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The HfP chat thread – Thursday 14th October

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

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General

Comments (444)

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

  • Gary says:
    14 Oct14 October 07:37

    DP: Expert Medical Day 2 PCR. Posted on Monday, received result Wed evening.

  • Sam says:
    14 Oct14 October 07:47

    https://www.forbes.com/advisor/credit-cards/american-express-shutting-down-cardmembers-whove-used-special-amex-welcome-offers/

    Interesting reading about Amex’s Rewards Abuse Team and where they have been shutting down accounts

    • Anna says:
      14 Oct14 October 07:54

      It’s not at all clear what these people actually did to get closed down! If they were genuinely responding to targeted Amex offers, as many of them seem to be claiming, it seems very harsh.

    • ChrisC says:
      14 Oct14 October 08:09

      Interesting article and a confirmation of what Rob has been saying for a while re self referrers in the US getting their accounts closed down.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        14 Oct14 October 08:10

        It’s not what Rob claimed. There is a large thread on flyertalk about it.

        • BuildBackBetter says:
          14 Oct14 October 08:48

          It does talk about self referrals among other things.
          What’s surprising is if there was a rogue agent, why would Amex take it on the customers who believed the agent?

        • ChrisC says:
          14 Oct14 October 09:49

          He’s mentioned it several times replying to comments .

    • JDB says:
      14 Oct14 October 08:36

      It looks as though Amex needs/wants to have a few Admiral Byng type account closures to stop excessive gaming of its cards.

  • JP-MCO says:
    14 Oct14 October 07:55

    Does anybody know if HMRC transactions fronted using Curve are eligible to earn points on Capital on Tap?

    • Ming the Merciless says:
      14 Oct14 October 07:59

      Yes they are. But the £10k cap makes a pretty dent in the benefit given that 70% of every pound collected goes to HMRC.

  • Alan says:
    14 Oct14 October 08:05

    I will be booking day 2 tests later today. Are there any better deals than the £43 Randox (easyjet) out there?

    • Paul says:
      14 Oct14 October 08:07

      Expert Medicals £28

    • BLT says:
      14 Oct14 October 08:08

      Randox is 34.99 if you can click and collect locally. Nationwide pathology is £40. Expert medical is £28 but not sure what the recent removal from the government approved list means for them.

    • Sandgrounder says:
      14 Oct14 October 08:13

      Where are you based in the UK? Biograd have on site self swab for 19.99 near LPL & MAN

    • Craig says:
      14 Oct14 October 08:18

      Expert Medicals worked fine for me a couple of weeks ago. Just read the instructions carefully, the return sample bag has a place to attach the barcode but the instructions say attach it to the sample bottle. There is only one barcode label which must go on the bottle.

    • Chrisasaurus says:
      14 Oct14 October 08:25

      Qured worked well for us

    • Ryan says:
      14 Oct14 October 09:05

      01 Harley Street

    • Alan says:
      14 Oct14 October 14:21

      Thanks to all for the replies.

      I have gone with expert medicals and confirmation arrived within 60s.

      We will do LFT tests as soon as we are back so not that worried about the service from here on.

  • Mr. AC says:
    14 Oct14 October 08:06

    I have the IHG black card from Creation and used it almost exclusively through Curve, but 0 naughty spend with NS&I and such. No letters from them. Called Creation yesterday about a payment issue and asked if I was being closed down – they checked and said no!

    • Duncan Stevenson-Price says:
      14 Oct14 October 08:21

      I’ve got the white card, also used exclusively through Curve with only legitimate spend… no letter so far! Hoping I can keep the account open, though with no Apple Pay it’s a bit of a chore to use.

      • Roy says:
        14 Oct14 October 23:28

        Did cause me to rethink my wallet situation – now I have to actually get my card out of my bag (versus typically having my phone in my hand already).

        Bought one of these, and personally I like it so far although YMMV. https://aviatorwallet.com/

    • JDB says:
      14 Oct14 October 08:27

      It seems clear from all the reports that Curve was just one part of the Venn diagram and you needed to be in more groups (and not necessarily even in the Curve one) to be in the closure set.

      • Froggee says:
        14 Oct14 October 09:41

        It could well be about profitability in the main.

        • meta says:
          14 Oct14 October 09:58

          Just because CS said your account is not closed, doesn’t mean anything. We all know how useless they are. They only have to send a letter and also it can get lost in the post. I also wouldn’t be surprised that everyone’s cards stop working on 3 Dec letter or not or if they just did the first cull starting in some sort of order.

          It’s now been 8 days and they still haven’t cleared my last payment on the card…

          • Lady London says:
            14 Oct14 October 11:01

            Pretty sure the onus is on the sender to prove you received any notice they might have sent and not just prove they sent it

          • JDB says:
            14 Oct14 October 11:49

            @Lady London the sender only needs to show they correctly addressed, paid postage and posted the letter – s7 Interpretation Act 1978. This is why notification was by post rather than email. There is no requirement to prove receipt. Prince Andrew discovered this recently!

          • the_real_a says:
            14 Oct14 October 13:51

            You expect Creation to be able to prove they posted a letter? 🙂

          • Roy says:
            14 Oct14 October 23:32

            Agreed. Although the number of Curve users who haven’t received a letter really isn’t consistent with “lost in the post” at this point, I think.

            Bottom line, we’re probably not going to know what’s going on until December (if then…)

    • Chris says:
      14 Oct14 October 10:33

      Who knows what’s going on.
      I have had no such letter either, yet have rinsed a fair amount through NS&I (and continue to do so).

      • Mr. AC says:
        14 Oct14 October 14:35

        How are you continuing to do it if they blocked off all Curve usage? It works direct?

    • BuildBackBetter says:
      14 Oct14 October 10:43

      With Creation, it’s always expect the unexpected.
      Going to be fun on here in Dec first week.

  • derbydave says:
    14 Oct14 October 08:12

    Good morning all. A little off the usual topics but I wonder if any HFPers can help? I’m thinking about a KLM mileage run (BHX-AMS) to keep my Flying Blue account alive – I can see flights that arrive 13:10, return 16:40 or 21:00 (same day), would I need to clear immigration and check in landside, or could I stay airside and avoid that hassle? Many thanks!

  • Hannah says:
    14 Oct14 October 08:17

    I know a few people have been asking about Portugal entry requirements over the past couple of days. The FCDO page has been updated to say some airlines haven’t yet updated their requirements and to check directly with the airline before you travel. I’ll be trying to get in touch with BA and will let you know the outcome.

    • John Caribbean says:
      14 Oct14 October 08:36

      I uploaded my certificate and a statement of “I don’t need a test I’m fully vaccinated” and it accepted it online with BA yesterday and seems happy to let me check in

    • Rh says:
      14 Oct14 October 14:16

      Landed faro yesterday – 12 of us and you only need the vaccine cert and passenger locator. They dropped the entry test on the 8th Oct. We flew with Ryanair, note Ryanair had updated their requirements online.

  • Grimz says:
    14 Oct14 October 08:20

    What is the best strategy for maximising points sign up bonus for someone who has only had BAPP in last 2yrs? BAPP now cancelled 6 months ago and he also has small business.

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

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