Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

The HfP chat thread – Friday 10th September

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We are running this daily chat thread on Head for Points during the coronavirus outbreak.

Historically, the daily ‘Bits’ articles were the de facto repository for random comments and questions.  With the news flow being lighter, we are running fewer ‘Bits’ articles.

The comments under this article are where you should post questions about travel and, indeed, anything else on your mind.  At this tricky time, and given that many of you are at home, we want the HfP community to have a place to chat.

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Old chat threads are hidden from the HfP home page.  If you want to look for something in an old thread, click here.  This brings up all the articles in our ‘General’ category which includes the chat threads.

Comments (617)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • KBuffett says:

    I received an email about Ritz-Carlton Yachts. Looks fantastic…..
    Any chance of a review?

    • BP says:

      May as well do the FS Private Jet too if Rob is going to be spending his fortune on reviews!

      • KBuffett says:

        I merely wanted to aid Rob getting a freebie.

        FS Jet does look truly awesome. Are there any readers that have experienced it? I’d be interested in hearing your experiences. Perhaps I should post this on the Centurion thread.

    • Can says:

      I second that!

  • CF Frost says:

    Pizza Express is newly on NatWest at 10%, so 11.75% Avios earning rate. (NB the on/off Avios conversion scenario for Natwest seems over; constant and assured now, even in face of Barclays.)

    • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

      I also have it on Curve rewards at 10%

    • KBuffett says:

      Is this a NatWest Credit or Debit card?

    • Darko says:

      Pizzaexpress pops up when you open a can of beans. I also have it with lloyds at 10% and with byond at 10%. My favourite thing pre-pandemic was finding where the tastecard and the payment card discounts overlap. tastecard was usually 2for1, then slap an additional 10% discount on it. Same with Zizzi, AskItalian, Prezzo. I don’t know if anything changed since, last time i did that was BC (before covid).

  • Bill says:

    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 ?

    I think my wife has got Meliá Gold from being a supp Amex Platinum. Would that influence things ?

    • Andrew says:

      It’s basically 241 breakfast – so if you pay for your breakfast, your companion gets a free one. It’s not like Hilton where you alone or you and your companion get a free breakfast with no spend.

    • marcw says:

      The free breakfast works like a 2×1. Now, I don’t know how it works with 2adults and 2 kids, but I suggest you contact the hotel directly.

  • AndyC says:

    Does anyone happen to know the best place to call to make a change for an Amex 2F1 booking i made yesterday afternoon? I tried 0800 727 800 – eventually got an answer after an hour to be told they did not deal with these types of bookings. Would the silver card number be the best bet – really is painful after you wait so long to get hold of anyone…

    • Number9 says:

      Start dialling now open at 8am and keep trying or try chat it’s at bottom of contacts page.

  • Peter says:

    No more free Heathrow buses.. just in case anyone was going to use one!

    • John says:

      Planned in Nov 2020, started on 1 Jan 2021 and finalised on 12 Jun 2021, and reported here multiple times in between, though admittedly not on every page of every day’s chat

      • Peter says:

        Yep, must have missed it! It was funny to see everyone on the bus being told off for not tapping in..

    • Andrew says:

      Every time I see that, I think about having to tap to board the bus to/from a remote gate.

  • Ian M says:

    Apologies if this was covered yesterday, but I received an email from Capital on Tap yesterday about their new ‘Free Rewards’ which they’re launching next week. I was a little confused at first by this but understand it now.

    So the choice will be, keep the current Business Rewards option with £99 annual free (which has the option to transfer points to Avios), or move to the new ‘Free Rewards’ option which will not have an annual fee but will only offer the 1% cash back (no avios).

    Seems a cracking deal to be able to get 1% cash back with no annual fee! Although the 1% cash back is of course subject to tax.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      Therefore, you’re better off paying the fee (tax deductible) if you spend more than c£25k a year.

      • Ian M says:

        Not necessarily, corporation tax is 19%, leaving 0.81p cash back. It then depends on your personal tax circumstances. If you already have a huge pile of Avios and you’re earning 100k+ more each month from CoT, better to pull it out as cash

  • Rupert says:

    I have a 2-4-1 expiring on 9th October 2021 any chance of extension or time to use and FTV it ?

  • Anna says:

    I thought the IHG credit card free night was normally book by, not use by? Trying to redeem one of ours but it won’t let me book for a date beyond 12 months from issue.

    • Anna says:

      It does say “book between” in the account.

      • EwanG says:

        Didn’t IHG extend (well replace) unused but expiring CC certs at the end of last year but put different restrictions on them as you are finding?

        • Anna says:

          It’s not an extended one, it was only issued last month.

          • EwanG says:

            Perhaps they have changed it then! If so, will be disappointed with the restriction as I’ve had good value from a couple before where used beyond the 12m!
            Card anniversary in Nov so I will find out soonish!

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.