The HfP chat thread – Friday 1st October

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HH says:

1 Oct1 October 10:28

In the last few months Barclaycard Hilton Honors has closed my card and my wife’s card which are purely MS through curve.
BuildBackBetter says:

1 Oct1 October 10:29

On the brighter side, there’ll be no more questions on
‘Is the ihg free night voucher extended? ‘
Anna says:

1 Oct1 October 10:30

Assuming we get the Creation letters today. OH got his free night in July and will have spent at least another £10k by December 3rd. If they don’t give him another free night at that point I will definitely be going to the ombudsman. What does everyone else think?
My free night triggers this month, might get to £10k by December if I push it.
- stevenhp1987 says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 10:33
  
  Annoyingly my month rolls over in January…
  
  If they’re closing up shop, will there be a UK company with whom to take to FOS?
  - Lula says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 10:43
    
    My year rolls over in January too. Very annoying if they are closing all accounts. I’m currently at the office, so not sure if there’s a letter waiting for me at home.
  - meta says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 10:54
    
    That’s the thing, they won’t care about FOS if they’re closing, so I’d get the complaint in asap.
    - Toddy says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 10:59
      
      The FOS won’t even look at it until you’ve went through Creation’s complaint process and tried to come to an agreement with them. And rightly so.
  - Paul Pogba says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 11:12
    
    Unless they sell their loan book they’ll be operating here for a few years yet even if its just to wind down old business.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 10:34
  
  Paid my fee in Aug and already spent £10k+ I’m expecting the night and a pro rata refund.
  - Mick S says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 10:47
    
    Fingers crossed. I would expect a pro-rata at the minimum. Suspect the free night is a non-starter though
    - stevenhp1987 says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 10:56
      
      If I don’t get the free night I’d expect the annual fee to be returned in full.
    - BP says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 11:10
      
      Part of the T&Cs. Wouldn’t have spent the money if I wasn’t getting it. Would accept £250 in place of it.
      - Anna says:
        
        1 Oct1 October 12:23
        
        Absolutely. They would be breaching their own Ts and Cs otherwise. £250 would be a bit of a let down as I have a free night booked at the Kimpton Seafire next year where the cash rate is £600!
Jimmy says:

1 Oct1 October 10:30

This is a sad day for loyalty points collectors.

The black card was really great value.
- Mark says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 10:37
  
  Agreed. It was a no-brainer card to have given that the fee was low and could easily be surpassed in value with the free night voucher. Spend counting for elite points as well was probably easiest way to achieve IHG Spire as well.
- BP says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 10:38
  
  Ohh well, we had our fun with it! It’s the free night I’ll really miss. There was some amazing value to be had with that!
Barraclough says:

1 Oct1 October 10:31

With Creation closing the IHG cards in December I hope IHG will find another credit card supplier so we can build up points. Anyone got any hints if that could be happening?
- BP says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 10:34
  
  With the current rules on credit card fees, it may not be commercially viable unfortunately.
- Mark says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 10:35
  
  I’m not holding out much hope, Hilton haven’t had a UK card open to applicants for years now. If the IHG white card disappears, which it sounds like it may be happening, then the only UK hotel credit card left is the AMEX Marriott Bonvoy.
  
  Sad state of affairs.
  - Harrier25 says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 10:44
    
    At least all Amex points from any MR earning card can still be converted to hotel points with 3 brands, so not the end of the world. IHG hotels tend to be of poorer quality anyway.
    - Guernsey Globetrotter says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 10:48
      
      You can do IHG via the Virgin points (and so also with Amex MRs as you can convert via Virgin too). The 1:1 conversion rate is not very attractive though unless used for a really outsized value redemption.
    - Mark says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 10:52
      
      All true, but I can usually find more value by converting MR to airline loyalty schemes than hotels. Seems like wasted value.
- JDB says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 10:47
  
  Is Creation actually closing the cards or just certain people’s accounts? The 60 days notice is the requirement for them to close accounts without cause, but one would maybe expect a different letter if the cards were closing completely. The white card also still seems available to new applicants.
  - Melonfarmer says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 11:13
    
    Will see in a day or 2 if I get a letter about my grandfathered 1.5% card. I use it often; the white IHG (letter received today) sits in the drawer.
  - David says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 11:28
    
    This. Most likely related to NS&I use.
  - BuildBackBetter says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 11:42
    
    More likely they chose 60 days to avoid talking about the issue.
Jimbob says:

1 Oct1 October 10:40

My application for the VA credit card is being “considered” with a decision in the next 5 working days.
Does this mean I’m likely to be rejected? Anyone had a positive outcome from this?
- Rob says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 10:49
  
  This is what happens when your personal info can’t be immediately validated from the databases they can access. It is not necessarily a problem.
Anna says:

1 Oct1 October 10:42

In other news – I have booked a double room at the Sofitel T5 for next June. It was £188 cancellable and pay on arrival, as opposed to nearly £400 for a refundable suite which is the only option which comes up if you want a room for 3. The double room says it sleeps 2 adults and a child, and I have asked for a rollaway bed (which I know they will charge for), but will they refuse this when they find out my son is 16?! We haven’t stayed since he was much smaller so not sure what their policy is now. I don’t want to pay up front in case the trip gets cancelled.
- Anna says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 10:45
  
  I suppose we don’t all have to check in together so they wouldn’t actually know …
- Richie says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 10:46
  
  £188 seems a lot if your son is not going to get a good night sleep. Are there any rooms nearby at other hotels for £94 each ?
  - Anna says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 10:51
    
    Hi Richie, yes every time we do this I look at other options and it comes down to convenience, none of us want to trek to and from an off-site hotel between flights and our long haul is 10.15 the next morning so I’d be really stressed about making it back to T5 in good time.
    I’m 5′ 2″ so may be the one using the rollaway!
    - Anna says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 10:52
      
      Also once you factor in 6 journeys on the Heathrow hopper the saving gets smaller.
      - Richie says:
        
        1 Oct1 October 11:17
        
        I’d do a comparison with the Premier Inn.
    - Sandra says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 13:35
      
      A family we knew, when their 4 children were small, used to book a room that slept 2 + 2 (usually Travelodge/Premier Inn type) then one parent would check in with 2 children whilst the other parent hung around out of sight with the other 2. Once the room & key were allocated they would go up to it separately & make sure no one saw all 6 of them together. Think they topped and tailed the kids or took sleeping bags with a couple sleeping on the floor. Never got caught out as far as I know but for me it would have been a stretch too far to save a few quid!
N says:

1 Oct1 October 10:44

anyone been to Germany recently? my parents are going in mid October – they are both fully vaccinated. it seems like proof of vaccination is accepted, but is the NHS-provided proof of vax acceptable by the German authorities?

anything else to be aware of when departing or arriving back in the UK?
- stevenhp1987 says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 10:58
  
  NHS Covid Pass is fine.
  
  Need a health pass for museums/restaurants etc. They all accepted the NHS Covid Pass just fine. They just glance at the dates.
  - N says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 11:17
    
    thanks! so no testing required to enter Germany if you can show an NHS Covid Pass?
    - PerkyPat says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 12:48
      
      No testing. Download Luca app when you are there for track and trace. FFP2 masks required on public transport.