The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 13th July

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• Nicky says:

  13 Jul13 July 15:11

  Sorry that this has been asked and answered a few weeks ago. I am due to pay the balance for a December cruise on 28th August, which will trigger a 2-4-1 voucher. I seem to remember chat about 1st of September and changes to the 2-4-1 can anyone remind me please?

  • Nicky says:

    13 Jul13 July 15:12

    Whoops….balance due on 18th August, not 28th

  • VerdantBacon says:

    13 Jul13 July 15:33

    https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2021/06/02/british-airways-american-express-changes/

  • Anna says:

    13 Jul13 July 15:58

    You might be lucky as there might be a delay in Amex processing the payment over the bank holiday weekend.

  • Craig says:

    13 Jul13 July 16:06

    Contact the cruise line and ask if you can pay a few days later, blah blah salary day, blah, Covid, etc.

    • Jody says:

      13 Jul13 July 18:26

      Craig, how was your RC cruise?

  • BJ says:

    13 Jul13 July 17:11

    Just a word of caution, nobody is certain exactly what the 1st September will bring. At the moment most of us are betting it is worth waiting based on what we know. Come 1st September it is quite possible we might have wishes we triggered the 241 earlier.

    • Jonathan says:

      13 Jul13 July 19:17

      I’m not convinced there will be material benefits if taking an old style voucher (unless you need a 4-4-2) but the hype around I class availability will be a repeat of IHG dynamic pricing. Attractive for a short period then a damp squib.

• Youllnever says:

  13 Jul13 July 15:22

  Just received a new supplementary Amex Gold card and it has the new redesign but it still being plastic (similar to the Biz Gold card). Not sure if this means the main card won’t be going metal.

  • Super Secret Stuff says:

    13 Jul13 July 15:32

    I noticed this after I picked the plastic off the front of my card, hahaha

    • Super Secret Stuff says:

      13 Jul13 July 15:33

      Replacement looked fairly different

      P.s. can’#t wait for an edit button 🙂

  • Andrew says:

    13 Jul13 July 17:05

    Although I don’t like that the raised numbers are in silver, clashes with the gold card – looked better on the older design with black numbers.

• TomL says:

  13 Jul13 July 15:46

  does anyone have an octopus energy referral code to share please?
  thanks

  • Harry T says:

    13 Jul13 July 15:47

    share.octopus.energy/green-otter-673

    Thanks!

    • TomL says:

      13 Jul13 July 15:54

      many thanks

      • Harry T says:

        13 Jul13 July 16:02

        Thanks, Tom – it’s my girlfriend’s link, in case you think I’ve got some kind of strange dual identity 😂

• Njb says:

  13 Jul13 July 16:12

  Just back from a three night stay booked with Emyr (3 for 2 deal) at Conrad St James. Got upgrade to Exec room – lounge food offerings poor but it was champagne as prosecco had run out!
  Liked hotel position and service levels.
  Had a couple of hiccups which they expertly dealt with.
  Very happy.

  • Super Secret Stuff says:

    13 Jul13 July 16:29

    Thanks for the review, really looking forward to my stay coming up in a few months! Hopefully we get an exec upgrade too!

    • Njb says:

      13 Jul13 July 19:15

      Room was better than Hilton Bankside and on par with Marriott County Hall (just no view. )
      Liked location and the small hotel feel which neither of those hotels had.
      Doesn’t have the doorman feel of an Athenaeum but I liked the friendliness. Hopes that puts it all in context.
      We will rebook there.

    • Doc says:

      13 Jul13 July 20:31

      We got back from the Conrad as well last weekend.
      Apart from the poor Executive lounge offering including the canapés, everything else was pretty much spot on. Will go again if in London.

• Manny_D says:

  13 Jul13 July 16:22

  Does anyone know if you would need to pay for a Gold Supp card if you already have one on your account?

  If I recall I believe it was ~£40 for an additional Supp, however, I wonder if this still applies if the card has been upgraded (i.e Green with Supp to Gold with Supp)

  • Harry T says:

    13 Jul13 July 16:29

    What’s the underlying main card?

    • Manny_D says:

      13 Jul13 July 16:32

      Gold charge (was upgraded from Green). There was already a supp on the Green card that was transferred to the Gold. So looking for an additional one.

      • Harry T says:

        13 Jul13 July 16:35

        I’m fairly sure you will be charged for any further additional cards. It’s worth clarifying with Amex though.

  • Benilyn says:

    13 Jul13 July 16:57

    Yeah £40 or £45 or something along those lines…

  • TGLoyalty says:

    13 Jul13 July 21:04

    Yes £45 only 1st supp holder is free (you can replace this holder for free ofcourse)

• Luke says:

  13 Jul13 July 16:28

  This might be a stupid question, but if both Starling and Virgin Money current account don’t charge to withdraw cash abroad, both are MasterCards, then will the cost be exactly the same?

  • LS says:

    13 Jul13 July 16:56

    Likely to be similar, but not guaranteed to be the same, as may be processed by the underlying bank on different days. Both will use same Mastercard rate (around 0.5 – 1% off the interbank rate), but just possibly from different days…
    Incidentally mastercard rate is usually better than visa rate.

    • Luke says:

      13 Jul13 July 16:59

      Thanks.

      Need an account solely for overseas withdrawals. Already have the VM account sitting empty as took their switch offer. Didn’t know whether to bother switching to Starling. Won’t bother as it’s not my primary account anyway.

      • LS says:

        13 Jul13 July 18:49

        If just for the occasional holiday, then I’d recommend the Barclaycard c4shb@ck card, as this allows cash withdrawals for free, and interest free too. If you need it to be a bank account, then the ones you’ve mentioned are fine. If you need a USD or EUR account for small amounts, the Revolut is fine.

        • Luke says:

          13 Jul13 July 18:55

          Thanks. I’ve already got the Barclaycard however I read somewhere that they report to the credit reference agencies if you withdraw cash even if it’s abroad, so always thought it’s best not to use at ATMs.

        • Ls says:

          13 Jul13 July 20:17

          @Luke they do not report the cash if it is paid off in full (ie no interest charged). I am currently living abroad and use this as the main GBP -> USD cash card. My credit report is fine. I believe they report it if you carry the balance.

• ringingup says:

  13 Jul13 July 17:05

  Anyone know if you can FTV the inbound part of a companion voucher booking before and/or after the outbound has been flown?

• N says:

  13 Jul13 July 17:07

  Potentially silly question but i am a couple of months into my second year with a gold card. i have about 70,000 points in there and I’m not too sure whether to transfer it all to my BA account or if I should transfer to another Star Alliance member or something

  i want to cancel my gold card but that means i have to decide what i want to do with those points right now. alternatively, i’m wondering if i can cancel my gold card and get a basic green card, which will allow me to keep the points on my account. however, i’m not sure if that affects my 2 year off period before i can apply for a gold/platinum card and get the sign on bonus?

  • Sam G says:

    13 Jul13 July 17:14

    you’ll need to cancel all your Amex to get all the bonuses in 2 years time

    There used to be a T&C that allowed you to push Amex to transfer these to another person but looks like they tidied this up in May 2017

    • Memesweeper says:

      13 Jul13 July 18:22

      You need to cancel all your *personal* Amex. You could hold a business card for (I think) another 18 months if you are eligible.

      • Memesweeper says:

        13 Jul13 July 18:22

        or personal ICC card

        it’s just a personal standard UK card you cannot have

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