The HfP chat thread – Monday 8th November

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stevenhp1987 says:

8 Nov8 November 11:06

Amex Offers now have a filter option.

Doesn’t quite work atm, I’m guessing due to miscategorised offers, of my 6 “Dining Offers” 1 of them is Hertz…
Ben says:

8 Nov8 November 11:18

Have been sat on the ground at LHR for over an hour having landed with all BA stands full. Captain said he has been told the system has crashed and was then told not enough people hired to tug the planes!
- Blair says:
  
  8 Nov8 November 12:08
  
  I once had an Aer Lingus incoming flight land at LGW and no airport staff came to meet it at the gate. The pilots were waving at passengers waiting in the gate area but we had been penned in after a doc check and left alone. Eventually the pilot called home and someone at Aer Lingus in Dublin got through to LGW who sent staff to the gate to offload the plane and board us. Truly bizarre; the pilot was irate and said to me “Did you not see me waving???” This went on for an hour I should add.
  - Aston100 says:
    
    8 Nov8 November 12:51
    
    Should have all got out and pushed.
- Super Secret Stuff says:
  
  8 Nov8 November 13:22
  
  Interesting, flying from where?
  - Blair says:
    
    8 Nov8 November 16:06
    
    It had come in from DUB to LGW. It was the hottest day of the year and the Gatwick Express tracks had buckled or were in danger of buckling so the service was running a skeleton service and may have prevented LGW ground staff getting to work.
- BJ says:
  
  8 Nov8 November 13:47
  
  Years ago I was sat on BMI for over 30 minutes at LHR when the clearly very annoyed captain announced “The world’s favourite airline is in our (mild expletive) parking space”
  - davefl says:
    
    8 Nov8 November 13:50
    
    40 min delayed departure to AMS from MAN one time because “they can’t find the coupling bar to push back the plane”
    - Blair says:
      
      8 Nov8 November 16:07
      
      Well, we should just all know better than to use MAN at this stage I suppose. But return we do, like gluttons for punishment.
Js says:

8 Nov8 November 11:22

Got Eamil from booking.com
Get 10% back (up to £90) in travel credit on your next stay
(Book before 10 November 2021)
RJA says:

8 Nov8 November 11:22

quick question, LHR T3 departure later this week – BA lounge (Gold) or Centurion lounge? 45 mins max.
- APPL says:
  
  8 Nov8 November 11:32
  
  I think BA First lounge is still closed at T3, only GC open, so would be Centurion for me.
- MarkS says:
  
  8 Nov8 November 11:37
  
  Just note centurion closes at 6pm
Mr. AC says:

8 Nov8 November 11:28

With the Tesco Bank accounts being closed, I’m trying to decide where to switch. Already have Barclays Premier, HSBC and NatWest. Any suggestion for accounts useful for our hobby? Santander and First Direct seem to have a switching bonus but I don’t know much about them. I can satisfy “high salary” criteria if needed. Sorry if this already has been discussed.
- Sandgrounder says:
  
  8 Nov8 November 11:54
  
  No bells and whistles with FD but a person answers the phone and they seem well trained and able to resolve issues quickly. The app is sufficient, but the plethora of passwords can be a bit confusing for some to set up. Once done, it works fine and the staff will happily stay on the line and talk you through set up if you are not tech savvy.
  - Anna says:
    
    8 Nov8 November 12:16
    
    +1 for FD. I mostly use the app these days (been with them nearly 30 years for main account), but I know that if there’s something I can’t do with that I can call someone in Leeds who will sort out the issue promptly and effectively while having a pleasant chat!
- Nigel W says:
  
  8 Nov8 November 12:01
  
  if you fancy some Ca$hback, Chase might be an option?
  - Mr. AC says:
    
    8 Nov8 November 12:29
    
    No switch bonus to Chase. And I have an avenue of earning 1%+ on most types of spend without Chase. Not usable by most people here so I typically don’t talk about it. It involves bending my spending into countries with better interchange (so requires being a citizen/resident somewhere else or having a US SSN).
    - QFFlyer says:
      
      9 Nov9 November 11:53
      
      Similar position here, Curve being linkable to Diners Club is remarkably beneficial.
- Zana says:
  
  8 Nov8 November 12:12
  
  No points or miles but recently switched to RBS Rewards with one of my spare accounts – £100 to switch + £50 to keep using the account. (Same offer on Natwest). Been targeted for 30+ offers, including Morrisons 10% off within 3 days of switch completing. App works well.
  - David says:
    
    8 Nov8 November 16:09
    
    +1 for NatWest and RBS Rewards and offers etc. Good app too.
Guernsey Globetrotter says:

8 Nov8 November 11:31

Well these days Hertz seems to be a dogs dinner of a company so…
- Guernsey Globetrotter says:
  
  8 Nov8 November 11:35
  
  This, of course, was meant to be a reply to stevenhp1987 as to why Hertz was included on the list of Amex ‘dining’ offers !
Laura says:

8 Nov8 November 11:32

Slightly odd experience in Palma airport on Saturday.

Got asked for help by a couple from my BA flight who’d somehow got all the way to Spain without the SPLF.

Luckily they were allowed to fill it in before the checkpoint.

All they had with then was printed vaccine QR codes and they wanted to check that they hadn’t forgotten anything else.
What confused me is how they even got on the flight without it?
- Anna says:
  
  8 Nov8 November 12:19
  
  They didn’t hot foot it away and scale the perimeter fence on landing, did they?
  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-59191108
  - Laura says:
    
    8 Nov8 November 16:37
    
    No, missed all that drama by about 12 hours, fortunately
- MrHandBaggageOnly says:
  
  8 Nov8 November 14:07
  
  We flew from BHX a couple of weeks ago and didn’t get asked for a single thing (apart from passports to generate the boarding passes) until we reached passport control in Croatia. Luckily we had everything we needed!
  - Laura says:
    
    8 Nov8 November 16:38
    
    I didnt get asked for anything either at the airport, but had assumed that was because I’d submitted it all online.
    - MrHandBaggageOnly says:
      
      8 Nov8 November 16:43
      
      We hadn’t submitted anything online because we didn’t have time – booked at midday on Friday and flew 7am on Saturday. It was a little rushed to say the least, but that is why I was even more surprised nobody asked us for anything (in the UK)!
Rachel Robinson says:

8 Nov8 November 11:35

Might be a totally stupid idea, but might it be worth going through the disputed transaction process for the Creation card fee? One of the grounds is charging for a service that wasn’t delivered…
- Froggee says:
  
  8 Nov8 November 11:44
  
  If nothing else, it would be funny!
- Colin MacKinnon says:
  
  8 Nov8 November 18:35
  
  I haven’t been charged for a service that hasn’t been delivered!
  
  I spent my 10k, held the account for a year, but haven’t been charged my £99 – or got my free night certificate.
  - Rachel Robinson says:
    
    8 Nov8 November 19:29
    
    Maybe you haven’t. But others who have been cancelled mid year haven’t received 12 months of the card service
- Char Char says:
  
  8 Nov8 November 23:47
  
  Too right, I’ll investigate this option