The HfP chat thread – Friday 8th October

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

• Fk says:

  8 Oct8 October 18:03

  Hey everyone
  In light of ihg card being shut down, any good points earning cards you can recommend, was using it for business spend only.
  Thanks

  • DJ says:

    8 Oct8 October 18:24

    HSBC Premier World Elite, if you qualify.

    Or, Virgin Atlantic Credit Card by Virgin Money.

    Or Or, any Amex cards ….

    • Roy says:

      8 Oct8 October 19:09

      I’ve never understood the attraction of the WE, why do people get so excited by 1 mile per £1 with an annual fee?

      • Youllnever says:

        8 Oct8 October 19:11

        You get unlimited lounge access as well, which is a pretty good proposition for solo travellers.

        • Roy says:

          8 Oct8 October 19:17

          Ah, ok, so as an alternative to Plat I can see the value.

        • Jonathan says:

          8 Oct8 October 19:27

          And very good travel insurance free with the Premier current account so for an all round package it’s much better value for money than Amex Plat unless you use the Priority Passes with guests a lot.

        • Roy says:

          8 Oct8 October 23:00

          Better not to analyse as a package, though, as HSBC Premier is free if you qualify, regardless of what points credit cards you use….

      • Kevin C says:

        8 Oct8 October 19:19

        Bonus transfers mean I have received at least 1.25 miles per pound with mine.

      • DJ says:

        8 Oct8 October 19:32

        Also 40k Avios on the first £12k spending within the first 12 months, so well worth the card fee, at least for the first year.

      • The Urbanite says:

        8 Oct8 October 19:55

        The Premier WE card is an exceptionally valuable addition to a points collector’s wallet.

        • Pthy887 says:

          8 Oct8 October 20:02

          What about between the Premier WE card vs. the Virgin Atlantic Rewards+ with the bigger bonus? My expenditure on credit cards is already chunky given the Plat + 3 US cards…Think P2 would get angry if I take both of these out!

        • Roy says:

          8 Oct8 October 23:04

          Still not really getting it. Given I have Plat, and assuming I decide to keep Plat even if I get an HSBC Premier current account, I’m still not convinced I get much for my £195 for WE except maybe in the first year.

        • Rob says:

          8 Oct8 October 23:13

          2 years, bonus is 20k Avios in Years 1 and 2 because you must pay for Year 2 to get the £12k bonus. I think after that a six month break and reapplying is in order.

          I wouldn’t prioritise getting WE at the moment though ….

        • Youllnever says:

          8 Oct8 October 23:15

          If you have the Plat then yeah, the numbers probably won’t add up after the first year. I already have hotel statuses and am solo traveller, so the Plat doesn’t add up for me, hence the WE.

        • Youllnever says:

          8 Oct8 October 23:17

          Forgot about the 2nd year bonus as Rob mentioned, so amending my statement to “after the first two years” 😅

        • Roy says:

          8 Oct8 October 23:23

          Plat probably doesn’t really add up for me, either, but would be loath to lose Plaza Premium and Eurostar lounges…

        • Youllnever says:

          8 Oct8 October 23:32

          Ah yeah. I have the Amex Explorer card from HK, so I got access to PP lounges. I will say the one downside is that I still don’t have access to the Centurion lounge.

        • Roy says:

          8 Oct8 October 23:35

          So £400 for 40,000 points. Still not seeing it. And not really interested in churning on my main current account provider…

        • Youllnever says:

          8 Oct8 October 23:40

          Just had a look at the website – what have they done with the card design?! Absolutely detest the portrait orientation. Much prefer the lion design as well 😒

        • Rob says:

          9 Oct9 October 08:47

          I got mine two months ago and it was still landscape.

          This portrait trend is a total disaster for HfP because all imagery on the site is landscape!

          I once went to a conference where a PR person said that a mistake a lot of small businesses do is make their PR photographs portrait. This means that online media is unlikely to touch them.

      • Ashish says:

        9 Oct9 October 09:09

        Manaffacture spending

    • Fk says:

      8 Oct8 October 19:16

      Virgins been a bit funny with the application, already have amex
      Thanks

  • Harry T says:

    8 Oct8 October 20:18

    I get good value out of the paid Virgin Atlantic card and the HSBC Premier World Elite card.

• Clive says:

  8 Oct8 October 18:16

  So HFP Hive it looks like my Daughters reward flight to BKK with BA in Dec is now cancelled (although they haven’t told me). Admit there is a chance that they may reinstate flights earlier now it’s off the red list but what can I expect BA to offer apart from the refund.?

  • Anna says:

    8 Oct8 October 18:30

    Re-routing (won’t be offered but she is entitled) if daughter still wants to go, but aren’t there still a lot of restrictions in Thailand?

    • Clive says:

      8 Oct8 October 19:05

      Do you not think that they would offer Qatar flights?

  • Richie says:

    8 Oct8 October 19:29

    Ask for a re-routing. Research and prepare a list of flights and note them in order of preference, include Thai Airways, Finnair, Eva, Qatar etc. Also check ba.com and expedia.

  • BlueHorizonUK says:

    8 Oct8 October 20:15

    BA have only zeroed out the flights. Nothings been cancelled yet. They had planned to start direct flights from 10 December.

    Until 8 December they are re-routing people onto the Finnair flights through Stockholm. No other airline at the moment.

    • Yorkieflyer says:

      8 Oct8 October 20:33

      But there are only two flights a week via Stockholm

  • Sam G says:

    8 Oct8 October 20:47

    They have an agreement to reroute via Stockholm on Finnair twice weekly – not a bad alternative, good connections and an Finnair A350

• DJ says:

  8 Oct8 October 18:48

  Interesting – Just phoned Amex to downgrade my BAPP card, but was informed that downgrade is no longer possible. Is that the norm now? Ta

  • SteveJ says:

    8 Oct8 October 19:09

    That’s a hang up and call again situation. The easiest thing is to start a new application for the free card, as you’re in the process their website will realise you are an existing customer and reroute you.

    • SteveJ says:

      8 Oct8 October 19:09

      If the above is unclear what I meant was do it all online.

      • Louise says:

        8 Oct8 October 19:49

        Don’t think this works any more SteveJ – tried this today and when you get to the point it recognises you have a BA card already it says ‘We’re sorry. You do not have a card eligible for this offer’

  • Louise says:

    8 Oct8 October 19:28

    Had the same message when phoned today to downgrade. Was told from 1st Sept that downgrades we’re no longer possible. Has anyone managed to downgrade recently? (I only upgraded a couple of months ago)

    • BJ says:

      8 Oct8 October 20:29

      Yes, some have successfully downgraded either at their own request or the suggestion of retention agent. Others who have been refused initially were later successful when calling again. One or two report being refused multiple times. Like retention offers it might depend on your internal amex file but I’m not convinced, probably just luck of the draw given some are initially refused but subsequently successful.

    • Sam G says:

      8 Oct8 October 20:48

      The other day. Do a chat during working hours and ask to speak to retentions as you are thinking of cancelling. Got my pro rata credit the next day, same account number etc

      • Magarathea says:

        8 Oct8 October 23:17

        Same for me. The chat / phone staff at Amex offered me the downgrade and it was all sorted in 5 mins on the phone. Now showing on my online profile as free card. They offered me 10k avios for £3k spend in 3 months as an alternative to keep the bapp but this did not suit me.

• Andrew says:

  8 Oct8 October 18:58

  Just has an IHG offer through, not sure if targetted. Earn 2,000 pts for first app booking and 3,000 pts for 2nd booking before 9th December.

  • Roy says:

    8 Oct8 October 19:25

    Sounds a bit like an Accelerator target….

  • Kai says:

    8 Oct8 October 20:04

    Do you have a link please?

  • BJ says:

    8 Oct8 October 20:30

    Nothing here so far.

  • JohnT says:

    9 Oct9 October 09:14

    +1 got it as never used app, so may be for new downloads ?

• Paul says:

  8 Oct8 October 19:11

  Is Mexico open for tourism? I don’t remember seeing many posts at all from people talking about going to Mexico. Thought that would have been a popular option at the moment? Maybe I’m missing something.

  • John says:

    8 Oct8 October 19:39

    Yes it has always been open. But it’s currently on the red list. Useful for people who want to go to the US

    • JDB says:

      8 Oct8 October 19:42

      It’s coming off the red list on Monday.

  • JDB says:

    8 Oct8 October 19:41

    Mexico has been open for tourism throughout the pandemic. We think it’s a great place to visit; different people like different holidays, but we are going back next month for our fifth trip in five years, and tenth trip overall as we haven’t found anywhere to beat it. Many like the Cancun area, but the Pacific coast is our choice. There is something there for everyone.

    • Paul says:

      8 Oct8 October 19:46

      Been Mexico City and cancun. Pacific Coast sounds good. Anywhere in particular?

      • JDB says:

        8 Oct8 October 19:58

        We go to Zihuatanejo/Playa Blanca and Troncones (all near ZIH airport). Main holidaymakers are Mexican but a few Americans andCanadians, so although very comfortable indeed, you don’t pay tourist prices eg margarita 50 pesos = c. £2, massages on the beach £12 that my wife says are better than any hotel. Few big/chain hotels. Deserted beaches. A few archaeological sites, fantastic nature reserves, good golf. Food, especially fish & shellfish is fantastic and at local prices, save for a few really good more expensive ones. Weather very reliable and not humid, very few mosquitoes in the winter. Troncones and surrounding towns have become quite popular for surfers.

        Avoid Ixtapa also served by that airport and also Acapulco that is said to be dangerous these days.

        • Paul says:

          8 Oct8 October 20:15

          Sounds perfect and right up our street.. Thanks!

        • SteveJ says:

          8 Oct8 October 21:00

          Sounds lovely, pity BA only hit Cancun and Mexico City as direct flights

        • JDB says:

          8 Oct8 October 23:01

          @SteveJ – MEX has lots of Avios availability including F and it’s an easy hop to various places on the Pacific coast. Also MEX great stopover city to visit, for culture, sights and a serious foodie place. Depends what you like; we first went to Cancun about 23 years ago, and once again since, but too built up/tourist orientated now for our liking, but it does have great resort hotels, all inclusives, beaches etc.whereas we prefer more adventurous less developed places.

        • Cambridge Dad says:

          8 Oct8 October 23:05

          Cozumel halfway house? Not too OTT. Though I’d prefer Playa del Carmen.

• Alan says:

  8 Oct8 October 19:56

  We are off on holiday tomorrow to Turkey and will probably want to withdraw around £600 in cash during the 10days we are there.

  I have free Curve and Revolut cards, any thoughts on which is the best to use. In particular do these avoid the cash point charges that now seem to be the norm when using Turkish cashpoints.

  • Harry T says:

    8 Oct8 October 20:25

    Additional charges for withdrawing cash seem to be dictated by the bank or business who owns the ATM, unfortunately.

    Disregarding charges levied by the ATM. I think both Revolut and Curve let you withdraw up to £200 fee free a month, if you have the free packages. They may charge you for going above that, or may not.

    • Babyg says:

      8 Oct8 October 20:52

      Curve has weekend charging….. i always change at least 50% of the money i want before i go…

      fyi curve has a weekend surcharge – for transactions where both the transaction and the underlying payment cards are in GBP, USD or EUR, the foreign exchange fee will be 0.5%. For all other currencies, the foreign exchange fee will be 1.5%.

      • Jonathan says:

        8 Oct8 October 20:56

        One of Curve’s huge disabilities

        • Babyg says:

          8 Oct8 October 21:17

          agreed, but you can work around it if you know, and 0.5% in Europe every now and then is fine considering you can link to Hilton or Virgin for points… that said Virgin can be used effectively (not cash withdrawals directly) overseas

        • TGLoyalty says:

          8 Oct8 October 21:43

          It’s really not.

          It’s spot+0.5% when a 0% MC/Visa around 0.5%-0.75% lower than spot anyway.

        • Babyg says:

          8 Oct8 October 22:10

          didnt know that TG loyalty, thanks.. err where does one find this info on spot vs MC/VISA btw?

        • TGLoyalty says:

          9 Oct9 October 02:36

          The rates are published daily. You’ll need to compare to the exchange the working day before.

  • Sandgrounder says:

    8 Oct8 October 21:05

    Curve don’t seem to support Turkish lira, so you can’t add your Revolut to curve, top up your lira account, change the card currency in the curve app to lira, and get 10 free withdrawals a month with no fee. But that might help someone else in a similar situation. Just not in Turkey.

• Babyg says:

  8 Oct8 October 20:27

  For those into a380 reward flights, qatar is now showing availability on ba.com – i cant quite make this work with my December Dubai trip.. but others might, they are doing LHR-DOH, and CDG-DOH.. (return)
  Flight: QR0040 Operated by: Qatar Airways Departing from:
  Charles de Gaulle (Paris) Wed 15 December 2021, 15:05
  Arriving at: Doha Wed 15 December 2021, 23:30
  Aircraft type: Airbus A380 Jet

• Matthew says:

  8 Oct8 October 20:44

  Harry are you at Domes? If so how’s it going? Not been since Covid times and hoping it’s just a good as used to be.

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.