The HfP chat thread – Tuesday 26th October

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Sprout says:

26 Oct26 October 12:22

Could someone please advise if you get charged a cash advance fee by hsbc WE card does it show immediately or only on the next statement? thx
- Zana says:
  
  26 Oct26 October 12:25
  
  Mine has shown on the next statement and didn’t show “immediately” on online banking or the app.
  - Tariq says:
    
    26 Oct26 October 13:04
    
    Same, I wasn’t aware of it until the statement.
  - Bobri says:
    
    26 Oct26 October 14:52
    
    Are you charged cash advance for a EUR withdrawal via Bendy?
    
    Do they play well with Bendy generally? Genuine spend, mostly abroad
    - Tariq says:
      
      26 Oct26 October 21:09
      
      ‘ Do they play well with Bendy generally? ’
      
      In my opinion yes, although general sentiment here is of paranoia around Hong Kong’s risk appetite.
Suze says:

26 Oct26 October 12:40

Is contacting BA that difficult now? Tried contacting them as travelling with a toddler and short haul flight delayed by 4 hrs… phone hangs on you, chat disabled… :/
- Rob says:
  
  26 Oct26 October 12:56
  
  It’s virtually impossible unless you are Gold or flying First. Trying on the dot of 8am may be your best chance.
  - Babyg says:
    
    26 Oct26 October 13:00
    
    Agreed, almost impossible… even as gold it took me 4 attempts yesterday (got the too busy to take your call msg) to use a voucher, by which time the flight i wanted had sold out.
  - ChrisC says:
    
    26 Oct26 October 13:20
    
    Silver line answered within half an hour last wednesday evening at around 5 pm
  - Mikeact says:
    
    26 Oct26 October 14:13
    
    I really don’t understand…..looking at my phone…..it took me just 3mins28seconds to get through around 11 this morning. And then half dozen rings or so to be picked up to make a Lloyds/Avios booking for next year…all easily booked, no problems at all.
  - N says:
    
    27 Oct27 October 16:00
    
    Is it? I called BAEC line yesterday morning (around 11am) and it took 35 minutes to speak to an advisor.
    - Rob says:
      
      27 Oct27 October 18:33
      
      You should see my inbox.
- Aston100 says:
  
  26 Oct26 October 13:16
  
  Perhaps phone YouFirst and make some random enquiry about prices for a trip in F.
  And then before you hang up, “oh by the way, since I’ve got you on the line, can you please have a quick look at this other issue…”
- Andy says:
  
  26 Oct26 October 21:45
  
  I managed to get through last week on the dedicated bronze line without much of a wait
- QFFlyer says:
  
  27 Oct27 October 03:17
  
  Call HK, option 2 for English, I get through in a few minutes every time. Calling UK/US/Australia is pointless though.
Char Char says:

26 Oct26 October 12:48

I think it would be useful to have a dedicated pinned Creation thread for updates to the ongoing situation that is affecting many readers who might be missing out on the regular comments that may help them (page 1 today)
- Aston100 says:
  
  26 Oct26 October 13:14
  
  Forums soon please.
  - Rhys says:
    
    26 Oct26 October 14:07
    
    Working on it!
    - xcalx says:
      
      26 Oct26 October 18:12
      
      Hope it will not be like FTs, the rolling page means I spend very little time on the site.
      - Rob says:
        
        26 Oct26 October 21:07
        
        You know you can disable that?
r* says:

26 Oct26 October 13:15

Is there a way to check that a BA (and also an ANA flight if anyone knows) flight has actually been ticketed?
- ChrisC says:
  
  26 Oct26 October 13:22
  
  For BA ticket number would be in the booking email and also in MMB
  - r* says:
    
    26 Oct26 October 13:28
    
    How far in advance would that be there? Its a flight that BA have rebooked for the middle of next year but I cant find anywhere on MMB that shows a ticket number or anything other than the PNR.
    - ChrisC says:
      
      26 Oct26 October 13:42
      
      If you’d said that ir was a rebooking in the first place!
      
      That will happen when they get to it in the queue. They deal with reticketting in flight date order not date they get put in the queue. So dependign on what else they are doing could be weeks or could be months. Nothing you can to to accellerate the process.
      - r* says:
        
        26 Oct26 October 13:57
        
        It was rebooked a few weeks ago so thought it should be done by now, but it is showing a ticket number in the app, tho still cant find it anywhere in mmb via website.
      - Eppleby Green says:
        
        26 Oct26 October 15:36
        
        I wrote to YouFirst (about another matter) and YouFirst noticed that a rebooked flight had not been ticketed. They, of their own volition, contacted the ticketing guys and I had my e-ticket numbers within two days!
- Sam G says:
  
  26 Oct26 October 13:28
  
  app is best for BA – you can see if there is a ticket number or not
  - r* says:
    
    26 Oct26 October 13:55
    
    Its listed in the app 🙂
Louie says:

26 Oct26 October 13:23

Does anyone know if there is a way to find the current US$ to £ Amex UK exchange rate? I’ve tried searching their website and googling but got nowhere but vaguely think I have seen reference to be able to somewhere on here.
- Youllnever says:
  
  26 Oct26 October 13:43
  
  https://global.americanexpress.com/myca/intl/acctsvcs/emea/foreignExchange.do
  - Louie says:
    
    26 Oct26 October 15:53
    
    Thanks for replying and I’m probably being dim, but when I click on the link it asks me to log in (whether I am already logged in or not) and when I do it just takes me to my home page.
    
    Maybe I should just ask what is the current US$ to £ rate (i.e. for US$ purchases)?!
    - Youllnever says:
      
      26 Oct26 October 16:05
      
      Weird – when I logged in, it redirected me to a page where I could enter an amount to check the fee charged etc.
      - Louie says:
        
        26 Oct26 October 16:54
        
        I have found it now. Go to “benefits and help” and there’s a dropdown box to “check foreign exchange transaction rates”.
    - Youllnever says:
      
      26 Oct26 October 16:48
      
      Actually, if you’re logged into your account, go to the “Benefits & Help” tab at the top, then click the “Check Foreign Transaction Exchange Rates” to get to the page.
      - Louie says:
        
        26 Oct26 October 16:55
        
        I didn’t see your reply before I posted above. Thanks again.
George K says:

26 Oct26 October 13:27

Marriott dynamic redemption pricing on its way, it would appear. But, status protected till Feb 2023.
***
https://www.marriottbonvoy.com/Status22
- meta says:
  
  26 Oct26 October 13:59
  
  I wonder how the extension will work. It doesn’t seem to be based on giving out nights. This is not great for those who made effort to earn status this year.
  - George K says:
    
    26 Oct26 October 14:52
    
    I’m on the same boat. Pushed for Titanium so feel a bit left out. The extra bonus points from status are good, but with the dynamic pricing coming in, I now feel that they are worthless.
    
    I might have a blowout too.
- YC says:
  
  26 Oct26 October 14:01
  
  Yes saw this on LL. Absolutely terrible news… Time to burn miles and book aspirational hotels.
  - Anuj says:
    
    26 Oct26 October 14:25
    
    Basically ruins the value of marriott too, soon various points will be so worthless It won’t be worth putting any effort into collecting them over and above casual earning.
    - chabuddy geezy says:
      
      26 Oct26 October 14:35
      
      We have all been bonvoyed
      - Rhys says:
        
        26 Oct26 October 14:55
        
        To be fair, Marriott is the last big chain to do this. IHG and Hilton changed to dynamic pricing a while back.
      - YC says:
        
        26 Oct26 October 15:55
        
        IHG/Hilton have kept caps though. Fear is marriott runs it more like accor which removes sweet spots
      - Rob says:
        
        26 Oct26 October 16:51
        
        Hilton has kept caps. Not sure if IHG has kept caps or if 100k is just temporary (and in any case, cap was previously 70k).
      - Aston100 says:
        
        26 Oct26 October 17:54
        
        I’ve seen IHG redemptions greater than 100k pn in recent times (for next year that is).
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        26 Oct26 October 19:50
        
        No cap on IHG I’ve seen IC PL up for 100k+ This year.
- Tariq says:
  
  26 Oct26 October 21:17
  
  Doesn’t sound like there are going to be any caps… Per the FAQs:
  
  Are Hotel Categories going away?
  
  Yes. Hotels will no longer use the category chart. Standard, Peak, and Off-peak redemption levels will also be going away in favor of flexible point redemption rates.
James says:

26 Oct26 October 14:00

Would I be correct in assuming the BA Gold Upgrade Voucher when you hit 2500 tier points is now 1875 taking the 25% reduction into account?
- Niall says:
  
  26 Oct26 October 16:01
  
  The flyer talk sticky for BA has reduced thresholds for other things but not that it afraid.
  - James says:
    
    26 Oct26 October 17:30
    
    Just had a look there, it doesn’t actually mention the 2500 level but mentions the others and those are reduced. I’ve emailed BA for clarification.
    - Niall says:
      
      26 Oct26 October 20:28
      
      It does list the 2,500 level on the chart and doesn’t show a reduced threshold. No reason to think threshold would be reduced. If BA do reply and tell you about a previously never mentioned and generous reduced threshold, I’m sure people would like to hear it.
Triath5 says:

26 Oct26 October 14:31

Recently run into some cash which is sitting in a bank account not doing much, mid-five figures ish. Won’t be needing it for 1.5 years or so, but don’t want to leave it in the bank.

Have transferred a portion I need soonish into Marcus gaining a whopping 0.6%…few questions:

a) Not wanting inflation to eat it so what should I do with the rest? Maxed out ISAs so thinking of just buying more of the same funds in Vanguard (combo of S&P 500 + LS80) but open to ideas.

b) how should I fund it? Am thinking Curve Metal (currently am on the free plan) with VA+ underlying…is the £150 justified? Would Virgin charge me? Quick math indicates I’d need to fund at least £10k to recoup the £150 (at 1.5% fronted fee) and getting 15,000 virgin miles. Would be looking to fund more than that.

c) Is there a cooling off period to Curve Metal? I haven’t signed up yet but am quite unhappy with their service…Could I sign up, fund the account and then cancel?

Thanks!
- CarpalTravel says:
  
  26 Oct26 October 14:39
  
  I am not going to get into any financial advice stuffs here, just to say that:
  
  b) As you are talking bonus miles, presumably you need to factor in the cost of the R+ card too?
  c) No.
  - Triath5 says:
    
    26 Oct26 October 15:01
    
    b) I already have the VA+ card during the recent 15k+15k bonus miles promotion, so I’m viewing it as a sunk cost (or at least one covered by the 30k miles). My intention was to hit the £10k annual spend as well to get the voucher upgrade thing, so I’m not counting that towards this equation.
    
    c) Ah, that’s unfortunate. Is customer service any better if you’re Metal?
    - VerdantBacon says:
      
      26 Oct26 October 15:06
      
      Customer service is rather poor even with Metal, but one thing to possibly consider is that you can cancel after 6 months and get a pro rata refund I believe, so the cost to you will be less than £150 if you only plan to get Metal for this.
    - SteveJ says:
      
      26 Oct26 October 15:12
      
      I could be wrong, but weren’t Virgin one of those no awarding points for HMRC/NS&I spend?
      
      I know HSBC WE doesn’t anymore.
      - Colin says:
        
        26 Oct26 October 15:30
        
        Last time I used HSBC WE I got points, have they actually announced these will stop paying points..I got the recent slap from curve so prob won’t go there again.
- Genghis says:
  
  26 Oct26 October 14:52
  
  a) if you need the cash in 1.5 years, you should really be saving, not investing, even if it’s being eaten by inflation.
  - SteveJ says:
    
    26 Oct26 October 15:07
    
    What Genghis said, 1.5 years is too short a period for investing. Premium Bonds may be a good option, prospect of winning the big one. No interest per se, but prize money averages out to what Marcus pay.
  - Navara says:
    
    26 Oct26 October 15:26
    
    Looking at the midterm are there any travel company shares other than Carnival worth buying for discounts perks
- Gary says:
  
  26 Oct26 October 15:33
  
  Curve metal doesn’t work with vanguard anymore