The HfP chat thread – Thursday 2nd September

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Dave says:

2 Sep2 September 09:45

Late to the party, sorry… please can someone take me to school with the Morrisons offer…

I have 10% back on my Virgin card… presumably this will stack with Shops Away and Airtime rewards? Anything else?

I also have 10% back on Amex, but presumably this is less good as Shops Away don’t accept Amex…
- Mouse says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 10:22
  
  For me Virgin Atlantic credit card offer only stacked with Airtime – didn’t work with Shops Away. Very happy with 20% though
  - AndyW says:
    
    2 Sep2 September 15:19
    
    Is there any referral for airtime, if there is first come..
- Sina says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 10:27
  
  You can stack Amex + shops away
  or you can stack Virgin card with Shops away.
  if you have Perks at Work that could stack with Virgin+Shops away.
  But I’m my experience virgin would not track on Airtime Rewards and you can open a ticket for the missing transaction.
- Dave says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 10:33
  
  Does Airtime rewards work with Amex?
  - Sina says:
    
    2 Sep2 September 10:44
    
    No
- Reney says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 11:03
  
  quad stack possible: Virgin card + Airtime + PAW + shop away (all tracked for me so far). Do not use Curve, use your actual card some people report using curve affects tracking.
  
  OR
  
  amex + shop away
  
  just depends on what is available to you.
  - Reney says:
    
    2 Sep2 September 13:27
    
    I think I did a few transactions on 22nd Aug and got the Shop Away notification on 27th Aug.
- Andrew H says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 11:52
  
  Don’t have the 10% on either Amex or VA+ 🙁
  - Reney says:
    
    2 Sep2 September 13:25
    
    Don’t need VA +, VA normal should have it. It seems some bank account debit cards appear to have the offer too?
Isobel Brown says:

2 Sep2 September 09:49

Does anyone know if you can get a BA e-voucher by cancelling when you’ve only paid the deposit. Not sure if it only applies to fully paid up trips
- Ja says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 09:54
  
  I have just cancelled a holiday having only paid the deposit. Cancelled Monday and the money was back in my account Wednesday. They said I could have cash instead of a voucher as one of the flights had been cancelled- even though they had put me on another flight 3 hours later
  - ChrisC says:
    
    2 Sep2 September 09:57
    
    Putting you on another flights protects your booking in case you do want to fly.
    
    If does not override your right to a refund if a flight has actually been cancelled.
- ChrisC says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 09:56
  
  Yes you can. complete the form on the covid pages on the website.
  
  As it’s a holiday you’ll get an FTV not an e-vopucher.
Dan says:

2 Sep2 September 09:52

Any idea why I can’t see the £200 dining credit offer on my Amex Plat?
- Reney says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 09:53
  
  Are you the main card holder or a sup?
  - Dan says:
    
    2 Sep2 September 09:59
    
    Main card holder. It’s a new account, opened approx 10 days ago, if that makes a difference.
- Rob says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 10:12
  
  Upset someone?! Seems you’ll need to call. You’re not the only one.
  - Louise K says:
    
    2 Sep2 September 14:38
    
    I was told I had to go spending on my card first then offers would appear
- Benilyn says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 10:12
  
  My account is less than 10 days old and I got it
Aston100 says:

2 Sep2 September 10:06

1. Do KLM/AF do companion fare deals out of the UK now and again?
2. Do any airlines ever do reasonable deals over the English school summer holidays? (I recall a Lutfy companion deal back in Feb that covered this Xmas/NYE which I would have thought less likely).
- Andy says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 12:27
  
  I recall a Lufthansa / Swiss companion offer for summer 2019 which had availability both for July and August, which I assume covers the summer school holidays…I didn’t end up booking but from memory they had business class flights to Singapore at ~1,200/person
  - Aston100 says:
    
    2 Sep2 September 14:01
    
    Thanks Andy.
Clive says:

2 Sep2 September 10:06

The Emergency and Crisis Management Committee in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi approves the abolition of quarantine for all vaccinators, including citizens, residents and visitors coming from outside the country, September 5, 2021.

https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2021/09/02/abu-dhabi-to-remove-quarantine-requirement-for-all-vaccinated-travellers/
- Sandra says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 13:55
  
  Ha, my OH was looking forward to flying Emirates & a leisurely week or so working from a nice, expenses paid hotel in Dubai to avoid quarantine in AUH when he starts a new contract in a few weeks – looks like he’ll be back on Etihad now and missing out the Sheik Zayed Road trip!
  - Sandra says:
    
    2 Sep2 September 13:59
    
    Although on the up side for me, provided Boris doesn’t put them back on the red list, it does now mean some Christmas sun hopefully.
Mouse says:

2 Sep2 September 10:12

Can anyone help me with where I could find a list of Qatar Airways routes that operate as a BA codeshare. I believe the London-Doha route is codeshare, and Doha to Australian destinations – are there others?
- Richie says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 10:48
  
  I don’t think there’s a list. You could create your own starting with BA7000 and google. Flightstats might help.
  - Mouse says:
    
    2 Sep2 September 10:58
    
    Doha is BA4xxx and Aus is BA6xxx so that would be quite a lot of googling to exhaust the possibilities! Thanks for the suggestion on Flightstats, will check it out
    - Richie says:
      
      2 Sep2 September 11:45
      
      Flightradar24 might also be useful. If you have a hard copy of BA HighLife magazine, the maps towards the back may help you do a preferred destination check list.
- AJA says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 13:43
  
  I could be wrong but I thought you could buy a BA codeshare flight on Qatar Airways to anywhere that Qatar flies to?
  
  Perhaps compare the two airlines destination maps
  https://www.qatarairways.com/en-gb/destinations.html
  
  https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/flight-information/our-route-network
  
  The BA website above lists the countries they will sell you a ticket with a BA flight number – Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam is a destination using Qatar.
- memesweeper says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 13:50
  
  Look at the departures board at Doha, it lists all the codeshares:
  
  https://dohahamadairport.com/airlines/flight-status?type=departures&day=today&airline=all&locate=all
R says:

2 Sep2 September 10:15

Postgraduate tuition – AMEX accepted (at least by some universities)

Thought it would be worth to share this with HfP readers. If you – yourself (like myself) – or your child (I am guessing this is going to be the case for some HfP users) – is starting a postgraduate course (masters or doctorate), some universities (University of Sussex in my case) are accepting AMEX to pay for tuition fees. This is a great way to earn points as well as to easy meet the spending threshold – as even the student finance loan is paid directly to you (or your child) unlike with the undergraduate courses (when money is paid directly to uni via student finance).
- Barnaby100 says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 10:28
  
  Undergrad as well. I paid my daughters fees and accommodation in Amex. Year starts in September and straight to 2 41 voucher.
  - Tracey says:
    
    2 Sep2 September 11:05
    
    I thought that the student loan company pay tuition fees for undergrads direct to the university?
    - Nigel W says:
      
      2 Sep2 September 11:11
      
      Not all uni students take out a student loan!
      - Tracey says:
        
        2 Sep2 September 15:33
        
        Fair enough. Given that 83% of student loans are never paid back in full, there is an argument that they should be used by all except those intending on high earning careers with no career breaks
- Harry T says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 16:13
  
  I’m with Tracey and Martin Lewis on this one. If your kid is doing a small subset of degrees that tend to lead to high earning careers, then it’s worth running the numbers on paying the tuition costs vs taking the loans. Most people don’t earn enough to ever end up paying the loans off. Granted, the situation has changed a bit recently with the currently punitive interest rates.
Heinztein says:

2 Sep2 September 10:21

Question about maximising points/discounts..

Hi all
The ground floor of my house flooded earlier this year, meaning I have to replace its contents (kitchen, x2 living room, dining room, study, utility room, 1x bedroom).

I’m going to try to put as much spend through my BAPP Amex as possible, but are there any other points-earning / cash back opportunities I should look out for? Any strategies you would recommend?

Cheers!
- Andrew says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 10:35
  
  Always keep an eye on the various fund return options across your main bank account and credit cards.
  
  If you’re re-equipping your kitchen, there were a few Lakeland Plastics offers out there. If you work for a major employer then PAW or NHS Perks have good deals on Hotpoint, Panasonic and Kitchen Aid. Hughes has various discounts.
  
  If you are a member of a Union, then you might have access to Ode(Spree) – so always a 5% return at JLP and Argos.
  
  New furniture, have a look at the Ercol clearance site – it’s updated daily. If you’re trying to save cash the Miele clearance site has new and graded appliances.
- Toby says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 11:36
  
  Wren Kitchen take amex if that helps you! Or at least they did before covid, you had to sit with them in-store and fill in the payment details there.
  - John says:
    
    2 Sep2 September 11:46
    
    Hope you got at least 50% discount off the initial quoted price otherwise 1-2% back on Amex is still a ripoff
- Reney says:
  
  2 Sep2 September 13:36
  
  Feels like the current Morrison offer should be looked at. Especially if you will buy stuff from B&Q, John Lewis and Amazon. One4All is accepted in many places – I saw the other day Carpet Right accepts One4All unfortunately their quote came in higher for us, otherwise it would be a nice way to get an additional 20%+ off.