Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

The HfP chat thread – Monday 20th September

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

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.

Please only comment under the main articles on the site if your comment is directly related to the topic of the article.  This has long-term benefits as it keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

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 (508)

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

  • Crafty says:

    Tesco to NS&I being declined for me today, anyone else?

    • G says:

      Had the same an hour or so ago

      • Rob says:

        As I think I mentioned last week, NSI is driving an industry wide crackdown on MS of which the Creation / Curve block was only stage 1.

        • blenz101 says:

          Odd that they went for a genuine debit card on a current account closed to new applicants and is being shut down for everyone on in November as the next target. I can see that perhaps that 4757 card numbers generated a large amount of churn in their account 😉

    • Nigel W says:

      Yes, I had this issue yesterday evening!

    • blenz101 says:

      What a shame if they have bothered to plug the gap with just a few weeks left of the account!

      The replacement clubcard pay+ doesn’t earn anything through NS&I.

      • Youllnever says:

        Probably did this because they knew there’d be those that’d be taking one last joyride before it’s over.

        • blenz101 says:

          Haha. I had my foot to the floor. Was hoping to significantly exceed the quarterly cap by going so hard that faster vouchers would see me break the limit.

          If they close my account after that I had nothing to lose.

    • Crafty says:

      Working again for me now.

  • KevMc says:

    If booking the Sofitel T5 via the lastminute.com secret hotel deal, how easy is it/is it possible to add on parking to the booking at a reasonable price?

    • blenz101 says:

      Call them and ask? If you tell them you are looking to book via a third party due to discounting then they may be happy to cut you a deal (save them paying lastminute.com) and can sort your parking at the same time. You should then also be able to collect / redeem ALL points as well by booking direct and may get a better overall room.

  • JamesB says:

    I’m looking at getting the Amex Platinum rewards card in my wife’s name for the sign up bonus as I am only 15 months since cancelling my Gold Reward card so can’t do it in my name. She never goes anywhere on her own whereas I do for work, can I get the hotel statuses applied to my accounts or do they have to go in her name as the main account holder which will mean I can’t benefit when traveling alone I assume?

    Any other handy hints for being the main card user but not the main card holder?

    • Ikaz says:

      The supplementary card holder can also get all of the statuses, so if you are supp you can get those benefits

    • Travel Strong says:

      Wait until card arrives, then add yourself as a supplementary card holder. (Do after application, not during application, and you’ll also receive bonus points).

      As a platinum supplementary card holder – you also get all the benefits, in your own name. Priority Pass, hotel status, etc.

  • Will says:

    BA Geneva lounge appears to be closed. Any of the others accessible for BA non status biz J passengers?

    • AL says:

      The Marhaba and Swissport ones are closed to you because you need status *and* to be flying on their sponsoring airline(s). If the BA Lounge is closed, they might put on a replacement – read “might”(!). You can always chance it at another lounge, but don’t be surprised if you get turned away. Or pay for access to the Horizon lounge, which is currently about £30ish. Moan to BA and you might get a refund?

      • Tom1 says:

        Don’t pay for access to horizon. Not worth £30 in my view. Would rather sit on the terrace (before security) or the deli bars inside.

  • Mike says:

    Oh I forgot to ask – has Ben managed to use his status as Hotel.com GOLD to get any discounts at Waitrose or perhaps Deliveroo to bring food to him for free or perhaps ÜBER to upgrade his car

  • @mkcol says:

    Any nuggets on whether the INV Aspire lounge will be open (for silvers) a week tomorrow?
    Otherwise I’ll have to order some inflight snacks in advance.

  • Guernsey Globetrotter says:

    IHG / Six Senses have added another Maldives resort to their portfolio https://www.hospitalitynet.org/announcement/41006942/six-senses-kanuhura.html
    Reward nights available for 125,000 points and seem to have a lot of availability currently on IHG site.

  • mzb00 says:

    Q re: anniversary 10k MR bonus on Gold card (after £15k spend). Any experience on how quickly this bonus posts?
    Tracker was for spend up to Sep 14th, still nothing posted although CS confirmed I hit the target and should expect bonus points to be deposited within 60 days. I was hoping for something faster as I’d like to close the account.

    • Anna says:

      Previously they posted around the time that the first statement after the 12 month anniversary was generated, but recently I’m finding any bonus points are taking a long time, especially if a card is likely to be cancelled!

    • stevenhp1987 says:

      Normally just before the next statement, around 30 days.

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