The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 12th October

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• Thomas says:

  12 Oct12 October 16:29

  Has anyone opened a Virgin Money M+ account in order to take advantage of 15k miles offer (via Virgin Red)? How soon did they e-mail the code to you?

  • Andrew H says:

    12 Oct12 October 16:36

    Yes, and pretty quickly – maybe 3 or 4 weeks. Can’t remember exactly – may have been quicker

    • Thomas says:

      12 Oct12 October 16:36

      Oh – I was hoping for 1-2 weeks!

      • Andrew H says:

        12 Oct12 October 16:38

        It might well have been – have you switched your account over then?

  • Jane says:

    12 Oct12 October 17:50

    Oohhh, I’d forgotten about th is. is this a switch with or without direct debits deal ?

    • Andrew H says:

      12 Oct12 October 17:55

      With – only two so I didn’t have to switch my main account.

      • Jane says:

        12 Oct12 October 17:56

        thanks, might have to switch a couple to my Tesco account and then switch that out before they close it.

        • Andrew H says:

          12 Oct12 October 18:02

          I also managed to have another account with 2 DDs that I switched to Barclays Premier..

        • BuildBackBetter says:

          12 Oct12 October 18:02

          That’s my plan as well.

• Thomas says:

  12 Oct12 October 16:40

  Yes

  • Andrew H says:

    12 Oct12 October 16:43

    OK, my switch completed on 19/07 and I got the 15,000 on the 22/07

    It was quick!

    • Thomas says:

      12 Oct12 October 16:44

      wow. that was quick indeed!

      • BJ says:

        12 Oct12 October 18:34

        Collective response to all of those above. IIRC you do not have to switch the direct debits, you can set two up after the M+ account is open but check current T&C to be on safe side. Barring some initial teething difficulties, folks were subsequently getting their codes for the 15k points within a few days. Initially there were some issues going via the website (folks got codes for wine not points) Presumably VM have fixed this but if you can I recommend you go via the app.

• Bill says:

  12 Oct12 October 16:50

  Hi all,

  Probably a well trodden discussion, but I have received conflicting information.

  I have two BA companion vouchers, one earned in Dec 2020 from the basic BA card, the other in October 2021 from the BA Premium card.

  I rang Amex to cancel the Premium card, believing that I could legitimately do so and redeem the companion vouchers. However, they informed me that BA do not allow this and you must pay the taxes of the companion voucher using the current card.

  However, this article suggests otherwise:

  https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2021/09/27/how-do-british-airways-american-express-2411-companion-vouchers-work/

  Anyone got any direct recent experience of this?

  Thanks all

  • Rob says:

    12 Oct12 October 17:20

    Total lie. You book on ba.com as usual and any old Amex is accepted.

• Alan S says:

  12 Oct12 October 16:53

  Looking for a good hotel in Dubai for 7 nights – just a recently married couple, no kids etc.

  Not fussed about it being on a ‘beach’ and more interested in a good outdoor pool area & restaurants.

  Any suggestions based on past experience?

  • KP says:

    12 Oct12 October 16:55

    Duabi is one of those places where your head hurts trying to narrow down choices…there are too many good hotels.

    You need to give us more e.g hotel loyalty criteria, area etc.

    I recently stayed at Park Hyatt, JW Marquis, Waldorf Palm and Le Meridien Beach Resort…all excellent and I would not hesitate to revisit.

  • Bill says:

    12 Oct12 October 17:14

    Personally always enjoyed the Intercontinental at Festival City.

    Close to the airport.
    Connected to a mall.
    Nice pool. They have a spa.
    The main restaurant has a brilliant buffet. They also had a very fancy French restaurant on the top floor and a nice bar.

    It’s not the most happening place but depends on what you’re looking for.

    • Rob says:

      12 Oct12 October 17:17

      We were there for new year. It is decent value for money and the shopping centre is good – medium sized (by Dubai standards) and with almost all the units trading. Rooms overlooking the creek are attractive. If you want you can pay 20p and take the boat across the creek to the metro station to get you downtown. Pool area is varied but obviously 10 floors up. Park Hyatt nearby is a lower rise option, also on the creek.

      For 7 nights I’d be tempted to split your stay anyway.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    12 Oct12 October 17:16

    there are so many options as KP says best to narrow down what you want to do/visit i.e. Le Mer, Al Seef, Marina, Palm, City Walk, Downtown (Dubai Mall) all the above?

    WA DIFC is a really nice new property no where near a beach. JW Marquis is older but can be great value especially if you have lounge access.

    • Alan S says:

      12 Oct12 October 17:29

      It’s really just a trip to get some December heat/relax and use up an Amex 241/travel in CW with BA, so no grand plans to visit anything in particular at this stage.

      I have;

      IHG – Spire Ambassador and a large pile of points.
      Marriott – Gold
      Hilton – Gold

      But also plenty of Amex MR rewards which we could transfer.

      Wouldn’t hesitate to avoid one of the large chains if there was a good reason to do so.

      • Blenz101 says:

        12 Oct12 October 17:37

        If your here for sun and to relax then no reason not to be near a beach and in a more traditional tourist spot. I would start your search around Palm, Marina, JBR and Jumeirah.

        You can easily take metro / taxi from these areas up to the main malls and see downtown / Burj / fountains but you will be staying in a relaxed tourist setting as well as down to Expo.

        If you stay closer to downtown / DIFC / business bay you get another nice range of hotels but you are staying the ‘the City’.

        Further north again around festival city is very much out of it, but you may want that. The Versace is very good but may make a dent in your budget.

  • Blenz101 says:

    12 Oct12 October 17:30

    How old are you and what are you looking to do for the week?

    Expo is the big attraction in town for the next 6 months and will take up a couple of days if you plan to visit, it’s in new Dubai so opposite end to Festival City. Equally if you want to be away from it all this could be a good part of town.

    If you could give a prefered vibe for your trip it should be easy to narrow down suitable areas and from there which hotels.

    • Alan S says:

      12 Oct12 October 17:46

      Both 35ish but the wife will be fairly pregnant by the time we travel, so the days of late nights or climbing buildings etc are gone…

      I’ll need to read up on the Expo. Heard about it for years in the run up but not entirely sure I know what is happening/involved.

      • Blenz101 says:

        12 Oct12 October 17:54

        If you have been to Epcot at Disney think that but on a far bigger scale.

        I think in your 30s I would still recommend being somewhere focused around tourists rather than in a business district. i.e. a stroll at the Pointe on the Palm, Souk Madinat, or around JBR / Bluewaters will be far more pleasurable than jumping in a cabs to a new destination every night from Downtown.

        • Ashraj says:

          12 Oct12 October 18:04

          I would suggest to split the trip to 2 different hotels. One in downtown and one in the madinat or Palm

        • Blenz101 says:

          12 Oct12 October 18:27

          I wouldn’t bother switching for hotels that are 20 mins in a taxi apart, i.e. Palm / Madinat to Downtown. What an effort to pack up, check out (11am?), move and wait for your new room to be ready (3pm)?

          Fine if you are doing opposite ends of the town – e.g. Festival City end and Palm but otherwise you are wasting half a day. You can poke around any hotel to eat and drink.

  • Tarmohamed says:

    12 Oct12 October 18:19

    Grand Hyatt near Festival City has several restaurants and pool areas. Really nice.

  • Chris says:

    12 Oct12 October 19:04

    In a very similar situation, after some serious investigation and disregarding anything that was outrageously priced, eventually settled on Conrad for it’s pool…..then I dallied too long that it sold out

    So I’m visiting Le Meridien this weekend for a week. Would have preferred to split between two but other half really wasn’t willing. So set to be the laziest holiday I’ve ever had, and I really hope the hotel/pool is up to scratch

    • Alan S says:

      12 Oct12 October 20:11

      Yeah I’m not sure I’ll persuade mine of a split either. To be fair, having done similar elsewhere before, the not unpacking properly/packing back up after a few days isn’t a whole lot of fun.

  • Yorkieflyer says:

    12 Oct12 October 21:31

    Recently married meaning you don’t intend going out much and would appreciate comments on the quality of room service 😀

  • h2d says:

    12 Oct12 October 22:21

    If you can stretch to it Al Maha outside Dubai is one of the best hotels I have had the pleasure to stay at – 4 nights in Dubai and 3 nights at Al Maha would be a great mix.

    • Rob says:

      13 Oct13 October 07:24

      If you have active Bonvoy accounts, buying the points in the current 55% bonus (ends tomorrow) will slash the cost of Al Maha.

    • Alan S says:

      13 Oct13 October 09:28

      Interesting shout – might be able to persuade her to move for this.

      Thanks.

• Aej says:

  12 Oct12 October 16:53

  So I have booked a trip to Toronto in November going from LHR. I need to get a PCR test within 72 hours as I understand it. So I’m ok with paying a bit more having someone do it for me and with fairly rapid results. Now I don’t know my PCR from LAMP from Rapid Antigen.

  I live just south of Oxford. I was actually in Oxford on Saturday and found a place but they were charging £299 if I read it correctly. Anyone got any ideas of where to go. I am staying at LHR the night before if there’s a possibility of getting it done there. Thanks for any suggestions

  • Rob says:

    12 Oct12 October 17:19

    £229? That’s crazy. Come down to Heathrow early and do it onsite.

    • Aej says:

      12 Oct12 October 17:23

      Thanks Rob

      Do I need to book in advance?

      • Michael C says:

        12 Oct12 October 17:29

        Aej, have you looked at the new place in the Westgate? Cignpost, I think it’s called.

        • Aej says:

          12 Oct12 October 17:44

          Yes that’s where I saw £299

      • Rob says:

        12 Oct12 October 17:54

        Look at the ExpressTest website – who are the exclusive in-terminal provider – and see what they say.

  • JDB says:

    12 Oct12 October 17:56

    It used to be £69 in Oxford in the Westgate. If that is no longer the case, you are south of Oxford and want to get it sorted before the day of travel, there is an ExpressTest place at the Madejski Stadium in Reading which I think is £80 for PCR, less for quick test and also The Regenerative Clinic at The Oracle.

    • Aej says:

      12 Oct12 October 18:28

      Just found Expresstest are in the Westgate so I will probably try them. At least they give an address of where they are. They say results by 10pm the following day. So if I get it done Monday evening, should get result before I fly Wednesday morning. Thanks for all the help

• Imran says:

  12 Oct12 October 17:17

  Just had my mobile stolen in New Delhi where pick pocket is rampant! It was an unlocked Samsung phone with my UK & a temporary Indian sim card.

  I have lodged a police complaint and blocked my sim cards. But made a naive mistake of blocking my sim cards before wiping out the phone data using Samsung ID. Now I am dependent on the thief to connect to the internet so that Samsung can wipe the data.

  I have Curve Metal, HSBC WE, Amex PRG, Amex BAPP & Amex ARCC. Does any of these cards provide cover lost and stolen mobile phones? I have a copy of the FIR if that helps.
  Thanks.

  • Imran says:

    12 Oct12 October 17:19

    Also feel free to suggest if I have missed following something due to the mental block I am in after the theft.

  • Zoe says:

    12 Oct12 October 17:30

    Best to not visit India in the future

    • KP says:

      12 Oct12 October 17:38

      That’s a bit harsh isnt it? In that case there is no city in the world you would visit is there?!

      • Ashraj says:

        12 Oct12 October 17:42

        Very true. Loads of european cities have this problem, does not mean one should not visit

    • Tom says:

      12 Oct12 October 17:43

      Zoe, surely that is not a serious comment? Personally, it’s one of my favourite countries in the world to visit. I presume you never visit London, New York, or any other major city for fear of pick pocketing?

      • Harley says:

        12 Oct12 October 20:12

        Indeed, Barcelona is by far the worst imo

  • Char Char says:

    12 Oct12 October 17:41

    Curve Metal says Phone insurance on their website

  • JDB says:

    12 Oct12 October 17:46

    Sorry to hear this. Curve Metal has gadget cover up to £800, but depends on when you took out the Metal card etc , and others including HSBC Premier you mention might cover it as well (?item limit £650) as well as any good home contents insurance that could also cover you if you suffer anything as a result of any information/data theft.

  • Blenz101 says:

    12 Oct12 October 17:47

    Isn’t one of the benefits of Curve Metal that they have phone, travel and car collision waiver insurance?

    You would be better to check the policy documents of your respective cards that crowdsourcing where is best to place your claim in your circumstances. If things aren’t clear come back and clarify / seek first hand experiences.

• Duster says:

  12 Oct12 October 17:31

  What is the crowd wisdom on timing an FTV to extend an Amex 241 voucher? I have one that is due to expire in March 22. Ideally I want to keep it for as long as possible – in case I want to use it normally (and have flexibility over who I use it with). However, I assume there is a chance that without warning BA will end the current FTV route as life normalises.

  • Rob says:

    12 Oct12 October 17:50

    I think you’ve summed it up accurately.

    You have flexibility until the US opens up (no-one will book a US flight without Book With Confidence, for obvious reasons) but once that happens all bets are off. It’s a commercial judgement for BA, because if they pull BWC then they may lose sales to other airlines.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      12 Oct12 October 21:11

      I think they’ll have to continue it for a while yet because consumer confidence in flights/holidays is at a all time low.

  • Bagoly says:

    12 Oct12 October 17:51

    We have one expiring in December 2021 and one in March 2022.
    I turned them into FTVs to get the extension last week.

    • Andrew H says:

      12 Oct12 October 18:00

      I have two, one expiring soon. But I also have £800+ as an evoucher and another 241 in a FTV. That’s 3 trips covered even without extending the one due to expire soon so I don’t think there’s much point…

      …on the other hand it could help fund a weekend away now that my partners kids have all gone to Uni… 4500Avios and £35 at risk. Choices.

  • meta says:

    12 Oct12 October 18:06

    I am in the minority on this. My view is that I will never take an FTV following fiasco last year. The system changed now, but still… I prefer to have cash and Avios in my account as I am not a bank and don’t want to loan money to BA interest-free. On top, we currently have 4x 241 vouchers in our 2-person household and since FTVs are only valid till 2023 (Sep?) we really don’t have that many holidays to use them all up and by then we’ll probably have another 2-3 vouchers on top. I also want to get to the stage where we only have new style vouchers to never have to pay BA “surcharges” again. £195 for the annual fee isn’t much compared to saving on these. So I think we won’t use our voucher expiring in April unless world opens up in time for Christmas and BA makes reward seats available.

    • HBommie says:

      12 Oct12 October 18:15

      +1
      I’m afraid I have the same mindset, too many 241’s and not enough Avios, although it is galling to lose a 241.

      • meta says:

        12 Oct12 October 18:45

        I have enough Avios though, but still I can cash them out via Nectar or I can also use them for much better experiences on JAL, Cathay, QR…

    • SteveJ says:

      12 Oct12 October 18:48

      You’re loaning them a tiny amount for a UK one way though?

      • kitten says:

        12 Oct12 October 19:19

        Yup. Think of it as a “service charge” to extend your 241
        Lon-Man OW would do it

        • meta says:

          12 Oct12 October 21:36

          But what will I do with 5-6 241 vouchers between 2022-2024? It might be fine for self-employed/retired/living off inheritance, etc., but we can’t take more than 25 days and a few bank holidays a year. I think people who have extended will find out down the line that they won’t be able to use all the FTVs and the new vouchers they earn. It’s also not just about the money. I have outlined above all the factors.

  • Duster says:

    12 Oct12 October 18:46

    Thanks all. Good to know I’m not missing anything. I’ll keep my powder dry for now…

• @mkcol says:

  12 Oct12 October 18:31

  Suggestions for where to stay in Toronto for 2 nights in June before taking The Canadian westwards gratefully received.

  Due to flight arrival & train departure times we will really only have 1 full day of sightseeing in Toronto possible.

  • Tracey says:

    12 Oct12 October 18:46

    Le Germain, maple leaf square. Very modern hotel excellent service.

    • @mkcol says:

      12 Oct12 October 19:41

      Oh Le Germain in Quebec is where my husband & I stayed prior to our nuptials at (the original) Hotel de Glace out of town – good shout, thanks!

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