The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 15th June

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WillPS says:

15 Jun15 June 10:05

Might have found a potential way of getting cash out of a non-Amex CC – many arcades have ‘contactless change machines’ where you can tap your card for 10-30 pound coins, with no fee.

I used Curve just to be sure but the transactions appeared to go through variously as dining and entertainment, so (I’d have thought) should be safe.

YMMV.
- Rich says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 10:15
  
  You might find yourself taken into the back alley with sock filled with pound coins once they realise what it’s costing them.
  - WillPS says:
    
    15 Jun15 June 11:08
    
    I wouldn’t do it at the ropey ones – Namco and Crown Leisure certainly aren’t going to take you out the back.
- Alex says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 10:48
  
  A very long winded way of getting extra points if you can only do £30 a time and have to lug around a bag of pound coins. However people do go to more effort so if you have one nearby, why not I say!
  - Genghis says:
    
    15 Jun15 June 10:56
    
    Reminds me of the Oyster shop small crawl. Good times.
  - Ed says:
    
    15 Jun15 June 11:42
    
    Don’t a lot of those arcades also have machine which turn coins back into notes….?
- The Urbanite says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 14:02
  
  Top quality MS that!
marcw says:

15 Jun15 June 10:15

Finnair introducing Business LIGHT fares
- Richie says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 10:49
  
  Useful summary https://www.finnair.com/gb-en/finnair-ticket-types
  - AJA says:
    
    15 Jun15 June 12:52
    
    I just did a dummy booking LHR-BKK for Feb 2022 and the differential in fares (one way) between the light fare and the classic fare seems to be £125 for which the classic fare gives you 2 pcs checked luggage and the lounge access. I wonder what the individual costs of luggage and lounge access are? Also given my current BA Silver status gives me lounge access would I be able to enter the lounge on a light fare? The last time I travelled on Finnair (Feb 2019) it was definitely not a flex fare but I was pre-allocated seating which I didn’t bother to change. I wonder how much they will charge.
Jody says:

15 Jun15 June 10:19

For anyone that wants free cinema tickets this weekend, National Lottery are running a Cinema Weekend 2021. Basically, you can use any ticket (including scratchcards) you’ve bought online or in a shop since January 2019 to get a code for up to 2 free tickets for any film this weekend. Details are easy to find!

We’ve just booked Saturday and Sunday using one account each, so a double bill for us!
- Gary says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 10:49
  
  Booked- Thanks Jody
- MrHandBaggageOnly says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 11:06
  
  Thanks Jody, great tip. 🙂
- mark1 says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 11:08
  
  What is the cheapest ticket around if I were to go buy one today?
  - Jody says:
    
    15 Jun15 June 11:17
    
    Pretty sure you can get £1 scratchcards. Standard lottery ticket is £2.
- Super Secret Stuff says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 11:21
  
  Thanks, not sure I am free but will certainly give it a quick look
Richie says:

15 Jun15 June 10:21

It appears some BACF summer flights are starting earlier next year on Saturday 30th April 22 including flights from Southampton, btw Monday 2nd May is a bank holiday.
- pauldb says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 12:00
  
  Thanks. You’ve just upgraded my June 2021 super-long-weekend plans from Cornwall to the Dordogne! (SOU-EGC) Rather susceptible to cancellation though I fear.
mr_jetlag says:

15 Jun15 June 10:41

VA CC terms and conditions changing from 5th August including cash advance charges for “e money” ( Revolut I assume) and investment activity (ns&i). party over for bendy, good while it lasted!
- John says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 10:46
  
  wonder if that will include paying off solihull directly
  - mr_jetlag says:
    
    15 Jun15 June 10:48
    
    it will. from the email:
    
    “we’ve made it clear that a Cash Advance also includes:
    
    – gambling transactions and spread betting.
    international money transfers.
    – paying off other borrowing (like making a payment towards a loan or mortgage or using your card to pay another credit card instead of doing a Balance Transfer).
    – adding money to a prepaid card, virtual card or e-money account.
    – investment activity – this includes binary trading, share trading and adding money to an investment account.”
    - Alex says:
      
      15 Jun15 June 10:52
      
      Will bendy metal stop any of these fee’s from hitting with the very interesting! Hopefully for paying off Solihull especially
      - Grant says:
        
        15 Jun15 June 10:56
        
        Doesn’t Bendy metal pass through the MCC just the same as the non-metal version? In which case the only fee you’d save is the 1.5% fronted fee from Bendy.
    - Jonny says:
      
      15 Jun15 June 11:25
      
      Does that mean it’s still OK to pay HMRC bills Virgin via Curve? (or does Curve count as a prepaid card?).
    - Lady London says:
      
      15 Jun15 June 17:46
      
      unfortunately with low interest rates guessing so many things will be doing a Ryanair i.e. fees with everything, going forward
- Joe says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 10:47
  
  Just received this too – will be interesting to see if Bendy still works, or whether they tighten up!
- Alex says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 10:50
  
  Topping up Che with Beardy was already incurring a fee for most, wasn’t it?
  - Reney says:
    
    15 Jun15 June 10:57
    
    Yup since last year?
  - Martin Short says:
    
    15 Jun15 June 10:57
    
    Can you overpay amex (before 5th Aug) with bendy/beardy?
    - Alan says:
      
      15 Jun15 June 12:20
      
      Do you need metal for this. I haven’t been able to get it to work with Blue
  - mr_jetlag says:
    
    15 Jun15 June 10:59
    
    for most not all. Also the other routes I mentioned were still possible, but not after Aug 5.
- Harry T says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 11:00
  
  Their IT is too shambolic to actually catch most of this activity, though. There’s often a difference between what the T&Cs permit and what is practically possible.
  - mr_jetlag says:
    
    15 Jun15 June 11:34
    
    Maybe, but this wouldn’t need anything more than catching new MCC’s and charging existing advance fees.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 11:35
  
  Unless all government services are included NS&I shouldn’t be affected.
- Gary says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 11:57
  
  Does this mark end of HMRC via bendy metal?
  - Reney says:
    
    15 Jun15 June 13:15
    
    I think we can only speculate what works and what won’t. If we could co-ordinate some sort of trial on 5 August so we test different things that would be handy. otherwise cash transaction fee could be 1 expensive If I had to.try a small amount of all the options! 2 it would take days to.wait for each transaction to clear and then see if it incurred a fee.or not
- the_real_a says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 14:19
  
  I would love to see the execs scratching their heads wondering why Virgin CC spend dropped off a cliff in the Autumn.
- Ming the Merciless says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 22:48
  
  I had my VCC closed after my card expired and a new card not issued. I’m not the sort of customer they’re looking for apparently. At 25k per month paid into Earnie I don’t blame them really.
  - Babyg says:
    
    16 Jun16 June 01:07
    
    cripes, i am a light weight… i do about 15k to save for school fees for the year… 25k per month is next level…
Ammar says:

15 Jun15 June 11:13

Hi. Noticed something strange on my amex account, paid for economist sub last week and saw the amount pending for a few days but now disappeared entirely from my statement – can anyone explain what might be happening here? TIA
Aston100 says:

15 Jun15 June 11:19

I see schools are cancelling the end of year proms due to the Government pushing back the lifting of all remaining Covid restrictions.
- Rob says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 12:33
  
  Some good news coming out of this then.
Max says:

15 Jun15 June 11:19

Virgin/IHG hasn’t been working with my free Bendy for premium bonds past 2 days… working for anyone else?
- Louise says:
  
  15 Jun15 June 15:46
  
  Had a couple of failed transactions inbetween some ones that went through
- xcalx says:
  
  16 Jun16 June 09:58
  
  2 x £9k yesterday afternoon, all ok