The HfP chat thread – Friday 1st October

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Therooster says:

1 Oct1 October 10:44

I will ask the daily question as I am flying on Wednesday!
Where is the best place to book at home PCR tests day 2?
- PaulC says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 10:48
  
  £40 – Nationwide Pathology.
  I paid for ours on Wednesday and they arrived yesterday. We fly out tonight to PMI and return 9th Oct.
- Ryan says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 10:58
  
  Lots of places doing £20 PCR tests, if you’re not bothered by actually taking one
  
  I currently have a day 2 and 8 booked from 01 Harley Street
Rachel Robinson says:

1 Oct1 October 10:47

Just called Creation. The guy I spoke to knew nothing of mass closures. Said the only reason for closure would be the way the account is being used.
- Anna says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 10:53
  
  Lol, maybe they have done a Curve and pressed the wrong button.
  Or there’s a pattern with HFPers …
- Mark says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 10:53
  
  Interesting. Likely to be volume of spend and/or use of Curve for me then.
- stevenhp1987 says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 10:54
  
  The left hand doesn’t always communicate with the right hand… especially in large companies!
  - Rachel Robinson says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 11:03
    
    Yes I thought that. Call centre staff are often the last to know things! I guess we’ll see more over the next few days.
- Guernsey Globetrotter says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 10:54
  
  Interesting – so this could be as a result of a review connected to the whole Bendy/Solihull debacle? I wonder if there will be one on my doormat at lunchtime… I would say my transactions by number are 75/25 regular versus MS. By funds flow volume however the % split must be something like 10/90 😜. All Beardy-Solihull-Che route and no Bendy however so 🤞 that it is only Bendy they were reviewing!
  - Rob says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 11:02
    
    I was told two weeks ago that National Savings is basically using its clout as pseudo-Government to put an end to MS once and for all. Anyone who has paid anything into a National Savings account via Curve, from whatever credit card provider, should expect a similar closure. Not sure if any blacklisting will be done.
    - Colin MacKinnon says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 11:06
      
      Data point: neither of us have ever done NS&I
      
      Did, a couple of years ago, load up the revolting folk. But been regular users ever since Covid.
    - BP says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 11:08
      
      So you think Virgin, HSBC, NewDay and others may follow with closures?
    - stevenhp1987 says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 11:08
      
      Why don’t they just block the Curve BIN?
      
      Seems like the easiest solution.
      
      Considering that Curve were essentially advertising this as a Fronted benefit. It seems over the top to get people’s accounts shutdown or blacklisted.
      - Rui N. says:
        
        1 Oct1 October 11:19
        
        Not “were” advertising, are! On the email they sent out yesterday they once again mention using Fronted to invest in NS&I.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        1 Oct1 October 12:16
        
        Or close your NS&I account …
    - CH says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 11:21
      
      I was planning on putting a bit of spare cash into NS&I through Curve in the next few days, before the Fronted charge for Blue comes in. This would be one-off, legitimate savings, and it would stay with NS&I until I need the funds, likely in the next 3-12 months (depending on timing of planned major purchases and other cash flows). Does this mean that I am likely to be penalized in some way for doing exactly what NS&I want (i.e., attracting savings, and providing a debit card facility to simplify the transfer)?! It would still make sense for me to do a BACS transfer (so not MS by any means), but a debit card is much simpler (and I would pick up some Beardy points as a sign-on incentive).
      - Rob says:
        
        1 Oct1 October 11:34
        
        I wouldn’t do it on a credit card you would like to keep long term, put it that way.
      - Ed says:
        
        1 Oct1 October 11:44
        
        Unless your bank account doesn’t provide you with a debit card, there is no need to do BACS payment to top up premium bonds. Using curve, in order to use an underlying credit card, is where the issue arises
      - Andrew says:
        
        1 Oct1 October 12:10
        
        @Ed
        
        Why wouldn’t bother with using a Debit Card to top up your premium bonds when it’s so easy with a Faster Payment? I set up the Bill Payment once on HOBS 30 years ago, and it’s been available for me to send funds via online, then telephone, then internet and now FP via the App.
    - Chris says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 11:21
      
      It sounds like a bank who left a vault door open, then spending endless hours and effort chasing the robbers after they’ve got away. Why don’t they just close the door to the vault?!!
    - Harrier25 says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 11:28
      
      I haven’t done any NS&I deposits though whatsoever, just Che deposits directly and average amounts at that (£2k to £3k per month) but both my black and white accounts are being closed.
      - JDB says:
        
        1 Oct1 October 11:41
        
        It seems a bit broader than just NS&I activity which is simply what has opened up the whole can of worms to find other activity that is not technically against T&Cs but which they don’t like.
    - Andrew says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 11:28
      
      Got the letter this morning indicating that my IHG card was closing. I’ve never used it with NS&I. Over the summer I used it via Curve literally only about 5 times, all for small, legitimate transactions.
    - Alex says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 11:34
      
      Where did you hear that, Rob? Pretty concerning for a lot on here if true.
    - Babyg says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 12:11
      
      “anyone who has paid anything into a National Savings account via Curve, from whatever credit card provider, should expect a similar closure” i put school fee via curve (hilton and virgin), are you saying that i should expect to have both hitlon and virgin cards closed?
- IanM says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 11:29
  
  I got the letter today, never used it for any significant spend through Curve, what a joke. Sounds like they are closing down the card, full stop.
- BuildBackBetter says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 11:40
  
  Can confirm thats not the case. OH got the card just 2 months back and no NSI transactions. Closed.
  - Rachel Robinson says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 11:49
    
    Well as far as I know I’ve received no letter (not home today), but the chap I spoke to said there was no problem on my account, and that it was all normal.
    - David says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 12:13
      
      They seem to be arriving today, so….
- ChrisHz says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 11:57
  
  I’ve just spoken to Creation. Apparently it is a “business decision” and under the terms and conditions they don’t have to tell you why they’re closing the account.
  
  I also queried about:
  The free night voucher and what happens if you’ve already spent the £10k. They will honour this on the anniversary if you’ve hit the target.
  A pro-rata refund of the annual fee is not going to be given!
  
  If you want to complain then you have to email customercare at creation dot co dot uk
  
  For the record I have not used for NS& I but I do have a curve card… I don’t think I’ve used it for anything dodgy though!
MJ says:

1 Oct1 October 10:49

I had a 241 BA flight booked for me and my wife in Nov that was cancelled. I booked when BA advertised redemption flights for half the avios. There are no great options at the moment to rebook so what would happen if I dont go for either a refund or rebooked the flights until a date opens up which could be way beyond November? cheers
- Rob says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 11:04
  
  BA will try to make you cancel, you need to decide if you want to take them to Money Claim Online / Small Claims Court to assert your legal right under EC261 and its new UK equivalent to travel on a revised date which is convenient to you.
  
  Not sure what you mean about ‘great options’ though as you don’t need Avios availability to rebook – which is the grounds BA will use to defend your claim.
  - MJ says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 13:11
    
    ha! I always assumed there needed to be Avios availability. The flights in question are Business to Costa Rica and BA is only showing flights until end April. But perhaps any Oneworld airline would do…
    - Memesweeper says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 13:44
      
      Iberia operate year round, ask for that as a reroute and it should be easy for them to organise.
Rosie says:

1 Oct1 October 10:51

Hi I’m going to Germany for 4 nights on the 24 October , I have had my double jabs a while back . Does that mean the only test I need to buy and take is the 2 day test in the U.K when back home (lateral / pcr depending on what happens with the next update)
- N says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 12:11
  
  seems like it – i am researching this too. from what i can see (would be good to get some validation on this):
  Departing UK to Germany – no testing required, you just need to show your NHS Covid Pass as proof of vaccination
  Leaving Germany – no longer required to do a test before departing back to the UK
  Arrival into UK – Day 2 LF/PCR test based on when they implement LF as you say
Colin MacKinnon says:

1 Oct1 October 10:55

We’ve both had the Creation letters. (and we haven’t done fancy revolting things for a couple of years now)

But since my year starts in November, will be getting people a lot of gift vouchers for Xmas to rack up the 10k and free night spend!

Get ready for battle!
- Anna says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 11:17
  
  My Ovo balance might be increasing a little, since they seem to be fairly safe 🤞. Might pay off some of the car if I’m struggling to get to £10k. I’ve been fairly exclusive with Che for some time now so don’t want to take advantage of him unless that’s the next unpleasant surprise!
  - Harrier25 says:
    
    1 Oct1 October 11:33
    
    Have you had the dreaded letter too, Anna, or are you just presuming you will?
    - Anna says:
      
      1 Oct1 October 12:37
      
      Postman should be here any minute, I’m assuming we won’t escape the cull!
Mattb says:

1 Oct1 October 10:58

Has anyone who took out the VS on the day the recent bonus offer launched last week received the card yet?? Need to make a few purchases that would trigger the extra points but can’t wait much longer.
- Big Ern says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 11:59
  
  I am still waiting. Got an email on Monday saying it would be 7 to 10 working days
- Tracy says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 12:04
  
  Applied in OH name, me as supp. I received my pin yesterday, no card yet and nothing for OH as main account holder 🤷🏼‍♀️
- Andrew H says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 14:58
  
  My card back in April took 3 weeks to arrive. They are rubbish at getting cards out
Froggee says:

1 Oct1 October 11:15

Creation – I’ve done the only logical thing having had a letter closing my black card and have successfully applied for the white card today. The credit limit they gave me is half what it was on the black card. I will treat it gently and only use for genuine spend. Which ironically is what I’d been doing on the black card for almost a year anyway.
- Memesweeper says:
  
  1 Oct1 October 13:45
  
  Wow. They really don’t know what they’re doing, do they?
Daniel says:

1 Oct1 October 11:17

I’ve just had the letter today. The only curve transactions have been two verification transactions for pennies on 3rd August and one proper curve transaction for £15 9th August to an online retailer.

No funny business or anything else.

Anyone had any luck in disputing this with them or getting the closure reconsidered ?D