The HfP chat thread – Monday 13th September

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• FFoxSake says:

  13 Sep13 September 18:45

  My BAPP voucher line from 2020 says “BA American Express Companion Voucher” whereas the new one from last week says “BA American Express Premium Plus Companion Voucher”.
  That might help you decide?

  • FFoxSake says:

    13 Sep13 September 18:46

    (that was a reply for Bob just above)

    • Bob says:

      14 Sep14 September 06:50

      Thank you

• Josh says:

  13 Sep13 September 19:15

  Hi All,

  Is there any risk on making a 1 day dummy car booking with a hotel on BA Holidays and for me to not bother picking it up?

  Without the car, the hotel prices spike up. I have already purchased the flights for cheaper than current fare prices so wouldnt make sense to do flight + hotel.

  Thanks

  • Rob says:

    13 Sep13 September 19:32

    There are cases of Avis fining people €50.

• aviosnewbie says:

  13 Sep13 September 19:27

  Who are the watch lovers amongst us? Planning to buy a panerai for myself and Rolex for the wife – are there any good dealers in London or ways to maximize points and get the best price? Thank you!

  • aviosnewbie says:

    13 Sep13 September 19:28

    Oh, and I had heard flying to Geneva can sometimes work out to be cheaper and can also make a trip out of it. Is that true?

    • Anuj says:

      13 Sep13 September 19:47

      I think you’ll find better answers posting again tomorrow but I have seen many people state you can get a good price at Heathrow. However that was before covid.

  • GaryC says:

    13 Sep13 September 19:55

    Dominic Hackett from Hackett watches gets an awful lot of good press, though I’ve never bought from him personally: https://www.hackettwatches.com/

  • Can says:

    13 Sep13 September 20:08

    I got a wonderful deal at Heathrow watches of Switzerland. there was also a Heathrow rewards offer at the time. But that was the days of duty free shopping at lhr.
    WoS also offers interest free credit. That means you get to keep your cash longer, which can pay off much more than any miles deals.
    Try specialist horologist forums, people can direct you to Dubai and Singapore, too.

  • Jimmy says:

    13 Sep13 September 21:05

    I cant find a SS mens Rolex anywhere, good luck getting a new one!

    • Can says:

      13 Sep13 September 22:25

      OP says “Rolex for wife”, supposedly not a mens watch

    • BP says:

      14 Sep14 September 00:07

      Bought my Sub Date for £2750 about 13 years ago. Must be about triple the price now.

• Rory says:

  13 Sep13 September 19:28

  Just flew Club up to Inverness and they’re serving Champagne from full size bottles. Never seen that before on short haul? Same stuff, different bottles.

  • GaryC says:

    13 Sep13 September 19:49

    They seem to have oscillated between full size bottles and the miniatures on short-haul.

  • Andrew says:

    13 Sep13 September 20:05

    They’ve done that for years on routes or times of the day where they‘ll likely get through a whole bottle.

    • CF Frost says:

      13 Sep13 September 22:11

      The imputation about the teuchter drinking practice has not gone unnoticed…

• Harrier25 says:

  13 Sep13 September 19:28

  Here’s something of interest that I read from a contributor on another site today regarding the Creation/Curve stand-off….
  “I complained today to Creation.The reason that the Creation representative read out suggested that this is a temporary suspension while Creation investigates usage of its cards via Curve. Therefore I believe that Creation might lift the suspension but block specific MCCs via Curve, and might even block debit card payments of one’s Creation credit card bill via Curve BINs.”

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    13 Sep13 September 19:35

    That’d be good. Shows how inept they are if they cannot identify the MCC codes.

    • JDB says:

      13 Sep13 September 19:46

      I don’t think they have any problem identifying the MCC codes, but some are too generic to be meaningful – eg 9399 Government Services–Not Elsewhere Classified which covers Ernie + HMRC etc. One way or another, Ernie is probably a goner.

      • Youllnever says:

        13 Sep13 September 19:56

        They might target the statement descriptor name to do this, but we’ll see.

        • Blenz101 says:

          13 Sep13 September 20:20

          Seems unlikely. Having identified that their credit card when used with Curve is acting like a debit card, facilitating cash advances, being used to create huge volumes of manufactured spend and masking data that has value to the provider I think it will remain blocked. Others may follow. Accounts may well get closed.

          Reinstating Curve would be the most irresponsible behaviour that Creation could undertake having identified an issue.

• Amo says:

  13 Sep13 September 20:21

  Just got back from a short holiday to Dubai, flying First in BA both ways and thought I’d share my experiences. We stayed at the Waldorf on the Palm and the stay was incredible – the Pearl Suite rooms are great. The flight; honestly BA First just wasn’t worth the extra over Club. The CCR was closed, and the only food we were served was a hotdog on the makeshift terrace BA used as a replacement for the CCR. A bizarre choice for CCR dining, and we had to see the funny side of it. Most other things we repeatedly tried ordering never made their way to our table. On the plane, things didn’t improve. Food was awful (not just bad for first, but overall really terrible), the service on the return leg borderline rude and the seat (and loos) on the plane were quite filthy. If you’re planning a long overdue trip and enjoying the flight is part of the experience for you, I’d recommend avoiding BA first even if the premium over Club is only a few hundred £. At least until they can stop using Covid as an excuse for penny pinching. The whole experience has left me wondering (other than redeeming a 241) why I’d ever bother traveling with BA by choice if I’m spending my own cash.

  • GaryC says:

    13 Sep13 September 20:48

    I think you had a bad experience. My experiences of First have been pretty much impeccable, and service on the CCR terrace a couple of weeks ago enough to warrant a golden ticket.

• KZ says:

  13 Sep13 September 20:28

  Curve takes a month to arrive

• Jonny says:

  13 Sep13 September 20:29

  Is there a bonus for adding a supplementary card to the Marriott Bonvoy Amex at the moment? Thanks

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