The HfP chat thread – Monday 28th June

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

• YC says:

  28 Jun28 June 09:06

  Cancelled my SS DV booking 🙁 It was beyond the cancellation window but they were understanding enough to avoid any charges. Unfortunately they were not able to move my booking but definitely seem like they were honouring it.

  • Rob says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:16

    I have another 2 weeks before my cancellation deadline. Not looking hopefully, especially as my eldest is 13.

  • Eric the Half a Bee says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:20

    How far in advance do you need to cancel? Just checked my points booking and it is 10 days.

    • YC says:

      28 Jun28 June 09:30

      Thats right. I actually missed the deadline as just naturally thought points bookings are 24-48hrs.

      • r* says:

        28 Jun28 June 12:00

        Did they refund the points?

        I’m due to go in july, Im not bothered about uk quarantine but am concerned portugal will require quarantine for vaccinated between now and then which would affect things.

  • BP says:

    28 Jun28 June 11:50

    My booking isn’t until mid-September. I’m hopeful of going as we both have been double vaccinated and my 2 year old should be excluded from any rules. Let’s hope the EU doesn’t ban UK visitors and Portugal stays off the red list.

    • Lord Doncaster says:

      28 Jun28 June 14:32

      The EU can’t force EU states to ban travellers from certain countries. The individual EU countries still have control over that aspect for now.

• Rossy says:

  28 Jun28 June 09:10

  Anyone else receive a letter from Creation this morning with a no-strings-attached offer of 0.5% cash back on all purchases using your credit card during July-August?

  • Aston100 says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:12

    Do you have the black card?

    • Rossy says:

      28 Jun28 June 09:16

      Yes

  • Tracy says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:42

    I wish….

  • Sandra says:

    28 Jun28 June 10:53

    Blimey you get your post early, out in the sticks it can be anytime from 1pm onwards before ours arrives on weekdays! Here’s hoping there’s a letter as having just achieved the Amex Gold 15k & waiting for the bonus to credit I am about to concentrate on IHG spending to get the free night.

  • Sprout says:

    28 Jun28 June 11:57

    Just received 2 letters – one for white card and one for black. No limits apparently – Fill yer boots 🙂

    • Sandra says:

      28 Jun28 June 13:28

      Post just arrived but no letter, maybe tomorrow 🙁

    • Jonathan says:

      28 Jun28 June 14:06

      Can I ask how much you normally put through the cards a month?

      I’d be very surprised if this isn’t targeted & as I spend £10k+/month very much doubt they’ll be offering me £100+!

      • Sprout says:

        28 Jun28 June 14:28

        Not sure if it’s targeted or not but the letter does make reference to the specific card numbers.
        My spend levels are running at quite a lot higher than £10k per card.

      • Sandra says:

        28 Jun28 June 16:46

        Normally average around 2K/month but been much lower recently as concentrating on reaching Amex Gold target for points bonus

  • stevenhp1987 says:

    28 Jun28 June 14:08

    Is that 0.5% on top of the IHG points?

    If so, that’s a great offer! (Not had such letter myself though).

  • Crafty says:

    28 Jun28 June 22:55

    Yes, on white card unfortunately.

• Joints&Piles says:

  28 Jun28 June 09:28

  What are the points earning options for paying VAT?

  I think I paid my last VAT bill with M&M but that’s no longer an option.
  I think Curve (non-metal) is no good.
  Would the Tesco debit card give clubcard points on an HMRC transaction? (better than nothing.)
  Revolut may be my best option for this bill.
  The £99 version of CoT might be best in future.
  Any other routes still open?

  • John says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:35

    bendy metal -> creatives -> beardy. Double dip

    • Joints&Piles says:

      28 Jun28 June 09:43

      My bills aren’t big enough to justify Metal.
      If I’ve understood correctly, some people have received notice from the bearded one that the creative double dip opportunity will sadly come to an end on August 5th.

      • John says:

        28 Jun28 June 10:05

        Do not used Tesco debit card for VAT. They rang and advised if I tried it again they would close my account.
        They are fine with personal tax payments!

        • Joints&Piles says:

          28 Jun28 June 14:58

          Very useful warning, thanks.

      • Chas says:

        28 Jun28 June 11:19

        If you can’t justify Metal, then I think your options are limited now. CoT needs to sit behind Bendy in order to make fee-free payments (except the fee for Bendy Metal obviously).

        • Joints&Piles says:

          28 Jun28 June 14:57

          Ah yes, I forgot of course there’s still a fee if paying with CoT. Thanks.

• SB says:

  28 Jun28 June 09:29

  Booked a PCR test before travel with biogroup in london and they promised to have results by 6pm yesterday. The results still haven’t arrived and I can’t get through.

  Any advice? Flight is tomorrow.

  • Anna says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:35

    I’d be looking at finding somewhere to get a same day test (airport?) and issue a chargeback against the original testing centre if you used a relevant payment method (not sure if claiming for the cost of the new test would be feasible).
    If we do go away this summer we’ll be doing any pre-departure tests this way as I couldn’t cope with the stress of waiting to see if remote results actually arrive!

    • Sam G says:

      28 Jun28 June 10:07

      agree! though hopefully they’d refund you without it going that far

  • Tracey says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:38

    If you are flying from Heathrow, I think halo offer a spit PCR test with results in a few hours. All PCRs require lab work, so they all need to be sent off to somewhere, always a risk.

  • SB says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:40

    Is there any point in going to their office and demanding they do another express test for free?

    • AJA says:

      28 Jun28 June 12:02

      I’d not waste your time. Better to spend the time hopping on to the tube to LHR and getting a test done there.

      • Babyg says:

        28 Jun28 June 13:42

        ^^^this

    • Jonathan says:

      28 Jun28 June 14:08

      Doubt the lab is based at their offices so won’t get you anywhere.

      A lot of the smaller companies are just fronts & they will be passing your test onto a third party lab for processing.

• Wollhouse says:

  28 Jun28 June 09:39

  In re the queries about travel to Malta, below is the official response i received from DOI Malta.

  As from the 30th June, only fully vaccinated persons can travel to Malta from the UK . Currently only the Maltese vaccination certificate is a valid certificate accepted by the Maltese Authorities. As from the 30th June, the UK (2 dose certificate) and the EU digital COVID vaccine certificate will be accepted as well.
  Persons without vaccination will not be allowed to enter Malta with the exception of children aged under 12 as per below conditions:
  Children aged 5-11 can travel if they accompany their vaccinated parents/ legal guardian provided they provide a negative nasopharyngeal PCR test carried out within 72 hours from arrival in Malta. Children under 5 do not need a test.
  A Maltese resident or citizen not in possession of an accepted vaccine certificate can proceed to Malta for repatriation only after seeking pre-authorisation from covid19.vetting@gov.mt , who would request a pre-departure PCR, 14 days quarantine and PCRs during the period of quarantine.

  Hope that is of use.

  • David says:

    28 Jun28 June 10:09

    Does that mean a PCR test as well as vaccination certificate ?

    • Wollhouse says:

      28 Jun28 June 10:18

      My understanding from friends in Malta (local papers etc) is that IF you’re an adult with vaccine, that’s sufficient. Pcr is for children not yet vaccinated. Obviously these are the requirements to get IN to Malta. Requirements for return to the UK….who knows:)!!

  • Sam G says:

    28 Jun28 June 10:36

    Teenagers 12-18 do seem like they’re going to cause a headache for travel this summer – Portugal + Malta now currently off the list!

  • Alan says:

    28 Jun28 June 11:01

    What happens if one of you children tests positive.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      28 Jun28 June 11:22

      Then you’re all staying home and isolating

  • Alan S says:

    28 Jun28 June 12:04

    Can’t say I understand the science behind someone double jabbed without a negative PCR being less risk than someone not jabbed/single jabbed but holding a recent negative PCR result.

    Surely the latter is safer for the receiving country/passengers they come into contact with?

    Countries restricting access by double vaccination only feels very political and all for show.

    • Paul Pogba says:

      28 Jun28 June 14:11

      Because a test is only as good as the minute it was taken, you could catch it half hour later and/or already have it but not have built up detectable quantities of the virus at the time of sample. A vaccine is passive you’ll have pretty much the same protection on Tuesday as you had on Monday.

      • Alan S says:

        28 Jun28 June 15:40

        Have they proven then that being double vaccinated makes you less likely to carry & transmit the virus then, or is that just educated guesswork at the moment?

    • Steve S says:

      28 Jun28 June 16:01

      Just been speaking to a colleague. He is wife and eldest son are all double jabbed.Daughter single jab all tested positive over the weekend. Holiday cancelled.

      • John Gallagher says:

        28 Jun28 June 17:53

        And this is why everyone should be taking a test before mixing with others. The vaccine doesn’t stop you catching COVID. It reduces the effects.

        • Rob says:

          28 Jun28 June 17:56

          You’re in for a big surprise on 19th July John …

  • ACK says:

    28 Jun28 June 16:05

    Thank you for sharing this summary. MLA airport has pretty much the same information on their website, which states, that from the 30th of June they will accept EU covid passes, NHS covid passes and NHS certifications. Currently you can get an EU covid pass or an NHS covid pass without having a single shot of vaccine, just by testing negative to covid, of after having recovered from covid with no PCR test either. Does Malta accept the NHS covid pass / EU covid pass in all cases, or do they only accept these if the reason for you having them is a double vaxxed cert?

  • Muhammad Abdullah says:

    28 Jun28 June 18:12

    I don’t get the appeal of Malta, beaches will be rammed, rates very high. I’d go anywhere once, but to repeat that, for what is likely the only holiday this year before the forth wave?

• Matt says:

  28 Jun28 June 09:42

  Help Please .
  Just cancelled my BA Amex card as reached 10K and have the companion voucher in my BA account .
  Amex have said if I cancel the card the voucher will also be lost and the representative was insistent this was the case .
  From readings previous posts I don’t believe this is the case . However with recent Amex changes is this still the case ?

  • Rob says:

    28 Jun28 June 11:48

    Not true, ignore them.

    You WILL need an Amex card, or access to someone elses, to redeem your 241 though.

    • Matt says:

      28 Jun28 June 12:52

      Thanks Rob

  • Lula says:

    28 Jun28 June 12:16

    I was told the same thing. Cancelled. Then when I redeemed my 241 I used my husband’s amex. Phoned yesterday to add the return flight and used a different amex to the one I’d used for the outward booking, and absolutely no issue using the voucher.

• EdMo says:

  28 Jun28 June 09:49

  I need to get to AMEX spend target and was intending to pay £1.5k to Student Loans company via Billhop (my loan is due to be paid off in next 18mo anyway)- reading their T&C this suggests it may not be possible to pay ‘loans and debt’.

  Do you think this classifies as it is not commercially held debt?

  Alternatively can you overpay HMRC self assessment to have credit on account? I could put £1.5k to next year…

  • Anna says:

    28 Jun28 June 09:57

    You can always try and the payment will just bounce back if the Student Loans company doesn’t accept the payment method.
    I’m not sure there’s a route to pay HMRC with Amex any more.

    • John says:

      28 Jun28 June 10:07

      Billhop can be used to pay VAT if need to hit Amex target

• John says:

  28 Jun28 June 10:12

  Help!
  Did a status match this year Platinum to Hilton Diamond. Told I now have diamond to Feb 2023.

  It is now saying on my app 27 and that I need 3 nights to retain Diamond. If I did the 3 nights does this get me anything or is it advantageous to get to Feb 2024?

  Thanks for help.

  • John says:

    28 Jun28 June 10:48

    I can’t see how it would get you to 2024. Is the match contingent on staying 3 nights

    • John says:

      28 Jun28 June 11:17

      I didn’t explain very well. I did a status match and needed to do 9 nights to get Diamond to 2023. I did the 9 nights. I have been confirmed I am diamond until Feb 23.

      Sep to that the app shows my total nights for for this year is 27 and states I need 3 more nights to retain diamond. My question is if I do these 3 extra nights when am I retaining status to? I already have it until Feb 23.

      I don’t know anything about Hilton or the app works !

      • TGLoyalty says:

        28 Jun28 June 11:24

        You would get it til Feb 2023 if you qualified with 30 nights this year (all of this year and then the next). So to answer your question it won’t be until Feb 2024.

        Additional nights do rollover so any over 30 should give you a head start for next year.

        • John says:

          28 Jun28 June 11:34

          Thanks for that.
          Don’t need to do 30 nights this year as already awarded it until Feb 23 for attaining status match this year.

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