The HfP chat thread – Thursday 1st July

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• Reney says:

  1 Jul1 July 11:45

  Hi, just wanted to check how long does it take for retention amex points to turn up? The agent said same or next day but it is day 3 and nothing yet.

  • Chas says:

    1 Jul1 July 11:49

    I called and got mine (50k) last Friday, and was warned that it would take 3 days, as at this level retentions “need to be approved by someone more senior”. They posted on either Monday or (more likely) Tuesday

  • Aston100 says:

    1 Jul1 July 12:03

    Between 1 and 4 days for me.

  • Andrew says:

    1 Jul1 July 12:43

    Within an hour for me.

  • Jonny says:

    1 Jul1 July 12:53

    For those getting retention bonuses, how long have u had the card?

    I have had the card a few months but with limited travel atm and poor offers, considering cancelling it.

    • KS says:

      1 Jul1 July 13:06

      I got retention bonus after holding it for 3 months last year. Got once more this year now.

    • Andrew says:

      1 Jul1 July 13:50

      Held the card for c15 years.

  • lev441 says:

    1 Jul1 July 16:43

    Took 5 days for me. Called up on Thursday and they arrived on Tuesday. Was 50k so maybe needed authorisation?

    • David D says:

      1 Jul1 July 17:44

      Inside 2 minutes for me.

• Aston100 says:

  1 Jul1 July 12:04

  How often do Amex MR > Hilton conversion bonuses occur?
  Has there been one in recent times?

  • Rob says:

    1 Jul1 July 12:26

    2019 was the last one. The 2018 one was invite-only.

    • Dave says:

      1 Jul1 July 13:34

      Was a bonus last year as well https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2020/11/17/american-express-launches-a-hilton-honors-transfer-bonus-from-membership-rewards/

    • Aston100 says:

      1 Jul1 July 13:55

      Is converting without a bonus a bad choice?
      I’ve got sufficient Avios and could do with some Honors points but 2 per MR doesn’t feel right.

      • Memesweeper says:

        1 Jul1 July 16:11

        Look at your previous and planned redemptions and make sure it works for you (and you are getting more than 0.8p per MR).

        There are precious few redemption opportunities at the moment, so maximising value probably isn’t worth shooting for IMHO.

• Roberto says:

  1 Jul1 July 12:53

  Does anyone know if the Avios-Nectar transfer is once a month from the day of the transaction hitting your Nectar account or the day you called up to initiate it from the executive club phone line? I called up on the 22nd of May but the points didn’t hit my Nectar account until the 4th of June.
  I want to move another 50k today if possible.
  Thank you

  • Andrew says:

    1 Jul1 July 13:48

    Once per calendar month – so today the clock resets for another 50k.

  • Genghis says:

    1 Jul1 July 14:10

    It’s based on when points hit Nectar account and one of those allowed per calendar month.

• Claire says:

  1 Jul1 July 13:05

  Has anyone had an issue getting cash out with curve today. My husband tried twice with ihg as background card and neither went through. However instead of notification of decline it is coming up on the app as pending. He has contacted curve via the app to dispute but wondering if anyone has had similar and what happened. Don’t want to be out of pocket for £200. Unless the cashpoint has cct might be difficult to dispute and it did not give him a receipt.

  • Steve says:

    1 Jul1 July 13:22

    Ask your husband to check the transactions again in the Curve app – specifically the Go back in time option when you click into the transaction itself. If there’s a message to the effect that you can’t go back in time because the transaction has been fully refunded, there’s no need to worry – you’ll either see the transaction post and simultaneously refund itself in a few days in the Creation app, or more likely, no transactions will appear at all.

    • Claire says:

      1 Jul1 July 13:41

      Thanks for that. He didn’t have another card on the account but has now added his tesco mastercard to see what happens. However it says this card is in a different currency so cannot be used to go back in time? I seem to remember tesco didn’t do cash with curve now so could that be the issue?

      • Claire says:

        1 Jul1 July 13:46

        Just tried with his nationwide debit card and still same message about it being wrong currency. Will have to hope it drops off from pending or curve come back to him to tell him how to dispute

        • Steve says:

          1 Jul1 July 14:04

          Sorry, I should probably have been clearer – my suggestion wasn’t to try to go back in time. It was just that, if the option to go back in time is disabled because the transaction is already showing as refunded, it’s a quick way of knowing that the transaction has already been reversed without having to wait a few days to see what appears on the IHG statement, or waiting for Curve support to reply. Hope it gets sorted quickly for you.

  • N says:

    1 Jul1 July 15:39

    I’ve had the same issue on different transactions earlier last month. Told them about it in support chat and they got back a while later saying it was a known issue affecting a few people and they would “look into it” and get back to me. They did not. They have not. Worth chatting to support in the app, though, maybe?

    • Claire says:

      1 Jul1 July 20:22

      Update from curve re message sent earlier to say transaction will cancel but may stay pending for a couple of days. They are not sure why it was declined but are investigating. Just relieved I don’t have to prove he didn’t get the cash!

• QwertyKnowsBest says:

  1 Jul1 July 13:22

  Sorry to bring up testing again. Need to take a test with me for return from an Amber country. Will be in Spain but may travel home via Portugal or other so want to have the safety net of having the test with me.

  1. Anyone recommend the best (reliable & lowest cost) provider to do this remotely with?
  2. I assume the day 2 and 8 tests do not have to be with the same provider as 1, so any recommended tests. I am based West Lancashire (NW England).

  Many thanks for any advice.

  • Rich says:

    1 Jul1 July 13:36

    MSE has a good summary of the options

    https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/how-to-find-the-cheapest-private-coronavirus-tests-for-travel/

    They don’t need to be the same provider, although some do a decent package. You can also get tested locally, although taking one with you is probably more convenient.

  • Anna says:

    1 Jul1 July 13:44

    Qwerty, don’t know if this would apply but I posted earlier about reasonably priced pre-departure tests at MAN.
    We are not travelling for another 4 weeks so I’m going to wait until the next round of announcements before buying any tests for the return sector!

    • Pete M says:

      1 Jul1 July 13:54

      Qured or Project Screen by Prenetics – BA has discounts for the former, Virgin for the latter. £33 vs £26pp. Discussed on here every day, so if you want to read people’s views on them read the chat for a few days back. Both work fine.

  • Cats are best says:

    1 Jul1 July 15:49

    I used Qured last week, order a week before outbound, take the kit with you, short video call to do the test, 40 minutes from start to receiving the result.

    https://qured.com/health-travel-pass#our-rapid-antigen-fit-to-fly-test

    There’s a BA discount code BATRAVEL15

    Day 2/8 can be a different provider.

• r* says:

  1 Jul1 July 13:45

  Does anyone know the amex plat insurance situation for amber countries (portugal) currently?

  Does it still provide non-covid related medical and non-medical cover?

  Does it provide covid-related medical cover?

  Trying to work out if I need to get an additional insurance as previously had an annual cover, but thats no longer provided so plat is the only insurance I currently have for travel.

  • Anna says:

    1 Jul1 July 14:19

    FCDO advice counts more than the traffic light system, you need to check what Plat covers in respect of this. E.g. Mainland Spain and Canaries are both amber but FCDO advises against all but essential travel to mainland, but not to Canaries.

• Simon says:

  1 Jul1 July 14:08

  Hi, is anyone earning points transfering to Che? HSBC WE seems to be ignoring. If so, what is your card of choice?

  • Guernsey Globetrotter says:

    1 Jul1 July 15:32

    The Creationists are the usual candidates for Che. Can do a double dip if you then use Beardy to settle the subsequent card balance, although it seems that the upcoming Beardy T&Cs change on August 5th could bring in charges for this … will just have to wait and see.

• Anna says:

  1 Jul1 July 14:24

  It’s about 5 years since I flew on Ryanair, any current experience? I’ve booked extra leg room seats and plan to take plenty of F & B on board. Have broken it to the teenagers that there won’t be any flat beds, in flight entertainment, Club kitchen etc 😂 (not even a spare middle seat, in all likelihood).

  • Ian_H says:

    1 Jul1 July 14:36

    It was well over 15 years since my last experience with them, but had to bite the bullet as they were only ones flying due to Covid. My experience was last Nov. It was OK, better than I remember but still doesnt feel quite right – the boarding was efficient, the plane was ok, the legroom was fine and the crew were pleasant enough. It still just doesnt have any feeling of quality whatsoever but it got me where I needed to be at an OK price and on-time. After my experience I would do it again, but ONLY if the price difference (with basics added) was significant enough to prize me away from a more “rounded” carrier.

    • Aston100 says:

      1 Jul1 July 14:49

      But did you buy any scratch cards to make them stop talking incessantly?

      • Anna says:

        1 Jul1 July 14:55

        The noise cancelling headphones work for that as well 🤣

    • Anna says:

      1 Jul1 July 14:54

      Ian H – very limited from MAN! BA is currently asking for £731 EACH in economy on our travel dates (do they know something?!) whereas FR was £160 so no contest really, even if we were happy with the extra shunt down to LHR.

      Harry T – always!

    • Yorkieflyer says:

      1 Jul1 July 15:54

      In my view BA offer nothing better than Ryanair unless you have status or want to blow the budget for a sub par CE couple of hours experience. I’d rather save the budget for a better destination experience

      • MKB says:

        1 Jul1 July 18:23

        For me, having not checked a bag in over 20 years, the big advantage of BA is the lack of weight limit on hand luggage and the much higher probability that you won’t be separated from it before boarding.

      • Tony1 says:

        1 Jul1 July 22:07

        For short hall, to almost the destination, they are cheap and good.
        Save the cash for priority boarding ( so they dont weigh the bag ) and spend more on a better hotel / restaurant etc

  • Harry T says:

    1 Jul1 July 14:41

    Bring noise cancelling headphones and try to ignore your fellow passengers.

    • Ian_H says:

      1 Jul1 July 14:57

      I would have to second that – the fact they leave the drinks trolley on display in the aisle at the front does seem to play into the “pub with wings” stereotype AND some passengers saw it as a challenge to try and empty the cart completely. In fact i would say if they improved the quality of 90% of their passengers and ditched the dreaded scratch cards and bugle upon landing they would have made great strides in becoming more professional and a serious contender – as it stands they are absolutely the last resort.

      • Anna says:

        1 Jul1 July 15:03

        Crikey, who pays those prices?!

      • Yorkieflyer says:

        1 Jul1 July 15:57

        Totally disagree, seriously are you trolling? Have you actually flown FR?

    • Yorkieflyer says:

      1 Jul1 July 15:55

      I’ve done that with the harrumphing snobs on BA

      • Yorkieflyer says:

        1 Jul1 July 15:58

        Noise cancelling headphones that is

  • Yorkieflyer says:

    1 Jul1 July 15:50

    It’s a bus and generally with much better on time performance than the competition. We’ve used them loads when the other airlines gave up this last year. They have a lot of friends and family traffic so a more pleasant atmosphere than the drunken holiday makers seen on Jet2 and EasyJet. Far fewer blazers than BA of course

    • Anna says:

      1 Jul1 July 16:25

      Have to say my last experience was a bit rough. We were flying to Lanzarote but got diverted to Fuerteventura due to high winds. We were then forced to sit on the plane in the boiling heat for 4 hours while Ryanair tried to decide what to do with us and refused to part with drinking water unless people stumped up £2 a bottle or whatever. They refused to provide overnight accommodation or even tell us what was going on, eventually telling us to get off the plane and make our way to the ferry terminal by bus. They did actually give us ferry tickets but nothing else – it was night time by this point and there were no shops or restaurants open and there were lots of families with kids with nothing to eat (the ferry terminal is pretty much in the middle of nowhere!) Fortunately for us I’d packed loads of sandwiches and snacks and bought plenty of bottled water before boarding as I always plan for something to go wrong!
      We got to ACE 10 hours after our scheduled arrival time and of course the car rental office was shut by then. Fortunately I was able to communicate with the Spanish owner of our accommodation so she didn’t assume we just hadn’t turned up!

      • Anna says:

        1 Jul1 July 16:38

        It didn’t occur to us until later that we never actually went through Spanish immigration. As we left the plane the crew handed out ferry tickets and pointed towards the bus stop and we never saw them again! Our luggage had been offloaded and left at the bus stop for us to find, it was all rather surreal.

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