Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

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.

  • Toby says:

    I’ve just noticed an offer on nectar – if I convert 2000 nectar points to avios, in the next 5 days, I will receive an extra 250 bonus avios. Has anyone else got this?

    I’m just shy of 2000 nectar points so need to get creative!

    • Shaw West says:

      I think that’s for all Avios nectar transfers

    • MattB says:

      I’ve got this but T&Cs suggest its for a first time conversion, and I made one at the very start of the BA/Nectar tie up.

    • BJ says:

      Been around a week or two; for first time conversions only I think?

    • Toby says:

      I’ve looked at the terms more and it’s for my first transaction of at least 2000 nectar to avios. Will be interesting to see if it posts bonus points as I’ve certainly made transfers of more nectar….

  • Save East Coast Rewards says:

    Just thought I’d mention for anyone coming to Italy and returning to the UK.

    I usually get my pre-departure tests at Bologna Airport, it’s conenient, you can pre-book but in Italian terms it’s expensive (€40).

    In pharmacies I think the tests are price capped depending on the region. Here they’re €15 (less for children) for a lateral flow test (tampone rapido). Depending on the pharmacy you may need to book. I hesitated going this route before i case the certificates do not have the required info on. The PDF I received had the info in both Italian and English and was accepted in a matter of moments by VeriFLY (so the app must recognise those certificates).

  • Charlie says:

    If Igloo goes bust, is whatever credit I have in their safe or at risk? I’m sure loads of people are in this same boat….. thanks

  • Alex says:

    First time at LHR T5 on Friday, flying CE to BER. Any advice which lounge I should choose? Any tips?

    No status. AMEX Plat holder.

  • AL says:

    Green Energy and Avro Energy have ceased trading.

    • Ed says:

      I managed to get my switch done just in time by the looks of it

    • Jody says:

      Just seen this. I’m with Avro. Logged in this morning and everything was showing fine. How I wish I’d taken a screenshot then, as now the website is dead. Nothing to suggest they would go bust today, all I heard about was Igloo (which I mentioned earlier in the thread).

      • Ed says:

        I was with Avro as well, the rates they were offering were far too cheap for them to have been hedging. Swapped to sainsburys/ eon on Monday cheapest fix available and a stack of nectar points to soften the increased monthly cost

    • Andy says:

      Market is going crazy – I switched at the end of last week (although I’m currently with one of the big suppliers, so them folding wasn’t the concern) and compared to my fix, their latest one has a standing charge which has doubled (to ~120£) and the unit rate has gone up by 10%…

  • HH says:

    Sorry if this is a dumb question. I’m considering BAPP given the 40k SUB. I hold a PRG charge card – can I self-refer for the BAPP to get the increased SUB of 42k Avios?

    • Anna says:

      Current wisdom is don’t self-refer as Amex have been going after people doing this in the US and closing down their accounts.

    • Rob says:

      Very risky given what Amex has been doing to people who did it in the US, often 2-3 years down the line.

  • Anna says:

    Just had a warning shot email from bendy about ernie, however I think they must be sending these out to everyone as my bendy use has been minimal recently, certainly nothing like what other people on here have admitted to!

    • Aston100 says:

      Absolutely this Anna. I was just going to post this too.
      The bloody cheek of it, associating me with the MSing legends of HfP.

      I am confident this email must be going out to anyone who ever used Bendy in between Solihull and Ernie, regardless of frequency or volume.

    • Nick says:

      Remember that Curve specifically lists NS&I as a partner that you can pay in to using Curve Metal / Fronted. Any email is likely to be a charm offensive to try and keep their business operational and avoid being cut-off by card companies.

    • MinR says:

      +1, I’ve hardly ever used it for NS&I and received the email too.

    • Jane says:

      Oops, me too ! well my husband actually who knows nothing about it 🙂 again, very low numbers compared to some, and mostly not actually recycled back out again.

    • Nectar Collector says:

      +1 , only ever made a £1 test transaction , and have not withdrawn it again either!

    • Adam says:

      Same here. Paid in 4k in 2021. None withdrawn.

    • BuildBackBetter says:

      +1. Not used for Ernie for 6 months and they still sent it.
      They probably cc-ed Creation to show off that they suddenly care.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      They’ve just sent an email to anyone and everyone that’s ever used NS&I. Shoddy.

      • EwanG says:

        Agreed. What a load of clowns!
        When they introduced ’fronted’ they touted still being able to use it for NS&I as an option, now however anyone who has used it with them gets accused of breaching their and NS&Is terms!

    • Rjn21 says:

      My wife and also just received it. Absolutely no recycling (just monthly surplus cash paid into NS&I) and nothing like the sort of amounts that I understand many people were doing.
      After the loss of Amex support, the occasional duplicate charging, the occasional total system outage, the dry slow replacement of date expired cards, the loss of s.75 protection, the dilution of legacy curve rewards (M&S, B&Q pre Amex), the now slow responses to any in-app query, I wouldn’t be worried if they choose not to provide us with services.

    • Mattb says:

      Same here, I have made 2 ns&i txns worth under £2k in the past year, nothing since March so admit to taking part but hardly recycling behaviour as the email says.

    • Tracy says:

      +2, me & OH

      • DaveL says:

        +1. Very irritated by this. Used for minimal amount of savings spread over the course of many months (maybe half a dozen payments over 18+ months). No withdrawal/recycling. Just came here to post and saw the thread!
        The fact that they ENCOURAGE fronted / metal users to pay NSI – before sending this to everyone (unless someone can confirm that fronted/metal users have been excluded), makes matters even worse!

        • Ming the Merciless says:

          +1. Very annoying. I’ve only been paying in £18k a day for the past year plus £250k a year before they removed the limits. As an honest and upstanding part time cleaner it is offensive to be accused of manufacture spending.

          • The Savage Squirrel says:

            🤣

          • TGLoyalty says:

            How many cards do you have Ming?

          • Ming the Merciless says:

            @tg
            2 curve ( I manage player2’s using TalkTT)

            Other cards-too many. I was off amex for almost a year as I got player2 shut down for gaming the double points on platinum last summer. I thought they shut p2 down completely but I took a punt on Monday and they got accepted for a bapp.

          • Magic Mike says:

            @ming lol

            Player 2 got the email today, I think she Ernied via Beardy just once about a year ago, and only on my instructions.

            Somehow I haven’t got one, despite bending my flexible friend much more…

    • Dubious says:

      It is an email that causes some surprise when it shouldn’t really be a surprise….but I don’t think it is a 1,000 posted comments day.

    • Alan says:

      I had this today, after doing a £200 test transaction.

      Should I stop or go gangbusters until they close down the card. Without the NS&I Curve seems pretty worthless as Amex is my main card.

      Any ideas on alternative ways of MS that would make Bendy worth keeping, i cannot be bothered with the weekly cashpoint run.

  • His Holyness says:

    Just got the “Suspected breach of our card terms” email from Bendy. While I have paid maybe 50K in over the past two years, none of it is recycling, just moving it through Bendy than directly paying in.

    I suspect it’s going out to anyone who ever used Ernie under pressure from them

    • Nigel says:

      I just got one two. Not done it for a long time so I suspect it’s going to anyone that has made a “purchase” from Ernie

    • Rich says:

      Same here. Total of three transactions to NS&I in a year. None withdrawn – genuine deposits!

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