The HfP chat thread – Thursday 1st July

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General

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DarrenS says:

1 Jul1 July 09:14

Does anyone have experience of the Amex IHG offer being cumulative?
Ant says:

1 Jul1 July 09:20

Morning, anyone has any code I can use for the NOW Sports Membership monthly? This time round not finding it cheaper than the official £33.99
- BJ says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 09:29
  
  Top up cheap at CDK and pay standard price might be best option. Good old days are long gone. Used to love week passes for golf majors and Ryder Cup.
- Red Flyer says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 11:53
  
  Try go5050 as only £15.99 a month on there
Beardless Hipster says:

1 Jul1 July 09:21

eBay emailed me a 500 nectar points bonus for spending £5 or more. Probably account specific. https://pages.ebay.co.uk/nectar-rewards/nectardm500lp.html
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 09:30
  
  Just clicked through while logged in and says I’m registered. Worth a go
  - Andrew says:
    
    1 Jul1 July 09:45
    
    Mine says the same (although terms say recipient of email only) but when I basket something the nectar points just show the standard ones and no bonus (which they normally would do) so perhaps isn’t for all. But worth doing if you’re buying something anyway.
- Mike says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 12:12
  
  Also “12x bonus points on items over 10 GBP. from selected sellers “https://reward.ebay.co.uk/rwdwebui/activateOffer?Param2=9886b0dc-7ed7-4ce2-bba3-d829ee7672ff&Param3=Nectar&_trkparms=%26clkid%3D2746120070766950594
Manny_D says:

1 Jul1 July 09:27

Seeing as the BA, Marriot and Gold Biz card have been updated recently by Amex, are we likely to see any changes soon to the PRG?
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 09:31
  
  Other than the £120 a year Deliveroo credit?
Aston100 says:

1 Jul1 July 09:58

Anyone remember the IHG offer that showed up in the mobile app, where you’d get 5k points for staying 1 night by 29th July?
This was the one where there wasn’t a way to save it or activate it in any way and it didn’t show up on the desktop site.

Wondering if anyone managed to get the 5k points?
IHG have rejected my claim on the basis that this was a targeted offer, despite me sending them a screenshot of the offer in my mobile app.
- Anna says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 10:09
  
  I think I must have got it on my Kimpton stay at the weekend because the points posted were about 5k more than I would have got from the spend, though they weren’t flagged as bonus points. I remember not being able to register for the offer. Spend was £683 and I got 25,830 points before the 1k Spire bonus.
  - Pete M says:
    
    1 Jul1 July 10:29
    
    I kept badgering them and they gave up in the end and gave me the points as a gesture of good will. Not sure if being Ambassador helped?
    - TJ says:
      
      1 Jul1 July 13:22
      
      +1 Took 3 or 4 emails before they relented and allocated the points. My argument was solid as I had screenshots and only booked the IHG stay on the back of the offer. Also Ambassador which may have helped.
George K says:

1 Jul1 July 10:01

Amex Gold offer came through the post (!) to add a supplementary cardholder for a 3k MR bonus, AND another 3k on top for a £500 spend in the first three months. Would have been tempting if I didn’t need to cancel and reset the clock imminently..
Simon says:

1 Jul1 July 10:13

Seems like evouchers dont need to be used by the holder. So how about we start a little secondary market in them. Rob takes a small brokerage. Ive got one for £520 to sell. Happy to sell for 90% FV.
- Pete M says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 10:30
  
  Or you could just book a flight that’s likely to get cancelled and get the full cash amount back in due course? Or do you need/want the money ASAP?
  - Simon says:
    
    1 Jul1 July 10:36
    
    No, no huge rush at all. Just thinking as we normally book avios flights, and have plenty on the pad already, might be a long time before i can use the voucher….. Next question, which is the most likely flight to be cancelled ?!
    - Pete M says:
      
      1 Jul1 July 11:03
      
      That’s a tough one, but you could try something like BER in, say, early August. There’s normally 7+ flights a day from LHR/LCY, but recently (and seemingly for most of July) that is cut to one, not even daily (the morning one seems to operate). I’d probably risk the 17:40 LHR-20:35 BER on, say 2/Aug with the 19:15 BER-20:15 LHR return on 4/Aug. Unless a miracle happens and Germany open their doors to us again, I’d be shocked if at least one of those doesn’t get cancelled. And if they do run, you can just ask for another evoucher.
      - Simon says:
        
        1 Jul1 July 11:43
        
        Great idea. Thanks v much for the feedback
Optimus Prime says:

1 Jul1 July 10:20

Good morning everyone,

Since my crystal ball doesn’t seem to ever work, I was wondering if those HfP readers with a background in finance could help me out.

Time to remortgage – should I go for 2-year or 5-year fixed? Meaning… do you think rates will spike and I’d better lock a good rate for the longest term?

Thanks in advance.
- Sean says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 10:39
  
  The decision on timeframe can only be yours and your attitude to risk. There is always a risk of rates moving in either direction. I would want to know what the difference in price is between 2 and 5 years and also what is your LTV. eg if you are at 60% LTV then question is purely based on price of 2 products. Are you prepared to pay the insurance premium for a guaranteed rate for longer. (Note financial markets currently pricing 5 year swaps at 0.28% more than 2 years). But if at 90% LTV then not so simple as in 2 years you may be eligible for a cheaper 80% product, making comparison more tricky.
  Personally, given rates are at an all time low if the price difference were within 0.3% then think a longer fix is a no brainer if you want fixed.
  - Optimus Prime says:
    
    1 Jul1 July 11:04
    
    Rate difference is 1.39% vs 1.54% – extra £21.03 per month.
    
    This is with my current lender, I can’t switch because I’m one of the lucky winners of a flat with flammable cladding so we have to stay here until it’s sorted…
- Jake says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 10:46
  
  Firstly – no one, however experienced, has a crystal ball. The pandemic came completely out of the blue and threw all financial predictions (rates, inflation, stock prices etc) into the air. Suffice to say you don’t know what will happen so don’t worry too much about it.
  
  On a more pragmatic note however, I think with rates being so low there is ‘value’ in a 5 year fixed.
  
  1) With a 5 year fixed you don’t have to arrange another mortgage after 2 years and pay another ‘fee’. In a low rate environment, the fee is a much larger proportion of the money not being put towards your house equity. This impacts the overall ‘loss’ calculations
  
  2) With rates so low at the minute, there is probably not much lower that they can go meaning that in 2 years whilst you might be able to get a better rate it won’t be **lots** better. Conversely, if rates rise – you could be hit with a big jump in your payments
  
  3) Fixed rate mortgages provide peace of mind of payments and outgoings.
  
  Whilst on a 5 year fixed you might be overpaying in 2 years time, I don’t think it will be by so much that you would ever regret the 5 year option.
  
  My personal view is that in 2 years rates will be the same or higher so a 5 year deal looks good.
  
  Ultimately though you have to take what you are comfortable with right now based off the information available and financially plan for all eventualities as to not get yourself into any future challenges.
  
  PS – I take no liability when rates plummet in two years and we end up with the UKs first negative interest rate!!
- will says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 12:06
  
  If you look at risk/return then longer term fixed is no brainer. You’re talking an extra 0.15%. Base rates could easily increase by many multiples of that within 2 years, how likely are they to drop?
  
  Even if we see negative interest rates it’s very unlikely that will feed through to mortgages.
  
  On the other hand if we do see persistent inflation, it isn’t hard to imagine rates at pre 2007 levels, the average SVR was 7% pre 2007. You’d look pretty smug sat at 1.54% if rates go back to that.
  
  With all the money that’s been created and the drop in productive output, purely from a technical point of view money is already worth a lot less than it was pre pandemic. Economics text book theory would then suggest we’ll have rather large problems with rising prices and interest rates to combat them.
- Optimus Prime says:
  
  1 Jul1 July 12:17
  
  Thanks Sean, Jake and Will. I’ll get the 5 year deal.
  - Jake says:
    
    1 Jul1 July 13:00
    
    Consult the other half though first. Don’t just take our word for it!!!
    
    If it all goes t*ts up, saying you got your advice from three unknown posters on a frequent flyer forum will go down about as well as trying to explain why you are flying from London to New York via Madrid and Boston because it represents a “good opportunity” for tier points.
    
    Having had the arduous task of attempting to put a positive spin on the latter, I recommending tabling your approach first!
    - Optimus Prime says:
      
      1 Jul1 July 13:02
      
      She prefers the 5 year deal too. I was the one who suggested to look at 2 year ones…
      - Andy D says:
        
        1 Jul1 July 13:47
        
        Also compare the wider terms of the two mortgage products – does one let you repay a little more each month without penalty? Consider whether you may be in a position over the lifetime of the product (if not the lifetime of the deal) to clear the mortgage, does one product prohibit you from doing that?
      - Oleksandr Dudko says:
        
        1 Jul1 July 16:49
        
        Had exactly the same dilemma in April 2018 albeit rates were 1.89% for 2 years fixed or 2.19% for 5 years. I went for 5 years fixed and turned out I made a wrong bet as now or even in April last year I could easily get around 1.5% from my current bank and potentially even lower if remortgage. Now highish rate locked till April 2023.