The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 6th July

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• JP-MCO says:

  6 Jul6 July 08:31

  First transfer from AMEX MR to VS – it’s taken longer than 30 minutes. Is that to be expected?

  • Rob says:

    6 Jul6 July 08:48

    First one, potentially yes. Amex first needs to verify your account and only then makes the transfer.

    • JP-MCO says:

      6 Jul6 July 08:52

      Thanks for the reply Rob – I’ll keep a lookout for it arriving in the next few days.

      • Travel Strong says:

        6 Jul6 July 09:15

        I always have to call up to complete the first MR to VS transfer on any account. Call if you feel its been too long and it’ll move instantly on the phone.

        • MattB says:

          6 Jul6 July 09:22

          I had to call up and they forced it through, then a few days later my initial transfer also arrived! Sadly I had only transferred 1k points so didnt benefit too much.

  • Harry T says:

    6 Jul6 July 09:20

    I always have to call for the first time I attempt to transfer – linking the accounts always fails for some reason.

  • JP-MCO says:

    6 Jul6 July 10:09

    That’s why I love this website – always a wealth of helpful knowledge. I rang AMEX and it’s now sorted! Thank you all

• BJ says:

  6 Jul6 July 08:46

  Any likelihood we will see a higher sign up bonus on the Virgin paid card in next 6 months, something via Red?

  • Travel Strong says:

    6 Jul6 July 09:17

    Current wisdom was/is No… but they may reassess if/when a big chunk of MS spend stops in August!

    • David says:

      6 Jul6 July 12:10

      Why would this end in August?

      • Degsy says:

        6 Jul6 July 12:42

        Change to the Ts & Cs which means certain activities will now incur interest/charges. Assumed to be the case, at least – needs to be tested/confirmed.

    • BJ says:

      6 Jul6 July 13:45

      Hope so, with Barclays and partner’s BAPP accounted for we now need Virgin vouchers to maximise return on the game. I’ll give it until early October and then sign up regardless.

• Jamie says:

  6 Jul6 July 08:48

  Hello, I may have missed an article (Or Rob may be working on it) but I have read a few comments on….

  The new terms for Virgin Atlantic Credit card starting 5th August, does this mean no longer being able to use Curve to pay HMRC?

  If so, what is the next best card to use, or is this over for Curve?

  • Rob says:

    6 Jul6 July 08:50

    No-one knows what is impacted after 5th August yet.

    • Jamie says:

      6 Jul6 July 08:51

      I see makes more sense. Thank you Rob

    • DK says:

      6 Jul6 July 16:45

      Che top-ups will be affected as I was charged for these out of the blue couple of weeks ago. Funnily I received an email with upcoming TCs changes the next day. About to complain for a refund but very clear indication of things to come.

  • JP-MCO says:

    6 Jul6 July 08:57

    I use HSBC World Elite Mastercard fronted with Curve (Metal) to earn points for payments to HMRC. Earning rate is good but you need to be eligible for HSBC Jade or Premier to get the card.

• Jake says:

  6 Jul6 July 08:52

  Very Quick question. I know it has been answered before but just want to confirm.

  BA have cancelled a flight to Seville for late august. No other BA flights on that day but there is Ryanair.

  To confirm, they have a duty to re-route me to a flight on that day and I don’t have to accept another BA flight on a different date?

  • Richie says:

    6 Jul6 July 09:19

    Yes re-routed at your preference/choice. The best you may be offered is something via Madrid on Iberia, unlikely to be on the Ryanair flight. Look at which flights suit you via Madrid, make a note and then call them.

    • Jake says:

      6 Jul6 July 09:35

      Thanks. I thought that maybe the case. I’ll see what they say. Thanks a lot!

      • Sam G says:

        6 Jul6 July 11:25

        They won’t book you on Ryanair but call in and try and get a note on the booking that they refused.

        Of course you can take a refund and book yourself but if it’s a decent amount of money (so worth your bother) then DON’T take the refund and go after them via CEDR or MCOL for the difference, it’s your right to be rerouted on a convenient/comparable option under the EU261 rules and faffing about via Madrid on a 2hr flight is hardly either of those!

• John says:

  6 Jul6 July 08:55

  PCR results failed to come back in time. One cancelled holiday to Mallorca. Not happy at all!

  • meta says:

    6 Jul6 July 09:03

    Always plan a backup. I am taking both Qured and Prenetics for coming back from my trip this weekend.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      6 Jul6 July 09:10

      This was outbound?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    6 Jul6 July 09:10

    You can travel to Mallorca with a LAMP test. £85 via collinson and result within 90-120 mins!

    • Kipto says:

      6 Jul6 July 10:07

      Is that just the test just to leave the UK or the tests prior to flying back and the day 2 test when back in the UK ?

      • TGLoyalty says:

        6 Jul6 July 11:09

        The test to come back can be a lateral flow, takes 30 mins and available in most airports.

        The day 2 must be a pcr which you can order to your home and it’s not really your problem if it turns up late as long as you do it as soon as it turns up and post it back.

      • John says:

        6 Jul6 July 12:39

        No tests are needed to leave the UK

        • Kipto says:

          6 Jul6 July 20:18

          Proof of negative test required up to 72 hours before arriving in Spain so a test is required before leaving the uk

  • Anna says:

    6 Jul6 July 09:12

    Which service did you book?

  • Oleksandr Dudko says:

    6 Jul6 July 16:50

    wondering what people do in that situation, when had to cancel last minute at the airport/denied boarding. Assuming flights, hotels and car rental all separate you tryi to cancel or reschedule everything on the spot and then claim via insurance what is not refundable?

• Sam G says:

  6 Jul6 July 09:11

  The NHS COVID vaccine booking for under 40s just got adjusted from 11-12 to 8 weeks – I just managed to rebook mine for next Saturday! Plentiful appointments at the centre I was already booked at

  • TGLoyalty says:

    6 Jul6 July 09:17

    It’s been like this for a few weeks

    • Sam G says:

      6 Jul6 July 09:20

      I think it was like it, then it was restricted for a while. I checked a couple of hours ago and there was nothing, now the appointments are plentiful so something definitely changed

      • Sam G says:

        6 Jul6 July 09:23

        Or my booked centre released a bunch of appointments potentially I guess. Either way I’m happy, potential for a cheeky August weekend trip

  • Tracey says:

    6 Jul6 July 09:26

    Originally changed for over 40s only, with a bit of programming error resulting in everyone managing to book with an 8 week gap. They corrected that, but allowed any who had rebooked to keep appointments made. Now anyone (in England) can rebook with an 8 week gap. This is mainly because there is no one left to invite for first dose appointments, so room in the system.

    • secondvaxxes at gmail dot com says:

      6 Jul6 July 09:29

      Some places allowing 6 weeks just north of London!

  • Peter K says:

    6 Jul6 July 12:38

    Thanks for this. Couldn’t book at 8 weeks gap before, could this time.

• Tom H says:

  6 Jul6 July 09:17

  I m not earning any HSBC points topping up rev. Anyone else having similar issues?

  • Sam G says:

    6 Jul6 July 09:26

    I believe HSBC considers these as cash advances now & you are paying interest from the day you do the transaction as well. I don’t mess about with my HSBC – I had a tough inquiry call with them about rev (legitimate top ups for currency exchange) and don’t want to risk my card!

    • Tom H says:

      6 Jul6 July 10:01

      The interest has been a feature for some time but as long as you paid it off straightaway these were avoided. The Points were always awarded previously but this doesn’t seem to be the case currently. Anyone having a similar experience?

      • Simon says:

        6 Jul6 July 21:03

        Same here. No points on rev anymore

    • Ben says:

      6 Jul6 July 11:20

      I had the same call from them last week. It wasnt connected to Bendy etc but it was just a very large amount of transactions going through etc. All explainable and provable mind but ill leave that for now.

      • Sam G says:

        6 Jul6 July 11:28

        I also had a pretty small payment (to my own company) stopped and they were very robust in their questioning about allowing it through, checking if I was being threatened or coerced into doing so !

        Amused me as my other bank I’ve put through large sums amounts of money in the last year moving back to the UK and buying & selling some properties and they haven’t said anything . Reassuring for anyone with parents etc though, so many clever scams around

• Anna says:

  6 Jul6 July 09:17

  I’ve been getting lots of RFF notifications for TFS in CE for the first week in August if anyone wants to take a punt on quarantine rules being relaxed. BA cash prices are around £700 for those dates.

  • Reeferman says:

    6 Jul6 July 09:26

    Reminds me – which is the most reliable notification service: RFF or Seat Spy? I remember reading one was good and the other not so much – but can’t remember which way round!

    • Sam G says:

      6 Jul6 July 09:27

      Seat spy

      • Anna says:

        6 Jul6 July 09:43

        Oddly, if you do an ordinary search on RFF it’s not great, but the email notifications do seem to be accurate!

    • Rob says:

      6 Jul6 July 09:48

      SeatSpy – it now has a direct deal with BA to supply data.

      • Reeferman says:

        6 Jul6 July 17:12

        Thanks v much

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