The HfP chat thread – Saturday 2nd October

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• Aston100 says:

  2 Oct2 October 11:53

  Any recommendation for something to replace the free IHG card? (my default for non Amex spend).

  1. No annual fee (at least not in the first year)
  2. Not an Amex
  3. Some sort of benefit such as miles/points or c@shb@ck

  Is the free Virgin card the best fit?

  Thanks.

  • SteveJ says:

    2 Oct2 October 12:20

    Pure cback card like John Lewis or Amazon. Or for points Virgin.

    Carefully consider the no fee thought process though, i.e. Virgin cards paid higher sign up bonus covers the card fee. Worth reading Robs article on the Virgin cards.

    • Aston100 says:

      2 Oct2 October 12:38

      SteveJ, that is a good point about the current SUB covering the annual fee.
      However, I’ve got no status with Virgin and am unlikely to fly with them, so would be looking to xfer the points to Hilton if I did take the card.

      I’m not sure how the maths would work in that situation compared to one of the c@shb@ack cards mentioned here, or indeed against the Amazon card.
      Yesterday I think I calculated £4 = 6 fc points = 9 HH points. To me a HH point is worth 0.4p, so I think I’d be getting approx 3.6p worth of value for that £4 spend on the Virgin card.
      Which I think sounds OK if the SUB more than covers the annual fee.

      • Harrier25 says:

        2 Oct2 October 13:11

        @Aston 100, the paid Virgin card is the one I applied for yesterday. Okay, its £160 but I feel the 30,000 points on first transaction virtually covers the fee in year 1. Like you, I am not remotely interested using the points with the airline and will convert into Hilton points. The paid card also give you double the points opposed to the free card and if my calculations are correct, please correct me if they’re not, each £1 spent will roughly give you 2.2 Hilton points, which is slightly better than the 2 points per £ on the Hilton Visa card.

        • Harrier25 says:

          2 Oct2 October 13:18

          By the way, I don’t see the Virgin paid card working in year 2 with the £160 fee, so will no doubt cancelling it towards the end of year 1 and rethink strategy.

        • Anna says:

          2 Oct2 October 13:58

          Is it not 15k points on the first transaction then another 15k when you spend £3k? That’s how I read it when I applied yesterday.
          Aston100 – this all actually hasn’t come at a bad time for me, I was dithering over applying for the Virgin card but went for it yesterday as soon as the Creation news hit. Got approved immediately with £11,600 limit. The intention is to move some of our travel spend to VS in the next few years due to their services from MAN (if these continue!)

        • Aston100 says:

          2 Oct2 October 14:09

          Harrier25, yes I’m calculating £1 = 2.25 HH.
          I think the maths works out well enough to justify getting this card for the first year, even if just to xfer to Hilton.
          As it needs to be done in increments of 10k fc points, I wonder what happens to the change? just sits in flying club until it expires?

        • Harrier25 says:

          2 Oct2 October 14:12

          You are correct Anna, sorry, but easily achievable in 3 months with my wife as a supplementary cardholder.
          Can’t see the card surviving into year 2 though without a big retention bonus!

        • Harrier25 says:

          2 Oct2 October 14:23

          I think so, Aston100. Just need to make sure you get to as close to 40,000/50,000 in points as possible and stop. Can’t see me doing more than that in year 1 to be honest with Amex commitments and Hilton Honors Gold the 10,000 target spend to hit with Barclaycard, which I no longer have Creation to assist with that target! 😞

  • Tracey says:

    2 Oct2 October 12:22

    NatWest credit card, 1% cash back at supermarkets, 0.5% elsewhere, no foreign exchange fees if you also hold a reward account.

    • jj says:

      2 Oct2 October 14:33

      Tracey, I don’t think that’s accurate any longer. Currently the earning rate is 0.25% for non-supermarket spend and a whopping 2.75% non-sterling transaction fee.

      Having said that, NatWest Rewards is a cracking current account. It’s earned me many tens of thousands of Avios over the past 2-3 years with no annual fee and very little effort.

      • Tracey says:

        2 Oct2 October 17:16

        Was quoting from the leaflet that came with my new card today. Assume it is for all NatWest reward black credit cards.

  • lumma says:

    2 Oct2 October 12:22

    Don’t think there’s anything available to new applicants that pays over 0.25% unless you have HSBC premier.

    If you spend a lot on Amazon and have prime then the Amazon MasterCard has a reasonable rate on Amazon purchases, but then they also take AMEX.

  • Bobri says:

    2 Oct2 October 12:28

    Chase or Boldie (Amazon). Also, NatWest card is an alternative, pays 0.25% in places that don’t take Amex. Believe Tracey is talking about Natwest rewards black which pays 0.5%, but you have to have an account with a 31/month fee, which nets to 21/month if you have 2 DDs and use the app

    • Tracey says:

      2 Oct2 October 17:17

      Ahh, that’s the one.

      We use the black account for DragonPass lounge access occasionally, annual travel insurance, mobile phone insurance and the occasional emergency plumber, so worth £31 a month possibly.

      • Tracey says:

        2 Oct2 October 17:17

        Or £21 with the DDs.

  • Youllnever says:

    2 Oct2 October 12:29

    No one seem to have mentioned the new Lloyds C@shback card.

• Aston100 says:

  2 Oct2 October 11:55

  No idea what happened to the formatting above.

  “Is the free Virgin card the best fit?” was supposed to be at the end.

• Bobri says:

  2 Oct2 October 11:59

  Datapoint on HSBC WE Card – card opened after May 2021 will b paying the 195 fee

  • Ls says:

    2 Oct2 October 12:45

    Mine opened in July 2021. Letter with card said £0 fee. £195 charged on first statement. Refunded fee with no issues after phone call lasting 3 mins total. Very easy. 40k bonus points on first statement after £2k spend.

• Bobri says:

  2 Oct2 October 12:01

  Question about Natwest Rewards Account Holders. Currently have a reward account with them, but want to upgrade to Premier Reward. How strict are they about having your salary paid into the account?

  • jj says:

    2 Oct2 October 14:38

    I needed an interview with my local Premier representative before I was allowed to open one. Although it was primarily an opportunity for him to try to sell me stuff, I thought the mandatory face-to-face was a decent touch in a world that’s largely automated.

    Assuming they haven’t changed the face-to-face rule due to covid, I would simply arrange the meeting and ask the question.

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    2 Oct2 October 21:14

    We have a joint account that we upgraded even though my salary is credited to hsbc.

• Doug M says:

  2 Oct2 October 12:11

  Formal complaint, then trouser the £50 you’ll be offered.

• @mkcol says:

  2 Oct2 October 12:15

  Just happened to be browsing the ICO’s site & saw that AMEX was issued with a £90k fine earlier this year, and that like a parking fine they get a discount (in this case 20%) for prompt payment.
  However if they chose to appeal they lost that discount.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    2 Oct2 October 12:25

    I’m surprised you don’t keep the discount if you appeal in the discount period.

• lumma says:

  2 Oct2 October 12:17

  Cancelled an IHG rewards night for tonight which the cancellation policy said I had until 6pm today in which to cancel and I haven’t received the points back yet.

  Is the cancellation policy different for reward nights as no email I’ve received from then says otherwise?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    2 Oct2 October 12:27

    It takes a few days if you cancel on the day for some reason.

    If the points don’t appear by mid week then an email to IHG will sort it out.

    (I actually cancelled with a phone call to a property after the cancellation period but because my plans changed and they were sold out they were happy to cancel and not walk another guest)

  • SteveJ says:

    2 Oct2 October 12:30

    Had a similar situation, IHG systems seem to struggle with same day cancellations, get in touch with CS, they sorted it pretty quickly.

    • Lady London says:

      2 Oct2 October 15:16

      As a courtesy, on same day I would always give the hotel a call as well

• Roger says:

  2 Oct2 October 12:27

  How do I go about cancelling VACC+ which is due annual fee soon without much fuss and ensuring the statement/miles are posted without any hassles.

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