18 May18 May 17:14

      I have a similar MR balance which I’ve acquired in the last few weeks from a few 24k referrals and a 50K retention bonus. I plan to slowly move them over to Nectar as I need them – 150k is £1200 to spend at Sainsbury’s. But Harry is right to only move them out of MR when you need to as they do remain more flexible as MR and you never know when bonus offers might pop up to get a better return on your MR – last year we had the option on Platinum to redeem for twice normal value so 0.9p which is higher than the 0.8p for Nectar and of course more flexible than just using at Nectar partners. (And just to check that you know you should convert to BA and then to Nectar and not directly to Nectar to get a better exchange rate)

      • TGLoyalty says:
        18 May18 May 22:56

        So you mean you send them to Avios and then nectar.

        Since 1 MR converts directly to 1 nectar and that’s only worth 0.5p

  • ashraj says:
    18 May18 May 16:36

    Hi- I needed some advice on the gold business amex offer of 50k points on £5k spend. What happens if I get a refund for a purchase of say £2k in a few months time – do amex claw back the bonus ? Thanks in advance

    • Jay says:
      18 May18 May 17:29

      Yes. I cleared out the MR acct, had a £230 refund and my balance went to -50230. Spent £230 to get balance back to 0 MR.

  • Tiger says:
    18 May18 May 16:40

    Had £9k daily limit with Bendy but took out Metal last week and the limits were slashed to £2k. I reached out to them and they put the blame on a system error.

    Per them, the highest limit they can offer to personal customers (regardless of what tier plan they’re on) is 4500GBP per day spend. Is this true or am I being fobbed off here?

    • MW says:
      18 May18 May 17:02

      There was some discussion about this last week and it was clear there are numerous people with the 9k daily limit (I am one of them). Why they are saying otherwise now, no one knows.

      • James. says:
        18 May18 May 20:36

        I have been told personal card £4,500 and business is £9,000

        • MW says:
          18 May18 May 20:55

          I’ve got a free personal bendy and have a £9k daily limit, so I don’t know why they are saying this.

    • Jay says:
      18 May18 May 17:30

      Still got £9k on 5375 9000 card. OH has £2k. Both cards were renewed in Jan this yr.

  • YH says:
    18 May18 May 16:52

    Just noticed a new Hilton property in London: The Westminster London, Curio Collection by Hilton.

    Had a look at historical Street View imagery and could see this used to be a DoubleTree.

    Has this just opened? Anyone got any more information about it?

  • Degsy says:
    18 May18 May 16:58

    Apologies if I’m late with this; has anyone else had an offer from Marriott/Emirates, namely if you link your loyalty accounts you get 1,500 points credited to each? Rec’d by my wife this morning.

    • Rob says:
      18 May18 May 17:00

      It’s just for certain elite members I think.

    • Paasan69 says:
      18 May18 May 17:02

      Linked a couple of months ago. 1.500 MB points posted approximately 3 weeks later.

  • Princess says:
    18 May18 May 16:59

    Going to Porto and the North of Portugal the 1st of June. I know price are changing fast, but am I correct thinking that at the moment the best price option are: test to go to Portugal with Eurofins £40 (with 10% off BA discount), lateral flow antigen test to fly to the UK £26 with Virgin, day 2 test £55 with Eurofins (I dont see BA discounts for this test). I’ve seen @meta comment about £80 (Qured and Eurofins) but I’m guessing that is only antigen test and day2?

  • Liz says:
    18 May18 May 17:09

    I know this question will have been asked a thousand times before but I can’t remember the answer. We have a 241 booking for Vancouver booked for late Aug – already had to change the return leg from Calgary to Vancouver. We will most likely not be going this year. So if I cancel and accept a future travel voucher – as the 241 would expire in Nov 21 – how does it work for rebooking for say next May – do you have to have Avios availability? If yes, then can you book the outbound journey like you would using a 241, then phone up 3 weeks later to add the return leg. It all seems a bit messy. Thanks

    • Alex says:
      18 May18 May 17:33

      if you take a FTV you have to complete travel by 30th May 2023 so this would give you plenty of time on your 241 voucher. You would need to find avios availability etc like you would normally and also pay any differences if it increase or if taxes increase by the time you book. You can book the outbound and then add in-bound at a later date.

      I always suggest this as i have done it myself but look at flying out or back from Seattle, often has better availability and is a beautiful place to visit. Only 4hrs on the train to Vancouver with great views 95% of the way.

  • Kevin C says:
    18 May18 May 17:16

    Homes and villas by Marriott have a three day sale with 10% off. Apologies if there’s already been several articles about this.

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