The HfP chat thread – Sunday 18th July

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Alan says:

18 Jul18 July 02:28

Re the change to Beardy’s T&C change that may stop the fun with Bendy and NS&I.

Can anyone explain why they would do this, doesn’t Bendy take the hit from these transactions? And If they start charging them as cash transactions wouldn’t this double dipping of charges be illegal?
- cinereus says:
  
  18 Jul18 July 05:13
  
  For ATM withdrawals, the interchange fee is paid from the issuer to acquirer so presumably the same applies for cash advances.
- LessCleverAndrew says:
  
  18 Jul18 July 16:02
  
  Apologies for being completely out of the know on this. I am considering getting a Curve card for the first time. But this is the second time I have heard about changing Ts&Cs and “Beardy”, NS&I and so on. Its all a little bit cryptic. Does this concern edges cases about maximising throughput on the Curve card?
  - Reney says:
    
    18 Jul18 July 19:02
    
    What are edge cases? This is a term I have not heard of here.
  - John says:
    
    18 Jul18 July 19:39
    
    Basically if you have too much non-genuine spend on Curve they will close your account immediately. Non-genuine spend more or less means trying to extract cash from a credit card as a purchase. How much is “too much” is not known. Also the underlying credit cards are going to crack down on it sooner or later.
ChasP says:

18 Jul18 July 02:39

Most other cards already treat this as a cash advance so draw your own conclusons as to who bearS the cost and the legallity

To be clear the change in T&C wordng may or may not cut off this avenue – really depends on how its applied we shall just have to wait and see
John says:

18 Jul18 July 06:19

I didn’t think a forum was needed before, but now I see it may be useful to have an airline disputes section and a paidtoshop replacement section, as 3 daily chat threads would not work
- TimM says:
  
  18 Jul18 July 06:37
  
  I have always thought a forum would be useful. It collects subjects together, acts as a reference and saves endless repetition. I did suggest it to Rob some years ago.
  - BJ says:
    
    18 Jul18 July 06:52
    
    A forum is coming.
    - Carpal Travel says:
      
      18 Jul18 July 08:03
      
      Seriously? That would be great. I have a question which I’m sure has been asked and answered a thousand times so am holding back. A forum would let me search for it and save bothering people! I frequent several sites where an article is linked to a forum post. Works really well!
      - BJ says:
        
        18 Jul18 July 09:06
        
        Don’t know why folks don’t just Google stuff on HfP, it works very well.
      - Reney says:
        
        18 Jul18 July 09:21
        
        I seem to remember Rob said they have built it but was waiting for something before they launch it.
      - Rob says:
        
        18 Jul18 July 09:25
        
        It is built but it needs some technical work on the back-end to get rid of some design and layout issues, which needs to be done externally.
    - Carpal Travel says:
      
      18 Jul18 July 16:03
      
      You incorrectly assume I haven’t tried using google to search. The focus of the results is articles, it’s no good at all for searching through comments.
      - Mikeact says:
        
        18 Jul18 July 16:57
        
        I don’t know what your question is, but if you can find it, they’ll probably be many contradictory answers.
        Be brave, and just ask. Any flack you get will now be deleted.
Toppcat says:

18 Jul18 July 06:40

I’ve got a SSDV stay coming up, thanks to the intern rate. What are people’s views on whether it is worth upgrading to Ambassador in advance of the stay? I can’t get upgraded to a better suite, and don’t think I will have many other premium IHG stays over the next 12m.
- meta says:
  
  18 Jul18 July 07:10
  
  Free breakfast, welcome amenity etc. Depends how long you’re staying and whether you want to stay at other Intercontinentals, Kimptons, Six Senses or Regent hotels in the next 12 months. For me, it wouldn’t be worth it for just one stay. At at least 3-4 stays in a year.
  - IanM says:
    
    18 Jul18 July 07:48
    
    Ambassador doesn’t get you free breakfast!
    - Claire says:
      
      18 Jul18 July 08:34
      
      *tip* I have used my ICA status to gain access to the IC lounge and in there you get breakfast.
    - Ikaz says:
      
      18 Jul18 July 08:37
      
      It does seem to at six senses!
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      18 Jul18 July 08:40
      
      It does at Six Senses….
      - Toppcat says:
        
        18 Jul18 July 09:19
        
        That’s interesting!
    - meta says:
      
      18 Jul18 July 10:18
      
      You get it at Six Senses. Also some IC’s offer free breakfast to Ambassador members on paid rates.
- Memesweeper says:
  
  18 Jul18 July 08:05
  
  Is it really coming up? You could get COVID or get an isolation requirement with a day or two to go. I’d avoid investing in anything travel related that isn’t refundable and/or easily moveable to a later date, which is why I’m not pushing the button on Ambassador today (see other article) despite having two IC bookings in the calendar.
  - Toppcat says:
    
    18 Jul18 July 09:58
    
    That’s a fair point, but a chance I am willing to take for a non-UK break at this stage. Points booking and avios flights, so it’s as flexible as it can be… Double vaxxed, and will be sensible in the lead up to departure…
- Rob says:
  
  18 Jul18 July 09:11
  
  Unlikely to add anything remotely worth $200 I reckon. Will let you know next week as my wife is not AMB but I am and we have two rooms due to their ludicrous rules on number of people allowed in huge suites.
  - Toppcat says:
    
    18 Jul18 July 09:17
    
    Thanks Rob – this would be much appreciated.
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    18 Jul18 July 09:34
    
    Depends how long you are there. I imagine breakfast costs Atleast $200 for 2 for 3 nights
    - Toppcat says:
      
      18 Jul18 July 09:54
      
      Yeah, I need to check the price of breakfast. 4 nights x 2 people, so it could well pay for itself.
      - John says:
        
        18 Jul18 July 12:35
        
        Some hotels will give you incentives to buy ambassador through them at check-in. Not sure about this one though
      - BP says:
        
        18 Jul18 July 16:01
        
        Breakfast is 35 euros per person If you book in advance via the app. 40 euros pp on the day.
        
        Has anyone confirmed if SS DV give the ambassador benefits on reward stays?
        
        I’ve a booking for mid-September. Who knows if it’ll go ahead. 450,000 IHG points is a hell of a lot to lose so I need to be pretty sure it’ll happen 10 days before otherwise I’ll cancel. I suspect Portugal may not let us in by that point!!
Andrew says:

18 Jul18 July 06:46

Amex should offer the same for Sweaty Betty offers! 🤣
- AJA says:
  
  18 Jul18 July 07:11
  
  @Andrew The way to achieve that is to save it. Then it disappears from the list, though is of course on the saved tab which is the least viewed tab, IMO. 😀
  - BJ says:
    
    18 Jul18 July 07:22
    
    Then he’d just feel guilty by association 🙂
    - Andrew says:
      
      18 Jul18 July 07:52
      
      And my details will have been sold to them to hound me with marketing for their cut price Lycra forevermore!
Michael C says:

18 Jul18 July 06:59

We’re down in Cornwall, all great though def. the busiest we’ve ever seen it: can’t imagine when the majority of schools break up. Still, booking ahead for things has worked fine and avoided crowds. Not sure what tomorrow will bring: pool at our holiday camp (hi-de-hi!) goes from excellent restricted sessions to mass free-for-all…

As a follow-up to my BA-cancelled LHR-BOS flight/holiday, they’ve rather mysteriously sent be an sms (?) saying “access your options here by Weds. or we’ll just cancel and return deposit”. No coverage yet today but preparing my “please move me to Easter week” spiel…
- BJ says:
  
  18 Jul18 July 07:16
  
  Weird or new, I’ve never had a text despite them having my number, and I’ve never had a deadline that I recall. Enjoy Cornwall, certainly a great week for tge weather. We’re headed down September to join tge other oldies after tve schools return so may need a bit of luck.
  - Michael C says:
    
    18 Jul18 July 08:26
    
    Cheers, BJ. I definitely would have chosen Sept if not school-bound. Been to a couple of excellent fish places & beaches. It’s not the HuaHin trip I imagined, but hey-ho!
    - BJ says:
      
      18 Jul18 July 08:55
      
      Every place has their own merits and values I think. I remember staying at Hampton Newport for 5 nights while it was only 5k. Based on feedback I was not expecting much but as it happened, I found I loved the area with much to interest me.
- Mikeact says:
  
  18 Jul18 July 08:01
  
  So how would one politely disagree without being lambasted? Not that I have an axe to grind with anyone.
  - bazza says:
    
    18 Jul18 July 08:26
    
    You wouldn’t. You would just try to be more tolerant of others opinions of course!!!
- Mikeact says:
  
  18 Jul18 July 08:42
  
  It certainly is very busy down here and as Rob said yesterday, already into private school holidays . The best of luck to those traveling here in the next few weeks !
Mike79 says:

18 Jul18 July 07:09

Does anyone have experience or know if the Deliveroo credit for Amex gold works when you use the Deliveroo App overseas?
- Dave says:
  
  18 Jul18 July 07:15
  
  I would imagine the charge needs to be in GBP.
- BuildBackBetter says:
  
  18 Jul18 July 07:16
  
  As per terms only spend in GBP is eligible.
SteveJ says:

18 Jul18 July 07:16

About to dip my toes into Che. Is there any referral code that would benefit me and the referrer or should I just go direct?
- Yorkie Aid says:
  
  18 Jul18 July 07:26
  
  Che referrals only seem to benefit the referrer ridiculously.
  - SteveJ says:
    
    18 Jul18 July 07:40
    
    Cheers, Voldemort it is then!
    - Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
      
      18 Jul18 July 08:55
      
      You currently get £50 for referring someone, so you could do a lot better if you can find someone willing to split it with you.
      - Reney says:
        
        18 Jul18 July 09:13
        
        I can’t even find any reference that I would get anything for referring a friend!
      - Mr. AC says:
        
        19 Jul19 July 00:22
        
        Referral bonuses are targeted. Not everyone gets them, and they have a time horizon.
    - John says:
      
      18 Jul18 July 12:42
      
      I think it’s personalised links
      
      You only get £50 when the referee makes 3 purchase transactions with debit card/bank transfer topups.
- Kevin C says:
  
  18 Jul18 July 09:11
  
  I don’t use Revolut but Vodafone rewards are offering £15 if you sign up and pay £4.99 for a card. Expect there are better deals out there.