The HfP chat thread – Thursday 19th August

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Andrew says:

19 Aug19 August 14:48

I’m hoping the other Andrew can answer as he clearly is very enthusiastic about the Morrison’s offer – does airtime stack with NatWest rewards – so 2×10% back and presumably no issue with third party gift cards being purchased?
- Connor says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 14:54
  
  Yes, stacks no problem.
- Andrew says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 15:23
  
  Haven’t tried it with NatWest, but BoS/Halifax/MBNA all stack with Airtime or PAW and sometimes both.
  
  Has anyone managed to get Virgin offers to stack with PAW automatically?
- CH says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 18:42
  
  GC have been ok with the previous offers (instore)
Super Secret Stuff says:

19 Aug19 August 14:50

Just seen a video clip of a charter from Kabul unloading at EMI, curious to know what carrier it is. Blurred our and nothing useful on Flight radar 24, unsurprising really.

Can’t think of any UK airline that would happily send in there plane! And it appears to be all white, UN charter perhaps? Very intriguing…
- Anna says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 14:53
  
  I would think certainly none of them would want to be identified, given the sensitive details of some of their pax!
  - Super Secret Stuff says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 15:29
    
    All of the faces where blurred out which is very sensible but still very curious about it! Haha
    
    All I could figure out is it is a Boeing, likely 767
  - BJ says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 16:09
    
    I didn’t read the details but a few headlines I caught suggested Lufty and SAS had sent planes.
- Sam G says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 15:33
  
  More likely the charter operated from a rendezvous point like Doha
- Mouse says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 18:06
  
  Looking forward to the OMAAT review!
- Chris says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 18:12
  
  They blurred most the the identifying features but the registration was still partly visible on the flap for the front landing gear right at the end of the clip. From this you can identify the airline used. Bit of a school boy error IMO.
- Metty says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 18:17
  
  The aircraft isn’t anything too exciting, a chartered A330-200 that left Madrid on 17th to do shuttles Dubai-Birmingham and is easily identifiable from ‘NCK’ on the nosewheel doors. Don’t think I can post a link here but go to flightradar24 or planefinder do t net and type in EC-NCK and you’ll see it’s currently inbound again from Dubai-World to Birmingham as PLM370. Sistership EC-NBN is also operating the same route as PLM361.
  
  Completely unfiltered (unlike FR24) data is available on adsbexchange do tcom, type in EC-NCK in the Search box in the right hand pane and then on the left there’s a history facility, click ‘Previous’ and you can search to see where it’s been like a true plane spotter or Bellingcat researcher. Data is supplied from hobbyists like me and there aren’t any in Afghanistan at the moment, so don’t expect to see anything thrilling there. It looks like the evacuation flights from Kabul go to Dubai World and then these Spanish A330s bring the people home in slightly more comfort than the floor of a C-17!
  - Metty says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 19:26
    
    Titan Boeing 757 G-ZAPX is also doing Dubai-World to Brimingham trips.
Roberto says:

19 Aug19 August 14:55

Hi guys, sorry if this is explained elsewhere, but I wanted to ask about the BA Premium Plus card.

I have had it for about 3/4 months and am about to hit the 10k spend to get the companion voucher.

Question. Is there any reason why NOT to cancel the card after getting the voucher? For example, losing access to certain types of seat booking when I redeem the voucher or similar?

Or is it a no-brainer to just cancel it (if I value the pro rata refund over other card benefits like the 1.5 avios earn)?
- BJ says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 17:04
  
  Normally there is a good case for cancellation or downgrade. However, all change from 1 September, and we have no way of knowing if the changes announced to date and covered on HfP will be complete or if there will be surprises in store 1 September or soon after. In short, nobody knows so just read the articles and decide what feels best for you.
  - Roberto says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 17:09
    
    Thanks BJ. Makes sense to wait for the forthcoming changes to be confirmed.
    - JDB says:
      
      19 Aug19 August 17:19
      
      I am not sure if you will necessarily see anything ‘confirmed’, it will be the empirical evidence that will tell us, so it may also take a bit of time after 1 Sep if anything does change.
      - BJ says:
        
        19 Aug19 August 17:32
        
        It could be weeks or even months if it happens at all. Sensible time if they do change would be 1 September though.
    - BJ says:
      
      19 Aug19 August 17:29
      
      Personally the only thing worrying me about the forthcoming changes is whether a yet to be announced change in the ability to upgrade and downgrade will come to pass. I think people playing that card might be better banking what they’ve got before 1st September than risking a change on or soon after 1st September. If you strip the 1st September issue away, the answer to your original question is dependent on whether avios earned from monthly spending outstrips cost of the monthly fee. If they don’t then cancelling is sensible. Another reason I liked to cancel is because any refunds to a cancelled card does not result in clawback of avios, bonuses and offers like it does for a live card. Furthermore, cancelling the BAPP releases credit easing further new card applications.
      - Roberto says:
        
        19 Aug19 August 18:31
        
        Very interesting re: refund clawback. I have a few big purchases which may be returned. Sounds like it makes sense to do those on the 1.5 avios spend of BAPP, get the uplift and cancel before returning them.
- Phil W says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 19:39
  
  You will need access to an Amex to pay for the taxes and charges when redeeming the Companion Voucher
Benilyn says:

19 Aug19 August 15:07

Anyone done MR to Emirates recently? I’ve done quite a lot this year and always within 1 minute, but today on a new MR account it has not posted immediately. Wondering if this rapid posting has changed?
- Blair says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 18:21
  
  You still waiting? Usually instant
  - Benilyn says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 19:05
    
    Yeah still waiting. Indeed usually instant.
Dan says:

19 Aug19 August 15:30

I have just seen the new card design for the free BA and BAPP advertised on a site I was on and it looks really neat… similar to the accelerating business one.

Just wondering if ROb/Rhys know when this will be rolled out by Amex officially?
- BJ says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 16:02
  
  I think some people reported they already received it a week or two ago.
  - Benilyn says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 16:22
    
    I got new BAPP few days ago, still old one unfort.
- Duncan says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 16:06
  
  Hmmm… I think the BA Business card looks much worse than the personal one (which doesn’t look *great*). Very swooshy ‘was modern in the 00s’ vibe. Would love a link or prod in the direction you saw it!
  - Rob says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 16:25
    
    We’ve seen it, I like it, Rhys is less convinced.
- Rob says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 16:26
  
  1st September but I doubt they will replace cards early.
  - Andrew says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 16:36
    
    Unless your card gets damaged and you need to request a new one.
    - Pete M says:
      
      19 Aug19 August 16:44
      
      Do people still use physical cards? Can’t remember last time it came out of my wallet!
      - BJ says:
        
        19 Aug19 August 17:09
        
        Yes, much quicker than phones, at least for me.
      - Scott says:
        
        19 Aug19 August 17:14
        
        Yep, loads of people do. But I’m sure you already knew that.
      - Andrew says:
        
        19 Aug19 August 17:17
        
        Although less of an issue now – but when wearing a face covering, Apple Pay rarely recognises you, so much quicker to pay with a contactless card than enter your phone’s pin code. And Apple Pay also updates the card image with this new design when you have a new card.
      - BJ says:
        
        19 Aug19 August 17:51
        
        All boils down to how tight they are … the jeans, not the people! For example, @Rhys might be a trendy youngster but despite his tech prowess he may still favour cards due to his fashion sense while tight old Yorkshire men like whatshisname is more likeky sporting a pair of 20yo very distressed Levi’s with slack pockets, casual cords or preppy chinos therefore the phone might be more appealing even though he does not know how to use it as well as youngsters like Rhys (you can tell from the quality of the pics in their respective hotel reviews). At least, that’s my theory on the matter.
Eric the Half a Bee says:

19 Aug19 August 15:55

Just had a fantastic stay at SSDV. IHG benefits outlined at check-in without prompting, although they emphasised that these were Spire benefits rather than Ambassador. Breakfast each morning, complimentary spa treatment for 2, late check out & upgrade (no upgrade as already in one of top suites).

Stunning property with incredible views, amazing staff and gorgeous location. Only issue was constant presence of wasps during the day which made eating breakfast outside problematic. Wouldn’t hesitate to come back any time of the year.
- Toppcat says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 16:59
  
  Great to hear this (other than the wasps!). I’m there in a couple of weeks, subject to no more flight cancellations. So far we have had our outbound flight cancelled, our inbound flight cancelled, and our replacement inbound flight cancelled…
- Si says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 18:03
  
  How long would you say you need at SSDV?
  
  When everything turned intern, I booked 2 nights for next April. Wife isn’t convinced it will be worth the effort – especially at that time of year.
  
  I’ve got some IC Porto nights booked both before and after my DVSS dates but as wife recently visited Porto and we’ll also have a 1 year old in tow, it’s taking a lot of selling…
  - Eric the Half a Bee says:
    
    19 Aug19 August 18:12
    
    We drove from Porto and stayed for two nights. We agree that we could ha e stayed for one more night max as we aren’t ‘do nothing by the pool’ kinds of people but can perfectly understand why some would stay longer. Two nights should be fine IMO as you start to relax the moment you arrive and the drive from Porto is lovely.
    - Si says:
      
      19 Aug19 August 21:38
      
      Thank you for the response. It’s hard to know if the effort is worth it, or if I’m just trying to make it happen because I see “the deal”.
      
      It will prob be my only chance to visit that particular hotel, so I think I’m going to keep pushing the proposition.
      
      It’s so, so good that most points booking can be cancelled at the 11th hour. I think I’ll get comfortable on my fence for the next 6 months 🙂
- Pid says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 23:56
  
  Thanks for the update, will be there in just over a week. Did you have any issues booking the spa treatment or do you need to book it in advance?
  - Eric the Half a Bee says:
    
    20 Aug20 August 08:42
    
    Booked late in the afternoon for the following day no problem, even though hotel was at capacity.
Nigel W says:

19 Aug19 August 16:03

Question regarding Hotels.com reward nights. On the website it says they have said the expiry date for old ones is now December 31st. Does anyone know if this date is ‘book by’ or ‘book and stay by’?
- FM says:
  
  19 Aug19 August 19:30
  
  I tried a dummy booking for my voucher a few days ago and it let me book a stay in Apr 21, so assuming its book by
Tical says:

19 Aug19 August 16:04

Combining Avios (pull from Iberia to Avios) does not seem to be working for me today – error says try again later. Anyone else?