Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

The HfP chat thread – Sunday 10th October

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

We are running this daily chat thread on Head for Points during the coronavirus outbreak.

Historically, the daily ‘Bits’ articles were the de facto repository for random comments and questions.  With the news flow being lighter, we are running fewer ‘Bits’ articles.

The comments under this article are where you should post questions about travel and, indeed, anything else on your mind.  At this tricky time, and given that many of you are at home, we want the HfP community to have a place to chat.

Please only comment under the main articles on the site if your comment is directly related to the topic of the article.  This has long-term benefits as it keeps the commentary relevant for people who read those articles in the future.

Old chat threads are hidden from the HfP home page.  If you want to look for something in an old thread, click here.  This brings up all the articles in our ‘General’ category which includes the chat threads.

Category

General

Comments (363)

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

  • SB says:
    10 Oct10 October 12:19

    I have a question about credit/debit cards abroad. I have some elderly relatives who live abroad who I financially support. I would like to give them a credit/debit card from my account that they can use for day to day spending. Doesn’t need to earn points but should be zero FX fee.

    If I simply give them a credit/debit card with my name on it and let them use it for day to day spending, presumably that will be a breach of terms and conditions? It will work in the short term but presumably at some point they will notice that someone is using the card abroad all year and raise a red float?

    The alternative I guess is to issue a supplementary card on a credit card account. Will any U.K. issuer give supplementary cards to non-residents?

    Any other solutions?

    • Jonathan says:
      10 Oct10 October 12:34

      Most UK credit card providers require supplementary cardholders to be UK residents, people who’s primary home is in the UK. Letting someone use a credit card with a different person’s name on it is just looking for trouble

      • SB says:
        10 Oct10 October 12:50

        That is what I thought, but wondering if it is “most” with some exceptions which I could use, or “all@.

        • Jonathan says:
          10 Oct10 October 15:56

          I don’t know every UK based credit card company’s policies on whether or not a supplementary card holder must have their primary residence in the UK, hence is to why I said ‘most’ and not ‘all’

      • Sandgrounder says:
        10 Oct10 October 14:18

        I had no problems ordering an amex supp for a non resident.

      • CH says:
        10 Oct10 October 20:45

        Amex ICC will issue supplemental cards to non-UK residents who provide usual proof of address.

    • blenz101 says:
      10 Oct10 October 12:34

      Do they have no banking facilities in their own name in local currency where you could just top up their account via bank transfer using Revolut to keep down the bank charges?

      Using a supplementary card long term overseas day to day is going to keep tripping them up with various fraud protections so isn’t really an idea solution.

      You are also right that giving them your card and pin will be against very financial institutions terms.

    • Yorkie Aid says:
      10 Oct10 October 12:36

      Have you considered a Caxton card that you can reload remotely? I was considering this a few years back for the cleaner of a house abroad but in the end we worked out another way to pay them.

    • BuildBackBetter says:
      10 Oct10 October 13:59

      Are you eligible to get a debit or credit card in their country? If yes, that’ll make it much easier. Or any bank account for that matter.

    • Kwisstan says:
      10 Oct10 October 14:16

      Can’t they sign up for revolut itself, depending on which country they are in? You can the bank transfer to the GBP account and then transfer to whichever currency.

      My revolut is registered to my German address as it was the quickest way for me to get a cheap EUR bank at the time

    • Js says:
      10 Oct10 October 14:16

      Worked for me the lasy 8 years, no problems!

    • John says:
      10 Oct10 October 14:47

      If they can get a curve in the country they live, you could add your card to it (against curve t&c but who cares, as long as they aren’t doing cashlike transactions), and your card would just see curve from London

      • Mr. AC says:
        10 Oct10 October 23:28

        Curve isn’t issued outside of EEA. If you start spending outside of EEA too much, they will demand an up-to-date proof of address (happened to me after I got stuck outside of the country for a month).

    • GeorgeJ says:
      10 Oct10 October 16:00

      I had UK cards all the time that I lived and worked outside the UK. Registered address varied between my home overseas and the place we kept available in the UK. Cards/banks included Amex Barclays and HSBC.
      If you have the means to be their client one of the Swiss banks may accommodate you (Swiss cards need to be paid off monthly I believe) with this sort of supplementary arrangement.

    • John says:
      10 Oct10 October 21:01

      https://www.starlingbank.com/blog/introducing-connected-cards-for-personal-accounts/

  • Jonathan says:
    10 Oct10 October 12:21

    Any advice re car hire in Florida in early December ? The main operators Hertz / Avis are quoting circa £70 a day . Kayak are more reasonable £40 a day but how reliable are they ? My understanding is I prepay and receive a voucher just not sure I feel comfortable with that .Any help would be very much appreciated.

    • elguiri says:
      10 Oct10 October 12:25

      I have normally done car hire in Florida (from Tampa/Miami always one ways) with Avis via BA site, getting the additional driver for free plus some avios. Avis preferred status gets you to skip the queues.

      • Sam G says:
        10 Oct10 October 13:07

        Quite often in the US a spouse or partner can drive without an extra charge anyway so worth checking this when comparing

    • Doug M says:
      10 Oct10 October 12:35

      Keeping checking, rates all over the place. Try autoslash.

    • Louise K says:
      10 Oct10 October 12:51

      Try Happy Tours and make sure you state UK as your home country.

      I got a great deal from them last year for Hawaii.

    • Louise K says:
      10 Oct10 October 12:53

      Also, check Expedia. I find their rates very competitive.

    • ianM says:
      10 Oct10 October 13:05

      There is no sign of rental rates reducing in the short term with chip shortages and shortages of cars in the main companies fleets. £70 a day is not too bad, some places no change out of £100 a day.

      You can get cheaper but maybe older cars

    • Super Secret Stuff says:
      10 Oct10 October 14:20

      Avis are a royal pain, avoid at all costs. Plus now I think they basically sub contract all the work out so even more painful

    • Graham Walsh says:
      10 Oct10 October 20:44

      As an alternative try Turo. Seems a bit more competitive but mixed reviews on certain owners. Just do your research on them I guess like Airbnb

  • Degsy says:
    10 Oct10 October 12:28

    Slightly different for me as legacy black – nothing to lose me keeping mine and using for the odd ATM transaction and when I go abroad (backed by a non-Creation card now of course).
    Very little incentive to use it day to day though – it’s gone from being joint first in wallet to being hidden behind my NT card….

    • KBuffett says:
      10 Oct10 October 12:30

      What are the ATM withdrawal limits abroad on Curve Legacy Black?

      • Rich says:
        10 Oct10 October 12:32

        No limit on spend
        £400/ month limit on ATM

        (I believe the limit isn’t necessarily applied, not sure)

      • Harrier25 says:
        10 Oct10 October 12:36

        Unlimited for Metal, Black and Black Legacy. £200 per month for free Blue.

        • Harrier25 says:
          10 Oct10 October 12:39

          ATM limits £400 or £200 per month but in my experience limits have never been implemented and I have always withdrawn more in UK and EU.

          • Jim says:
            10 Oct10 October 12:43

            +1
            I went over the ATM limits several times and was never charged.

          • AG says:
            10 Oct10 October 13:45

            I was charged earlier this year. Curve Metal and only went £12 over the stated limit (£600)

    • BP says:
      10 Oct10 October 13:32

      The FX limit is applied for the Blue card and I fell foul of this on my recent trip away.

    • Rich says:
      10 Oct10 October 14:51

      AG – were you charged 2% of £12 (24p) or more?

  • Nick says:
    10 Oct10 October 12:47

    I need to urgently sign up for complete savings. Any one know how to force prompt a sign up page?

  • Mel T says:
    10 Oct10 October 13:07

    VVA redemption – just planning for when the flights come available in a few weeks. Have been told by Virgin rep that they will not add the inbound flight to the outbound ticket if I book out bound as soon at they become available. and will class this as 2 trips. Have alway managed to get then to do this previously – is this now a thing of the past? I don’t mind if the taxes are not much different but when its over £500 thats quite significant.

    • Mel T says:
      10 Oct10 October 13:12

      *them not then

    • Mel T says:
      10 Oct10 October 13:13

      *them

    • Jonathan says:
      10 Oct10 October 17:06

      Slightly surprised by this although I would note that there are no guarantees on award availability & I don’t think Virgin tend to release any/many when flights first go on sale so it’s not like BA where you have to be fastest finger first at T-355 (or T-331 as it is on Virgin).

  • Harry T says:
    10 Oct10 October 13:24

    Just completed a seven night stay at Domes of Elounda. Booked via Emyr using the special packages he had for Head for Points readers. I book via Emyr quite a lot but found him especially helpful this time as he could book a package that could be cancelled up to 14 days before, which required no pre
    Payment and included extra goodies. The rate was 282 euros a night, including taxes, for half board. This rate was much more competitive than booking direct, and also included a free three course lunch and twenty minute head and shoulder massage. We just booked the base room – smaller suite with a garden view and jacuzzi.

    This was my first time staying at Domes of Elounda so I have no frame of reference. The resort was actually completely full, which was a surprise at this point in the season. Most of the people there were families with small children; the majority of the families were also German. A good chunk of the remaining travellers were gay couples, most of whom seemed to be british. Unfortunately, there were also some british families with small children but they were mostly not entirely awful. I had been expecting less families and more couples but I actually found that the kids were mostly well behaved and respectful, and the Germans seem to be much better at parenting than the average brits abroad. Mercifully, there were none of the more unpleasant types of travellers one can find at high end resorts – can’t make a point here without seeming prejudiced but anyone who spends a significant amount of time at luxury hotels will know what I mean. Overall, considering I am not generally a fan of family friendly resorts, I was pleasantly surprised by how tranquil the ambience remained, despite a plethora of tiny travellers.

    For some reason, the hotel had limited integration with the Marriott Bonvoy app – I couldn’t message the hotel via the app or make any requests. I did reply to their welcome email asking about an upgrade and late checkout – I was politely assured that they would do what they could but they obviously could not make any guarantees.

    We arrived very late (I think technically on Sunday) after your standard ridiculous LCC flight that arrives at some god awful time. I might actually never fly from
    Manchester again, as an aside. We queued for an hour at fast track, waiting for them to check the bag they had erroneously flagged. The security was understaffed and lacking any form of cognitive horsepower. TBC…

    • Harry T says:
      10 Oct10 October 13:37

      Anyway, after the ordeal of Manchester airport, a Jet2 flight and an hour’s drive in a hire car in the dark, we arrived at Domes after midnight. We were checked in by a lovely man. I could see in the Bonvoy app that we were still allocated a base room but the man took great joy in informing us we had been upgraded to a private residence for our seven night stay. We were then taken by golf buggy to our “room”, which was a standalone two bedroom Villa style building with a private garden and large private pool. We were blown away by this generous multi category upgrade, even taking into account my Titanium status and the preferred partner booking.

      The residence was gorgeous and spread across two floors, with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, full kitchen and large living room. There was also a large terrace on the top floor that overlooked the sea. Our garden was very private and included a big pool with four sun loungers and another area for outdoor dining.

      Our upgrade did not include access to haute living – I did enquire. Tbh HL looked a bit overrated, as I did get the opportunity to poke around. If you enjoy getting bevved in a small area with unmasked and awful Essex folk, then definitely pay the extra 100 euros per person per night or book a residence or Villa outright 😉. Our half board included a buffet breakfast and dinner at Tholos, the main restaurant near main reception – if you have mobility or fitness issues, you will need to get a golf buggy from the residences to here, as it’s a very hilly trek on foot. We could also get 15 euros credit per person per night towards dinner at other restaurants. I received a Free three course dinner voucher for blend, I think for being titanium, and also claimed my free three course lunch voucher for booking via Emyr. Drinks are not included in half board or vouchers, for dinner. We received 100 euros towards F&B spend due to the Emyr booking, not 100 USD, as advertised.

      The buffet at Tholos was well managed but did require masks and gloves. We mostly managed to sit outside – inside was relatively hot and crowded. Staff were lovely. We also very much enjoyed Blend, using our vouchers.

      We were kindly given a 2pm checkout on our final day, despite them being fully booked (we wanted later due to 23.15 flight but were pleased with 2pm in the context of full occupancy). We were allowed to use the resort for the whole of the rest of the day until we left.
      TBC…

      • Harry T says:
        10 Oct10 October 13:49

        Slightly oddly, presumably due to low staffing, the resort was only offering every other day housekeeping. I asked for daily housekeeping at a specific time each day, as I usually expect this at luxury hotels (as a bare minimum; I usually receive evening turndown too but didn’t ask for this at Domes as housekeeping finished at 4pm). The hotel agreed to offer this.

        We mostly used our private pool. All the pools were quite cold, despite heating. This may be because it was very windy for most of our stay and a bit colder on some days than normal. The weather improved later in the week, with no wind and glorious sunshine. The adults only pool is at the main building near the entrance, which was a bit of a faff for us – it had no shade as well. The pool by Haute Living was just down the road and was quite pleasant in ambience despite tiny terrors. The two outdoors gyms were pretty solid considering the squidgy clientele they mostly cater for. Indoor gym and pool were closed due to covid. Spa was open for treatments – massages were pleasant. The pools never felt too busy, despite the high occupancy.

        It’s fairly easy to walk to Plaka and Elounda from the hotel, with some
        Good options for food and drinks.

        You can walk down to the private Domes beach and hire a speedboat to Spinalonga for 50 euros return (you get the boat to yourself aside from the skipper). This represents excellent value in my opinion, especially after seeing the packed tourist boats arrive. Make sure you get to Spinalonga before 10am, unless you like sharing small islands with hundreds of cretins, and queueing for hours in direct sunlight to buy tickets. Definitely just rent the private speedboat and leave at 9-9.45.

        Overall, we had a very enjoyable stay. Hard product is fantastic and the service is very solid. The food was diverse and tasty. The resort has a luxury feel and a terrific location. My main regret is not staying for two weeks. I think it’s definitely worth paying outright for the residences or villas (obviously free upgrade is even better but I think I would pay out of pocket), especially if you have kids or are in a group, or are a remorseless misanthrope like me 😊.

        • Yorkie Aid says:
          10 Oct10 October 16:56

          Great review Harry – you sound like a real life Dr Gregory House 🙂

        • Amy C says:
          10 Oct10 October 17:06

          As a follow misanthrope and grinch when it comes to spending time in the company of ‘tiny terrors’ I loved this review. Thank you.

          • Harry T says:
            10 Oct10 October 17:49

            Thanks, I’m glad it was useful. Someone suggested I should do more reviews in the comments. Think I waffled a bit but hopefully provided some useful data points.

            I used to be a massive House fan, so thanks, Yorkie Aid 😊

    • Harry T says:
      10 Oct10 October 13:50

      @Matthew hope this answers your questions about Domes – didn’t have time to reply the other night.

      • chabuddy geezy says:
        10 Oct10 October 14:41

        Cheers for the review. Are the travellers you are referring to Russians? 😉

        • Harry T says:
          10 Oct10 October 16:15

          @geezy
          They do fit into the oil rich, amoral, thoughtless and heartless demographic I was mostly referring to.

      • David says:
        10 Oct10 October 16:09

        Harry I detect a certain degree of snobbiness – Well done !!!
        If you want resorts without children try Mykonos, Stigues , Capri, Key West or Providence Town :).

        • Harry T says:
          10 Oct10 October 16:14

          @David
          I think that was a compliment, so thanks! Thank you for the recommendations, I appreciate that.

        • David says:
          10 Oct10 October 16:14

          Also resorts with pool villas, dangerous drops and strong off shore currents never have children – Four Seasons Koh Samui ,Conrad Koh Samui and W Bali are good examples !

          • Harry T says:
            10 Oct10 October 16:16

            Haha I would gladly try any of those three… let’s hope we can travel to any of them soon!

          • Tom H says:
            10 Oct10 October 18:53

            Not always, I stayed at all three of those with my 2 kids (5 and 2).. if you don’t want kids go to an adult only resort.

        • David says:
          10 Oct10 October 20:32

          I think you mean Provincetown, that Providence RI is a lovely little city
          (Another David)

  • leo says:
    10 Oct10 October 14:24

    For non vaccinated travellers, there is currently a 7 day isolation if entering France from the UK. If travelling to a different EU country first, and then entering France from there, would self isolation still be necessary? My interpretation currently is that self isolation is not necessary, but would appreciate a confirmation of this.

  • Saiz says:
    10 Oct10 October 14:35

    I know you can claim APD back for children aged 12-15 years if they were charged as an adult. Can you do that for reward tickets with say BA, AA as the taxes we pay for redemption are the same as that of an adult.

    • ChrisC says:
      10 Oct10 October 14:47

      BA systems seem to be set so under 16 year olds aren’t charged APD in the first place for economy bookings (there isn’t an exception for other cabins)

      As for BA surcharges they aren’t any reductions.

      • Saiz says:
        10 Oct10 October 16:15

        Thanks. I’m not clear about reward bookings. We were all charged the same £600+ taxes on reward bookings for CW (2 adults and 2 children) so made me wonder if I could claim some APD but if not, that’s fine.

        • Sandra says:
          10 Oct10 October 17:03

          Think it’s only economy where U16s don’t pay APD. Seem to remember with my own children at that age you were still charged if travelling business class and above so would guess, if so, that also applies to reward bookings too.

        • ChrisC says:
          10 Oct10 October 19:04

          APD is charged on reward bookings as well.

          So for a child in CW they would pay the same APD, Airport fees and BA Surcharges as an adult.

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Learn more on our About page.

VAA

Latest comments

Latest Forum Posts

Get 30,000 points bonus with American Express Platinum

Amex Gold

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.3 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

Get 20,000 bonus points and your first year free with American Express Gold

Amex Gold