The HfP chat thread – Thursday 19th August

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Peter says:

19 Aug19 August 08:22

Amex Referral Bonus MR points:

Currently having a plantinum card which has 24,000 MR points for inviting each approved friend. Mrs applied a BA Amex CC for and I got 24,000 points straightaway. I’m wonderring if it’s ok that Mrs continues to apply for up to 4 different Amex CC so that I could get up to 90,000 point and she then cancel 2-3 cards afterwards. What’s the consequence of doing this? Thanks.
- Guernsey Globetrotter says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 08:31
  
  No major consequences in my experience. Amex seem quite accustomed to card churn and having done this for Mrs Trotter they had no problems issuing new cards relatively close together, following previous cards being opened and closed in fairly short order. I would caution however that it will temporarily impact her credit rating (seems to lower for a couple of months per application) so perhaps avoid if you expect to be applying for a new mortgage or other important borrowing in the near future. It’s a good idea to use a free tool like an Experian account to keep tabs on your credit rating in any event.
  - Joe says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 08:52
    
    Not sure Amex do credit checks for existing customers?
    - Guernsey Globetrotter says:
      
      19 Aug19 August 11:04
      
      That’s true but as Experian explain it: “Newer accounts lower the average age of your credit history. Credit scoring methodologies reward you for longer periods of credit usage. Newer accounts haven’t given you the opportunity to demonstrate positive spending and payment behavior, and as a result, your credit score can suffer.” Hence needing to be aware of the temporary impact new lines of credit may have on your credit rating in the short-term.
      - Andrew says:
        
        19 Aug19 August 11:43
        
        At the same time, closed accounts don’t drop off for years.
        
        Still, it’s probably the only reason why I keep my JLP account (opened in 2005). My main Current Account and Visa Cards, opened in the early 1990s, aren’t reported on any credit agency site.
  - Peter says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 09:02
    
    Thanks . will try to apply for two first and see how it goes.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 09:35
  
  2 charge and 3 credit is usually the max.
  - Peter says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 10:13
    
    thanks.
- Benilyn says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 10:32
  
  my mate has 4x credit accounts, but personally I stick to 3x credit and 2x charge.
Paul says:

19 Aug19 August 08:25

Someone recently was raving about an alternative to Qured for the fit to fly test for returning to the UK. It was cheaper and easier than Qured. Anyone recall the name?
- Reney says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 08:29
  
  Chronomics? That’s the one I have ordered for my return from France. First time user. It doesn’t require a video chat, just send a photo. I ordered on Sunday and it has yet to arrive, not going till next week so not bothered (yet).
  - Pete M says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 08:49
    
    Project Screen by Prenetics is the other one – although there have been issues with the test tubes coming without the liquid, their IT being a bit iffy and a colleague had FR refuse to accept it at check-in. BA are much more used to both these guys and Chronomics (which they list on their website).
    - stevenhp1987 says:
      
      19 Aug19 August 11:05
      
      FR accepted it when we flew back from Malaga a few weeks ago.
- Wally1976 says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 08:58
  
  We used Living Care at £25 each.
Soloflyer1977 says:

19 Aug19 August 08:30

Hi, flying CE from LHR T5 on Saturday just before 6pm- Silver status. Is it the regular lounge or is it First lounge like it was before after a certain time?
- Rob says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 08:36
  
  Both regular lounges are now open, you won’t get promoted. Terminal 5 was surprisingly busy even at 6am last Sunday when I was there.
  - KP says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 08:37
    
    Its open even after 5pm ?
  - Soloflyer1977 says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 10:34
    
    Oh well, at least there is lounge access! Last weekend I found out, BA have not yet renewed their lounge contract in Dublin…
    - Pete M says:
      
      19 Aug19 August 10:48
      
      Or indeed most airports abroad…
- KP says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 08:37
  
  I think the Business lounge closes at 5pm after which it’s First lounge
  - Dr Tom says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 16:33
    
    That was the case a few weeks ago, but I was in the business lounge until about 5:40pm on Monday and it was still open (I had hoped to transferred to the first class lounge).
Robert says:

19 Aug19 August 08:52

Sainsbury’s Bank Credit Card Sign-Up Bonus question: do you get any sort of notification to say when you’ve triggered the bonus (i.e. when you’ve done £400 qualifying spend)? I have definitely spent over £400 of what I think is qualifying spend, but I want to make sure.

TIA
- Benilyn says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 10:33
  
  I did not
- Jonathan says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 10:34
  
  The £400 spend to get the sign up bonus must be done in Sainsbury’s and or Argos only !
  - Robert says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 10:49
    
    It has been. Just wondered if you got an email or anything, given you can’t see points until the statement is generated – presuming the bonus points go straight onto the statement? And by then (second month), it’s too late.
    - Tim says:
      
      19 Aug19 August 10:52
      
      No email. I received the points in the 3rd month after card opening despite hitting the £400 in a few weeks.
      - Robert says:
        
        19 Aug19 August 14:00
        
        Third month. Thanks for the info. I’ll wait and see what happens
Laura says:

19 Aug19 August 08:58

I don’t think it’s really a HFPers type hotel, but something strange is happening at Qbic London.
It’s disappeared off the Qbic website and now shows up on Booking as “The Corner” but it’s not currently available to make reservations at. The link still says Qbic.

https://www.booking. com/hotel/gb/qbic-london-city.en-gb.html?auth_success=1

Weird
- Sam G says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 09:23
  
  Hotel lease was sold free of the branding (so presumably the management contract) and I guess the new owner has decided to do something else. If they’re just changing the names on the links then a pretty orderly transition and it’s likely any bookings will carry over, especially if you didn’t pay anything yet.
  
  Operating hotels in that part of London is pretty difficult rate/occupancy wise at the moment so wouldn’t surprise me if they’re not in a big rush to reopen
  - Laura says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 09:52
    
    ooh ok! Makes sense.
    
    Just confused me a bit because I stayed there about 3 weeks ago and everything was still Qbic branded etc. Suppose 3 weeks is a long time in hotels during a pandemic!
Jane says:

19 Aug19 August 08:59

Morning all, so…. for anyone who is interested in the saga that continues from yesterday where I tried to push my flights back from 5-27th August this year to 4th to 26th August next year. Despite being told a couple of weeks ago that this was possible by phoning now for the outbound and then calling back again when the inbound was released I was quite categorically told it was impossible yesterday as both sectors had to be flown by the 4th.

It seems that today I should buy a lottery ticket as not only did I get through immediately at 0800 but my outbound is now showing in MMB as 5th August next year with copious notes in the booking that when I call back, the 27th inbound will be booked (as commercial if Avios seats not available) – I’ll still believe it when it actually happens, but for now, one step forward 🙂
- Pete M says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 09:18
  
  Excellent result!
- Lottie says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 12:17
  
  Well done! I just gave up with mine in the end, the phone calls were too much hassle, and chat weren’t convincing, Im on holiday and didn’t want to spend all day on the phone , so went for the refund. Will have to hope the prices aren’t double next year.
Louise K says:

19 Aug19 August 09:07

If I cancel a BAH that I then upgraded with Avios, will I get a FTV that I will have to call to use or will they refund my Avios and give me the deposit paid on an ETV?
NC says:

19 Aug19 August 09:15

My iPhone just flashed up with an alert telling me my seatspy password (which was unique to seatspy and not used anywhere else) has been compromised. Anyone else had this? RFF getting its revenge?
- NC says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 09:19
  
  Final sentence obviously a joke!
- Andrew says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 11:45
  
  How does it know?
- Sam says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 14:39
  
  Is that an iPhone Keychain thing? Might be checking the web for lists of compromised passwords, might have seen yours