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The HfP chat thread – Thursday 18th November

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Comments (431)

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

  • Cats are best says:
    18 Nov18 November 12:45

    Amex enhanced away the Card Defence benefit last year (it was provided by Collinson). It seemed rather a petty move given Collinson only charge 20 quid a year and Amex surely pay less.

    Now I have various things with stickers, labels and a key fob that aren’t going to be any help in the event of loss, nor any single point of contact if cards get stolen.

    Aside from Collinson Card Sentry, are there any other good options? Or other cards/accounts that bundle the same/similar benefit?

    • Distichon says:
      18 Nov18 November 17:58

      Hmm, I wasn’t aware of this until you mentioned it. When I then went searching, I found idplatinum (dot couk, the usual) which at first looked a bit dodgy, but apparently seems to be an Amex offer (seriously, would it be hard to make stuff like that a subdomain of americanexpress, so it’s much more obvious it’s not some Phishing attempt? But I digress). Have you looked into this and checked what exactly it does in the first place, and if it does what you’re looking for?

      • Cats are best says:
        19 Nov19 November 07:21

        Hadn’t seen that one, a ‘hidden’ benefit to look into!

        But it’s not a similar service to the one the stopped.

        • Distichon says:
          19 Nov19 November 07:36

          I have to admit I am not quite clear yet on what the Collinson service actually does, so can’t compare the tow. I hope to have some time on the weekend to look into it. If you don’t mind, can you outline what one has that the other doesn’t?

  • John says:
    18 Nov18 November 12:45

    Anyone have Marriott no to transfer points

  • elguiri says:
    18 Nov18 November 12:56

    Any hilton cb offers around at the moment? Need to book, but am sure as soon as I pay direct there’ll be an amex offer for £100 off or something…

  • Jack says:
    18 Nov18 November 13:07

    Anyone know how long FTV are taking to come through? Have an avios booking I need to change, don’t know whether to just book the new flight anyway, given the exec club is still down unless you go in the other way, and presumably BA customer services not able to process vouchers atm?

  • James says:
    18 Nov18 November 13:20

    Logged on to BA 777 wifi to JFK. Seems alot slower than my last use this year.. On my Berlin flight in September I happily streamed Netflix almost like I was at home. This flight Im struggling to even get all the images to load on the home page. 3 times the price aswell 🙁

    • Gavin says:
      18 Nov18 November 13:26

      I think the intercontinental routes use a different (much slower) technology to get an internet connection, compared to the European routes. Satellite vs. connecting to land-based transmitters IIRC.

  • Pete M says:
    18 Nov18 November 13:24

    Does anyone use/know a customs broker that they could recommend? We are looking to do a small house move from Germany and have the transfer of residence relief on tax and duty sorted. But as it would be done by a man & van outfit they’re not quite set up to deal with the import declaration. Any tips much appreciated.

  • Mick S says:
    18 Nov18 November 13:32

    How long does it take Barclays to post the Avios for a full current account switch?

    • Tom says:
      18 Nov18 November 13:43

      It took about 4 months to get the 25,000 bonus when I switched back in the spring.

    • Iain Kelly says:
      18 Nov18 November 14:00

      4months is the time it took for my 25000 to arrive, i was told this at the outset , however the 1500 per month also were delayed a bit down to a small error on their part. they sorted it very quickly after i made contact

    • Mick S says:
      18 Nov18 November 15:54

      Thanks for the replies. looks like I wont need to chase it until end of Feb then 🙂

  • Liz says:
    18 Nov18 November 13:50

    I noticed a few people commenting recently on the high prices of car rental atm. I’ve now booked 2 USA road trips for next year so I thought I would have a look at the prices – signed in with our Preferred Avis a/c – the first one for 18 days for a Group F which is a compact SUV is coming out at £1842 and our 2nd trip for 28 days is £2740 – these numbers are making my eyes water – I really hope they come down a lot in the new year – will look again at the start of the year.

    • marcw says:
      18 Nov18 November 13:51

      There are not enough cars available. That’s why prices are the way they are.

    • Anna says:
      18 Nov18 November 13:54

      Tell me about it! Several trips booked for next year due to OH retiring and we might have to spend all the budget on hire cars lol. Just checked again for Porto in August and a reasonably sized hatchback is coming out about £80 per day!

      • Paul Pogba says:
        18 Nov18 November 14:57

        I posted this yesterday but I’ve always found the best rate on https://www.qantas.com/au/en/book-a-trip/cars.html

        It only works at airports (and at locations in cities that have airports) but they have Peugeot 208 for £60 a day via Avis.

        • Anna says:
          18 Nov18 November 16:01

          Thanks, that’s still pretty expensive though!

          • Luca says:
            18 Nov18 November 17:10

            I was in Italy in August and could not rent a car unless was willing to pay gold.. I ended up going with a small private rental firm (mostly rented commercial vehicles but had few 4-5 years old cars around, and ended up paying 700 euro for a 2017 Peugeot 208 for 8 days.. went back in Italy for half term end of October, and got a brand new mid size car, 8 days for £130 including the extra excess waiver insurance (better safe the. Sorry I. Italy) by using DiscoverCars

    • david says:
      18 Nov18 November 14:21

      even on skyscanner, kayak, carrentals, possible one ways hires?

    • elguiri says:
      18 Nov18 November 14:30

      Back before the Y2K flop, my flatmate used to find a cheap second hand car available, buy it for cash, drive it to and around the destination (in Europe all destinations are driveable, just depends how much sleep you need), and then sell it on for scrap. He often came away with more money than he started with.

      • Rui N. says:
        18 Nov18 November 15:57

        There’s a few people that still do that. John McCain’s mother was known for buying cars whenever she travelled in her 90s because all rental companies refused to rent her vehicles.

    • will says:
      18 Nov18 November 15:09

      Try Turo, random 2 week period in austin for March 2022 and theres a 2011 Honda civic available for $34 per day.
      They’ll often meet you at the airport etc for a reasonable fee.

      • ianM says:
        18 Nov18 November 15:28

        The TURO rates are reasonable, but if you want insurance it adds 100%

        • Liz says:
          18 Nov18 November 15:39

          So what are people doing – buying now for next year and paying the price then cancel if things get a bit cheaper. Was hoping if they replenish their car stocks now that their borders are open again prices might improve…… or is this going to be the new norm.

          • Anna says:
            18 Nov18 November 16:06

            I’m hoping they get more stock but if they think people will pay the current prices there won’t be much incentive to reduce them. We definitely need a car for Porto but if the prices on GCM don’t come down from £1000 per week we might end up staying in the resort for the entire stay and just getting a (very expensive) taxi to and from the airport!

          • davef says:
            18 Nov18 November 16:15

            There’s no way anyone is getting stocks replenished in the near future. There’s no chips to put in the cars. My colleague has been waitig 6 months for her new SUV over there and they cant even say what month it will arrive.
            Hertz have ordered 100,000 Teslas but no date when they’ll arrive.

            I feel it’ll get worse before it gets better over there as demand picks up.

            2nd hand car prices are also up just like the UK so the old sell and scrap trick works out expensive. A couple of the large RV rental companies went bust last year so rates for those are astronimical too

        • will says:
          18 Nov18 November 15:55

          I think you can get a reasonably decent level of cover on there for 40% of the rental.

          Presumably if you go to a US insurer, they’ll issue a policy to a UK driver for a month or so for a lot less than Turo.

    • Jane says:
      18 Nov18 November 15:42

      I’m currently considering getting the bus from Miami to Orlando (first class, redcoach $40) then Uber everywhere else. So expensive.

    • Jen T says:
      18 Nov18 November 16:22

      Hertz (US site) was half the price of Avis and Hertz (UK site). Definitely worth checking different countries when searching. Have a look at Avis BA too – we’ve had a few good prices there for US rentals.

      • Liz says:
        18 Nov18 November 16:42

        I looked at Hertz too but as soon as I put in that it was a UK driver the price went up by over $1000. Decisions decisions.
        I have spent the past few days booking 28 individual days hotels and that has been a nightmare too. We usually use HIX and Staybridge Suites for our road trips – prices are all over the place now that it’s dynamic pricing – ranging from £100 per night to crazy prices over £700 a night in some places – and the same room on different nights goes up and down – we are doing a mid west road trip so not any big cities. I will be checking prices over the winter months to see if anything goes down and rebook. The world has gone mad!

        • Mikeact says:
          18 Nov18 November 18:11

          We’ve booked our flights, easy to cancel, but in between for over four weeks is proving a bit difficult at present….could be the first time we may have to sleep in the back of the car….if we can get a car !

        • Neil Spellings says:
          18 Nov18 November 18:11

          also track your rental reservations via autoslash.com – they have frequently found me better deals, sometimes even from the same provider!

        • davef says:
          18 Nov18 November 18:41

          I’m similar, texas to california 2500 mile road trip, 18 different hotels. Avis/Budget are the only companies who will offer decent one way rates and that’s been the same for quite a few years now.
          Carhire-ba.com is 500 cheaper for the 18 days than pretty mcuh anything else and that’s only for an SUV which I dont want but I’ll have to put up with. Prices are ludicrous for saloons and it’s literally hobsons choice with Budget the only offer under £1500 for 14 days

          • davef says:
            18 Nov18 November 18:43

            The increase for UK driver is the insurance minimum for liability, min level of cover. Then they add optional CDW/Supercover etc.

            If you’re a US driver you can use your own personal car policy for insurance & liability minimums and pay extra for CDW etc.

    • Phil W says:
      18 Nov18 November 18:23

      I was looking for a car from MUC next July for two weeks. On Hertz it was around £800 for an Insignia. Checked Amex Travel and the same car via Hertz was £280 (WOW pricing).

    • Nicky says:
      18 Nov18 November 22:34

      I use a company called USRentacar.com (a British company). They are reliable and their prices are competitive even if more expensive than before. Give them a try

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