The HfP chat thread – Saturday 4th September

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Jonny says:

4 Sep4 September 07:35

I know everyone likes to speak in code on these matters so here goes with my question:

When paying “Moira Stuart in a cupboard under the stairs” via metallic “Bendy”, is the only Avios-earning funding card now the small business one “London on Faucet” (now that “Hong Kong” no longer delivers)?

If so, @Rob, any hint of another sign-up bonus boost soon?

Thx
- Peter K says:
  
  4 Sep4 September 07:47
  
  Basically yes, unless you convert IHG points into Avios at an awful rate.
  - Jonny says:
    
    4 Sep4 September 08:37
    
    Thanks for the quick reply.
    Was 29,900 sign-up bonus in April. Do I bite at the current 10,500 Avios, or wait in case HfP is mulling another exclusive..?
    - Rob says:
      
      4 Sep4 September 10:22
      
      Nothing planned and – to be totally honest – Amex has booked a lot of Accelerating Business ads until 2 November and we won’t annoy them by doing a COT promo during that time.
- The Savage Squirrel says:
  
  4 Sep4 September 09:10
  
  That’s some fantastic new codes right there 😀
  - AJA says:
    
    4 Sep4 September 09:24
    
    I’m struggling with “Moira Stuart in a cupboard under the stairs” Hope she’s OK 😀 The second is a bit easier to decipher.
    - KS says:
      
      4 Sep4 September 09:32
      
      Here you go 😀 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZWahK91WOg
      - AJA says:
        
        4 Sep4 September 11:07
        
        Ah I get it now! Thanks. Don’t remember that advert but then again I’ve never had to be reminded to fill in one of those, I complete mine way before those adverts appear. To be honest I thought Moira Stuart was code in itself for productive disbursement 😉
- SteveJ says:
  
  4 Sep4 September 09:52
  
  Really appreciated London on Faucet 🤣
  - Jonny says:
    
    4 Sep4 September 10:10
    
    You’re welcome!
    And who could have imagined the HfP comments would include the phrase: I’m struggling with Moira Stuart in a cupboard under the stairs?!
    - AJA says:
      
      4 Sep4 September 11:15
      
      You left out the quotaton remarks which changes the meaning somewhat! To be clear I’ve never struggled with that lovely lady although I have seen her in Sainsbury’s in Chiswick on a quite regular basis. I did once also have trolley clash in the same store with Natasha Kaplinsky, she inadvertently put her croissants in my trolley rather than her own. 🤣
      - KBuffett says:
        
        4 Sep4 September 13:03
        
        I would have thought you’d want to put your croissant into hers, no?
      - AJA says:
        
        4 Sep4 September 14:36
        
        🙂 Your comment makes me think you are also a fan of The Mask – “Kiss me, my dear, and I will reveal my croissant, I will spread your pate, I will dip my ladle in your vichyssoise.”
      - Jonny says:
        
        4 Sep4 September 19:34
        
        😂 AJA i think you’ve just added another phrase to the HfP comments wall of fame!
Benilyn says:

4 Sep4 September 08:23

Been a while, how long does it take for the 2-4-1 to post to your account from triggering it (i.e. your payment clears on Amex)
- AJA says:
  
  4 Sep4 September 09:26
  
  A couple of days. Slightly longer if you trigger it on a Friday or Saturday
Luke says:

4 Sep4 September 08:34

I have a family stay at a Hilton booked in December, so I’d like to get Gold status to save about £100 on breakfast.
I read that Hilton status match is currently suspended, so looks like getting Amex Plat is the only feasible route (mattress run would be more than saving).
I hold the free MR card, so not bonus eligible and my wife has the free BA card, also not eligible for plat bonus as only cancelled gold card 18 months ago.
I’m thinking I should get a referral from my wife to platinum (4,000 Avios for her), then activate Hilton Gold. I could then use Plat to refer my wife to a free Nectar card (24,000 Avios for me?).
Then call Amex, say I was expecting a bonus so struggling to justify the fee, see if there is any retention bonus offered. If no retention then cancel the card.
Any flaws in this plan or suggestions how to improve on it?
- Andrew says:
  
  4 Sep4 September 09:06
  
  Not really as he said he’s not eligible for the sign up bonus.
- Paul says:
  
  4 Sep4 September 09:08
  
  He won’t because he states he already holds the free MR card.
  - James says:
    
    4 Sep4 September 09:23
    
    Misread that, my mistake!
Yuff says:

4 Sep4 September 08:56

Little bit disappointed with Collinson yesterday.
Every test we’ve done this year has been same day results, so just assumed it was the same for yesterday’s test, for today’s flight, got to the drive through and was told results only guaranteed in 48hrs but we could do a more expensive lamp test with result in 2 hrs. We needed a PCR so left it and hoped it would be similar to previous normal timescale and the result came through this morning.
However it seems because they were forced to drop the cost of the pcr test they have created a new rapid pcr test at the old price and reduced the price of the previous pcr test but extended the time taken, to get the result, to get around the government guidelines………
The situation is farcical…….
- Blenz101 says:
  
  4 Sep4 September 10:02
  
  Collinson at LHR yesterday had my rapid PCR test back in 2 hours.
  
  The packages are very clearly shown on the website along with the return times.
  
  For destinations requiring a full PCR test I don’t think any other provider can give you more comfort than an in person test and results within hours before you fly.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  4 Sep4 September 10:47
  
  Are you sure you needed a PCR? Some will specify a NAAT which is a PCR or LAMP
  
  But from my experience collinson always guaranteed within 48 hrs for it’s cheaper service even if results came back in 12.
Dr MJ says:

4 Sep4 September 09:06

Thoughts on best hotel to stay at on my NHS expensed course in Hammersmith? £120 a night.. Have status with platinum.
- Memesweeper says:
  
  4 Sep4 September 10:18
  
  Don’t stay in Hammersmith would be my tip.
  
  Lots of options in the Cromwell/Gloucester Rd area. 5 or 10 mins on the bus/bike to Hammersmith. Raddisson Edwardian is a family favourite of ours, as was the Crowne Plaza (which is now a Hilton 8 think).
  
  If you can tolerate 20 mins on the tube then the whole of central London is your oyster (gedditt???) … DoubleTree in Tower Bridge might be in budget and is great.
  - AJA says:
    
    4 Sep4 September 11:27
    
    Who uses Oyster any more? TfL takes Amex. Just tap ‘n go, no need to ever top up and you get rewarded – what’s not to like?
    - Nick says:
      
      4 Sep4 September 11:42
      
      Anyone with railcard discount for a start, plus monthly/annual travelcards of course…
      - Bill says:
        
        5 Sep5 September 00:41
        
        7 day travel card that doesn’t start on a Monday
    - Frankie says:
      
      4 Sep4 September 11:59
      
      Using Oyster (with BA Amex) you get full avios for your every penny spent. So you top up £50 you get 75 avios with the BA premium Amex. Lots of single journeys of £4.40 (for example) would only get you 6 avios per transaction so each 40p in the £4.40 spend has earned you nothing in avios.
      - AJA says:
        
        4 Sep4 September 14:25
        
        @ Frankie Are you sure? I thought Amex rounded up if it results in 0.5 avios or more. Looking at the last 13 transactions on my BAPP 11 of them had the Avios rounded up.
        
        So in your example £4.40 x 1.5 = 6.60 Avios, Amex would round up to 7. If you do lots of journeys costing £4.40 for the 11 journeys you would spend for your £50 on Oyster you would receive 77 Avios. That compares rather well to your 75 Avios topping up Oyster with a round £50.
      - John says:
        
        4 Sep4 September 15:14
        
        £4.40 was a bad example, £4.30 better. So you have to work out what your fare is going to be at the end of the day to decide amex or oyster…
        
        When I had more time than sense I used to top up oyster with 35p repeatedly, which earned 1 avios.
        
        This was before it was possible to refund oysters with £9.95 balance + £5 deposit to £15 cash…
      - John says:
        
        4 Sep4 September 15:38
        
        Well, if you have an MR earning card then oyster definitely gets more points. It’s also trivial to work out with the free BA Amex as >50p earns 1 avios, BAPP needs a bit more brain use
    - Rob says:
      
      4 Sep4 September 14:07
      
      Not really keen pulling my credit card out twice a day. Oyster can sit in my pocket.
      - Frankie says:
        
        4 Sep4 September 15:26
        
        I stand corrected AJA. I think you are correct. I had an Aldi transaction at £2:17 and got 3 avios. I thought if the spend goes over the 50p (eg £4.51) it rounds up to the nearest pound for avios calculating purposes. but if below the 50p (eg £4.49) it rounds down for avios calculating purposes. So in my case of a £4.40 spend it would round down. So if you made 15 single journeys of £4.40 at a total spend of £66 you would get only 90 avios whereas £66 put onto Oyster would get you 99 avios. But now that I’ve looked at other transactions I think I’m wrong and you are right in your working out.
      - Frankie says:
        
        4 Sep4 September 15:39
        
        And of course you can’t earn half an avios, so my thinking £4.51 would round up to £5.00 for avios calculating purposes made no sense as I’d never get 7.5 avios. I’ve learned something valuable today.
      - KBuffett says:
        
        4 Sep4 September 16:17
        
        I don’t use the Tube, but can’t you use Apple Pay on your phone or watch?
  - Dr MJ says:
    
    5 Sep5 September 13:33
    
    Thank you!
Can says:

4 Sep4 September 09:09

Can we use Plaza Premium lounge at SAW with Amex Plat? I use Plazas at LHR with my platinum with no problem, wondering about other locations.
Kevin C says:

4 Sep4 September 09:23

Good morning. Does anyone have hotel recommendations for Reykjavik and Southern Iceland? We’re doing our own research but wanted to know where you stayed and liked. Have the Platinum statuses and Reykjavik has a few Hiltons including a Curio and a pretty new Canopy (though breakfast is included anyway). It will be a winter leisure trip. The Retreat at the Blue Lagoon looks swish though jolly expensive. Thanks in advance.
- meta says:
  
  4 Sep4 September 09:41
  
  I’m on my way hopefully next weekend. Doing 12-day tour. I booked Canopy for Reykjavik when it was dead cheap on one weekend (only £90) and Hilton Nordica for the final night (recommended here often by the regulars).
  
  There are not really great hotels outside Reykjavik apart from The Retreat. There is Ranga, but I don’t like the look of it. I am staying at a few Fosshotels and a few independents, but even basic two-star hotels can cost more than £100!
- Red Flyer says:
  
  4 Sep4 September 09:45
  
  Canopy was a good choice that we made in Feb 2019. Good central location and handy for pickups to tours for Northern Lights etc.
- Kevin C says:
  
  6 Sep6 September 12:40
  
  Thank you, very helpful.
Paul says:

4 Sep4 September 09:29

Any idea when exactly Scotland is moving away from the CTM purchase requirement for testing and including private providers? The only date suggestion I can find online is early September.
- Patrycja says:
  
  4 Sep4 September 10:36
  
  There are no dates confirmed yet as far as I can see. I’m off to Spain next week and will book Randox given that on return from the last two trips no one checked the details on arrival in Edinburgh. Airport staff at check in only looked at PLF form and pre departure tests.
- Ikaz says:
  
  4 Sep4 September 15:55
  
  From 4am Monday