The HfP chat thread – Thursday 14th 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.

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

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

Rich says:

14 Oct14 October 13:06

OT: Anyone aware of any good value ways to access the FT?

I’m happy to pay for journalism, but the subscription plans don’t offer good value for someone who just wants to read the odd article. The old trick of Googling the headline seems to have stopped working.

I know The Times appears on Apple News, but not the FT.
- Sina says:
  
  14 Oct14 October 13:18
  
  Not sure how, but I redeemed an Amex offer about two years ago, never got charged and the FT account is still active!
- BuildBackBetter says:
  
  14 Oct14 October 13:24
  
  Google head for points ft and there are a couple of subscription options that might suit you.
  - Rich says:
    
    14 Oct14 October 13:30
    
    Thanks. Seen those, but still too much to be of value. £33/ month?! Especially compared to $1 a month for the NY Times or £10 for Apple News.
    
    Do they ever do a ’10 articles a month’ type deal?
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  14 Oct14 October 14:05
  
  Convince your employer it’s required for your role?
- Sukes says:
  
  14 Oct14 October 14:17
  
  See if your local library stocks a hard copy. They may also offer Pressreader for free electronic news and mags. I think my local library doesn’t include FT through pressreader but does include WSJ which may be sufficient for your reading needs.
- APPL says:
  
  14 Oct14 October 15:22
  
  If you go to subscriptions page on FT, it should also show you other options at the bottom. If you click weekend print, there is weekend print + standard digital option for £40 for 3 months, which is decent imo (even better when amex offer was on).
  Bypass paywall browser extension also works fine with FT(probably illegal though).
  - Rob says:
    
    14 Oct14 October 16:09
    
    This is what I’m on. I keep an eye out for FT offers and switch the payment card over – got lucky so far and there has been an Amex offer each time the renewal has come around.
- N says:
  
  14 Oct14 October 16:47
  
  Search “12 ft ladder io”
  - ChrisBCN says:
    
    14 Oct14 October 21:37
    
    Thanks for sharing that site, will check it out!
Rob says:

14 Oct14 October 13:06

Been available for a few weeks. You clearly haven’t read the small print of the two benefits you highlight or you wouldn’t be so keen.
- James says:
  
  14 Oct14 October 13:36
  
  Oh dear, I hadn’t delved that deep, was just surprised by the two, on a debit card. Hoping these accounts might be the stepping stone for something closer to the Sapphire Reserve, just something to keep Amex on their toes with the Plat! Definitely would only get it as a backup card though, Amex points are still better 🙂
  - JDB says:
    
    14 Oct14 October 13:58
    
    The 5% interest is only on the balance of ‘round up’ transactions, i.e. not a lot. The 1% seems to exclude most useful categories save those where you get a better return from a rewards card.
    - stevenhp1987 says:
      
      14 Oct14 October 15:39
      
      What’s to stop me (other than the sheer time involved which wouldn’t be worth the hassle), say, topping up my gas bill 1p several times over to benefit from the 5% interest…?
- Rum says:
  
  14 Oct14 October 14:38
  
  For those that have opened an account and are keen on monitoring their credit files, did you get a hard or soft credit report search when opening an account?
  - paulm says:
    
    14 Oct14 October 14:43
    
    Just an ID search. No credit check as they don’t offer any credit at the moment
    - Rum says:
      
      14 Oct14 October 14:53
      
      Thanks, Paul!
    - Genghis says:
      
      14 Oct14 October 14:53
      
      Albeit a debit card linked to a current account is actually a credit product due to the exposure of offline transactions. It’s why most banks hard credit search even if you don’t get an overdraft. Why Chase chose not to, no idea.
Axel says:

14 Oct14 October 13:11

Curve Credit – Here to shake up the market

Online webinar on 21st October
https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/16919/505896/curve-credit-here-to-shake-up-the-market
- Sina says:
  
  14 Oct14 October 13:20
  
  Good for Curve! long time supporter of the brilliant idea and the super app!
- Harrier25 says:
  
  14 Oct14 October 14:29
  
  They’re a little to the party to shake-up the market!
  - Harrier25 says:
    
    14 Oct14 October 14:30
    
    That should read…a little late to the party.
- Will says:
  
  14 Oct14 October 15:00
  
  Struggle to understand curve credit, high interest rate and anyone with a a half reasonable credit file can get 2-3% pa on a credit card balance transfer at the moment.
- Travel Strong says:
  
  14 Oct14 October 20:02
  
  I noticed something with Curve many months ago – you can see who in your contacts has Curve via the Curve Send button.
  
  For a long time, only the points collectors in my contacts had it. Few and far between.
  
  Then it exploded… exclusively amongst my less well-off contacts, trying to be tactful – those who probably have no credit history and poor address history for credit too. My guess was the free £5 got round on socials or something.
  
  Now it looks like they’ve pivoted. Points churners played their part for the quarterly numbers – that time has gone. Now its time to generate some revenue from charging interest to others.
Rhys says:

14 Oct14 October 13:22

It’s not open to the general public yet. There’s a waiting list!
- QFFlyer says:
  
  14 Oct14 October 13:38
  
  Can’t be a very long one, I registered my interest and had an account open a few days later!
Js says:

14 Oct14 October 13:39

Can you write a article on Lumo? or its out of scope
Dan Loves Christmas says:

14 Oct14 October 13:54

Just received a love letter from Creation where they have stated they won’t be ‘reversing the annual charge or rewarding the free night’s stay for the period covered if outstanding’. Does seem a rather foolish decision not to refund the fee – while it’s their right to do business with whom they choose, I suspect not refunding the fee in the first place will end up costing them more.
- Will says:
  
  14 Oct14 October 15:02
  
  It’s a bizarre move. You can’t offer a fee based product on the promise of something and then refuse to honour it or refund the fee.
Anna says:

14 Oct14 October 13:59

I have 3 FTVs containing avios and cash. 2 contain expiring BA companion vouchers so when the time comes I will just have to get into the phone queue, however long that it by then. One is just 4 x RFS avios and cash – can I ask for this to be refunded (via Twitter or chat)? At this point I’m willing to write off the cash as I sunk cost rather than contemplate a 3rd call to BA to use the 100k avios.
Nigel W says:

14 Oct14 October 14:08

exactly my same thoughts!