The HfP chat thread – Thursday 9th September

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Degsy says:

9 Sep9 September 21:00

Closing in fast on the magic 1,000…..
- VerdantBacon says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 21:18
  
  Just need Revolut to block IHG top ups today and we’ll hit a record never to be beat again
  - JDB says:
    
    9 Sep9 September 22:35
    
    I think this story is a big bigger than that; we are at the start of the first chapter! Today’s text and action was a quick blunt tool to give a breathing space while investigations continue.
    - SteveJ says:
      
      9 Sep9 September 22:49
      
      Investigations? Really JDB? Why does everything end up with you thinking people are going to be dragged into the courts. When has that ever happened?
      - JDB says:
        
        9 Sep9 September 22:57
        
        An investigation doesn’t need to have anything to do with court, so I don’t know what you are on about. What happened today is part of various investigations into, inter alia, round tripping transactions and the (mis)use of EMI cards. This is somewhat obvious.
      - ThePenguin says:
        
        9 Sep9 September 23:00
        
        No, they will be taking your points off you and closing your account! That’s why we have all been spending them like there is no tomorrow this summer!
      - SteveJ says:
        
        9 Sep9 September 23:04
        
        They’ll be coming around and staying at your house, as some form of reverse compensation for you using ill-gotten points. It’s the only natural conclusion to JDB’s investigation.
      - Roy says:
        
        9 Sep9 September 23:15
        
        And after the investigators have finished investigating, inter alia, round trip transactions, do the rest of us get back our ability to use Curve to allow us to spend on our IHG cards via Google Pay and Apple Pay?
    - JDB says:
      
      9 Sep9 September 23:20
      
      @Roy I guess that depends whether they decide to excise the worst of the problem customers and let everyone else use the card normally or just continue to block it for everyone.
      - Jonathan says:
        
        10 Sep10 September 07:32
        
        Création are quitting the U.K. personal credit card business in the short to medium term. They have no incentive to waste resource investigating customers they’re about to jettison anyway. I imagine this will hasten their exit & push them towards a Big Bang closure rather than a slow run off like the Hilton card.
- Mike says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 21:36
  
  Wow sooo many comments
- Tony1 says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 23:09
  
  Well if I have timed it right, this is the 1000th post today !
  - Mike says:
    
    10 Sep10 September 07:35
    
    Tony1 – I think it was, I was watching the counter – congratulations (although it may need to be officially verfied)
Duncan Stevenson-Price says:

9 Sep9 September 21:02

I was never bothered about the MS stuff, but I settled on IHG Rewards as my non-Amex spend card but only via Curve for Apple Pay. Bloody nightmare that’s gone now.

I hope they can sort it out, find a way to block the MS, and let Curve continue to do what they do for everything else. I don’t have high hopes!
- VerdantBacon says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 21:17
  
  Might be easier for them to just implement Apple Pay
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    9 Sep9 September 21:40
    
    They could’ve done that any time over the past 3-4 years …
- Tw33ty says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 21:19
  
  A little ms would be fine, but the greed of some folk is what’s killed it.
  If it’s true NS&I have been the driver behind it, you can understand, some folk doing 14k a week and people think that can carry on forever.
  - CarpalTravel says:
    
    9 Sep9 September 21:35
    
    I’ve been here for ages and still don’t know what MS is! I’m not asking, don’t want to be “that guy”, but not everything code wise is obvious.
    
    That said, I do get the gist of it.
    - StevieKicks says:
      
      9 Sep9 September 21:37
      
      Manufactured Spend. Essentially spending money in circles with no loss, e.g. topping up account with debit card, withdraw and top up again
      - Mike says:
        
        9 Sep9 September 22:08
        
        Stevie – what is the first rule of fight club?
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        9 Sep9 September 22:19
        
        Tell everyone that will listen.
      - CarpalTravel says:
        
        10 Sep10 September 06:36
        
        Gotcha, thanks. Figured it was something like that, didn’t know the terminology.
    - Richie says:
      
      9 Sep9 September 22:44
      
      Egyptair – Star Alliance
    - JDB says:
      
      9 Sep9 September 23:23
      
      Massive Snatch (of points)
BJ says:

9 Sep9 September 21:21

Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim’rous HfP beasties,
O, what a panic Creation’s stirred in thy breasties!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi’ bickering brattle!

…as one door closes another opens – try not to miss out on new MS routes by, shall I say, sleight of comments 🙂
- Luke says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 21:28
  
  I need another 11k to reach Spire, perish the thought I might actually have to pay to stay in a hotel!
  - Genghis says:
    
    9 Sep9 September 21:34
    
    I thought everyone hit Spire in January
    - Luke says:
      
      9 Sep9 September 21:39
      
      Sadly I only have the white card
      - QFFlyer says:
        
        10 Sep10 September 04:36
        
        You can have February too in that case
    - Degsy says:
      
      9 Sep9 September 21:43
      
      Pretty sure the one without mercy hits it in the first week!
  - Robert says:
    
    9 Sep9 September 22:09
    
    I’m writing this from a hotel that I deliberately picked so that I could do 3,000 bonus points-per-night for 4 nights (picking up the 6,000 non-qualifying bonus points in the current offer) that comes in at £402 so I could use two AMEX “£50 back on £200” spend offers and get me within reach of Spire with the current reduced thresholds
- Harry T says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 21:46
  
  @BJ I’m in Edinburgh this weekend – if I buy you a pint, will you spill the beans? 😊
  - FFoxSake says:
    
    9 Sep9 September 21:56
    
    Probably just some more of the recent EgyptAir “MS” IATA code nonsense…
    - AJA says:
      
      9 Sep9 September 22:49
      
      Either that or it’s using your credit card in M&S.
  - CH says:
    
    9 Sep9 September 22:54
    
    Or offer to dine in a fancy restaurant (choice of one in the city)?
- ThePenguin says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 23:05
  
  Is this banned Harry from Cornwall?
Peter K says:

9 Sep9 September 22:20

Anyone stayed at the Hilton St Lucia? Any good?
- Harrier25 says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 22:31
  
  Have no idea, but I do know that you can still use their credit card behind Curve.
  - Peter K says:
    
    9 Sep9 September 23:08
    
    😂
Bill says:

9 Sep9 September 22:30

I’ve got a “Junior Suite Family” booked at the Meliá Hotel Spa Porta Maris in Alicante next month. It’s 2 adults and 2 kids on the reservation. I’m Meliá gold. One of the benefits in the app states:. “free breakfast for room companion”. Seemingly ignoring the fact that you can be accompanied by more than one person. Will all 4 get free breakfast or will it just be 2 ?
- Bill says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 22:31
  
  My wife, also a guest in the reservation, might well be Gold due to being a supp on my Amex Platinum. I would need to check her status. Would that swing it in our favour? Does anyone know ?
Lev441 says:

9 Sep9 September 23:11

Is 1001 comments a record?
- Jonathan says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 23:39
  
  I think Rob mentioned once that the news article on Amex sign up bonuses was one of the highest number of comments on a single article
  
  Today’s comment count is well in excess of double the usual amount of comments that normally get written in a day
- Polly says:
  
  10 Sep10 September 08:58
  
  Lev, think the death of 3V cards in Mr T, brought a huge deluge of comments too…
Peter K says:

9 Sep9 September 23:13

So we’ve hit 1000 comments today. But strip out the duplicate answers, and others letting those people know that it was a duplicate, and we’d only have about 150! 😂
- Sloth says:
  
  9 Sep9 September 23:18
  
  The old quality vs quantity adage, never being truer..
Geoggy says:

9 Sep9 September 23:38

CBA reading 19 pages. Anyone else get a text today from Curve saying they will refuse all future Creation transactions? RIP IHG points for cash withdrawals
- Connor says:
  
  10 Sep10 September 00:35
  
  No, just you.