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The HfP chat thread – Thursday 12th August

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General

Comments (618)

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

  • KP says:
    12 Aug12 August 14:48

    Travelling to UAE at the end of Aug. What are the chances it turns back to Red on the next review on 26th Aug ?

    • kitten says:
      12 Aug12 August 14:51

      0

    • Blenz101 says:
      12 Aug12 August 14:53

      Cases continue to fall and full vaccinations are at nearly 75% plus of the resident population. You will be fine. Abu Dhabi is more restrictive than Dubai or the northern emirates. Precautions remain in place including masks in all public settings unless eating or drinking, fines are high for non-compliance and are enforced.

      Weather will still be insanely hot.

      • KP says:
        12 Aug12 August 15:09

        Thanks.

        Yes Im aware re the weather. But the plan is to stay indoors (good hotels + malls). We’ve been there a few times before so not keen on the touristy outdoor stuff

    • KP says:
      12 Aug12 August 15:23

      Hotel rates are really very cheap in Dubai for the next few weeks even in the premium/ luxury end. (Due to the weather of course)

    • Blair says:
      12 Aug12 August 17:41

      I’m here now and must be an outlier in terms of heat tolerance as I’ll happily spend all day on the beach. The pools are full of Europeans; well full of those who are here but clearly hotels are not at full occupancy.

      • KP says:
        12 Aug12 August 18:07

        That’s encouraging as lots of people are puttinf us off from travelling. Our argument is if we spend most time indoors in hotels and malls and travel by cabs (reasonable plan by Dubai standards) then the weather shouldnt realllyyy impact us much (fingers crossed)

        • Eoc says:
          12 Aug12 August 18:55

          Believe me when it’s 43 degrees outside in Dubai most cabs aren’t a cool haven…

        • Blair says:
          12 Aug12 August 19:05

          Don’t fear the heat; get outdoors till say 11am and again after 3pm. Go indoors or sit under an umbrella if you find the middday sun too much. Taxis are very cheap and even ‘exec’ cars are cheap too. You won’t be walking much anywhere outdoors but that’s not limited to summer. It’s a drive-in city.

  • Soo says:
    12 Aug12 August 15:05

    Amex Nectar: does it accept a Nectar supplementary card for application? or only a principal Nectar card. For OH eventually.

    My new Sainsburys nectar card is taking over 1.5 weeks to arrive, even as they said it’s been approved.

  • SteveJ says:
    12 Aug12 August 15:14

    Did anyone sign up to the Wise (TransferWise) “OwnWise” offer? Existing customers get 5% bonus shares after 12 months ownership, for shares purchased before 10 Sept 2021. Anyone partaking?

    • BuildBackBetter says:
      12 Aug12 August 16:52

      Investing in individual companies is not a wise decision.

      • JDB says:
        12 Aug12 August 17:07

        That view is a popular trope here! I can see why some disagree, but it very much depends on your personal situation. I have just spent an hour with my (discretionary) broker; he charges large fees but earns them handsomely and has done for 20+ years. I benchmark what he does, after all fees/costs, very carefully. I separately invest in stocks and investment trusts for myself and other family members. For me, index funds (and unit trusts generally), however cheap, are simply not the answer. If I did buy cheap global trackers, I would also alongside them buy some long term global sector trackers eg healthcare, tech or other suitable ‘themes’. Completely ruling out buying individual stocks is madness but ironically the rush to index funds throws up lots of opportunities to buy great stocks at good prices.

  • Stephen says:
    12 Aug12 August 15:17

    Referred a friend to AMEX Platinum, application was unsuccessful due to income. It says if they have other sources of income to get in touch. Does anyone know if these manual reviews still get the referral bonus? Thanks

    • Tom says:
      12 Aug12 August 15:30

      Most of the time they do not and you will need to chase it after – they will ask for name and address of the referee.

    • Manny_D says:
      12 Aug12 August 16:11

      Quite surprised the application was unsuccesful because of income. I though AMEX no longer had a minimum income requirement.

      • Rob says:
        12 Aug12 August 16:13

        They don’t. They DO look at income vs expenditure.

        • Manny_D says:
          12 Aug12 August 16:21

          Ah I see. How would they validate this?

          • Stephen says:
            12 Aug12 August 17:49

            Yes, I was really surprised seeing the email reason for the application being unsuccessful and stating to call them to take into account other sources of income such as household

          • Rob says:
            12 Aug12 August 17:50

            They can see what you spend on your other cards via your credit report, and your address and mortgage / renter status makes it easy to estimate your monthly housing costs I would assume.

  • @mkcol says:
    12 Aug12 August 15:54

    About to book The Mothership into Hilton Craigendarroch Suites (it’s a Grand Vacations Club property) using my profile & her as the other guest.
    I can’t see anywhere what benefits if any would be gained on site for my diamond status – I’m expecting none, but do wonder if there should be any.

    • @mkcol says:
      12 Aug12 August 15:57

      Hit submit too soon.

      This is the place: https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/abzcrgv-hilton-grand-vacations-at-craigendarroch-suites/

      Should I expect anything for her on site, or just the points into my account for the stay?

      • @mkcol says:
        12 Aug12 August 16:03

        Have finally on the Honors site found my own answer – that took too long to locate. I shall not get overly excited.

        AS A DIAMOND MEMBER, YOU RECEIVE THE FOLLOWING BENEFITS:
        Two bottles of water per stay

        2,000 Hilton Honors® points per stay

        • thehornets says:
          12 Aug12 August 16:46

          As I understand it:
          If you book via Hilton Hotels, you get the water and 2,000 points per stay.
          If you book a Lodge via Hilton Grand Vacations (higvc.co.uk), you get nothing as these are essentially you using someone’s unwanted timeshare capacity.

    • John says:
      12 Aug12 August 18:46

      From the Hilton terms and conditions:

      To earn Hilton Honors Points or credit toward tier status for hotel stays, a Member must be a registered, paying and staying guest at a participating hotel within the Hilton Portfolio and meet all of the conditions described herein.

  • Gary says:
    12 Aug12 August 15:56

    Think mentioned a few times but just want to confirm. VA reward + CC is 0% FX if transactions in euros?

    • @mkcol says:
      12 Aug12 August 15:58

      Think it’s only for “in person” transactions.

    • Rob says:
      12 Aug12 August 16:13

      For in person transactions, yes. Not internet / ‘cardholder not present’ payments, so prepaying a hotel will incur a charge.

    • Harry T says:
      12 Aug12 August 16:17

      Yes, for in person transactions, which I confirmed recently when visiting Barcelona.

  • J says:
    12 Aug12 August 16:21

    Anyone know where I can use billhop to make an investment? Looking for an app/site that allows wire deposits into it, but also allows for quick/simple transfer outs. I hate interactive broker who I am using atm. Freetrade doesnt allow bank transfers unless it’s from the account linked to the app (which isn’t possible with billhop)

    The above is to get the plat welcome bonus.

    Thanks

  • Boi says:
    12 Aug12 August 16:27

    Ok here is strange one from Air France:

    March 2020 we had our flights cancelled (Toronto-ams-LBA), we made our way back to Leeds and we have been trying to get a refund since then.

    Today they have refunded £378 for 2 people (which sounds small).
    THEN booked us a flight CDG to AMS for 10/12/2021. This is random (it is genuinely coming from airfrance) and I checked on their website using booking reference. We did not request this and clearly we have no use for this. Anyone experienced this?

    • AJA says:
      12 Aug12 August 16:42

      That is weird. £378 in total or £378 each? Can you make use of the tickets in December? 🙂 The refund certainly sounds small. Sounds like it just covers the taxes for the fare.

      • Boi says:
        12 Aug12 August 18:30

        Can’t use tickets as we now live in Canada.
        Plus I have no idea why the tickets are for Paris to Amsterdam. That was never part of our itinerary.

    • ChrisC says:
      12 Aug12 August 17:02

      BA do this as well (but usually use a route they don’t normally fly) and use it as a placeholder booking to enable them to process a refund if the original booking is messed up too much or has been lost.

      Without the full fare breakdown it’s hard to say if the refund amount is right. It’s not just a case of taking the oiriginal fare and dividing it by two.

      So they / you need to look at each element and assign it to whether it was the outbound leg you flew (so departing LBA would attract APD but not the return) so not refundable etc

      • Boi says:
        12 Aug12 August 18:27

        Thanks for replies.
        The refund is for both of us (maybe I am upset because we ended up booking one way flights which cost £550/person, but anyway such is life).

        Yes we had flown LBA-Toronto then return got cancelled due to covid.

    • Lady London says:
      12 Aug12 August 20:49

      The airline owes you each that £550 Boi. Assuming you asked them to reroute you after they cancelled your booker return and they failed to do this. (You have to give them the chance.).

      There should be a 6 year period during which you could claim via MCOL ( again assuming you’ve asked them to reimburae you which you still have time to do.)

      I’d say save yourself the trouble of filling out a form and small fee that you will get back on MCOL, by asking Amex if you paid by Amex under their policy, or other UK credit card under Section 75, but as it was Mar 2020 I think you’rw well out of time. But MCOL open and shut you will get that £1100 back plus any extra journey costs provided you gave them the chance and they denied.

      • Lady London says:
        12 Aug12 August 21:26

        Uh oh Boi just spotted you have been chasing refund. If you ask or allow them to refund you then you lose the far more valuable right to have them pay whatever it costs for you to return another way. You also could have claimed costs of any extra transport, meals, hotels if needed for the way home if it took longer. Unfortunately taking a refund loses you all those rights.

        • Boi says:
          13 Aug13 August 02:38

          Thanks Lady London,
          It was chaotic, impossible to get through on the phone. I think everyone must have been on the phone. It was first week of most countries locking up. I also tried to contact them via social media and whatsapp. I got a whatsapp response a week after I arrived in UK!
          They must be celebrating by now that they got off easily.

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