The HfP chat thread – Monday 11th October

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Mark says:

11 Oct11 October 14:01

Is it still 24k MR points for referring a friend with a platinum card.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 14:02
  
  Until Nov 2nd
Simon says:

11 Oct11 October 14:03

Just double checking – upgraded one leg of a BA Holidays PE flight to CW. TPs are now showing as 90 +140. Will i get these or just 90 + 90?? with the double TP promotion, the CW points will put me straight to Silver exec level. Can’t be right can it ?
- AJA says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 14:17
  
  Did you upgrade using cash or Avios? A cash upgrade should work but I wouldn’t bank on it working when UuA as technically you should not get the CW TP. That said I did when I did an upgrade from PE to CW using Avios back in 2017.
  - Simon says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 14:23
    
    Avios upgrade. So I assumed i;d only get the PE TPs – Just thought it odd that the CW TPs are showing in MMB. If i do blag 460 TPs I’ll need the cheapest easiest possible back to back eligible flight run to trigger Silver !
    - ChrisC says:
      
      11 Oct11 October 14:33
      
      It’s known error.
      
      If you actually get the TPs then all well and good but don’t rely on it
      - Simon says:
        
        11 Oct11 October 15:00
        
        thanks. fingers crossed !
    - AJA says:
      
      11 Oct11 October 15:35
      
      Good luck. Hope you get the TP. Double that would be even nicer. Even if you don’t you will be Bronze based on the WT+ TP and only 90TP away from Silver which could be done with a trip to the Canaries or Malta or any of the 80TP per sector European destinations
      - Simon says:
        
        11 Oct11 October 16:44
        
        yep. thanks. lots of possibilities to think about !
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 15:57
  
  They fixed this a couple years ago 99% chance you won’t. Especially as the double TP are processed manually.
Graham Walsh says:

11 Oct11 October 14:13

My IHG card doesn’t seem to work even on it’s own sometimes. Wonder if they are starting to block them slowly even before Dec? Curve still not working on Google Pay even after removing it. It’s linked to my First Direct Debit card. Thankfully my Virgin card arrived this morning.
- Colin MacKinnon says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 14:41
  
  Mine stopped working – contactless and with pin and online.
  
  Just phoned and they said we’ll send you a new one.
  
  Supplementary on wife’s account wasn’t working either, but I have now enable the five digit online security number and updated the phone number for SMSs
- CHz says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 20:08
  
  Mine has appeared as “settled” in my credit karma report which I think means closed… not tried to use the card since the dreaded letter…
November says:

11 Oct11 October 14:19

Prize Avios for the Nectar to Avios competition from July turned up today, 5 days late so I was getting worried, if anyone else is still waiting.
- MrHandBaggageOnly says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 14:49
  
  Fab. Thanks – MrsHBO’s also turned up today. 🙂
- Kevin C says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 18:45
  
  Thanks. Mine too.
Magic Mike says:

11 Oct11 October 14:36

Just a little rant – I am staggered how HSBC and First Direct can have such different customer service experiences despite being the same company.

FD – I have had a current account and mortgage with for many years and they always answer the phone on the first ring with a human, are empowered to solve problems, and generally operate a service that I have recommended to others many times.

HSBC – I originally opened a Premier account as HSBC’s investment platform is cost effective if limited in its capabilities. As I have mentioned here previously, I was trying to upgrade from Premier to Jade to get a free WE card (yes I know some people are getting them free anyway at the moment). The nonsense and run-around, being left on hold for an hour at a time, even after making a complaint about their kafkaesque systems nonsense advice and customer non-service teams, is quite incredible. I am now close to concluding that i’m mad to hold any money with them, never mind the £500k (soon to be £1m) needed for Jade…
- BuildBackBetter says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 14:49
  
  It’s a huge bureaucratic machine.
  I would suggest visiting a branch and speaking to staff personally can be more effective. Almost like trying to make a point that automation doesn’t work and they need to keep their jobs.
  - Blenz101 says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 15:14
    
    Couldn’t agree with this more, with HSBC in the UK being particularly bad from all the various incarnations I have dealt with.
    
    When you get through to a HSBC call centre their instinct is to try and send you to a branch for anything but a balance enquiry. If you go to a branch want you to do everything online, by telephone banking (‘use our free phone in the corner sir’), or at a push will make an appointment at a future date for a sales pitch. If you stand your ground on the phone they insist on reading out the terms and conditions in full of whatever it is you are enquiring about – no wonder the wait times are so long.
    
    The Premier product is particularly baffling given they are in theory targeting cash rich / time poor customers yet greet them with hour long wait times on the phone for a scripted ‘computer says no’ type outcome to most calls.
    
    I know the branding is a global offering from HSBC but any sense and they would migrate their UK Jade and and Premier customers to the platform FD runs on, brand it as HSBC and use the FD staff and processes. Reduction in branch visits, lengthy appointments and average call handling time will pay for a few more bums on seats in Leeds and Glasgow.
    - Memesweeper says:
      
      11 Oct11 October 15:28
      
      +1
      
      having experienced both FD actually feels more premium than Premier.
      - Anna says:
        
        11 Oct11 October 15:53
        
        I’ve been with FD for nearly 30 years (I was a very early adopter!) and never had cause to complain. I only call them about twice a year but I love being able to chat to another northerner!
    - Polly says:
      
      11 Oct11 October 15:57
      
      2.5 hrs on to hsbc over this am. Unreal run about. Excuse after excuse. One hand not knowing what the other says, does, knows. And no note updating…
    - Sandra says:
      
      11 Oct11 October 20:15
      
      Have to say I’m with Red Flyer. Been with FD since just after they started up in the early 90s and found them brilliant until the last couple of years. Since about mid 2019 their customer service and services generally have, IMO, deteriorated massively. Some of it, like the time to answer calls, relates to Covid and should have improved by now but hasn’t. More of it seems to be related to the changes they made to their IT for online banking about 2 years ago. I don’t find their app very useful and, recently, we have also had transactions blocked (which in the past, given the sums that go in/out of our account monthly, would have gone through without question) because their fraud systems decided they weren’t ‘usual’. One was £1000 worth of foreign currency I ordered online, which is not unusual for us in none Covid times. We haven’t changed bank yet but are getting close to it.
  - Mick S says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 16:13
    
    i got the run around when I tried to upgrade to the WE credit. They kept sending me a sort of pre-filled in application form, but half the information was missing, such as name and address – this happened twice. Ending up going into branch once covid restrictions were removed. Took around 4 months and a lot of time burnt on the phone.
    - Froggee says:
      
      11 Oct11 October 19:26
      
      This is nuts. I thought the whole idea of premier/jade is you have a relationship manager who does this stuff for you? Obviously mine doesn’t as he has an assistant that does it all for him but that works well for us as his assistant doesn’t try to sell us anything.
      - Red Flyer says:
        
        11 Oct11 October 19:49
        
        I must have got lucky but I switched from FD (current account since 1994 and mortgage since 2014) as was fed up with app freezing and phone never being answered. Opened HSBC Premier account and WE card in Jan 2020 and and been very satisfied with app and CS on phone ever since. Recent 25% Avios bonus helped me get what I needed for 2022 biz flights to S America a bit sooner too.
- Thywillbedone says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 20:23
  
  HSBC Premier used to have a call centre in Scotland…was great, answer times always in the single digit seconds. Then they off-shored it to you-know-where which has led to much longer wait times and staff who just don’t ‘get it’ (well meaning but utterly useless and no concept of how to get things done). I’m sure some middle manager somewhere got a bonus for coming up with the brilliant idea, but it’s now far from a premium service.
mutley says:

11 Oct11 October 14:41

Just back from a two days stay at the Langley on points, despite a few negative reviews which had me slightly concerned, I’m pleased to say our stay was superb. The outdoor pool is still open until the end of the month. Lovely spa and awesome gym. The service and breakfast were top notch. Platinum status was recognized and we got upgraded to a Brewhouse Junior suite.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 15:24
  
  Glad you had a great stay.
  
  I think the service has improved since they first reopened, which is to be expected with new staff and a little rust on the more experienced staff.
berneslai says:

11 Oct11 October 14:43

Flying Ryanair on Saturday from Gatwick North Terminal and going through security around 7.30am. Is it worth purchasing Premium Security or just leaving it to chance?
- Bobri says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 14:55
  
  You can buy premium and combine it with the lounge access pre-booking.
  
  Last Friday at 4pm the security at LGW took me 7 minutes, appreciate the time is not really the same but probably similar in terms of the number of flights departing
  - berneslai says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 14:59
    
    I was going to buy it for £4 (£16 for the family) through MyGatwick and then just use my Amex card to hit the Plaza Premium lounge.
- Travel Strong says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 18:48
  
  Very likely to be next to no queues at gatwick. I’d save the £16. LHR at peak times is another matter.
- Cats are best says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 19:09
  
  Can’t recall ever having a delay at Gatwick’s normal security lanes.
  
  I do remember going into Premium, seeing umpteen people queueing, I turned around and went through the queue-free normal lanes.
  - berneslai says:
    
    11 Oct11 October 21:12
    
    Thanks for your help all!
Save East Coast Rewards says:

11 Oct11 October 14:43

Anyone with recent experience connecting at T5, especially international to domestic. When connecting to a domestic you need to go through immigration at LHR although you go through a different area than other arrivals as you stay in the connections route rather than taken to baggage reclaim. Last time I did this (June) I was the only one in the passport queue and it was quick.

Has anyone had any horror stories connecting recently?

I’m meant to be doing that this Saturday (as long as I feel ok by then)
- Simon Schus says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 14:51
  
  Around 11am in LHR T5, I’ve always gotten through INT-to-DOMESTIC connection really quickly. Like 10 minutes.
  
  Got a 650am landing coming up with an 1h5m INT-to-DOMESTIC connection on Thursday morning. Bit worried about that but will see!
- Graham says:
  
  11 Oct11 October 22:59
  
  25th Sep TFS to GLA. Landed about 5pmish. Only one agent on and no engates but still through in around 10 mins or so.