The HfP chat thread – Thursday 23rd September

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KZ says:

23 Sep23 September 16:36

I seem to recall a walk in clinic in London where you can book day two tests for £20 – could anyone tell me the name of the clinic? Many thanks!
- Tw33ty says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 17:43
  
  There’s a walk in lab on Stephenson way right beside Euston Square station I used, unilabs, it was £24
- CH says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 17:48
  
  I vaguely recall such a person mentioning Harley Street when quoting £20, but I don’t recall whether they named the specific clinic. Probably better to go with the above suggested £24 anyway!
- KZ says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 18:21
  
  Thank you both!
Save East Coast Rewards says:

23 Sep23 September 16:43

Flight FLR-LCY cancelled tomorrow (short notice cancellation) rebooked for Saturday. I did my test yesterday. I can’t remember the rules on UK entry covid tests will a test done on Wednesday be valid on Saturday – I know it goes by days rather than hours but can’t remember if the day of travel counts as one.

If I do need another test would BA cover the cost as I had already paid for one test and they cancelled the flight just a few hours before OLCI opened.

VeriFLY is saying it’s too early to submit a test so I can’t try submitting the one I’ve already taken and see what happens.
- Rich says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 16:47
  
  Wednesday test is OK. Any of the 3 days preceding your flight, or the day itself.
  
  Interesting question about BA paying if it wasn’t valid though. I suspect they’d tell you to claim on your insurance.
- Braiden Woodward says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 19:04
  
  I was on this flight too and got the cancellation this morning. I managed to get one of the last available seats on LHR-PSA for tomorrow instead.
  
  Probably a bit late for you now, but you could ask BA to re-route you to BLQ or FCO and take the train. My train from Pisa is only 1 hour.
Wollhouse says:

23 Sep23 September 16:43

Data point: Re IHG, ive seen the comments re book/stay for the Creation free night. I paid for Ambassadors last year, right before we went back into lockdown in Scotland…urgh. the free night says Redeem By. As mine expired 1 Oct 21 and we’ve been legally prohibited from staying unless for work until bery recently, I rang to see what extension they were giving. Absolutely none is the answer. “Their systems don’t allow this”… I couldn’t find any availability in Edinburgh or Glasgow for this weekend (the free night has to be booked with a second weekend night) so after over an hour of being on hold and internal conversations they offered me 15000 points which I refused. I needed up accepting 40000 points which as I can now use without a second night, was ok. But I’m now wondering if Redeem By meant I just needed to book by 1 Oct 21? I can’t try a dummy booking now as the voucher has disappeared. But I agree with other posters- their service was shocking. In the hopes of travelling, I renewed ambassador and got a new voucher for 2022 and they tried to fob me off saying that voucher was because they had already extended the previous one as a courtesy. Then they said they would extend then they said they wouldn’t. They were so clueless it would have been funny if I hadn’t lost 75 minutes of my life! But worth a call if you have an expiring Ambassador night. Unless of course you just need to book by rather than stay by under the term “redeem”?.
- Anna says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 17:13
  
  You have to use the Ambassador 2nd night free voucher within your membership year, though you can book the rate while you’re not a member and join or re-join nearer the time. I managed to get my OH’s membership extended by 2 months (I think this is a one-time only thing though) which has meant we can use his free night at the end of this year (in Edinburgh!) I know what you mean about clueless – they gave me 25k points as a “goodwill” gesture as I had to let a free night voucher expire earlier this year then tried to say I couldn’t have my 25k points for re-qualifying for Spire because of this! I just kept on at them until they relented …
George says:

23 Sep23 September 16:52

I used to top up my Tax Free Childcare account with Curve backed by IHG. Are there any points earning options now? Only standing orders or debit cards are accepted.
- elguiri says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 17:13
  
  See Rich’s 16:53 comment. I believe this should work, but don’t have a data point to confirm yet
- Genghis says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 17:19
  
  Another underlying?
- Rui N. says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 17:20
  
  Curve+Virgin still worked last week for tax free childcare.
- Rum says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 18:45
  
  I did this just a few days ago using curve backed by Hong Kong. No issues.
- elguiri says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 19:39
  
  Just a note, I believe bank transfers are the quickest way to get money into your Tax Free Childcare account – debit card used to take a couple of days until it showed up in your account. Bank Transfer appears within about 10 mins.
Rich says:

23 Sep23 September 16:53

You can load with Virgin. I mostly use it for BACS payments, with the odd card payment in there too to keep them happy. It’s actually a decent day to day banking product as well.

There’s a very generous RAF deal at the moment if it’s not too forward 😉 . £70 for me, nothing for you. Happy to split it 50/50.
- RobL says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 17:18
  
  Which level of account can you fund with Virgin and make BACs payments?
  - RobL says:
    
    23 Sep23 September 17:18
    
    Can you do that with the free account?
  - Rich says:
    
    23 Sep23 September 17:24
    
    Yes, on the free account. I haven’t pushed it. I don’t think you’d get away with the sort of MS that people talk about here. I only use it for genuine BACS payments to builders etc, with a bit of card usage thrown in too.
    - RobL says:
      
      23 Sep23 September 17:28
      
      Ok. How does the referral work?
    - Rich says:
      
      23 Sep23 September 17:34
      
      I would post the link but not sure if it’s OK with Rob. And I’d need to track you to give your cut. Can you email me at mad_rich@hotmail.com
    - Rich says:
      
      23 Sep23 September 17:48
      
      It’s £70 to the referrer, when you sign up, order a card (£4.99) and make 3 x card payments of £5 or more.
      
      I’d pay you £35, assuming I get paid.
    - Andrew H says:
      
      23 Sep23 September 20:27
      
      Can you BACS HMRC? Am interested. Do you get £70 if I sign up for the free card? Don’t BACS that often… oh apart from to my partner monthly!
- Reney says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 17:46
  
  I though Virgin started charging cash transfer fee. That was a big chat thread day when it was implemented.
Paul says:

23 Sep23 September 16:58

I have a business account and think they are great. Use it for forex transfers mainly. Have an AUD account and a USD account for branch offices in Melbourne and Seattle.
- Paul says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 17:53
  
  Yes interested to know the Virgin > Revolut semantics also, please. My namesake elsewhere seems to have all the info.
Backpacker says:

23 Sep23 September 17:05

Avro energy customer here – they went bunkrupt yesterday.
Can’t understand why all of the information has been wiped from their website though – why have they done that?
I can’t get statements, or show any evidence of the large credit balance.

People discussed this yesterday – Is it common for these energy providers to lose their data when they go under?
- HAK says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 17:21
  
  Perhaps your “credit” is now sitting elsewhere (in say a Director’s slush fund?)
- AndyGWP says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 19:49
  
  If they’re bankrupt, no one can pay the IT costs so systems will get pulled
Tazzy says:

23 Sep23 September 17:15

I’ve just done a prenetics lateral flow test for a flight from Malaga to belfast on Sunday. I have received the PDF results and this does not include my passport number, which I did have to submit when registering the test. Will this be an issue?
- Blenz101 says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 17:28
  
  Spain doesn’t require the passport number on the certificate.
- StevieKicks says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 17:34
  
  Not an issue for flying into the UK either, they just glance at the name/date