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The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 22nd September

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

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Comments (644)

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

  • Anuj says:

    I’m going to hold on opening an account, I’m sure there will be some kind of referral or switching bonus once the easily acquired whittle out. Chase seem serious about gaining in this market.

  • davefl says:

    beardy-bendy-seagul.

    Does that require metal or will plain suffice?

    • Aston100 says:

      What message did you get when you tried to put £10 through?

    • TGLoyalty says:

      Metal or fronted.

      • davefl says:

        I dont have any at the moment. Last time I tried upgrading to metal with fronted it ended up with my underlying card blocked twice, apalling customer service from both and me telling bendy to go straighten out with a stick up their backside.

        So wondering if I just get a basic card again will seagul work or would I need metal/fronted?

        • TGLoyalty says:

          You can only use a blue card with fronting turned on.

          Or you need to use a metal card

          • davefl says:

            Thanks. Might give it a rerun and see, just to hit the beady target on the new offer.
            Double dip on paying all the hotels and cars for the forthcoming hols would be nice

  • BJ says:

    Just out of interest is anybody actually going to grow a pair and shout out loud “GUILTY AS CHARGED” ?

    • Aston100 says:

      What even the women?

      • Anna says:

        Are you saying only men can have testicles, Aston100? This kind of heresy didn’t end well for JK Rowling!

        • Colin MacKinnon says:

          A female American fighter pilot once told some generals: Grow a pair of ovaries!

          So saying just “grow a pair” is gender neutral!

          • Anna says:

            I’m not a biologist but my understanding is that ovaries and testes are pretty much the same thing at the embryonic stage, so yeah …

    • TGLoyalty says:

      Most are guilty and will find the email funny.

      I’d still be pissed off if I received that email after a £1 or few £100 transactions.

    • BP says:

      Me. Hundreds of thousands in the past year! Fully deserve the email and will keep going until they kill my account.

      • BJ says:

        Bravo 🙂

      • Genghis says:

        🙂 kamikaze mode

        • Rui N. says:

          Just an upstanding citizen recycling as much as they can as per all the PSAs we’ve seen in the past 3 decades.

      • George says:

        Well done. Me Too. £230k to date and still going. The only problem I foresee is how to spend my 450k+ virgin points.

        By the way “we have observed a number of transactions at NS&I that indicate that cash recycling may be occuring” (didn’t even spellcheck before sending). How are they going to prove this ? Just let them try investigating my private bank and savings accounts. Not so easy for the police to do that.

        • Andrew H says:

          Not how it’ll work. They’ll stop your card and ask for proof that you are not recycling. No proof and you don’t get your card back. The proof being that you still have a good proportion of the Premium Bonds (or whatever) you bought at NS&I.

          • Alan says:

            I genuinely use PB as a dumping ground for spare cash, in and out as required, cash recycling is what people do with cash.

            Did it before Bendy and as it is a legitimate use according to their T&Cs what are they going on about.

    • BuildBackBetter says:

      See next page.

  • Rosie says:

    I’m a platinum bonvoy member , have booked ritz Carlton Berlin through Marriott (paid stay refundable ) they say that they do give platinum breakfast free of charge …

    Do u think someone in there team has made a mistake or it’s correct. Don’t want to turn up and then be charged for breakfast

    • meta says:

      Some RCs give breakfasts to Plats and above at their discretion.

    • Harry T says:

      Ritz Carlton hotels do not offer free breakfast to elites.

      • Harry T says:

        As per the terms and conditions of the programme. A handful of RCs have been known to offer free breakfast but they are not required to do so.

        • Rosie says:

          If I have it confirmed in righting that they will extend the breakfast to me complimentary I guess they will have to remove any breakfast charge from my bill correct (that’s if charged) or do I have no grounds ???

          • TGLoyalty says:

            Yes. They’ve told you’ll be offered it so I’m sure they will honour.

          • Genghis says:

            They’ll v likely honour it. I got lounge access for a week at a JWM after the SPG->Marriott changes in 2018 after I’d contacted them in advance to confirm I’d get access as a measly Gold.

    • Anna says:

      Maybe it’s a Berlin thing – I’ve got a weekend at the Regent in December (on points) and they’ve confirmed breakfast is included (bit of a shocker for IHG, I know!)

      • Ikaz says:

        Regent hotels tend to give breakfast as a benefit with award bookings (I am not sure if it is hotel dependent or status dependent)

      • Rachel Robinson says:

        I think Regents always include breakfast

  • meta says:

    What happens if DPD delivers my day 2 test to the wrong address, but doesn’t say where and the delivery guy doesn’t leave a note? Second, my partner’s test gets delivered to the neighbour, but they are not answering the door for the last 24 hours (tried many times). Both Randox Health! Do we need to call NHS to request a free one? If so, is the number 111?

    • TGLoyalty says:

      Nothing and it’s 119.

    • Tracey says:

      Wait until day 3 and then phone 119. If you phone any earlier they will just say wait to see if it arrives. 119 may decide to send you out a PCR in the post.

    • Anna says:

      @meta, you don’t even need to call, you can order them online. Also, no one has checked that I did mine after my Expert Medicals test failed to arrive a few weeks ago.

      • meta says:

        Is the link the usual NHS PCR test link or is there some special one for travel?

        • Anna says:

          I think it’s just the normal one and select the options which fits your circumstances best.

      • Tracey says:

        The point of phoning 119 is to alert them that you haven’t been able to comply with the legislation requiring you to do a day 2 PCR, it isn’t necessarily to get a PCR. In any case the PCR for day 2 are the ones that may be sequenced if positive, so I’m not sure if the return address isn’t marked up in some way to distinguish it.

  • gl says:

    I suspect the reality is that the supposed ‘offenders’ probably make up >50% of their user base, and they would be ill advised to just terminate everyone

  • AnotherUser says:

    Can anyone recommend a good solicitor/advisor to help an application for German citizenship by descent? I successfully applied for a passport but then things went pear-shaped for an unusual reason – I can’t find relevant information online, and don’t have enough understanding of the German laws and regulations.

    I should say, the reason things have gone wrong is a paperwork glitch, nothing exciting…

    • Tracey says:

      A friend has done this successfully, I’m not sure if she used a solicitor or did it herself. She did find the German embassy very helpful, more than she expected.

  • AnotherUser says:

    Thanks. Any solicitor suggestions would be useful – the embassy were helpful, but are now less so. I think the problems I’m having spring from mistakes on their side

    • Anna says:

      Have you requested an appointment at the embassy/consulate to discuss it? If you’re entitled to the passport you shouldn’t have to pay solicitors’ fees to get it.

      • AnotherUser says:

        Thanks. In principle I absolutely agree with you! In practice, though, I’ve reached a dead end in discussions with the embassy and as an error of theirs was involved it seems worth paying a solicitor to see if I have other options

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