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The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 22nd September

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Comments (644)

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

  • Blindman says:
    22 Sep22 September 10:22

    DOH! Can’t edit post…

    Amex Plat Car insurance Q

    Do you have to pay for the car with the Plat to get the car insurance?

    Hoping to get one November and have just pre-paid for the Hertz car with a BAPP.

    Will present the Plat at the desk (May 2022) for the holding deposit but will not have paid with it.

  • BuildBackBetter says:
    22 Sep22 September 10:22

    BBC: Today the govrnment clarified that “formulations of the four listed vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Moderna Takeda, qualify as approved vaccines”
    This is for visitors to UK.

  • Triath5 says:
    22 Sep22 September 10:24

    Recently approved for an HSBC premier account, and as I’m ineligible for any AMEX bonuses any time soon, I’m weighing the merits of applying for one of :
    a) HSBC Premier Credit Card (free); b) HSBC World Elite card (£195) c) Virgin Atlantic+ (£160 – never had any VA cards)

    How would the HfP hivemind approach this? I’m assuming given (a) is free there’s no harm in applying, but between (b) and (c) which is better?

    I may have ‘card fee budget’ freeing up as I’m considering cancelling my AMEX Plat given HSBC’s Premier Account insurance looks like it does the trick (has anyone done this / made the comparison?), so may redirect some of this into (b) or (c).

    Any tips appreciated!

    • WearyTraveller says:
      22 Sep22 September 10:35

      You cannot hold two HSBC Premier credit cards at the same time. You need to choose one. So the choice could be (a) and (c) or just (b) for you.

      • Triath5 says:
        22 Sep22 September 10:43

        Fair enough.

        I can still apply to the paid card (b) AND the Virgin Atlantic (c) if I wanted to (though c.£400 of spend isn’t what I’d want)…

        What do most people have?

        • Reney says:
          22 Sep22 September 10:56

          I have the WE and the VA (free) plus other cards I have always been on the fence about the VA +. Yes it earns more points but I put the bulk of my spend through Amex so not much would be diverted over to justify the fee. Also the upgrade and downgrade is a faff. The change in T&C means even less will get diverted there.

          The change in vouchers are amazing. So I might need more VA points in the future when more countries open and the availabilities are good

          Took the WE to chance the fee being waived. Plus next amex SUB is March 2022. I have way more avios and vouchers then I have ever had in my life at the moment.

    • Reney says:
      22 Sep22 September 10:47

      A few people have gotten lucky with applying for the HSBC WE and getting the fee waived. (I called and got my fee waived but it still hasn’t bee processed yet). The problem is you probably don’t get billed till first statement which is 2 weeks after your 14 day cancellation period. So you need to decide if you will pay for it first. You may also want to commit to this card for 2 years to get the spend bonus.

      The travel insurance comes with the HSBC premier current account not the card if i remember correctly. Don’t recall the card has car rental insurance. The lounge benefits are different to amex plat too I think.

      I think you need to think about if you want VA points or BA avios. If you don’t want to travel to where VA flies or won’t earn enough points then that might help you decide.

    • LS says:
      22 Sep22 September 10:58

      I would apply for the HSBC WE card. I did last month, and got the fee waived. Although not official I suspect you will do too. And you still get the 20k bonus for £2k spend, as well as all the other benefits.

      • Tim says:
        22 Sep22 September 14:32

        Hi – I am looking to apply for the HSBC WE too. Please can I ask you on what basis they offered you to fee waiver or how did you request it?
        Thanks

    • Genghis says:
      22 Sep22 September 11:31

      I was very impressed with the HSBC Prem bank account travel insurance recently. Call picked up v quickly, call took 5 mins with no evidence required (claim c.£1k) and cash paid into HSBC account the next day.

      • Jonathan says:
        22 Sep22 September 12:33

        Mirrors my multiple experiences. Better than Amex Platinum IMHO for ease of claim. They also have more generous limits in some areas.

        • Jonathan says:
          22 Sep22 September 12:40

          Eg’s. Paid for revenue First OW from KUL when I was hospitalised over original return date (on an Avios 241).

          Paid for 4/10 of cost of new passport (to cover 4 years remaining on previous) plus all ancillary expenses for extended stay when someone pinched my passport in the lounge at Porto airport.

          Covered me for missed connection on separate tickets ORD-BOS, BOS-LHR including overnight hotel.

          All no questions asked & instant payment into current account at end of call.

    • Triath5 says:
      22 Sep22 September 14:29

      Thank you all for your thoughts and inputs…plenty to ponder in this decision!

      One other thing is that I have a rather sizable HMRC bill upcoming as well, and wondering which (of any) would play nice into a points generation payment?

  • J says:
    22 Sep22 September 10:35

    Could someone in the know quickly confirm what I think is correct: A 5 year old returning from a Green List country in September requires a Day 2 PCR test? Thanks.

  • Adam says:
    22 Sep22 September 10:57

    Hi, I’ve had a reward IC Rome booking cancelled by IHG; due to later opening date. Price was (bargain) 120k points for 3 nights in Feb . Now at June reopening will be 300k for 3 nights. I have complained IHG CS first response seems to be book later yourself, good luck with availability and points price might be (IS) higher. I have asked for rebooking under their ‘guarantee’. Any data points here with previous experience of similar situations?

    • DZOO says:
      22 Sep22 September 11:10

      Interested in this also – IC Rome stay is booked for early May – haven’t been notified yet but I’m sure it’ll be forthcoming…

      • DZOO says:
        22 Sep22 September 11:11

        I think Meta (a fairly frequent and clearly savvy poster) and possibly a few others are likely to be impacted also

        • Adam says:
          22 Sep22 September 12:35

          Opening now slated at 01.06. I have a call from IHG scheduled this PM so report back.

          • meta says:
            22 Sep22 September 14:06

            Mentioned this before on this and related topics. You have a range of options. Go hard on them to get what you want. That is of course if you can be bothered, most people give up and thus hotels and IHG continue such practices.

            IC Rome is apparently doing soft opening in April and May, so it still might go ahead for those later. If they try to cancel it, I’ll request a move to a comparable hotel at their expense or move to a later date for the same price. Have done it before with success.

  • Dan says:
    22 Sep22 September 11:02

    Current cheapest PCR (Day 2) test on the market? I have an Amex if that helps. Don’t care so much about the test – just the code for the PLF.

    • JSemity says:
      22 Sep22 September 11:09

      make the code up 😉

    • Richie says:
      22 Sep22 September 11:24

      My guess is Nationwide Pathology at £40.

    • Graham says:
      22 Sep22 September 11:30

      0044 on site test in Chester has been reduced to £6.99 I notice today. I can’t recall if they were reporting people who didn’t show up though?

    • APPL says:
      22 Sep22 September 13:17

      Expert Medicals at £28? At least they were still available 10 days ago.
      To my surprise, the tests have actually arrived day after ordering, and had the results 4 days after sending them back.

      • J says:
        22 Sep22 September 13:38

        Do you get the code for the passenger locator form with the order confirmation? I.e. no need to order before you go away?

  • Alex says:
    22 Sep22 September 11:23

    Referral from an Amex Gold increased to 18000 here – previous 15000.

  • Bill Barton says:
    22 Sep22 September 11:23

    Can anyone confirm if Aviva take Amex?

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