The HfP chat thread – Sunday 3rd October

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KS says:

3 Oct3 October 08:10

Reposting since I posted this late on yesterday’s chat thread:

Did I miss mention of a new £100 off on £750+ at Dell on Amex Personal Plat? I was checking offers on my wife’s account and noticed this while it doesn’t show up for my plat.
- Andrew says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 08:13
  
  It’s like the DFS sale… There’s rarely a time when there isn’t a £100/£750 Dell offer on my BA Amex.
  
  Make sure you cross check with your employer’s staff offer site. There’ll be permanent stackable offers there too.
  - KS says:
    
    3 Oct3 October 09:14
    
    Thanks, that explains it. For some reason I have never been targeted for a dell £100 offer. I do have an offer from my employer for a specific build that they use at work and it is significantly discounted but that takes me through a different payment page so I doubt it will trigger the offer.
Ravi says:

3 Oct3 October 08:11

Do i need to come with an excuse to open HSBC Premier in USA & India for current account with credit card being a HSBC premier here in UK.

Is it done without questions or have to meet certain criteria?

For USA I can say , I could be moving in about six months and India for lifelong real estate transactions.
- Reney says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 08:18
  
  I thought once you are premier in one country it carries through to other countries (if you ask for it to be applied). So you just need to have HSBC accounts in those countries.
  - Rob says:
    
    3 Oct3 October 09:04
    
    That was my understanding too, although never tried it.
- Distichon says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 08:20
  
  I assume having a local credit card without for ex fees is the main perk? Latching on to this question, also interested to know how opening one for the US card works as a UK customer, the official information online seemed pretty sparse.
  - Ravi says:
    
    3 Oct3 October 12:42
    
    The main perk of a local credit card for me is the ability to pay at petrol stations and few websites for shopping.UK cards doesn’t work for pre authorisation at Fuel stations.
    I pay 50$ cash for authorisation and come back to the car to realise I can only manage to fill 45$ to walk back gain to the till for 5$ change.
- BuildBackBetter says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 09:16
  
  If u want a US credit card, easier to get a global transfer with Amex? For a regular USD bank account, Wise might be an easier option?
- Blenz101 says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 09:23
  
  It isn’t quite as simple as you can just have an account in any country HSBC operate. You need to first be eligible for an account in the local jurisdiction and then they will apply Premier status to it. For the US this likely means you will need a residency of some sort and potentially a social security number if you are expecting a line of credit. Checking accounts in the US are typically not free so you may also need to maintain minimum balances if you wish to avoid maintenance charges, this is despite you being Premier elsewhere where these fees would be waived.
  
  No idea on the system in India but your relationship manager will be able to find out and guide you.
  
  You could also consider HSBC Expat – based offshore in Jersey and offers Premier banking in a number of currencies.
  - Sina says:
    
    3 Oct3 October 09:47
    
    I have an account in the US with HSBC, you don’t need residency, just apply online through the UK website and they will email you asking why you need an account, then the opening takes about a week! (I wasn’t asked for any documents etc)
    
    Once the account is open you can talk to your relationship manager about getting a credit card.
    - Memesweeper says:
      
      3 Oct3 October 10:56
      
      +1
      
      you need a reason to have the account, not residency or a SSN
- DJ says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 09:45
  
  It should not be a problem to open a current account, but I’m not sure if they would give you a credit card though.
  
  I have HSBC Premier in Expat and China, through the UK account without issues, but banks in different regions have different eligibility criteria for their credit cards.
  - Blenz101 says:
    
    3 Oct3 October 11:36
    
    Well you wouldn’t get an account in the UAE without copies of a valid residency visa and Emirates ID on file with HSBC and if you fail to update it when your visa is renewed they block your account.
    
    Perhaps the US is more liberal in who they let have an account but I always understood the US to be very focused on credit scores and verified identities.
    
    I guess if you have links to the country and a correspondence address your relationship manager can assist smooth things over. “I may move there” would be more tricky.
- Anuj says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 11:55
  
  Have a look at DBS treasures account, although you do need to be a oci or passport holder.
- DeB20 says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 13:06
  
  Worked for me with a student account in India and UK Premier. The former was upgraded when I presented proof of the latter. Similar situation for my brothers who are US citizens and have Premier accounts, with their student accounts in India upgraded.
  
  The only catch is that HSBC is in the process of selling its US retail banking business to two different banks. So it might be a pointless exercise for you.
QwertyKnowsBest says:

3 Oct3 October 08:13

Anyone used LHT T4 Hilton whilst T4 closed and Heathrow Express not stopping at T4 and according to Hilton suspend walkway to hotel closed?

Arriving and departing T5 so looks too much hassle.
- Andrew says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 08:26
  
  I wouldn’t stay there at the moment for those reasons. Book the onsite T3 one or the Hatton Cross one (walkable to the tube).
- Andrew says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 08:28
  
  And T4 to T5 has always been a hassle as you have to change trains at T3 – I would only stay there if I was flying from T3.
- Peggerz says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 09:04
  
  I am staying this week at Hilton T4. Phoned hotel to confirm transport options. Hoppa bus (£6) or London Transport. I have a relatively early T5 flight the next day and doesn’t seem too much of a schlep. Confirmed T4 and walkway are still closed, as is the exec lounge in the hotel.
  - Nick says:
    
    3 Oct3 October 10:46
    
    I’ve never understood people’s deep-seated aversion to a 10 minute public bus journey. It was quicker than the HEx even when T4 was open!
    
    482 and 490, both from the stop literally outside the hotel door. 8 buses an hour, operates from 4am to midnight, so massively more convenient than the Hoppa. £1.55 fare now applies, sadly, but it’s payable with any contactless card/Apple Pay. Yes they take Amex.
Jon says:

3 Oct3 October 08:13

Reports on the BBC that the red list will be cut from 54 to 9. Any thoughts on the Domincan Republic coming off? We’ve just moved our flights to Feb, but hadn’t booked a hotel yet.
- TheThunderer says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 08:38
  
  We are watching for this too. Newspapers don’t appear to want to speculate.
- Jeff Greene says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 08:39
  
  No idea. Best to wait until confirmation. No one on here has any reliable inside info. It’s all guesswork
  - Rob says:
    
    3 Oct3 October 09:03
    
    If you go to the Gridpoint Consulting website there is a good article on this.
    
    Basically – there is no covid variant anywhere which can beat Delta. Once exposed to Delta, it is quickly eradicated. QED the Red List has no function any longer. Variants only exist in countries which are not getting exposed to Delta due to restrictions and as soon as Delta gets in it whips your pesky local variant within weeks.
    - The Savage Squirrel says:
      
      3 Oct3 October 09:59
      
      “there is no covid variant anywhere which can beat Delta”. The important missing word from that sentence is … YET.
      But I agree with your point; a new variant could emerge absolutely anywhere so different restrictions for different countries make no sense. Restrict everywhere (e.g. NZ approach) or nowhere.
      - Jeff Greene says:
        
        3 Oct3 October 10:08
        
        Covid is still a relatively new disease so anything could yet happen. No one knows. Obvs people want to put their fingers in their ears and pretend that there’s zero chance of things going wrong etc but that could be correct and equally it could be wrong.
        
        (If it did come from a lab leak -not saying it did- then who knows what could happen…..)
      - Rob says:
        
        3 Oct3 October 11:51
        
        Without getting too complex, covid can only evolve so far before it stops being covid. The chimp eventually become a human. There is a view, which could of course be wrong, that Delta is as good as it can get. Indeed, no better variant has appeared globally in the last 6 months.
      - Jeff Greene says:
        
        3 Oct3 October 12:29
        
        “ There is a view, which could of course be wrong, that Delta is as good as it can get.”
        
        Yes. There’s also the view from other scientists that it can get worse. Depends who you want to believe. You’ve got skin in the travel game game so I don’t blame you for taking more optimistic view.
        
        I’m open minded to either.
      - Rob says:
        
        3 Oct3 October 14:53
        
        Nothing worse from the last, what, 100m global infections since Delta first appeared ….
Steven says:

3 Oct3 October 08:17

Anyone have any recent data points for how long it takes to get the hsbc premier account set up? Applied last weekend, went through their id check and just wondering how long it normally takes. Thanks.
- Rahaney says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 17:06
  
  Takes several weeks. Then about the same to set up a credit card. Both BJ and I had delay issues. The system seems very slow…
  - Steven says:
    
    3 Oct3 October 19:49
    
    Many thanks
Stu N says:

3 Oct3 October 08:27

Anyone who was doing manufactured spend via Creation/ Curve/ NS&I had their IHG account suspended yet?
- Zoe says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 08:34
  
  everyone until the deadline
  - Stu N says:
    
    3 Oct3 October 08:45
    
    I mean IHG hotel points account not the card – surely this is next step in the crackdown?
    - SteveJ says:
      
      3 Oct3 October 08:46
      
      I don’t see why, IHG sold their points and made a bucket load of money. Seems like unnecessary fear or even scaremongering.
      - JDB says:
        
        3 Oct3 October 08:49
        
        The narrative at HMT that NS&I has unwittingly been funding luxury hotel stays and flights may override other considerations; firms don’t want to be associated. Not scaremongering but what has been going on needs to be seen a a wider context.
      - Stu N says:
        
        3 Oct3 October 09:05
        
        …but those points cost a business partner a huge amount of money.
        
        People have talked about earning hundreds of thousands or millions of points – this isn’t going to go unnoticed and I’m struggling to see why Creation wouldn’t be pushing IHG to do something.
      - Lady London says:
        
        3 Oct3 October 15:34
        
        What business is that of NS&I or “HMT”
- BuildBackBetter says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 09:21
  
  Why would ihg suspend the account? They’ll be more annoyed that sales of points will drop from Dec.
  It’s Creation’s risk to monitor transactions and that’s why they panicked rather than tweaking their systems.
- BP says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 10:19
  
  Can’t see it happening. I’ve earned a huge amount of points from this but cancel my account and I move my business elsewhere. I do book cash rates for both personal and business stays and I doubt IHG will want to lose a paying customer.
- Rui N. says:
  
  3 Oct3 October 10:44
  
  I’m sure that the ICO would love to know that personal financial data was being shared like that between so many companies. You know that IHG has credit cards in the US that give hundreds of thousands of points as a sign up bonus right? And that you can then go to your local Walmart and buy unlimited money orders to get more points?
  And they would bother to close the account of 1800 people in the UK, risking having a court case where the defendant’s only fault was to use Curve has Curve promotes itself. I’d love to see that court case.
  - Anna says:
    
    3 Oct3 October 11:05
    
    Someone posted recently that they had been contacted either by Creation or IHG saying their account was being investigated because of the way they were earning their points. Did anything ever come of that?
  - JDB says:
    
    3 Oct3 October 11:55
    
    The companies are not sharing any information; only the regulator can see all the data. In respect of any court case, you have agreed, in joining the IHG Rewards programme, that the State of Georgia law applies and that any disputes can only be resolved by in person arbitration in Georgia! I doubt they will take action, but if you read the terms, IHG has a lot of latitude, so it cannot be excluded.
  - Stu N says:
    
    3 Oct3 October 14:35
    
    IHG won’t need to see data they don’t already have. Identify accounts that used to earn huge amounts of points from Creation and suddenly don’t earn that way any more. Suspend those accounts that were earning above a threshold under fair use terms that will be in the IHG Rewards T&Cs and let the member appeal. If member can prove it is legitimate spend then all good, if they think what member has been doing is unreasonable then bye bye points.
    
    As commented below it’s governed by law in State of Georgia so good luck appealing that.
    - Jonathan says:
      
      3 Oct3 October 18:09
      
      Why would a global business waste time & resources investigating 1,800 people in the U.K. who have earned points through exploiting a credit card company’s lax T&C’s? Remember that IHG have profited from this. Presumably if they started removing points earned from Creation then Creation would be asking for a refund.
      
      The game is over, that is more than enough to satisfy IHG, Creation & NS&I.
Hanif says:

3 Oct3 October 08:45

Are there any current offers joining IC Ambassador? Thanks
Dubious says:

3 Oct3 October 08:49

I had my 50% off avios sale flights (dometics UK to London connecting to Long Haul) coming up and BA have cancelled the flights; automatically put me on another set the next day…

I see that online I can move the date of the second leg to any day in the next 360-ish days, but the first leg can only be moved by about 14 days.

I have tried the call centre who say I can only move the flights either 3 days before or 2 weeks after the original travel dates…but I thought they had changed the rules to allow them to be moved further out?

…I have had two agents say this now – is the whole 360 validity rule still being applied?
I am not sure how far I should be pushing the call centre.

[As and aside, this is quite annoying as if I was in the right location I would moved the dometic leg a few days and fly on it, but I am in the wrong location to do that following other flight disruptions].