The HfP chat thread – Sunday 8th August

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• Luke says:

  8 Aug8 August 14:24

  AMEX Gold card is showing an offer of £50 back for spending £500 at Apple… shame it expires end of August… would have been handy for the iPhone 13 Pro next month.

  • Optimus Prime says:

    8 Aug8 August 14:26

    Buy a gift card and use it to buy it next month.

    • Luke says:

      8 Aug8 August 15:01

      Good idea – will check the T&C to see if it excludes gift cards, if not will buy £500 worth. 🙂

      • KBuffett says:

        8 Aug8 August 15:32

        It does exclude gift cards, but I have received the credit on multiple previous occasions

      • Andrew says:

        8 Aug8 August 16:03

        All offers exclude gift cards but rarely do in practice. Remember that this offer is online only though.

      • Sarah says:

        8 Aug8 August 17:08

        I bought a gift card last time this offer appeared and was credited the £50 with no problem

  • Chrisasaurus says:

    8 Aug8 August 15:57

    Oh god is there really another one next month 😳

• Roberto says:

  8 Aug8 August 14:40

  Anyone had anything happen with Sir Richard card payments yet?
  Was it Friday the new terms come into action stopping all our favourite type of transactions?

  • Save East Coast Rewards says:

    8 Aug8 August 14:40

    Sir Richard? Is that the premium version of Beardy?

    • Roberto says:

      8 Aug8 August 14:50

      Yes, it’s for high earners and fellow astronauts.

      • AndyGWP says:

        8 Aug8 August 16:15

        New terms came in on the 5th Aug IIRC

        I think it’s unknown as to when Virgin may actually implement them though

• justinj says:

  8 Aug8 August 15:31

  Prob bit off topic, but sure there are plenty of people here with holiday homes in France.
  Am looking to get internet installed in a french property (holiday home). There is no active phone line (though I’d assume there is a connection somewhere)
  Any ideas on the best place to start? My french isn’t great so English speaking sales would be an advantage. Also any ideas on timescales?

  • BLT says:

    8 Aug8 August 15:46

    Not cheap but if no phoneline you could look into starlink satellite highspeed broadband.
    https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/High-speed-Starlink-satellite-internet-access-from-Elon-Musk-s-SpaceX-now-available-in-France

  • Chrisasaurus says:

    8 Aug8 August 15:54

    What is cell service like there?

  • SteveJ says:

    8 Aug8 August 16:03

    No idea what France is like, but if no phone line I presume some form of mobile broadband option must be possible?

    • justinj says:

      8 Aug8 August 16:41

      Well I think we should be able to get a landline installed.
      Not sure if mobile sim data will be good enough to use to work.

  • Ben says:

    8 Aug8 August 16:35

    Here in Croatia I use a 4G router and Croatian unlimited data SIM with no contract, meaning I can run it just for the months I’m here and cancel it for half the year. It costs about £25 per month (Croatian landlines are slow and expensive).

    In France I think ‘Red by SFR’ offer something similar. There will be other providers too. Or you can take a UK SIM card and use that provided you have free data roaming and you don’t fall foul of your T&Cs / fair usage policy.

    • Darko says:

      8 Aug8 August 20:13

      Ben, with which provider you have 4G router and unlimited data SIM?

      • Ben says:

        8 Aug8 August 21:18

        T-com (Hrvatski Telekom). I think it’s 199kn per month.

  • Chas says:

    8 Aug8 August 16:55

    I have some experience of this, as my parents have a place in semi-rural France. Slightly different circumstances, as my Dad is fluent in French, but I know that it wasn’t that straight forward for them, but more because of the type of property it is. He finds the local Mairie (town council for want of a better translation) quite useful for getting an understanding of things before he contacts companies directly to deal with things like this. Also, my understanding is that the French market isn’t anywhere near as liberalised as the UK is for telecoms, so you might find France Telecom a sensible place to start. Whether they’d be able to help you in English is another matter though.

  • Tony1 says:

    8 Aug8 August 17:17

    We use SKY DSL in Spain, bit expensive at around 100€ per month but can stream and unlimited download. Think based in Germany. Try to get someone to install unless you like Ikea projects.

  • JDB says:

    8 Aug8 August 17:18

    Free used to be the cheapest option, but Orange (France Telecom) is quite competitive now. Broadband is a lot more expensive than in the UK. If you don’t speak French, I would go into a ‘phone shop and you will find someone who speaks some English, easier than trying to do it by telephone. Watch out for auto renewal after any introductory price – you usually need to give long notice, sometimes only by registered letter which also applies to lots of things in France like insurance.

  • Brighton Belle says:

    8 Aug8 August 17:52

    Friends use a Free mobile Sim put in a 4G mobile Internet router available on Amazon. Depending on your proximity to a Free mast 40 Gb download 10 upload is regularly possible. Look at the Huawei B535. The website to see the French masts is cartoradio.fr it’s not perfect but does the job. Install their app.

    They have a mobile home with no phone line.

    • Lady London says:

      8 Aug8 August 18:34

      I would strongly suggest ask a few neighbours about signal and quality of service.

      see if you can do just with mobile or mobile router. Take a box (broadband) only if you cant get speed or amount of data required just with mobile. Only take a sans engagement deal to start. Service provision can be poor and customer service varies from not much to nonexistent. Legally remedy for effective nonprovision of service hard to enforce.

      If money no object start with orange or sosh mobile then see if that will work

  • Lyn says:

    8 Aug8 August 19:44

    Orange (old French Telecom) may have the most reliable landline / fiber broadband internet. It also gives you access to Orange hotspots when travelling in France.

    They have a special Anglophone customer service service centre where you can, and indeed almost must, speak with them in English. Mon to Fri 8 – 5 I think. A (very) well-kept secret.

    Just seen your question and haven’t had a chance to look through all the replies, sorry. If no-one else gives you the number and you don’t mind checking back on tomorrow’s chat I’ll look it up and post it for you then. They also have 4G or whatever satellite connections so that may more cost effective, depending on how much of the year you will be needing internet service. I don’t know anything about any of the other companies.

    One thing to remember is that in some rural parts of France both mobile phone coverage and internet satellite coverage can be sporadic. If you are in a village, it could be worth asking at the Mairie which companies work well and even then it may depend on which part of a village you are in.

    • justinj says:

      8 Aug8 August 20:35

      Thank you so much, this is really helpful. It’s between Nice and Monaco so not rural France.
      However looking at neighbours broadband it seems you can only get Adsl in the vicinity and not Fiber.
      Maybe a sim or 4G (but would need to be unlimited) might be the answer. As it is will only probably be used a maximum of 4 months of the year. However my job is quite internet heavy with downloads etc.
      If you wouldn’t mind posting the number when you find it that would be really handy.

      • Magic Mike says:

        8 Aug8 August 21:50

        If it’s not rural you should be able to get at least ADSL, probably VDSL and possibly fibre.

        Four main ISPs in France

        Orange.fr
        SFR.fr
        Free.fr
        Bouyguestelecom.fr

        All have online checkers for availability that should give you an idea even if your French is ropey..

      • Lyn says:

        9 Aug9 August 10:37

        Justin, I’ve just written a long reply to you in what I thought was today’s chat, but it seems to have disappeared. If I can’t find it I’ll re-post it later when I have time

        • Lyn says:

          9 Aug9 August 13:34

          I’ll attempt a re-post here.

          The phone number for Orange’s English-speaking customer service is 09 69 36 39 00. Add 33 and remove the 0 from outside France. I think it is Mon – Fri only, 8 to 5. I’ve just tried it and it seems to work, with the message in English. Usually you have to choose between Commercial (Sales) and Technical (reporting problems and just possibly arranging installation of a new line). This may be unique among French phone companies so perhaps a plus for Orange in your case.

          They are normally very professional and should be able to help you find the most reasonable option. They probably still have “Ligne Residence Secondaire” (holiday home) landlines, which are useful because you can turn them off once or twice a year when you are away for extended periods.

          However, adding the internet part may be tricky. There used to be an “Internet Decouverte” ADSL option that could be added (and sometimes also be turned on and off) but I think they have discontinued that. Their rationale is they want everyone moved over to Fiber, conveniently forgetting that it isn’t actually available everywhere yet.

          By the way rural France in the context of mobile phone and 3G/4G coverage usually means anywhere outside Paris which has hills nearby. So, in this context, between Nice and Monaco could well count as rural France. Especially if Fiber isn’t available.

          Like Lady London I don’t think I can stress enough the importance of local on the ground knowledge of what actually works in your particular location. Neighbours, the Mairie …

          Good luck!

        • Lady London says:

          9 Aug9 August 14:51

          https://www.ariase.com/box/carte-fibre-optique

          use to check presence of fibre optic cable at the location

• Soo says:

  8 Aug8 August 15:32

  Sage advice welcome:
  BAPP, will refer for Platinum (then downgrade to BA blue), then which rewards card for one year? Nectar? don’t need lounge access until silver expires in July2022 so Gold not yet useful.
  Thanks!

  • Genghis says:

    8 Aug8 August 15:49

    We’re now using Nectar Amex in between Plat / BAPP his n hers churns.

• Anthony says:

  8 Aug8 August 17:15

  Does anyone know if you can use BA eVouchers to pay towards a reward flight?

  Thanks

  • ChrisC says:

    9 Aug9 August 01:14

    No you can’t

    See the T&Cs on the BA Covid voucher page

• Albert says:

  8 Aug8 August 17:45

  has anybody found any cheap & reliable covid day 2 & day 8 home test packs for amber arrivals? best I can see is randox for £86

  • bafan says:

    8 Aug8 August 18:10

    I did Expert Medicals which was a bit cheaper. Fully vacc’d so just Day 2 in my case (£28 plus £7.99 for shipping). Ordered Sat morning, arrived Tuesday, sent back same day, arrived with them on Wednesday, had result on Saturday morning.

    • Albert says:

      8 Aug8 August 18:58

      thanks

      • Simon says:

        8 Aug8 August 19:58

        Expert medical site doesn’t let me submit an order this weekend, very annoying

• Vin says:

  8 Aug8 August 17:50

  Lufty Miles expiry question please.
  Can I use miles expiring at the end of the year to book flights for next year or must the flights be taken within the miles validity period ?

  • Blair says:

    8 Aug8 August 18:38

    You can assign expiring miles to a future reservatiob but they will go up in smoke if you cancel the reservation post-expiry date.

    • Vin says:

      8 Aug8 August 19:54

      Many thanks for your response @Blair
      Still holding out in hope that a new M&M card appears this year …

      • Blair says:

        8 Aug8 August 20:58

        I’ve given up hope so did one night in a M&M portal hotel to round up my balance and cash out on a future flight.

• Boi says:

  8 Aug8 August 18:55

  Any hotel recommendation for Vancouver? Going there end of this month for 4 nights.

  • BJ says:

    8 Aug8 August 19:15

    A few years since I was there so cannot even recall where I stayed. However, if this is a leisure trip for you and the family just wanted to recommend you put whale watching out of Steveston near top of your agenda. It was an awesome experience. If you do go for it I recommend the larger slower boats you can move around on easily as it is more comfortable and they still managed to find the orcas just fine.

  • Blenz101 says:

    8 Aug8 August 21:11

    Rosewood is lovely as is the Shangri-La both very central and had excellent stays.

  • Doc says:

    8 Aug8 August 21:20

    Depends on what you are doing in Vancouver. We stayed at the Delta (Marriott) near the waterfront since we were there 2 days and wanted to be quite central including taking the train to the airport, which was very convenient. Not luxurious but had some points to burn, so fitted the bill and was very comfortable and lots of places to eat nearby within 10 minutes walk. If you want luxury, look elsewhere.

  • mark2 says:

    8 Aug8 August 21:23

    I can recommend Delta Downtown Suites (Marriott) having stayed there twice. Excellent room, service and food.
    Also Fairmont Waterfront which is more expensive.

  • paulm says:

    8 Aug8 August 21:39

    The Loden, (bookable through FHR) way very good, very well looked after and suite upgrade.

  • GaryE says:

    8 Aug8 August 22:26

    Stayed in Sutton Place Hotel – very central

    • GaryE says:

      8 Aug8 August 22:30

      Should have added when we were there 4 years ago all the hotels were charging for WIFI. Not sure if this has changed in Vancouver but worth checking as it was about £10 a day.

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