The HfP chat thread – Thursday 2nd September

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• Andrew H says:

  2 Sep2 September 16:23

  The travel insurance with the £575 Platinum card…

  1: Does it cover not being able to board a cruise ship (or plane) because of a failed Covid test?
  2: Does part of a holiday have to be paid with the card for the insurance to apply – what about a holiday already paid for before insurance is taken out?

  • Dr MJ says:

    2 Sep2 September 16:43

    These are 100% questions I’d ask them about…

    My understanding was that (1) = yes, (2) = no, not for the non-medical benefit.

  • Reney says:

    2 Sep2 September 17:32

    So I recently took a cruise in the end I brought additional insurance. instead of using plat insurance. The reason being no where in all the documentation referred to cruise add on. I didn’t want to risk someone being over eager at embarkation and insist on seeing wording re cruise before letting me on. In the end all they asked me was whether i had insurance. For an additional £24 for 2 people I rather have papers that said it covered cruising for sure.

    • Lammy52 says:

      2 Sep2 September 18:46

      Reney, where did you get your insurance please?

      • Reney says:

        2 Sep2 September 19:10

        I went through Moneysupermarket to look for quotes. In the end I went with insure for travel for my dad who has pre-existing conditions and cover for you for mum and I. No idea if they were any good, as never need to claim. I think at the time I thought the Insure for Travel Covid policy wording was more awkwardly worded if someone actually checked it.

    • Andrew says:

      2 Sep2 September 21:48

      I’ve seen reference to Covid test forced cancellation not being very common. The Aviva insurance as part of the Barclay’s Premier account travel pack (£12.50/month for travel and breakdown cover) has it (have checked wording). I’m tempted by that but wouldn’t need it if the Platinum insurance offered the same if I took out the card. All part of the maths behind the decision.

• Andrew H says:

  2 Sep2 September 16:27

  T5 – is Sofitel the only hotel that is walkable to the terminal?

  Early flight in February so looking for a previous eve check in

  • Harry T says:

    2 Sep2 September 16:29

    As far as I know, it’s the only hotel physically connected to the terminal, allowing you to casually stroll from your hotel in the morning to check in/bag drop etc.

    • meta says:

      2 Sep2 September 16:31

      There is Hilton Terminal 2/3 which is walkable to the those terminals, but much longer to walk to T5 obvs. If not much luggage I’d do HGI Hatton Cross hop on a tube and you’re in no time at T5.

      • AndyD says:

        2 Sep2 September 20:44

        This is what I do.

  • barnaby100 says:

    2 Sep2 September 17:08

    Crowne Plaza and HIE at terminal T4. Train then Heathrow express- takes about 30 minutes- no cost. 5 minute walk internally along a corridor walkway. 2 hotels in 1 building. Has car parking as well- not sure how you book it. T4 doesn’t have the food options that T5/Sofitel has (M&S and carluccios etc)

    • Andrew says:

      2 Sep2 September 17:17

      Depending on when you’re going, the T4 IHGs might still be being used for quarantine.

      • Nick says:

        2 Sep2 September 18:34

        The premier inn and thistle are also walkable to T5. Whether it’s a pleasant short stroll is another thing… but it can be done.

        • C says:

          2 Sep2 September 18:41

          The Hyatt Place Heathrow is also very convenient for T5 — short ride on a London bus or inexpensive minicab / Uber if one has luggage. Instead of waiting for a bus I actually walked almost to the Premier Inn before a bus came along.

        • Briandt says:

          2 Sep2 September 19:45

          Not for me thanks, particularly re weather, time of day etc.

  • Lady London says:

    2 Sep2 September 22:41

    Thistle if the little shuttle train is working?

• Alex says:

  2 Sep2 September 16:28

  Platinum arrived today. Application submitted and approved on 31/08.

  Contacted AMEX via chat and the dining offer was added promptly.

  • Andrew says:

    2 Sep2 September 17:18

    Caught it just in time it sounds – a day later on 1 September approval and might have been a different story.

• Simon says:

  2 Sep2 September 17:22

  I have an avios+241 booking that BA cancelled ages ago. Rebooking is not an option because the country is redlisted and there are no BA flights for months anyway. Calling BA seems to be impossible (tried any time of day, you don’t even get to queue). Is there an online option to claim a refund that I’m missing? Also, is there a way to find out when the 241 used for the booking will/would expire?

  • Anna says:

    2 Sep2 September 17:35

    In your account under e-vouchers it will show the used 241 with the expiry date.
    If BA cancelled the flight you should be able to get a full refund, but be careful not to click on any voucher options!

    • Simon says:

      2 Sep2 September 17:50

      Thanks on the 241 bit – at least good on that front!
      Yeah that’s the struggle – I know they have to legally offer a refund but if it’s impossible to call and you can’t do it online (which is voucher only as far as I can tell), what am I left with? Letter?

      • Anna says:

        2 Sep2 September 17:58

        No – you should be able to do it online!
        There’s a link in an earlier post you can use if “cancellation options” doesn’t take you there. A couple of pages back, sorry to make you look but it’ll be easier than trying to get through to BA!

        • Anna says:

          2 Sep2 September 18:00

          https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/incident/coronavirus/vouchers-refunds#cancel

          This should be it.

        • Simon says:

          2 Sep2 September 18:08

          I don’t know if I’m being thick but on that page I only see the voucher claim (no bueno) and the link to claim a refund via manage my booking. On there, it just tells me “We’re sorry that your flight has been cancelled.”, with no options other than a link to the contact page. Does it make a difference that they only cancelled the outbound flight?

        • Anna says:

          2 Sep2 September 18:39

          Could be but I’ve just checked the link & it’s not the one I was thinking of. Whenever I’ve done this I’ve gone in via the front page of BA.com where there’s a box mentioning cancellations near the top.

        • Andrew H says:

          2 Sep2 September 21:54

          The chat function on BA works quite well. A bit of a wait but it at least tells you how many in front of you.

    • Andrew says:

      2 Sep2 September 21:51

      I will be with skis and boots etc so want to check in night before. Currently have Sofitel booked at £140/night …

• Sam says:

  2 Sep2 September 17:58

  Hi all, I am looking into pensions for my dad (who isn’t financially literate). He reaches retirement age in November of this year and a previous employer he left many years ago has written to him regarding his pension there. The pension pot isn’t a lot – just over 51k. The options are taking a yearly amount, or taking a lump sum now (just over 10k) with a reduced yearly amount or transferring the pension.

  My question is the lump sum I understand is tax free as long as it is 25% of the value of the whole pot and then the reduced yearly amount is subject to income tax (he has always been a basic rate tax payer) – is that right as in the yearly amount will be subject to income tax but given the amount it would fall within the yearly personal allowance (I don’t believe he will carry on working after Nov this year)?

  Secondly I think if my parents had the option, they would want the entire 51k sum now – is that possible but transferring it to an ISA (so they each will have an allowance of 20k and then the remaining 11k in a GIA or something)?

  Thanks!

  • SteveJ says:

    2 Sep2 September 18:30

    There is a third option to take lump sums as you see fit over a number of years. Each time you draw 25% of it will be tax free, the rest taxed. With some planning you can draw amounts that keep you under tax thresholds to minimise tax.

    With regards the ISA idea, as soon as you withdraw then 75% of it is taxed, you can’t move the whole 100% into another tax free wrapper. If they want to invest it they could ask the pension provider that they’d like to defer taking the pension and see what funds they offer and draw later in life.

    • JDB says:

      2 Sep2 September 18:39

      What you say is all good, but assumes it is a direct contribution scheme. I thought it might be a DB scheme as it relates to an employment many years ago, so Sam can choose!

  • JDB says:

    2 Sep2 September 18:35

    It’s quite difficult to help without having the full picture. If the old pension is a defined benefit scheme he would be obliged to take financial advice in order to transfer it out to a SIPP, and it isn’t that easy to get such advice as the regulator is now quite hot on this, so the default has to be leave it in the DB scheme, so you have to come up with some good reasons to transfer, such as ill health. I don’t think the employer will allow him to take out anything beyond the 25%. Getting the advice and executing the transfer will cost money, but in theory thereafter you can take out the money and spread it over tax years to minimise tax on the 75%. Whether that is a good idea is another matter.

    • Sam says:

      2 Sep2 September 20:45

      Thanks @SteveJ and JDB.

      JDB – yes I think it is a defined benefit scheme as it has a form for the transfer and it says you have to have taken financial advice to transfer it. I am planning to call them tomorrow to ask for more info – tbh I don’t think my parents even knew this existed!

      Is there anyway to take out lump sums over years without paying any tax?

      • Red Flyer says:

        2 Sep2 September 21:00

        Sounds like a defined benefits scheme and transfer at that value to a SIPP probably not viable – a pension transfer specialist will want £3-5k to do a report for him and you cannot pay for this with scheme funds, so need to pay that separately first. FYI a decent transfer value would be deemed to be more than 25-30x the accrued standalone annual pension quoted.
        Lump sum is tax free and the scheme income is added to other income – state pension possibly? – so he will pay basic rate income tax at 20% on anything over £12500 in a tax year.
        No way to take it as a lump sum of £51k instead as it is valued above the de minimis level to be able to do that.

        • Sam says:

          2 Sep2 September 21:52

          Thanks Red Flyer – that is helpful.

• DJ says:

  2 Sep2 September 18:05

  Looking for a weekend stay in Manchester for the AO Arena. Which one would you pick?

  – Marriott V&A
  – Indigo Victoria Station

  Thanks

  • Ikaz says:

    2 Sep2 September 18:18

    Any status with either? Location wise the indigo is a lot closer, and you can get decent benefits booking with Emyr if you are paying cash. I haven’t actually tried either though, will be in the Marriott this weekend for the first time.

    • DJ says:

      2 Sep2 September 18:25

      I have Spire with IHG, and Gold with Marriott, if that makes any difference.

      Both looked very nice in pictures. Thanks

  • davef says:

    2 Sep2 September 18:39

    Indigo is literally on the other side of the station. I did a mattress run there just after it opened. It’s ok. The ‘complimentary mini bar’ was empty, room was reasonable. I just ruffled the sheets and got the bus back home. Can’t beat it for location for the Arena.
    Marriot is the other side of town 15-20 mins walk depending how many drunks and homeless people you trip over on the way.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    2 Sep2 September 19:20

    I’d go for the Indigo

  • AL says:

    2 Sep2 September 20:36

    V&A is awful – Indigo much better and more in the thick of it near the Northern Quarter. Do yourself a favour and walk to Mackie Mayor for breakfast, coffee, whatever. Surprisingly few good city centre hotels – newly-rebranded Kimpton Clocktower is excellent, the Midland was historically quite good, otherwise… drawing blanks. Lots of low end stuff from the chains. Smatterings of better indies.

• KBuffett says:

  2 Sep2 September 18:55

  Bloomberg reporting that Revolut is valued at 33 billion USD, the UK’s largest startup. Quite an amazing valuation!!

  • SteveJ says:

    2 Sep2 September 19:06

    MS does pay

    • KBuffett says:

      2 Sep2 September 19:13

      Indeed. But to be fair, a lot of users I know actually use it only for normal purposes and crypto.

      Genuinely surprised Amazon or Google have not entered this space. It’s small money for them.

      • JDB says:

        2 Sep2 September 19:19

        Genuine question as I am interested in fintechs – what ‘normal purposes’ does Revolut have any edge in? People used to use it for free FX, but the preloading isn’t very convenient and lots of FX free offerings. What else?

        • KBuffett says:

          2 Sep2 September 19:37

          I’d say there is a market where people want a different provider, especially young people. The mainstream players have awful implementation of their platforms. I find Revolut super fast, with a nice fresh UI.
          For people on an average wage, there wouldn’t be any KYC issues, and I think it would a joy to use for everyday banking. Although, I am not sure if Revolut allow direct debits yet.
          It’s hip and cool and functions very well.

        • John says:

          2 Sep2 September 19:57

          Multicurrency account, people like to have an app without branches or phone lines, and their newest feature where you authorise your employee to tell them your salary then then lend you the salary one month in advance so you can spend it and never be able to leave revolut.

  • JDB says:

    2 Sep2 September 19:13

    That was the valuation when they last raised money in July. There had been rumours of an autumn IPO, but they seem to be pushing that out quite a long way. I struggle to see the business case and I wonder how much of the current turnover is fluff/MS?

    • KBuffett says:

      2 Sep2 September 19:26

      I often wonder how professionals with money to churn can live with themselves using a free service that obviously has a cost elsewhere down the line. It’s just awful.

    • KBuffett says:

      2 Sep2 September 19:31

      The platform, licenses and userbase are certainly valuable to the right buyer.
      Allowing crypto trades is a good move, and relatively quick to the market.

      • JDB says:

        2 Sep2 September 19:44

        Thank you, a useful insight.

    • Rob says:

      2 Sep2 September 19:47

      The problems are well known. You only make money in banking via lending, which they don’t. They also struggle to get people to use them as their core bank. Even if they added extra products like credit cards and mortgages there is no logical reason why the existing customer base would take them out instead of going elsewhere.

      Klarna etc is also taking a lot of business from the younger market that would have gone to credit cards so even if Revolut got into this space it may find there is less to chase than their was.

      That said … over time, if they continue to get a decent share of the ’18 and opening a new account for my first pay cheque’ brigade, it will build. What I don’t see is a big shift across from older generations, although they generally borrow less anyway.

      • KBuffett says:

        2 Sep2 September 19:48

        They are going to start lending you money before your payday.

        • AL says:

          2 Sep2 September 20:39

          Monzo already do this – it’s their “get paid now” feature – which I sometimes use. Since they know, and make use of, txn feeds via CHAPS/BACS, they can loan you the upcoming amount at 4pm day before – the real txn is kept for them to pay the loan off at 0%. Terms say if you don’t pay the loan off, they’ll take it from any/all funds you hold with them.

          Clever idea and one I quite like. Moved my GBP funds to Monzo (well, Mondo) about five/six years ago and haven’t ever missed a high street bank.

• Cabal Of Rabid Baboons says:

  2 Sep2 September 19:08

  I’ve just noticed Dragonpass refunded for my unused 4 passes last week.

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