Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 20th July

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

We are running this daily chat thread on Head for Points during the coronavirus outbreak.

Historically, the daily ‘Bits’ articles were the de facto repository for random comments and questions.  With the news flow being lighter, we are running fewer ‘Bits’ articles.

The comments under this article are where you should post questions about travel and, indeed, anything else on your mind.  At this tricky time, and given that many of you are at home, we want the HfP community to have a place to chat.

Please only comment under the main articles on the site if your comment is directly related to the topic of the article.  This has long-term benefits as it keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

Old chat threads are hidden from the HfP home page.  If you want to look for something in an old thread, click here.  This brings up all the articles in our ‘General’ category which includes the chat threads.

Category

General

Comments (375)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • Mycity says:
    20 Jul20 July 07:38

    Morning all, I’ve applied for an supplementary card on my BA Premium card for my daughter, different address it’s been approved. Any one know which address it will be delivered too, mine or my daughters? Thanks.

  • Degsy says:
    20 Jul20 July 07:44

    Finally. 1,500 Virgin points posted this am for the Disney+ subscription from almost six months ago. Taken an awful lot of chasing though, so it feels they have been earned the hard way.

  • Njb says:
    20 Jul20 July 07:45

    I have only just been made aware of this as an acquaintance was turned away at airport because of the validity left on her passport:

    ‘You need to have at least 6 months left on an adult or child passport to travel to most countries in Europe (not including Ireland).
    If you renewed your current passport before the previous one expired, extra months may have been added to its expiry date. Any extra months on your passport over 10 years may not count towards the 6 months needed.’

    The extra months were not seen as valid for entry to Spain by the airline. This was inly picked up at airport and not online checkin.

    • Sandgrounder says:
      20 Jul20 July 07:51

      This has been around for a while, over 10 yrs no good for EU/Shengen. You don’t get the extra validity on renewal any more. Basically, a new passport is now good for 9.5 years. But hey, at least we got to make it blue. Yay!

      • Jonathan says:
        20 Jul20 July 08:14

        There was talk that the Maroon / Burgundy colour (that most people have still got) is a legal requirement for all EU passports, this turned out not to be the case

    • Anna says:
      20 Jul20 July 08:23

      As Sandgrounder says, this information has been out there for ages. I even got an email last year shortly before I renewed my own passport warning me about the extra months needed for it to be valid for EU travel from this year.
      Note though – I think there has also been some misinformation on the part of airlines, I think you only need 3 months validity for return dates from the EU.

      • Njb says:
        20 Jul20 July 08:42

        Please see Red Flyers explanation Anna. Its not been around for ages so worth checking passports before you fly to Europe.
        Eg – Friends issue date was 30 July 11, Expiry 30 Nov 21. But airline said expiry date was 10 years from issue date – as 30 July 21 and she was turned away.

        • Rob says:
          20 Jul20 July 08:43

          This seems to be correct – it popped up this week on gov.uk when I was looking at Portugal entry rules.

        • Anna says:
          20 Jul20 July 08:58

          The email I got was sent 12 months ago, I consider that quite a long time to check these things. It was also widely covered in the press.

          • @mkcol says:
            23 Jul23 July 11:11

            Concur. This was warned of ages ago, it’s just that people haven’t understood/forgot.

    • Red Flyer says:
      20 Jul20 July 08:30

      Don’t think people realise what you are saying here so I will give an example. If passport was issued Feb 2012 and Expires Feb 2022 you are ok but if issued say, Oct 2011 and expires Feb 2022 you are not ok because the 6 months remaining is the same but the 6 months from end of issue date is not within 6 months of travel date. Crazy rule but is being applied.

    • Sam G says:
      20 Jul20 July 08:47

      https://check-passport-for-travel-to-europe.homeoffice.gov.uk/

      Though it’s simple enough – 9.5 years from the date of issue

      I’m surprised airlines aren’t pushing this message more and further in advance – depending on the airline online check in could be too late!

      • Njb says:
        20 Jul20 July 08:54

        Sadly they are not highlighting it – on the same flight a family was turned away too at the gate.

        • Red Flyer says:
          20 Jul20 July 09:21

          I only picked it up on a travel phone in last week and the travel agent they had on was using as an example of where they add value over booking direct as this kind of thing would be picked up by them as part of their admin process.

      • AJA says:
        20 Jul20 July 10:02

        Thanks for posting the passport checker. I knew that you needed 6 months validity to be able to travel to the EU but I did not know about the extra months being added being excluded from the calculation.

        • Simon says:
          20 Jul20 July 11:12

          Just had a small panic. My wife’s passport expires 29/11/2022, but is only valid for travel to Spain till 29th August this year, according to the above link… We get back from Spain on 24th August. Cutting it fine, but all good!

          • Dave says:
            20 Jul20 July 12:51

            Can I check my understanding of the rules. From the .gov website you need both:
            have at least 6 months left
            be less than 10 years old (even if it has 6 months or more left)

            My wife’s passport was issued on 17 November 2011 and expires on 17 July 2022. I see this as being ok for trips starting before 17 November 2021. Is this correct.

    • Simon says:
      20 Jul20 July 13:12

      @Dave No. 10 years from issue, is expiry. Last date to get in to EU is 6 months before that.

      • Dave says:
        20 Jul20 July 13:34

        Thanks Simon.

        Anyone know if it is really 6 months or just 3 months. I know the .gov website states 6 months but there is story about Jet2 denying boarding but then agreeing that this was wrong and only 3 months is required (EU rules not uk).

        https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/uk-holidaymakers-denied-flight-due-to-inaccurate-government-passport-expiry-advice-for-eu-travel/

        Nonetheless, the government states that “you need to have at least six months left on an adult or child passport to travel to most countries in Europe (not including Ireland).”

        If such a statement were true, the couple would not have been eligible to leave the UK. However, Jet2 revised its decision, and now the couple is to fly to Ibiza, with the company reimbursing them for the additional costs.

        Thanks

        • John says:
          20 Jul20 July 21:54

          The UK does not care about your passport when you leave, as long as you were in the UK legally.

          You need 3 months of validity to enter Schengen, but British passports which are valid for 10 years and 6 months are considered to expire at 10 years, thus you actually need 9 months left on those.

  • JanM says:
    20 Jul20 July 07:51

    Hi,
    So vaccinated overseas so I’ve decided to spend 10 days in Croatia (on the Green List) to go back to the UK that way. Flying out tomorrrow (the 21st), so I guess that counts as Day 0. Would Day 10 be Saturday the 31st or would it be better to fly back on Sunday the 1st?
    Thanks for the advice!
    Jan

    • Ls says:
      20 Jul20 July 09:10

      The date you arrive in Croatia (not the date you leave your country) is day 0. You then need to spend 10 nights in Croatia. The day you leave Croatia/arrive in UK doesn’t count. I read it as the 31st being the first day you can fly to U.K without quarantine

      • Ls says:
        20 Jul20 July 09:12

        Actually, reading the gov website the wording has changed. It’s 10 full days. So I would recommend 1st Aug.

        • Jan M says:
          20 Jul20 July 16:18

          Thanks. That’s what I’ve done. Better safe than sorry. And should still be back before the next update gets released, so fingers crossed no France-like surprises…

  • Sam says:
    20 Jul20 July 07:56

    Re-locating to Singapore permanently. Feel like there’s so much I need to do! Can I keep my credit cards open for now?

    Shame as I’ve yet to use the BA voucher and just signed up for Virgin+ 2 months ago!

    Anything else that I need/should do? Feel like I’m missing a lot of things…

    • SteveJ says:
      20 Jul20 July 07:57

      Open an account with HSBC. When working abroad many moons ago found it far easier to open a local account when I had a relationship with HSBC elsewhere. Otherwise you’re a nobody to them.

      • Sam G says:
        20 Jul20 July 08:17

        I was actually disappointed with HSBC in this regard – it didn’t seem to save me any hassle in Singapore, their £/$ transferring options aren’t competitive vs Wise and when I first moved their the local banking (app etc) wasn’t great though this has caught up somewhat.

        You can just as easily walk into a DBS branch and open an account, so unless you are HSBC already wouldn’t go out of my way to use them.

        I kept most of my UK cards open which made things easier coming back. You can get a curve card if you want to spend in $ and pay your bill in £ e.g. when you first move over.

        Once you’ve got three months payslips it’s easy to open local cards and there are some great sign up bonuses and enhanced earning capabilities – mainlymiles is a good site (I believe the writers are readers here !) . Citi premiermiles is my favourite card

        Once travel opens up you’ll want to be collecting Krisflyer miles for local Asia travels in proper business class and make sure you spend some time reading up on their “stopover” rule – if you plan trips carefully you get a lot of value

        Flying back to the UK Turkish Miles & Smiles are the best via Citi and it’s simple to visit their city office to make bookings on other *A carriers as their website / call centre isn’t the best

        Had the most amazing six years there and I’m hopeful at some point in the near future they do open up and you get to enjoy hopping around Asia like we did!

      • Dubious says:
        20 Jul20 July 15:05

        I’d recommend not transferring any UK accounts (HSBC / AMEX) – keep SG and UK separate. You can then signup to local accounts when a suitable joining promotion comes along. This is the only good way to get points/$ on cards here.

    • Jonathan says:
      20 Jul20 July 08:19

      You can easily tell Amex what your circumstances are, and they’ll contact their counterparts in Singapore. You’ll also be allowed to keep your member since number!

      Whether or not you can keep your voucher is something you’ll need to discuss with Amex

      • Sam G says:
        20 Jul20 July 08:52

        I didn’t have any luck with this either – they still wanted to wait for 3 months payslips. But yes, “international transfer” should be a thing

        You keep the BA voucher even without a card, you could either use it for a one way flight back to SG or if your trips are frequent enough (unlikely currently!) nest it within other miles tickets (assuming you don’t have flights in your package)

        Worth noting that the new BA voucher will be valuable as an expat – I class availability and allowing foreign origins. Downside is foreign % but could work if you’re doing work travel, have bills to pay in UK still or could get a relative to use a supp

    • BuildBackBetter says:
      20 Jul20 July 09:44

      Welcome to the world of 4 miles per SGD. You read that right, more than 7 miles per £!
      Don’t do an Amex transfer as you might lose out on signup bonuses. Check carefully. Also read milelion blog in addition to Mainly Miles blog.
      Get a Wise card for spending in the first few days. Then open a DBS account ASAP. Don’t start applying for credit cards until you figure out the best signup bonus order.
      The regular Amex cards in SG are crap. Only the platinum is worth having, if it suits your requirements.

    • Thom says:
      20 Jul20 July 09:52

      Keep your U.K. accounts open – most banks will let you update to an oversees address. if you have a U.K. one you can use still that and (assuming you are a U.K. national) you could probably apply for new products if required.

      In terms of banks and credit cards in Singapore most will require 3mths of payslips before they will open an account. DBS will open you a bank account on day 1 (a letter from your company would cover most of their paperwork requirements). UOB in theory does as well, but in practice you’ll find you are missing a required piece of paperwork … if you are moving with a company who has a relationship with a particular bank then they can often arrange accounts and credit cards from day 1.

      If you do need to transfer back to the U.K., for smaller amounts Standard Chartered and DBS are competitive and very similar to the likes of wise (I actually found them cheaper for transfer up to s$1,500)!

  • zark says:
    20 Jul20 July 07:58

    Haven’t seen this reported.
    If anyone has the BA Accelerating Business card taken out with the 30K Avios promotion in April /May, Amex informed us that Avios have not been automatically transferring each statement date to BA and the 30K bonus which is supposed to go directly to the BA account will not happen, all until IT glitch is fixed.
    As an aside, prior to call Amex Brighton (who were well aware of the problem), spent 1 hour on Amex webchat trying to address this and later received a call from them to tell me to looks at T&C’s -clueless.

    • Rob says:
      20 Jul20 July 08:49

      this is very amusing, for reasons that will become apparent in the next week or so.

    • Jon says:
      20 Jul20 July 15:48

      Has anyone had any luck getting Amex/BA to open an On Business account with BA for them? I applied and was accepted for the card 3 months ago and I am still waiting for my On Business account to be created. Also experiencing problems with no Avios being transferred to my Exec Club account.

      • Jon says:
        20 Jul20 July 16:06

        Further to this, I’ve just spoken to Amex’s Commercial Card Services Team. They are aware of three ongoing issues with the On Business cards: Avios not being transferred, On Business accounts not being created and welcome bonus points not being credited. All sounds a mess to be honest.

  • Bill says:
    20 Jul20 July 08:03

    easyJet are having another attempt to launch MAN-IOM from November

  • JDB says:
    20 Jul20 July 08:14

    Good morning and thank you for all your contributions (some perceptive, some less so!) to yesterday’s debate re Amex retentions etc.

    • Andrew says:
      20 Jul20 July 08:17

      What was the conclusion?

      • Harrier25 says:
        20 Jul20 July 08:22

        I think that if you receive retention points and cancel soon after you must go and hand yourself in at the nearest Police station!😀

        • Chris Heyes says:
          20 Jul20 July 08:26

          Harrier25 No that wasn’t the conclusion
          The conclusion was the Goose is dead no more eggs
          and the police come looking for you to charge you for the dastardly crime lol

      • JDB says:
        20 Jul20 July 08:27

        I don’t there was one really. My initial comment was prompted by the incredible volume of comments recently about retentions which culminated in two comments on Sunday by two people making comments about ‘playing’ Amex which seemed unfortunate. It reminded me of a school scholarship exam question my son had at age 12 – “can lying ever be acceptable?”. I suspect the 12 yr olds’ answers were different to those the adults on here in desperate pursuit of points would now give, to judge by yesterday’s responses.

        • Keely says:
          20 Jul20 July 08:35

          I wonder how that plays with Father Christmas and tooth fairy then…? And the numerous times I told my son “we’ll see”
          when what I really meant was “no” 🤣

          • JDB says:
            20 Jul20 July 08:49

            That’s actually a great example! Obviously the exam question wasn’t a yes/no answer, but a 700 word essay question where they just want to see how you structure/argue a case. Other options were “what is art?” and another, seemingly for this site “What is the purpose of travel?”

        • Anna says:
          20 Jul20 July 08:38

          That was possibly because you were throwing around allegations of criminal fraud, JDB, which not surprisingly got people’s backs up (a major though usually unspoken principle of this site is that we share tips that stay on the right side of the law), seemingly on the basis that you have a friend who is a barrister (though you didn’t specify whether this friend is even a criminal barrister!)

        • Chris Heyes says:
          20 Jul20 July 08:42

          JDB But of course “lying is acceptable” Do you or anyone else know someone who has never lied ?
          Have you never said that fairies, angels, devil, ghosts, goblins, god, farther christmas exists

          • Chris Heyes says:
            20 Jul20 July 08:48

            farther from christmas lol

          • JDB says:
            20 Jul20 July 09:02

            Indeed. See my reply to Keely above. I’m glad I didn’t have that essay question aged 12, but I think the point is, yes it may be acceptable to lie in certain circumstances, but what are they and where do you draw the line? That’s trickier. Having said that I prefer this question to the one about art; I had to get someone else to discuss that part of the practice paper.

    • Mouse says:
      20 Jul20 July 11:14

      Thank-you for sparking the debate JDB. Whilst I disagree with you, the discussion did lead to me spending an enjoyable half hour reading about the legal meaning of dishonesty. This was the best piece I found in case anyone else is interested: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/criminal-law/news/2018/jan/ivey-v-genting-casinos-what-it-does-and-what-it-does-not

      • WaynedP says:
        20 Jul20 July 13:23

        +1 @Mouse re grateful for (largely) civil debate, and thanks especially for adding your fascinating research.

        For my own personal reasons, I’m allied with JDB and ensure that my own behaviour avoids anything that remotely approaches failing the sniff test.

        Example I’ve set time aside to phone TFL later this week to reinstate a £7.40 charge that dropped off my supp Amex Plat card but remains pending on my wife’s primary card. I suspect TFL mistakenly identified card clash as we both went through identical barriers and touch in/touch out points within seconds of each other – but both enjoyed a trip into London for dinner and a movie for the first time this year.

        Anyone wanting to climb on the band-wagon (if this is a glitch in the system) just be aware that I will be reporting the matter to TFL as soon as the amount moves from pending, so TFL should be equipped to plug any gap.

        I recognise that adults should be largely free to follow or override their own conscience on many issues of this materiality so I generally resist commenting.

        But, what I do struggle with, is when people demonstrate the hypocrisy of employing guile to further their own individual advantage patently beyond the limits of reasonable or fair usage (when viewed at a community/society level), but then hop up and down in fury asserting their “human” rights, which by definition are compiled from a global, human solidarity perspective.

        I have read posters extolling an individualistic approach to gaming the system for their own benefit, and who see no inconsistency in using societal anti disability discrimination laws to enhance their own travel convenience. They either lack the mindfulness to recognise the hypocrisy of that mindset, or they choose to deliberately ignore it, as I guess is their prerogative.

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Learn more on our About page.

VAA

Latest comments

Latest Forum Posts

Get 30,000 points bonus with American Express Platinum

Amex Gold

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.3 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

Get 20,000 bonus points and your first year free with American Express Gold

Amex Gold