The HfP chat thread – Monday 13th September

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• Paul says:

  13 Sep13 September 16:33

  does anyone know if there is a way to earn points when paying off creation card? I was using hsbc world elite but dont seem to be getting the hsbc points anymore.

  • Red Flyer says:

    13 Sep13 September 17:25

    I do same and got all points on last statement generated 9th Sept?

  • Sam says:

    13 Sep13 September 17:45

    I’m still getting them on the free Premier credit card (not the WE) with statement date 10th Sept

    Maybe this is another loophole that is closed/closing soon

  • Reney says:

    13 Sep13 September 19:32

    Paul, can you pls share your last statement date as a data point, given the others have still received points. Are you sure it is these transaction not paying out? Other report via curve payments are the ones not working.

    • Paul says:

      13 Sep13 September 19:51

      statement date yesterday.
      i’m trying to figure it out. I have definitely got points for curve to nsi transactions.
      do you know if hsbc rounds up or down?

      • Paul says:

        13 Sep13 September 19:58

        looks like they add up the total of all eligible spend to the penny. then round the total down to the nearest whole pound, then double it.

        • Paul says:

          13 Sep13 September 20:00

          actually no, they double the exact amount and then round down

        • Reney says:

          13 Sep13 September 20:31

          So did you work out what transaction you did not get points for?

        • Paul says:

          13 Sep13 September 21:54

          I cant be sure what’s going on as I have transactions from different suppliers for the same amounts. I will assume that the nsi amounts stopped earning points half way thru the month and the creation ones are fine.

  • Yorkieflyer says:

    13 Sep13 September 21:59

    Beardie maybe

• max28 says:

  13 Sep13 September 16:38

  Data point for everyone – Creation IHG free nights (for those that still have the card) are now book by AND stay by (even the existing ones, i.e. earned in 2020 or early 2021). I’ve got stung trying to use 2 that are due to expire in January and June 2022, respectively – it doesn’t let me book anything beyond these dates.

  • Benilyn says:

    13 Sep13 September 16:45

    Mad ☠️

  • EwanG says:

    13 Sep13 September 17:06

    @Anna said she had noticed this at the end of last week.

    • max28 says:

      13 Sep13 September 17:30

      Thanks – that’s ridiculous from IHG. Before as it was book by only you effectively had 2 years to use your free night. Now, despite all nights having been extended by 6 months, as it has been changed to “book by and stay by” IHG has effectively REDUCED the period during which we can redeem these nights by 6 months, right in the middle of COVID, without any formal notification !

  • SwissJim says:

    13 Sep13 September 18:03

    Anna/max28, where does it say this? I have received no notification I am aware of. Any when I log on to my account and see my 3x free nights, the terms (I have taken a screen shot) clearly states “must be redeemed with 12 months from date of issue”. Nowhere does it say stay must be within 12 months, though I guess that’s one interpretation of “redeemed”. Has anyone challenged this by calling them?

    • max28 says:

      13 Sep13 September 18:19

      I have the same, but when you try to book beyond said expiry date it won’t work (it will just show you cash prices). If you try to book before the expiry date, it suddently works. I spoke to IHG today but they were having none of it – the person I spoke to wasn’t helpful tbh, kept saying ” there’s no availability so there’s nothing I can do for you”, even if the issue clearly wasn’t the availability, just the change of terms (I tried a dummy booking: any night in London next summer, so pretty wide!). She clearly didn;t understand the issue, kept referring to the “Chase night”, even if I said “it’s not a Chase night, it’s a UK free night” – and that’s probably the core of the issue: we’ve been aligned to Chase night terms without being told it seems.

      • Alex says:

        13 Sep13 September 19:14

        I think you’re right. The US voucher has always been more restrictive (stay by rather than book by). My 2021 earned voucher definitely wouldn’t let me book a stay past its expiration date…

        • Jimmy says:

          13 Sep13 September 21:04

          My text still says “book by”. Surely they have to use that wording.

        • Rob says:

          13 Sep13 September 22:04

          I will drop the lady who runs the cards a note. As usual, you should never ascribe to malice that which can be ascribed to IT failure ….

  • r* says:

    13 Sep13 September 21:34

    Are they allowed to change the terms once they have been issued like that?

    • JDB says:

      13 Sep13 September 22:21

      Yes, you sign up to that when you join IHG Rewards and the Anniversary voucher has a note to that effect. It’s also subject to the law of the state of Georgia and you can only take them to arbitration, not court.

  • Mark Peterborough says:

    13 Sep13 September 22:01

    Within the last two days I managed to book one of my free nights that was due to expire in December this year for a stay in June next year . This left me with one expiring in march , that after just attempting to use it , I have found that I can’t use it for a stay after its export date .

  • Max28 says:

    13 Sep13 September 22:07

    Thanks Rob!

• roger says:

  13 Sep13 September 16:57

  what is the best resource to check historical flight data.
  I am looking at flight which I should have flown but forgot as I didn’t get any check in reminder from the airline.

  • Rui N. says:

    13 Sep13 September 17:02

    Flightaware has that. You might need to pay if far into the past.

    • Roger says:

      13 Sep13 September 20:55

      It’s free by registering for 3 months history.
      I am looking at 6 months back.

  • FatherOfFour says:

    13 Sep13 September 17:18

    How far in the past and which airport to/from? I’ve done extensive searches on historical flights with mixed results.

    • Roger says:

      13 Sep13 September 20:54

      6 months back.
      Yes I was taking 2 flights every week and had many weeks of forward booking and during covid I changed some dates and forgot to check rescheduling again due to lockdown.

  • Simon says:

    13 Sep13 September 18:23

    You forgot to fly because the airline didn’t remind you to check in ?? Is this the start of a joke ?

  • The Savage Squirrel says:

    13 Sep13 September 19:46

    If that’s your basis for any sort of claim for redress then I’d give up right now 🤣

    • Rui N. says:

      13 Sep13 September 20:04

      He probably wants to check if the flight was cancelled to see if he can still get something from this booking

    • Roger says:

      13 Sep13 September 20:56

      No harm in trying.
      Probably won’t get anything back but it’s worth a shot in my books.

• Triath5 says:

  13 Sep13 September 17:07

  Has anyone applied to an HSBC Premier account recently as an existing HSBC customer?

  I’m being told they can only do this via phone and it takes “roughly 1 hour through the application process”. Are these guys for real? Has anyone done this via the website? I’ve tried navigating from my account but it directs me to the mobile/in-branch.

  No wonder you have challenger banks coming in left, right and centre!

  • Britbronco says:

    13 Sep13 September 17:23

    Yes, after reading a few comments on here, I applied as a new customer online for a premier account. It worked fine, the new premier account appeared in the same profile as my existing accounts, and after another day or two my existing accounts were upgraded to premier.
    It leaves you with a superfluous current account, but you can then use this for a switching offer elsewhere

    • TGLoyalty says:

      13 Sep13 September 17:50

      I did the same.

    • Triath5 says:

      13 Sep13 September 17:56

      I just did the same. Let’s see if they approve it – it says they need ‘they’ll be in contact soon’.

      Barring this working as an alternative, any other Premier-equivalent account worth looking into? No real reason in particular apart from I can, and there’s an insurance benefit, and maybe down the line having this will help me if I move to another country.

      The mind boggles when I interact with these banks!

  • WearyTraveller says:

    13 Sep13 September 17:29

    Yes I have done this and I must say the call was excruciating. It takes absolute ages, they ask so many unnecessary questions and have to read out T&Cs for everything. Didn’t know that you can try going through the ‘new customer’ option as an existing customer, I’s have done it in a heartbeat.

    Also on too of this if you request one if the premier credit cards, even though you are automatically approved you have to sign a form first. So they send you the form, which takes two weeks two arrive. Then you have to send it back and they have to then manufacture and send you your card. It took me over a month to get my premier CC this way.

    • Blenz101 says:

      13 Sep13 September 17:45

      Same experience. A good 45 mins of them reading out information I could have been sent in the post or ticked a few boxes on the website to agree to.

      Upgrading seems to be effectively opening a new account and they insist on reading every detail and making sure you are eligible for every aspect of the account (travel insurance etc).

• MC says:

  13 Sep13 September 17:22

  Hi, Does anyone have any experience of booking and taking a PCR test in Dubai in preparation for a return to the U.K. please? If so, where did you book and take it please?
  TIA

  • Blenz101 says:

    13 Sep13 September 17:35

    They are available all over town at pretty much any clinic. Aster is a popular chain across the city for example. You can also download apps such as JustLife or UrbanCompany and book someone to come to your hotel/location.

    Prices are now capped at 50AED. You may pay around 150AED to have someone come to you. Hotel should also be able to arrange.

    Plenty of drive through tests at SEHA centers as well if you Google for them.

    • MC says:

      13 Sep13 September 17:47

      Thanks for the quick reply. Are these all accepted by the U.K. as there data we seem to be getting over here is either limited or contradictory.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        13 Sep13 September 17:49

        Any pcr test is accepted

        • MC says:

          13 Sep13 September 19:10

          Thanks!

      • Blenz101 says:

        13 Sep13 September 17:54

        Yes. All the tests in Dubai are full PCR tests, no lateral flows etc. are offered.

        Your passport number, DOB etc will all be printed on the results certificate along with the relevant dates, times and specificity (so do bring your passport).

        Results are guaranteed back within 24 hours but typically take no longer than 12.

        There is no need to book but if you can go during the day you will avoid the wait from residents who need tests to enter Abu Dhabi / Teachers / Government office employees etc but even then I’ve never waited more than 10 mins.

        • MC says:

          13 Sep13 September 19:10

          Thanks very much

  • The Streets says:

    13 Sep13 September 19:36

    I had fun and games with this at the start of the year. We were travelling from Dubai to Hong Kong and Hong Kong only accepted government approved PCR administrators.. which there was no where to track down! I ended up in the American Hospital taking photos of their accreditations on the wall

    • Blenz101 says:

      13 Sep13 September 19:53

      Tests at either SEHA or DHA would have surely counted and both would have been available at the start of the year?

      Anyway MC need not worry, test results come back in a pretty standard form in Dubai and the staff at DXB are very familiar with them now.

  • Amo says:

    13 Sep13 September 20:09

    Just landed back in London after a few days in Dubai at the Waldorf on the Palm. I paid AED 150 for a PCR (lateral flows aren’t available in Dubai anywhere) which was a premium, but it was arranged by the concierge and the test was done in my room within 10 mins of booking the test. Results received within 6 hours. It worked out well for me because the taxi off the Palm, and lost time would have eaten any potential saving.

  • KZ says:

    13 Sep13 September 20:25

    American Hospital as good – went at night and there was basically no waiting time, and I received the result 4 hours later.

• Fazzy Bear says:

  13 Sep13 September 17:33

  Next match of Arsenal matches available to redeem on Skywards.

  They have come to the senses somewhat with the hospitality price which was 117k and now they have reduced them to 60k . Still seems a bit steep but maybe Rob can gauge the value better. General Admission is 10k fixed.

  • Rob says:

    13 Sep13 September 18:02

    Thanks!

• Roger W says:

  13 Sep13 September 17:46

  A heads up. Am about to cancel a Business Class redemption flight LHR – Antigua 9th Nov – 18th November if it helps any HTP folk. Wife having a knee replacement.So not just Covid bu**ering up our plans. Grabbed a fantastic deal on Travelzoo US site too.

  • GoodExperience says:

    13 Sep13 September 19:11

    Hi Roger. Im checking in seatspy and it seems these Avios tickets are already snapped up. I would have been very keen. I hope your wife’s knee replacement goes well.

    • Roger W says:

      14 Sep14 September 07:18

      Could not through to BA. No surprise. Try again this evening or tomorrow morning. Thanks about the wife.

• Bob says:

  13 Sep13 September 18:10

  Hi HfP, I upgraded (before the September cut off date) from a BA blue Amex to a BAPP with the knowledge that l had already exceeded the £10k spend. My BAPP amex account displayed my spending qualified for a companion ticket, however it has taken 3-4weeks for my companion ticket to hit my BAEC account – post September date.
  The Ts and Cs used the word “earned” before September and not the word issued Can anyone tell me please, if my companion ticket is pre or post September Ts and C’s. Thanks

  • TheInsiderFly says:

    13 Sep13 September 19:02

    I think you can try searching for a journey starting outside the UK. If it’s the new voucher T&Cs, it will give results. If the old T&Cs, it will error.

    • Bob says:

      14 Sep14 September 06:51

      Thank you

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