Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 20th July

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

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Comments (375)

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

  • John says:

    Question re cancelled flight.
    Booked a First class ticket immediately date opened up using a 241. Month later booked return on line and called to get it linked to 241 and get avios back. She did this but said it had to stay on a different PNR.

    Outbound flight now cancelled but return still live ( looks like that return one flight does fly everyday so not likely to be cancelled)
    I know I can have my cancelled flight moved to one year from departure date but what about the return if is on a different PNR but same 241?

    Thanks

  • Anna says:

    Does anyone know if the FCDO advice for France has changed since it was put on the “amber plus” list? There’s a possibility that Spain/Balearics/Canaries may also go amber plus, but to be honest as long as we’re not travelling against FCDO advice I think we’ll go to Tenerife regardless and just pay for my OH to get the day 5 test. We booked the trip in good faith so he can work from home for 2 days when his leave finishes and we’d be insured as long as we’re not travelling against FCDO advice.

    • Optimus Prime says:

      It didn’t change. You can look at the different updates here: https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france

      • Anna says:

        Thanks OP, I was just wondering if anyone on here had happened to check it in the past couple of days! Preparing for the possibility of having to convince my OH that a fortnight in a lovely bungalow in amber(plus?) Tenerife is better than 10 days in a Holiday Inn in green Gibraltar!

        • Lady London says:

          Friends in France reported no change in UK advice today even though a French Government rep commented this is a misinterpretation by the UK as the beta/South African variant outbreak is only on French Overseas Territory island 8,000 kilometers from mainland France

          Even if the UK Gov knows they made a mistake I would have thought for the sake of saving face they will make sure to leave two weeks or more before correcting it

    • TGLoyalty says:

      Why would Spain go amber+ is beta variant an issue?

      • Anna says:

        Apparently there are more beta cases in Spain than France!
        It’s an absolute farce and not at all wise to rub the French up the wrong way for no reason, seemingly.

  • Ryan says:

    Hi all,

    Switching over to octopus energy for a stop gap – first come first serve with a referral code 🙂

  • Amy says:

    Has anyone used Ali Express? Is it legit and would you recommend it?

    • Babyg says:

      is that a real question (ali express?)… its only one of the biggest companies in the world.. that said like any similar site there are people who can scam you…. so go with a trusted seller (much like you would with say ebay)

    • ankomonkey says:

      While browsing I noticed many of their sellers have incredibly short tenure. I suspect that some may list themselves as a new business after a little bit of negative feedback. I’ve purchased a few things from different sellers on there as the prices were insanely cheap – only had 1 issue where they printed something on the back rather than the front of the t-shirt and wouldn’t do anything about it.

      • Rui N. says:

        In those case just complain to Ali itself. The seller has 48 hours to respond. In the two times I had to do this (they sent something wrong), they didn’t even bother to reply, so I got the money back quickly.

    • Jody says:

      I’ve bought loads of stuff on there. I’d say only about 50% of it has arrived though! However, have always found them to be very good at refunding when this has happened.

  • Luke says:

    Is Radisson no longer an Amex partner?? I need to top up my account and I can’t find Radisson in the MR Hotel Partners

    • Harrier25 says:

      You’re right, Luke, Radisson has disappeared from the Hotel Partners page leaving just Hilton and Marriott Bonvoy. There has been no warning that they were leaving. Rob, is this just an error or have Radisson actually left the Amex Rewards programme?

    • QFFlyer says:

      I made a transfer a few days ago to reset the clock, so it’s recent if so. I hope it’s not gone for good!

      • QFFlyer says:

        NOTIFICATION: Due to a technical issue, it’s currently not possible to transfer your Membership Rewards points to Radisson Rewards. We are working on fixing the issue. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.

  • Timbo says:

    Avios to Nectar online conversion will be back soon!

    The error popup on the Nectar website now says:
    “From 9am Wednesday 21th July, you will be able to convert your Avios to Nectar online.”

    (yes, it really does say “21th”…)

    • Andrew says:

      Finally!! Only took them 7 months. Just don’t be too trigger happy to transfer before 1 Aug if you want your competition entries to count.

    • Mike says:

      21 July maybe but which 21 July (2021 or 2022)

  • Super Secret Stuff says:

    Has anyone had a Rimowa purchase refunded to a debit card? Asking for a friend who is about to cancel there Amex

  • trader363 says:

    Need around 70k Marriott points for a redemption ASAP – looking to check in next week. There isn’t currently a sale on points.

    Any ideas on the quickest way to obtain them without buying them at full price? I had a thought to ask a mate to transfer them to me, then buy them back in a points bonus to make him whole, but he doesn’t have enough

    • Super Secret Stuff says:

      Amex transfer

      • trader363 says:

        lol I should have added that I’ve used all my Amex MR points.

        I only have Emirates, Etihad, Krisflyer & Avios left

        • TGLoyalty says:

          Then unfortunately not

          • TGLoyalty says:

            Or buy a load of rimowa gear … send over the points and then return it all after you cancel the card.

          • Super Secret Stuff says:

            Half what I was hinting at when I commented Amex transfer. A bit extreme for me unless I am cancelling already which I am

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