The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 31st August

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Blair says:

31 Aug31 August 13:12

Expert Medicals – 2 first time users here during the past fortnight. Paid with Curve. Both of us had our Curve cards compromised this weekend, with fraudulent in-person transactions in the north of England. We’re both abroad so could prove it wasn’t us. EM are the only new retailer common to both of us. Correlation isn’t causation but just putting it out there.
- Andrew says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 13:24
  
  There’s always potential for compromised wifi.
  - BP says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 13:34
    
    Compromised wifi is very unlikely to be a factor here. The retailer or indeed Curve themselves having an issue is many times more likely.
    - Travel Strong says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 14:00
      
      Retailer ‘having an issue’ or fly by night bradford based retailer that is inherently corrupt and down to make £ by any means 🤔
      
      I’ve used them because I don’t want to pay more than £28 – but they have the appearance of a pretty dodgy operation all round!
      - StevieKicks says:
        
        31 Aug31 August 14:29
        
        Why is Bradford a suspicious place for a business to be based?
      - Andy says:
        
        31 Aug31 August 14:50
        
        Certainly don’t have the fanciest website, but their pricing is attractive and they operate via Priority Box drop-off which is far more convenient than Randox. My test was delivered a few days early too, so as long as they don’t throw my swab unprocessed in a Bradford trash can, they’ve done their job pretty well…
      - Sussex bantam says:
        
        31 Aug31 August 16:22
        
        What’s the relevance of “Bradford based” ??
      - Paul Pogba says:
        
        31 Aug31 August 18:03
        
        Steve, SussexB,
        Some areas have prestige, other areas have the opposite. Walk around Mayfair and you’ll get the impression most of the businesses located there are reputable. Walk around Bradford and you’ll get a different feeling.
  - Char Char says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 14:50
    
    SSL/TLS itself is no more vulnerable over a public wifi connection, than over “regular” internet. It was designed to be used in open channels.
    - Char Char says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 14:51
      
      Although possible through man in middle it is unlikely
    - Sussex bantam says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 19:58
      
      PaulPgoba – how well do you know Bradford then ? What’s your favourite/least favourite part of the city ?
- Anna says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 14:01
  
  How are they doing in-person transactions without the card?
  What was the retailer?
  - Blair says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 16:08
    
    2 petrol stations, Blackburn and Halifax. And we use VPNs when using public wifi.
    - Anna says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 16:22
      
      How did they pay though without a card?
      - Anna says:
        
        31 Aug31 August 16:31
        
        You get lots of criminal traffic along the M62 and M65 corridors, tbh it wouldn’t surprise me if there was a link!
        I’ll be keeping an eye on my cc statements …
      - Blair says:
        
        31 Aug31 August 16:51
        
        The worst part Anna is while waiting for new Curve card, I am unable to pay down others!
      - Anna says:
        
        31 Aug31 August 17:19
        
        But how did they manage a chip & pin transaction without a physical card?
        Which Blackburn petrol station was it, it should say on the statement?
      - Anna says:
        
        31 Aug31 August 17:22
        
        I’ve ordered 2 now and I’ve actually been asking myself why they need to know your age, gender and ethnicity, unless the government is collecting statistics? Otherwise prime data for identity theft.
        I may do a bit of digging when I get back from Mallorca!
      - Blair says:
        
        31 Aug31 August 19:33
        
        No idea. Minimal info from Curve and took them days to advise. The station was Esso on Bolton Road.
  - Sukes says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 23:02
    
    Card clone ie a physical copy was made of the card. I had similar fraud on Amex yrs ago. Had phone call from Amex about suspicious activity in Texas & Amex told me it was in person transactions. Easy to prove it wasn’t me as 2hrs previously I had been making legit purchases in UK. Still have no idea how/where card was cloned. Interestingly the fraudulent purchases were initially Big Macs! Amex said this is normal behaviour for card clone fraud as they test out the clones first on small in shop transactions to check they work. After their fill of MaccyDs they moved on to Big TV purchasing unfortunately.
- WaynedP says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 21:43
  
  @Blair Thanks for the balanced heads-up. This is very useful to know. I’m all for avoiding any risks, and happy to pay higher for more reputable supplier.
  
  @Anna One of my other credit cards was recently used to purchase something for £149.99 at Argos. Only been in my wallet for three weeks with no transactions other than shielded chip & pin initialisation, so no-one knew the CVC code which would have been needed for a transaction of that size. I pointed this out to the fraud team service agent, but he seemed uninterested – just told me not to worry as it would be refunded and card replaced entirely, which to be fair has now happened. But I’m still suspicious that it could have been an inside job. Letter with new card wasn’t tampered with on arrival.
  
  It pays to be doubly careful these days 🙄
Amo says:

31 Aug31 August 13:17

I know this will have been asked a bunch of times already (we need comment search Rob 🙂) but what company are folks’ recommending for pre UK departure at-home PCR and day 2 PCR?
- Bradley says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 13:23
  
  Pre Eurofins
  Post Randox (you will get the order number by email immediately which is all you need for your return to UK location form).
- Mike P says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 13:26
  
  Just used Expert Medicals for £28 for the day 2 test and the purchase went through without a hitch. Whether the test actually shows up is another question but getting the code for the PLF is the main objective.
  - Keely says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 14:27
    
    Mine showed up within 3 days, ordered last week
  - Phil says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 14:59
    
    Unfortunately the Expert Medicals Day 2 data capture form isn’t working and keeps losing the data. Which is only marginally more annoying than them losing the tests!!!
  - C says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 16:09
    
    If I have a situation where the test never arrives and I get refunded on that basis (or s75 chargeback, if the provider is obstinate), after entering the UK, is there any consequence (eg, needing a new test)?
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 18:11
      
      119 send you a free nhs one if they bother to call.
- Tracey says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 17:58
  
  Nationwide pathology £40 for day 2, post test back in priority boxes. Code arrives as soon as you order.
Bradley says:

31 Aug31 August 13:34

Booking BA for 4 adults to Malta from UK. Is it best to use 2 companion vouchers (37,000 avios and £140) or 1 companion voucher(55,500 avios and £140). Not sure what is the best deal. I guess I need to have in mind to keep some avios for our next trip in 2023.
- Anna says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 14:04
  
  What are cash prices like? Unless peak periods, not the best use of avios or 241s.
  - Memesweeper says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 15:20
    
    Is it best? …depends on your likely future travel, and likelihood of earning more vouchers. Right now I’d be inclined to use them on anything I could as everything I want to do gets cancelled. Personally I’ve always used them long haul business /first in the past, but, that was then… right now I’m not even trying to earn another.
  - Bradley says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 15:46
    
    Straight cash is £1,200. Think I am going to use only one.
- SteveJ says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 15:20
  
  Also depends if you have any long haul planned, 241 best used on long haul, but at same time if no other use realistically envisaged might as well save on short haul. Each person’s circumstance will differ.
Laura says:

31 Aug31 August 13:35

Any recommendations for which restaurant to book at The Ned? It’ll be on a Sunday evening, if that changes anything
- Ben says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 14:26
  
  I’m not sure if they are open as they run the Sunday Feast “all you can eat” and that seems to take over where most of the space would be.
Grant says:

31 Aug31 August 13:44

The 15,000 switcher bonus for moving a current account to Virgin Money appears to be back (did it ever go away?)
- Grant says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 13:46
  
  Terms and instructions on how to redeem the offer are here:
  
  https://uk.virginmoney.com/current-accounts/virgin-red
- Andrew H says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 13:56
  
  I used it about 3 months ago. Worked fine. Just switching another account to Barclays Premier for 25k Avios…
  - Jan M says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 14:08
    
    Annoyed as I’m in the middle of doing the switch for a 150GBP Virgin Experience voucher.
    - BJ says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 14:58
      
      Call the switching team and ask nicely if they can change your offer. It is quite obvious they can if they are willing. They might suggest that you wait until you receive the experience code and call back. If so, do not redeem the code so that they can cancel it and have a points code sent to you in its place.
- BJ says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 14:52
  
  No,nexcept for a very short time when they changed tge name of the account.
Simon says:

31 Aug31 August 13:55

Booking 2x Hilton rooms for one stay. I think I remember that both can be combined on one bill for points earning, as I’m at diamond, do both room qualify for free breakfast and exec room access does anyone know.

Thanks!
- Rob says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 13:58
  
  No, only the room you occupy qualifies for b/f and lounge, although in reality these things can go either way.
  - Simon says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 14:01
    
    Thanks!
    - Babyg says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 14:24
      
      Ive found booking 2 rooms under one name can sometimes cause issues with points being awarded correctly, especially if you mix cash and points bookings…
    - BJ says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 15:15
      
      If you are Diamond you can gift gold, you can then make two reservations and take all promos going. Subsequently, player 2 can transfer tgeir points to you free of charge. You do not need to gift goldbprior to reservation but player 2 status would need to be in place before check in.
  - Harrier25 says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 16:52
    
    Went the right way for me at the weekend. 2x rooms booked at The Trafalgar, one for me and Mrs Harrier, and one for our 18 year old daughter, Miss Harrier, and we all received free breakfast.
- The Savage Squirrel says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 15:45
  
  I’ve never EVER not got breakfast on the 2nd room, but admit it’s the letter of the law that you shouldn’t, so it could happen and you couldn’t really argue.
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 16:12
    
    Agree with this.
GaryE says:

31 Aug31 August 13:58

Entry into the Netherlands – am I correct they require PCR test to get into the Netherlands. Antigen test to fly back to UK and Day0 – 2 PCR test. If I am only going for 48 hours is there anyway that I can save money with only one PCR test for both entry into Netherlands and using as Day0 on arrival back in UK?
- Anna says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 14:06
  
  I think someone posted yesterday you need to quarantine even if you’re jabbed?
  - Harry T says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 14:10
    
    Correct, there are some niche exemptions but my understanding is that you need to quarantine on arrival into the Netherlands from a very high risk country. If you have not been in the UK or another very high risk country for the preceding 10 days, you will not need to quarantine. As always, check the FCDO and the Netherlands government website: https://www.government.nl/topics/coronavirus-covid-19/visiting-the-netherlands-from-abroad/checklist-entry/from-outside-the-eu
    - E says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 15:19
      
      @Harry T. Can’t see that it’s the preceding 10 days on that link. Is there something I’m missing? I know you were thinking of going in via France so assume you found more details somewhere.
- Jan M says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 14:07
  
  You might struggle to get in if you don’t have an EU passport and can’t show an essential reason. The Netherlands follows that EU list of safe countries to the letter. In theory, you’re meant to quarantine upon arrival as well, though whether they’ll check it.
- Reeferman says:
  
  31 Aug31 August 14:20
  
  I was looking at this situation a few days ago for an equally-short trip. The Netherlands Govt require a 5-day isolation for travellers from UK unless you meet the exemption criteria.
  Hopefully this will change (as Italy has) in the coming days/weeks
  - GaryE says:
    
    31 Aug31 August 15:20
    
    Thanks everyone for info – I didn’t realise that Netherlands required you to quarantine for 5 days on arrival – another country of the list!
    - Jan M says:
      
      31 Aug31 August 18:58
      
      Of course, once you are in the Schengen zone? If you must go to NL may check out some sights in France or Germany first… It’s utter madness the way they have a common external border but let different people in. (Wouldn’t hold my breath on NL changing its position either; they have been clinging to that EU list since the start of summer and the UK is a far way from 75 cases per 100k)
annaZ says:

31 Aug31 August 13:59

Just got through border control at Stansted , waiting time for eGates 20min, if you have children under 12 and use the usual way – 5 min.