The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 3rd November

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DP says:

3 Nov3 November 13:29

Data point – too many people use the term “data point”unnecessary.
- blenz101 says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 14:15
  
  hahah, very true.
  
  DP: I travelled back from TOM yesterday evening and the e-gates were open/closed, my PCR test was thoroughly inspected/glanced at/not checked, bags were out in 15 mins/1 hour, British passport allowed me to breeze through / caused extra delays but I was lucky / unlucky as fast track at the time was open/closed. Immigration had swift processing / staff shortages which caused me to be in a taxi within 20 mins / 4 hours of touchdown.
  
  disclaimer : YMMV. Some / all / none of this will apply when you travel and in any event you will just have to suck it up / enjoy the reduced number of people travelling.
  - Andrew says:
    
    3 Nov3 November 14:24
    
    Brilliant!! The worst is when those offers like IHG Accelerate were on and everyone lists what they were offered – how could that possibly be interesting to anyone, you got what you got and knowing everyone else’s isn’t relevant because you aren’t them. But at least we never have to read the word Bendy ever again!
- HBommie says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 15:45
  
  Data point, it’s unnecessarily.
Alex Baynham says:

3 Nov3 November 13:35

Is the Accor earning rate in hotels appalling or is just me? At entry level it’s a 5% rebate?
- Rob says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 13:42
  
  Is it any worse with no status than anyone else? IHG is 10 points per $1 and most value a point at 0.5 cents (we say 0.4p) which is 5%. Marriott is higher admittedly.
  
  The issue with Accor is that you don’t get the bonus promotions that the other chains offer.
  - Ed says:
    
    3 Nov3 November 13:50
    
    The advantage of Accor is that you can use your points for any room and on any date, no need for reward inventory. Though their points expiry rules are shockingly bad.
    - blenz101 says:
      
      3 Nov3 November 13:58
      
      Participating hotels and not always at the best rates. Rixos, Ras al Khaimah doesn’t allow you to earn or burn yet is covered in it’s Accor credentials onsite.
      
      Sofitel, The Palm Dubai regularly send out excellent offers but to avail you need to book through the hotels website (and prepay) rather than Accor. Doing so means you can only earn points with no option to burn.
      
      I know I will always be able to burn at an Ibis but they do have a way to make things more tricky at their higher end properties.
      
      The Raffles Hotel has now opened on The Palm so hopefully they haven’t yet got round to playing games with that before I get chance to stay.
    - TGLoyalty says:
      
      3 Nov3 November 14:54
      
      the disadvantage means you get no outsized value at all so its always just a 5% rebate in which case you’re better off with Hotels.com
      - blenz101 says:
        
        3 Nov3 November 15:41
        
        True to a point unless you have status. As a Diamond I have had excellent status recognition always to suite level from even the most basic room, free breakfast in the lounge, evening drinks / canapés etc.
        
        So if you are going to stay enough to achieve status the value is far greater than the pure cash rebate even before you take into account the bonus points for status.
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        3 Nov3 November 22:18
        
        Always a suite? Even pre covid?
        
        Lounge is available to other programmes with better rebates and outsized value (though dynamic pricing makes it more difficult to get a bargain)
  - TJones says:
    
    3 Nov3 November 14:00
    
    Really? There is a 6000 point promotion (worth 120 euros) right now. Plus double points and nights until the end of the year. One reason Accor doesn’t get much attention is because of the poor footprint in north America, but in some other parts of the world it is worth considering.
    - TJones says:
      
      3 Nov3 November 14:02
      
      Last day to book for the 6000 point promo is tomorrow, by the way.
    - Rob says:
      
      3 Nov3 November 14:16
      
      I am actually doing an Accor series from tomorrow.
      
      As I earned Diamond status in one short stay last week I felt it was the least I could do for them!
      - blenz101 says:
        
        3 Nov3 November 14:18
        
        And as a special bonus Raffles have an opening offer.
        
        https://www.raffles.com/thepalm-dubai/offers/hotel-offers/exclusive-opening-offer/
      - TGLoyalty says:
        
        3 Nov3 November 22:23
        
        One very short but expensive stay 🙂
- Alex B says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 14:25
  
  I was wondering whether it was worth buying an Accor share through SSG to get gold membership. Would be a 9 Euro transaction fee plus the cost of a share about €30. Looks like a painful amount of form filling but would be for life.
  - Steven says:
    
    3 Nov3 November 14:38
    
    I think someone mentioned this recently but indicated that the terms only award Gold until the end of the following year.
    - Alex B says:
      
      3 Nov3 November 14:46
      
      Yeh I’ve reread the T&C, pretty miserly.
      - David D says:
        
        3 Nov3 November 16:54
        
        Still cheaper than the Ibis card and you could receive dividends each year, which should be a small return on the cost.
      - Guernsey Globetrotter says:
        
        3 Nov3 November 19:23
        
        You can only do it once also IIRC. With the business card if you time it right you get 2 years for the fee also.
Jamie says:

3 Nov3 November 13:38

Any recommendations for the cheapest valid tests to enter the US? Am travelling on 13th Nov as fully vaxed Brit.
- A says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 16:49
  
  express test rapid antigen on site at LHR terminals.
  £32 with code
- Nick says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 19:08
  
  Boots.
YC says:

3 Nov3 November 13:45

What is the best vpn out there? I’ve seen pure vpn on here before and it currently has a 24month deal. Just checking if this is still a solid option before I lock in for 2yrs…
- Wollhouse says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 13:51
  
  Nord is good and had a good promo running a day or two ago. Good customer support. I had an issue, emailed them and they responded same day with step by step instructions which resolved the issue
  - YC says:
    
    3 Nov3 November 14:04
    
    Thanks this looks good too £2.44/month for 2yrs and theres a massive 60avios/£ on the ba shopping portal.
- blenz101 says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 14:01
  
  Been using Express VPN for a few years and is pretty reliable.
  
  Surprised this website doesn’t have an affiliate link given every YouTube video I seem to stumble across has a millennial shilling their signup code.
  - Mikeact says:
    
    3 Nov3 November 17:30
    
    Me too…
- Norm says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 14:13
  
  Depends on what your goal for it is. If you’re truly serious about privacy, then you have only a few options. My choice is Mullvad, which doesn’t have any personal info (unless you subscribe by CC), no login, no passwords, no promotions. It’s not the cheapest at 5 euro pcm, but it’s been great.
- Yorkie Aid says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 15:44
  
  I would give a shout out to VyprVPN. Based in Switzerland so very privacy minded. Less than £1.20 per month over 36 months. Their VyprDNS thrown in for free is way faster than my ISP or Google DNS servers. Apart from the privacy aspect this part alone can actually speed up your browsing speed in spite of the VPN overhead! And I speak as someone lucky enough to be using a 1Gbps symmetrical fibre service
  - Chas says:
    
    3 Nov3 November 19:44
    
    I’m more interested in who you get your internet connection with! It’s the asymmetrical nature of most providers which really irks me. I haven’t found a provider who will offer what you have in my area.
- SteveJ says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 16:32
  
  Try Windscribe. Have a free version for light usage / trial purposes.
Wollhouse says:

3 Nov3 November 13:54

Does anyone know if BA plans to resume flights to BKK? I have 241 vouchers I’d like to use but can’t use them as they seem to have pulled the route as far out as Oct 2022.

Just booked with Qatar so at least we’ll get points and miles but annoying as I have 3 vouchers!
- Gary says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 14:05
  
  Not sure when you want to go, but there are BA BKK flights from around 10 Jan to 1 May 2022.
  - wollhouse says:
    
    3 Nov3 November 17:05
    
    thanks gary. that’s weird… when i looked yesterday, nothing for cash… maybe they’re starting to add some flights back?? which would be great as currently there’s availability for business on one day in April to go; but nothing between now and Oct 22 to come back!
John Caribbean says:

3 Nov3 November 14:07

Revolut have just sent me an app notification about paying myself too much too often and falsely earning points, and that they’ll cancel my card if I keep at it.

I’ve done it a few times when I’ve over filled the account (say for a holiday) by a few hundred quid, but everything else is completely legitimate usage. Was topping it with my creation card.

Is this a common message?
- LS says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 14:18
  
  What does it are transfers to yourself. No way round this I’m afraid. This is not new (or related to creation)
- His Holyness says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 14:19
  
  The question is do you care?-and will you regret being cancelled generating so few points when you could have maxed it out and end up getting binned anyway?
  
  I generated 400k HH on Revolut before they wanted all the KYC stuff, and I just closed the account then.
  
  With Starling fee-free for FX, is there anything to miss?
- blenz101 says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 14:24
  
  Not common. I’ve certainly never had it.
  
  You will have no issues if you fund the account with a debit card or bank transfer.
  
  Only you know your pattern of usage but if you have been topping up with a credit card and the money has been leaving via ATM withdraws (if you are on holiday or not) / NS&I / HL erc. then it will look like cash recycling.
  
  Plenty of online forums which accounts have been closed. If you top up with a credit card again you will get no right of reply.
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    3 Nov3 November 15:12
    
    they wont say anything if you top up with credit card AND use it for some actual spend
    
    actually using mine with some of the good offers they have at the moment
    - blenz101 says:
      
      3 Nov3 November 15:32
      
      Yes, but whatever the John C has been doing hasn’t been considered normal. As I said, his pattern of spend is what has caused it, I’ve also not idea what he means by overfilling his account. I could only guess that there are repeated top ups via credit card with subsequent ATM withdrawals / transfers back out to a current account. But who knows.
      
      My advice about only using debit cards or bank top-ups was specifically in relation to someone who has been warned about printing points via credit card top ups. The internet is awash with people who have had their funds frozen and accounts closed by Rev.
      - John Caribbean says:
        
        3 Nov3 November 15:43
        
        3 times in about 6 months I put in £500 or so for travel money (spent as credit card spend, not withdrawn from an ATM) and the money I came home from holiday with (say £100) I put back into my current account.
        I’ve sent a few grand to workmen’s business accounts, and I top up gov.UK childcare account. The latter is my primary use and it’s possibly sailing a bit close to the Ernie wind I guess.
- Anna says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 16:09
  
  Wait and week then try again with a smallish amount, if you’re not bothered about long term usage. YMMV but I have seen that warning once, oddly enough after the second ever transaction on one of our accounts, and it didn’t seem to bear any relation to the actual account usage. Nothing since.
  - elguiri says:
    
    3 Nov3 November 16:20
    
    Apparently gov.uk childcare account is with Ernie (that’s how it comes through to our school) although hoping that’s not the issue…
    - Blenz101 says:
      
      3 Nov3 November 16:35
      
      Both flagged as “Government services”.
Den says:

3 Nov3 November 14:19

I’ve just read a very poorly researched article on TPG about BA silver status. It appeared yesterday and states:

“ To earn British Airways silver status, which is also oneworld sapphire (a mid tier status where the benefits like lounge access really kick in) you would normally need to earn 600 Tier Points every year. This means even if you flew between London and Frankfurt every week of the year discount economy you would not earn enough to reach silver status.”

Anyone spot the glaring error there?
- His Holyness says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 14:20
  
  Yeah, segs
- stevenhp1987 says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 14:24
  
  It normally is 600 tier points for Silver. LHR to FRA in discount economy is 5 tier points each way. So 10 tier points return. 52 weeks x 10 = 520.
  
  Not enough, normally, for silver. It currently is with the reduced thresholds though.
  
  What is is missing though is the requirement for 4 flights in addition to the 600 Tier Points.
  - stevenhp1987 says:
    
    3 Nov3 November 14:26
    
    *Actually, it would get Silver because 52 flights > 50!
    - stevenhp1987 says:
      
      3 Nov3 November 14:26
      
      *urgh, 104 flights (52 weeks x2) > 50!
      
      You’d get silver just before the middle of the year!
    - Den says:
      
      3 Nov3 November 14:30
      
      50 flights is reduced to 37 at the moment too.
- TGLoyalty says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 15:18
  
  technically its still correct. you wouldn’t earn enough TP to reach 600 TP but you’d earn Silver based upon flights flown. Gold is TP only right?
- Joints&Piles says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 22:16
  
  I do love to feel those mid-tier benefits really kick in
Shaw West says:

3 Nov3 November 14:30

Looks like virgin flying club system are down. Cant access the account.
Cant checkin either at their website. Directing to checkin at the airport.
- Katie says:
  
  3 Nov3 November 15:01
  
  nope its working fine