The HfP chat thread – Thursday 7th October

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• Chrism20 says:

  7 Oct7 October 15:42

  Airtime promo code OCT1

  Spend £5 before midnight Sat for £1 bonus. Limited to 1,000 users. Posted on Facebook half an hour ago.

  • Nigel W says:

    7 Oct7 October 15:43

    Thanks for that, just got it.

• Babyg says:

  7 Oct7 October 15:43

  FYI – first class rewards on a380 to DXB have just been released…

  • BJ says:

    7 Oct7 October 16:03

    Good spot … mad rush will be on now 🙂

    • Babyg says:

      7 Oct7 October 16:27

      yeah they got hoovered up really quick! there were 3 first class on most flights… i missed my ideal date, and had to settle for 2nd fiddle… still my first “first” on an a380…. now i just need to drink my taxes/carrier charges back to balance the books 🙂 happy days

      • BJ says:

        7 Oct7 October 18:43

        Enjoy, a380 remains the best IMO.

  • Lee says:

    7 Oct7 October 16:41

    Thanks Babyg, just booked first for New Year

    • Babyg says:

      7 Oct7 October 17:16

      nice… my booking was for the f1 in December…

• Mike says:

  7 Oct7 October 15:56

  My Swedish trip is back on!

  https://www.government.se/press-releases/2021/10/vaccinated-travellers-to-sweden-from-the-uk-to-be-exempted-from-entry-ban-and-test-requirement/

  • Harry T says:

    7 Oct7 October 19:02

    Great news!

  • Venturelog says:

    7 Oct7 October 21:29

    Excellent

• Anna says:

  7 Oct7 October 15:56

  We submitted a complaint to IHG for my OH, as he got his free night cert in July and has spent another £10k since then. This is their response so far:

  “Warm greetings from the InterContinental Ambassador Team! My name is Ann and let me assist you today with your Spire Elite Ambassador account. I hope that you’re doing well amidst this Covid-19 Pandemic.
  I have reviewed your email about your IHG MasterCard and the Creation Finance Services, and I will be forwarding your concerns to our respective team. Rest assured that our respective team will handle it accordingly.
  I would also suggest calling Creation Finance Services on why they’re closing your account at +44 037 1512 1967.”

  No idea how they define “accordingly”!

  • David says:

    7 Oct7 October 16:05

    Close your rewards account too?

  • Navara says:

    7 Oct7 October 16:27

    Thought you may have kept your head down on this. Won’t look good on your OH if he gets flagged for money laundering on his account.

    • Anna says:

      7 Oct7 October 16:51

      All our account activity has been perfectly legal. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t simply be closing accounts if they had any suspicion of money laundering. Both IHG and Creation have already had numerous complaints about the closures and no doubt many more to come.

    • stevenhp1987 says:

      7 Oct7 October 17:01

      Why would IHG care?

      They’re the ones who profit in all of this as they’ll be selling points to Creation that cost more than the 0.3% interchange fee!

      • Anna says:

        7 Oct7 October 17:05

        Well, that could be a reason!

    • Rui N. says:

      7 Oct7 October 17:34

      Yes, IHG clearly flags accounts for money laundering. They even put a banner on your hotel room saying as much. It’s one of the benefits.

      • Anna says:

        7 Oct7 October 17:43

        But you can exchange it for 500 points or an orange Club biscuit if you prefer.

        • r* says:

          7 Oct7 October 18:11

          I tried to use my ihg black for an online purchase and it was rejected, so I called solihull and asked if there was a problem. He asked if I had used che (which I had attempted earlier, but which kept being rejected) so I said I had before Id attempted the later purchase and he then said they dont support the revolution and it will have to go to security (presumably to unblock). Except security had gone home so call back tomorrow 😀 Not sure if the act of using che caused the card to be blocked, or if it was trying it like 5 times.

          Meanwhile, attempting to activate my white card online says its in restricted mode and needs to be done via phone. Has anyone else who got a white after blackfriday been able to activate it online?

        • Froggee says:

          7 Oct7 October 19:27

          To r* – I have no idea where this reply will post as I cannot reply to you. I received my IHG white card (applied for on Black Friday), activated it online and spent £200 online with it. All good for me and no need for phone calls. Used identical address/email/phone# on application too so they should know it’s me.

• Paul says:

  7 Oct7 October 16:11

  I’m late to the game here but if someone could advise that would be great… if I fund “che” with creative, does it incur any cash advance fees / interest? If so, are there ways to mitigate this given it takes a few days for balance to post to creation and then a few more days for manual payment to settle? Thank you.

  • Ashish says:

    7 Oct7 October 17:29

    I got ban for this. Now IHG gone. Need to share more info.
    HSBC? Is good for post office?

• Louise K says:

  7 Oct7 October 16:25

  EWR v JFK

  Which is better for transport into Midtown area?

  • Rob says:

    7 Oct7 October 16:30

    If you don’t mind paying for a taxi, Newark. Subway – JFK, it’s a non-stop trip once off the Airtrain IIRC.

    • Andrew H says:

      7 Oct7 October 17:20

      Find it strange that all the Club and First travel that people seem to do on here, that no one has a limo – can be booked at reasonable cost. It’s what I’ve done the 3 times I’ve been to NY.

      Def do that next time as it’s arriving on QM2 in to Brooklyn I believe?

    • Louise K says:

      7 Oct7 October 21:10

      Thanks all.

      I will decide on our hotel first then book flights accordingly

      It’s a surprise trip for my OH! I’ve downgraded us to WTP since I’m paying and I have 2 x free IHG nights and a stack of points to use.

      Finger crossed for opening up.

  • Michael C says:

    7 Oct7 October 16:37

    The (not very luxurious..!) local train goes from EWR to Penn Station: we did that a few times with pram / cases, staying in hotels within 2 mins walk of Penn. All v easy.

  • Mike says:

    7 Oct7 October 16:39

    I prefer JFK and take the airtrain/LIRR

  • Rich says:

    7 Oct7 October 16:46

    EWR: Airtrain then NJ Transit. JFK: Airtrain then LIRR. Both to Penn Station. Both frequent and easy.

    May depend on where exactly in mid-town. You also have the PATH from EWR and the Subway from JFK.

  • mr_jetlag says:

    7 Oct7 October 16:47

    Both are equally terrible during rush hour / wintwr weather due to the bridge and tunnels being woefully inadequate. I’d give jfk the edge just because Airtrain + subway is more reliable than LIRR into Penn.

    • mr_jetlag says:

      7 Oct7 October 16:48

      sorry meant NJT Newark -> Penn, and Airtrain + subway or LIRR from JFK.

  • The Canuck says:

    7 Oct7 October 16:57

    EWR all the way. Going through Jamaica from JFK is a Sh&thole

    • stevenhp1987 says:

      7 Oct7 October 17:03

      +1

      EWR is a breeze to get through compared to JFK too.

      Usually wait an hour+ in JFK while through in minutes at EWR.

      • Michael C says:

        7 Oct7 October 18:57

        Good point – we did landing at EWR to hotel check-in by Penn in 53 minutes last time!

  • Nectar Collector says:

    7 Oct7 October 17:16

    You can also take the Long Island Rail Road into Penn station from JFK

  • Anna says:

    7 Oct7 October 17:46

    I seem to recall you get charged extra for journeys to/from EWR because you’re crossing into another state?

    • ChrisC says:

      7 Oct7 October 18:20

      There is a $17.50 ‘Newark Surcharge’

      https://www1.nyc.gov/site/tlc/passengers/taxi-fare.page

• Yorkie Aid says:

  7 Oct7 October 16:47

  Creation seem to be playing hard ball, and clearly outside of the law here. I contacted them (long before the recent kerfuffle all kicked off) about my overdue Free Night Certificate which was due in March 2021. They finally just replied. I have copied the entire correspondence below. Just working out my next move. I have already spent over £10k since the fee was charged again in March 2021 but wonder whether I should not mention that yet until this previousoverdue certificate is sorted out:

  Me to Creation 23/9/21:
  Hello, I contacted you on 26th April querying my free night voucher which should have been awarded on 16th March 2021. I was advised that there was a known IT issue and that the problem would be resolved ASAP. It is now over six months overdue and to add insult to injury a friend told me that their free night had posted to their account this week on their exact anniversary date! I would be really grateful if the overdue voucher on my account could now be applied without any further delays since clearly the IT issue in question has now been resolved.

  Creation to me 7/10:
  Thanks for getting in touch about your IHG account.
  A letter was posted out to you 28/09/21 advising you of your account closure.
  We will not be awarding the free night to your account.
  Please confirm if you would like me to pass your email over to our Complaints Team, who will send out an acknowledgement letter to you within 5 working days and can take up to 8 weeks for resolution.
  I apologise for the late reply to your email.
  Thank you.
  If you have any further queries regarding your account, please refer to our website.

  • Anna says:

    7 Oct7 October 16:56

    What do you plan to do?

    • Yorkie Aid says:

      7 Oct7 October 17:42

      Well I intend to complain of course. I shall wait a couple of days to cool off first. I’d be interested in JDB’s take too if he’s not sick of commenting on this issue! My gut reaction is to deal with the two free night certs separately. The one I have already chased up has been overdue for over 6 months so I don’t think they have a leg to stand on. They previously said (also in writing) that it was just an IT issue and would be resolved in due course so I think I’ve got them fairly and squarely on that one. The second one due from spend since March 2021 might be trickier to enforce legally given that I won’t have reached the anniversary. By treating them as two separate complaints I think I will have a greater chance of at least getting one of the vouchers plus the satisfaction of knowing I will have cost them two times £750 if I have to take both cases to the FOS.

      • Anna says:

        7 Oct7 October 17:48

        I meant as in are you at the stage of getting the FOS involved etc, yet?! Of course you’re going to complain, I’m genuinely interested in what people are doing in this situation.

        • JDB says:

          7 Oct7 October 18:00

          You can’t go to the FOS until you have complained to the business and received a final decision letter or haven’t received that decision within 8 weeks.

      • Anna says:

        7 Oct7 October 17:53

        I think someone on here has already been to the FOS about a cert that never arrived and won.

      • JDB says:

        7 Oct7 October 17:57

        I think you are right to address the free night certs separately. There shouldn’t be any question about last year’s and the fact they delayed awarding it to you beyond the closure letter date is not a basis for withholding it which you should make clear. The newer voucher issue is not clear and I base that, not on my view, but on the Ombudsman’s previous determination as to what triggers the free night. Personally, I would wait and see what happens as they may relent or they may explain the basis on which they are playing hardball. This isn’t being handled in Solihull, so there are some intelligent people on the case and there are probably already enough complaints in the system to force the issue. The suggestion by some that they are getting in quick because the firm might close down is bonkers.

        • Yorkie Aid says:

          7 Oct7 October 18:29

          Thank you JDB for the sanity check, much appreciated. I shall ask for my complaint about last year’s certificate to be made official and wait for the final decision letter. Hopefully someone senior will see sense on this one. Once that is in the bag I shall make a complaint about this year’s certificate, obviously being mindful of the caveats about not having passed the anniversary, etc. I shall still proceed to FOS if necessary. They won’t wear me down! Thank you all for your help and support.

        • David says:

          7 Oct7 October 19:05

          Interested to know where is this being handled if not Solihull @JDB?

  • Grant says:

    7 Oct7 October 17:24

    Almost as if they’ve all been told they are losing their jobs before Christmas so they’re giving zero f**ks when replying to customers.

    • Anna says:

      7 Oct7 October 17:30

      It’s a shame they haven’t adopted the Lloyds approach and taken to handing out free nights and compensation with abandon!

      • Lady London says:

        7 Oct7 October 21:05

        They will once the volume of justified complaints and their legal stupidity becomes clear to them.

        Not everyone will have been caning it for M S

  • TGLoyalty says:

    7 Oct7 October 17:40

    Make a formal complaint and take them to FOS.

    • Yorkie Aid says:

      7 Oct7 October 19:00

      Thanks again all. Formal complaint just submitted citing their previous admission from April 27th that the free night would be added ASAP. Their eight week clock has started ticking.

      • John says:

        7 Oct7 October 19:24

        Why did you wait so long? I’d have taken them to the FOS in July (a bit over 8 weeks after 27 April)

        • Yorkie Aid says:

          7 Oct7 October 19:43

          CBA plus it suited me better to get the voucher later given it’s 12 months from when it is awarded.

  • r* says:

    7 Oct7 October 18:17

    Is there a way to find out the date that the new card year begins? I cant check when I got last years cert cos it wook 6 months for them to actually give it to me, I think its sometime in oct/nov but I’m not sure when.

    • Yorkie Aid says:

      7 Oct7 October 18:22

      It’s the date your fee was charged or as close as dammit

  • Lady London says:

    7 Oct7 October 21:02

    I will guarantee you that letter they mention dated 28th September hasn’t even left their building.

    Have you been using the account in contravention of any terms?

    • Yorkie Aid says:

      8 Oct8 October 08:20

      That was the letter that went out to pretty much everyone on here which I did receive on 1st October. They did at least get that bit right!

• TGLoyalty says:

  7 Oct7 October 17:38

  Red list cut to just 7 countries – Colombia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.

  making changes so travellers visiting England have fewer entry requirements, by recognising those with fully-vax status 💉 from 37 new countries and territories including India, Turkey and Ghana, treating them the same as UK fully vax passengers.

  • Anna says:

    7 Oct7 October 17:52

    So what does this mean now – even if you’re fully vaxxed you would have to quarantine if on return from one of the 7?
    Though I don’t believe for one second that those countries have the worst infection rates on the planet. 2 weeks in an AI resort on the DR can’t be that risky.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      7 Oct7 October 18:17

      Yes red list requirement is the same regardless of vaccine status.

    • Sam G says:

      7 Oct7 October 19:17

      Supposedly those countries are the few remaining where Delta is not prevalent & therefore remain a risk to the UK if somehow one variant is vaccine resistance and can beat Delta. But we saw in places like Brazil that once Delta takes hold it soon outdoes anything else , so I imagine they’ll catch up quite soon

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