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The HfP chat thread – Monday 22nd November

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Comments (429)

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

  • Deb20 says:
    22 Nov22 November 08:11

    Lady London and Genghis,

    A note of thanks for your advice late May 2021 regarding my EU261 claim from Virgin Atlantic.

    They caved almost immediately, although it took them a long time to pay, claiming that they were having technical difficulties.

    Been meaning to write this message for a couple of months. Where does time fly?

    Thank you once again.

  • Keely says:
    22 Nov22 November 08:16

    At Gatwick , turned away from No 1 lounge as ‘reserved for easyJet passengers only’….

    • Brighton Belle says:
      22 Nov22 November 08:22

      What lounge card did you show them?

      • GaryE says:
        22 Nov22 November 09:05

        FYI – LHR T3 yesterday No 1 Lounge only accepting passengers who had paid the £6pp to reserve place in the lounge. Daughter had Priority Pass.

    • Travel Strong says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:20

      Had 5 airport visits in the past month where PP lounge is closed. To add insult to injury PP have just billed my amex plat for £20 for the one successful lounge visit! (just me and 1 guest, so no charge due).

      • Travel Strong says:
        22 Nov22 November 09:55

        Amex chat gave me PP’s number. PP said I had 2 guests (which I did not), kept me on hold for 15 mins, then cut me off 😂
        2nd call to PP, agent is escalating it and will email with next steps.

        Really is a poor offering right now from ‘Priority’ pass! Certainly not a valuable amex plat perk for me. Actually costing me rather than saving me at this point.

    • Rob says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:26

      Are you sure you didn’t go to the new No1-operated ‘Gateway’ lounge, which indeed mainly for easyJet passengers. The easyJet door is virtually next to the main No1 entrance.

  • Will says:
    22 Nov22 November 08:25

    paying for 2for1 voucher bookings with Amex cards….. Amex told me if i cancelled the BA Amex that I could not use my companion voucher. TPG is reiterating this today. I wonder, has there been any change to this since the new BA Amex rollout in Sept? Previously used gold card to pay fees/taxes etc. anyone got recent evidence that other Amex cards can still be used (even if not strictly in the terms)

    • Ed says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:12

      I suspect others will confirm that they’ve not got the systems in place to check whether you still hold the card. Also of note from the article is apparently Amex have stated to TPG that your voucher is protected should you downgrade your BAPP to the free BA Amex.

      • Rob says:
        22 Nov22 November 09:23

        Er … your voucher is protected if you downgrade, upgrade or cancel your Amex entirely. Once its in your BA account, Amex can’t touch it.

    • Rob says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:25

      Total nonsense.

      • Will says:
        22 Nov22 November 10:08

        Thanks Rob. But has anyone actually used an alternative card in last two months to prove this? Would be nice to start the two year clock again whilst having several vouchers banked across the family.

        • QwertyKnowsBest says:
          22 Nov22 November 10:18

          Amex agent earlier this month told me same re losing 241 if cancelled card, then did accept when I asked how they validate ‘that at the moment BA system cannot check but they may in the future’. I guess that this is a new angle adopted by agents to talk you out of cancelling. Did offer double Avios though if I kept the card.

        • Aso40 says:
          22 Nov22 November 10:32

          Yes, I used a different AMEX to pay the taxes on a 241 booking using a new voucher last month.

          In this case I did still have the card I earned the voucher on, but wanted the spend towards the next 241 on partner’s card, so used that instead.

        • Rob says:
          22 Nov22 November 10:57

          Out of 50k regular readers I think we’d have heard.

    • TicknBash says:
      22 Nov22 November 11:38

      Cancelled OH’s BAPP and retained 241 in BA account albeit earlier this year.

      Isn’t it misrepresentation for Amex CS to consistently state that you’d lose your 241 or is it the case that Amex is ‘entitled’ claw back the 241 but just doesn’t or more so couldn’t because there’s not enought controls / tracking procedures in place ?

      • Will says:
        22 Nov22 November 13:49

        It’s in the terms but if they can’t enforce them then so be it. One day someone may lose out. Make hay whilst the sun shines

  • George says:
    22 Nov22 November 08:36

    Does anyone use a crypto dot com visa card? I’ve just opened an account and applied for one – the 2% c@shb@ck could potentially be better than spending on Amex. To get the card you do have to stake £300 in the crypto.com coin (CRO) which gets locked in for 6 months, the final value of which obviously could go up or down. I’m interested to hear other people’s views on the card.

    • Chrisasaurus says:
      22 Nov22 November 08:50

      What’s the 2% paid as?

      • Sam says:
        22 Nov22 November 09:04

        It’s paid as CRO, the crypto dot com coin

        You get other benefits depending on how much you stake: Spotify, Amazon Prime or Netflix subscriptions, discounts on Expedia or Airbnb, going up to lounge cards and private jet partnership (whatever that means).

        If you feel particularly brave, you can get stake up to £300k and get 8% on your spend but you do have to beat in mind that your stake will go up and down! So pretty high risk

        I’ve held one for a few months, the benefits are nice and CRO has gone up nicely recently

        I’ve hit my Amex targets (and with imminent death of Creation) am likely to be directly more spend in this direction.

        You can also “lend” coins and get “interest” paying up to 12%. Again, the underlying value will go up and down so high risk

        Perhaps George can put his referral link up if others are interested?

        • George says:
          22 Nov22 November 09:36

          If anyone is interested, my referral link is https://crypto[dot]com/app/n9mek6yr69 – make sure the referral code is there were you sign up, then once you’ve signed up for a card we both get $25 USD. For ease, the code is n9mek6yr69
          Would love if people used this as I posted first!

      • Sam says:
        22 Nov22 November 09:05

        Oh, it’s also a visa debit card…

    • Jon says:
      22 Nov22 November 08:53

      I suppose one way to look at it would be “If I completely lost my £300, would I still have got value from the card?” In other words treat the £300 as the annual fee, and if you’ve still got any left at the end, nice bonus 😉

      I had a look at it a while back and concluded the benefits were only really interesting (to me) at the higher stake levels, and I wasn’t prepared to risk £3000 with them. Not sure whether the details/offer may have changed since. YMMV etc and each to their own, of course.

      I might not go as far as saying the words money, grabbing, bandwagon, jumping, and scam came to mind, but it did leave me feeling slightly uneasy.

      • Jon says:
        22 Nov22 November 09:02

        Funnily enough, it was an advert on this very site back in 2017 for Monaco (MCO) crypto-backed debit card that first got me into crypto – I didn’t get involved with that one, but it did set me on my path to learning about Bitcoin and Ethereum.

        I now see from Google that Crypto.com is a rebrand of Monaco, and appears to have pivoted from their original MCO token to CRO. Make of that what you will.

        • Mike says:
          22 Nov22 November 12:53

          The MCO -> CRO was an effort to avoid potential nastiness with US authorities. They have also brought out their own mainet avoiding the ridiculous ETH gas fees.

    • Paul says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:22

      yes, I have been using my Royal Indigo (3%) for over a year now. Most of my spend goes through that. I’ve earnt a huge amount of c@shb@ack over the last year in their CRO token. The value of which has risen enormously this month. So yes, it’s been a massive winner for me. If anyone interested, they do $25 ‘free’ for referral using this link: https://crypto [dot] com/app/vxz4lznqj7

    • ken says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:37

      Looks worrying like a Ponzi scheme to me.

      Desparate rush with unsustainable incentives to sign people up.
      Have to hold CRO for 6 months.
      Difficult to see it replacing other crypto’s, why would it ?
      Will rely on an exponential amount of new joiners and holders to keep price up.
      Will be no end of people posting seemingly innocent messages about CRO on forums.

      Still, some people will make money, more will lose.
      If DOGE which was created as a joke can be worth $30 Billion then nothing will surprise me.

      Not for me.

      • ken says:
        22 Nov22 November 09:39

        Jon, Paul & George.

        Just need Ringo to pump this dog for the full set.

        • Thywillbedone says:
          22 Nov22 November 10:02

          Hehe. It feels like we close to ‘shoeshine boy’ territory with some of these crypto punts …some of the thickest people I know are piling in

        • Jon says:
          22 Nov22 November 11:11

          😂😂

          Now now, let it be…

        • Jon says:
          22 Nov22 November 11:13

          But yes, inclined to agree with Ken re it sounding like a Ponzi – like so many of these crypto staking schemes offering double-digit interest, where is the money coming from? As always, if it sounds to good to be true… 😉

      • George says:
        22 Nov22 November 09:46

        I’m no crypto expert so I won’t claim to understand it fully, or the tokenomics etc. The amount of money crypto dot com are pumping into marketing (stadium naming rights, sports sponsorship) means it’s either a huge ponzi scheme or there’s a lot of confidence in it, DYOR!

        To me, locking in £300 for the benefits it gives is worth a go.

        • Will says:
          22 Nov22 November 10:12

          One word. Stanford

          However many will make money so risk only what you can afford to lose and don’t forget to cash in profits to clear your initial risk when you can.

      • QwertyKnowsBest says:
        22 Nov22 November 10:20

        +1 or is that 1+1=9

    • George says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:42

      I’ve put my referral code above, in my comment from 09.36 for those interested.

      Wondering what potential ‘uses’ there could when adding the card to curve. Would we need a codename for this card?

      • Paul says:
        22 Nov22 November 09:55

        used to be able to earn c@shb@ack at HMRC and NS&I with it, I earnt over 1k in tokens with that.. they shut it down a while ago though! Haven’t discovered any other loopholes to date

        • George says:
          22 Nov22 November 15:22

          Is there any way of seeing MCCs from Virgin credit card transactions? I’m trying to see if tax free childcare payments would qualify for c@shb@ck.

    • The Savage Squirrel says:
      22 Nov22 November 13:50

      Predicting 400% investment returns on a meaningless non-asset bsaed purely on “gut feeling”… we really have entered the crypto-lunacy Ponzi spiral when they don’t even have to pretend any crypto investment has any use or value or prospect of returns. I have a gut feeling about the 3.25 at Kempton, and mine gives you a1200% return so is it even better? 😀 😀

    • Luke says:
      22 Nov22 November 15:12

      Well I can guess whose ancestors bought up all the tulips in the 17th century.

  • Allan says:
    22 Nov22 November 08:37

    Kimpton Paris – should I expect to have to pay city tax on a redemption stay?

    • Patrick says:
      22 Nov22 November 08:48

      French City taxes are generally separate, unless specified in your booking confirmation.

    • Harry T says:
      22 Nov22 November 08:52

      Yes

    • TGLoyalty says:
      22 Nov22 November 08:52

      You do have to normally pay flat rate taxes like £2 per night etc but the property may pay on your behalf if it’s insignificant.

      Obviously you don’t have to pay taxes based upon % of room rate because 20% of £0 is zero.

      • Allan says:
        22 Nov22 November 09:15

        Thanks. Might try and put it on the IHG card and see if that triggers the offer they emailed about last week.

      • John says:
        22 Nov22 November 12:17

        Wasn’t the case at HI Berlin west, they charged me €3 on a putative €60 rate even though it was a redemption

        One time they received €20 from IHG and another time they received €140

        As it was not mentioned on the booking confirmation Amex refunded me – arguably I knew they would charge it the second time, but the second time they also claimed I ordered room service when I didn’t and Amex believed me

    • stevenhp1987 says:
      22 Nov22 November 11:52

      I paid the city tax on a redemption stay last month.

      Don’t have the receipt to hand, but it was a few € each.

    • Lyn says:
      22 Nov22 November 17:00

      I think it depends on the hotel chain. IHG usually charge the city tax on award nights in France. Some other chains don’t.

  • Rui N. says:
    22 Nov22 November 09:01

    Any websites to find good deals on luggage? (By good deals I mean cheaper stuff, not Rimowa with an Amex offer!) TIA

    • Alex M says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:10

      Amazon? I am not taking a piss – they do have good quality suitcases at good prices.

      • Rui N. says:
        22 Nov22 November 09:15

        Thanks Alex! Yeah, I’ll look at them of course. Just wanted to know if there were any specialised websites. For examples in the US there is ebags.com which just loves to give coupouns left and right, creating some very good deals. I also know that TK Maxx has some good deals in store, but haven’t checked online.

        • kitten says:
          22 Nov22 November 11:26

          Matalan stores sometimes have similar to TKmax. Not sure if online, also not sure if they are still on voldesites

      • Anuj says:
        22 Nov22 November 14:56

        Primark do some cheap but nice hard shell style suitcases, I think they do the soft ones too and when I was last comparing I found it difficult to beat the price.

    • ChrisC says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:18

      I got my current hard shell from Sports Direct.

      If you have a TK Maxx near you they sometimes have good stuff

      And Argos of course – for nectar points!

    • Andrew says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:55

      Have a look at Robert Dyas and Ryman’s website. They are essentially the same company, but have slightly different stock and prices. Ryman’s occasionally has good deals on Samsonite, they both do American Tourister stuff at heavily discounted prices too.

      If you happen to be near one, try a Matalan, Asda or Wilko too. Matalan do a line of “IT” lightweight luggage, and Wilko had reduced to clear on their luggage in my local store recently.

    • QwertyKnowsBest says:
      22 Nov22 November 10:22

      If looking for cabin bags and similar, Thule (yes the roof rack people) have decent quality at much less than Tumi pricing. Costco offer (and sometimes own brand Kirkland) can be ok also.

    • Jonathan says:
      22 Nov22 November 10:55

      eBay used to be a very good option, but lately there’s hardly any choice, and even if you see something you like, chances are the seller won’t have your colour and size available. It’s a bit weird that things are like this atm, Amazon is fairly good, but it’s extremely difficult to be specific when searching for something, since the systems aren’t geared up for that sort of search of their website

    • Yorkie Aid says:
      22 Nov22 November 12:16

      Costco has a BF offer on Samsonite

  • Rahaney says:
    22 Nov22 November 09:03

    Hmm, time has come to renew my IC Ambassador… 200$ and get 15k points or spend 40k points…
    I’m Spire through the CC route.
    Advice please..

    • ChrisC says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:11

      Are you planning on staying at any ICs in the next year (or a Kimpton or Regent where you can use the weekenf BOGOF voucher)??

    • Anna says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:19

      As you can book the Ambassador rate without being a member, there’s no value in renewing really until you’ve got an imminent stay.

      • Jon says:
        22 Nov22 November 11:17

        Unless your Spire is about to expire, perhaps? 😉

        (There’s a pun in there, isn’t there, but I just can’t bring myself to do it… 😉

        • John says:
          22 Nov22 November 12:21

          Spire isn’t expiring this year.

          In 2019 my spire was renewed despite not renewing amb and staying fewer than 10 times – and now it’s been extended through the pandemic (yet the extensions have not brought any stays to IHG)

          • MilesOnPoint says:
            22 Nov22 November 15:31

            +1

            My IHG Spire status now shows an expiry of 31st December 2022, despite not achieving thresholds for this year and no current Ambassador subscription 🙂

  • Kevin says:
    22 Nov22 November 09:05

    Morning HFP. Does anyone have PCR testing with Randox at Waterloo recently? I recalled someone mentioned here few weeks ago that the waiting time to undertake the test was approx. an hour due to poor arrangement.

    • Sam G says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:17

      A friend did it there a couple of weeks ago and indeed had to queue for a long time

    • Birdy says:
      22 Nov22 November 09:41

      We did PCR tests a few weeks ago and arrived 10 minutes before our booked time and queued for a few minutes. Apparently there was a system issue where the appointment times were multiple booked which caused the long queue but it was resolved before we were there on 28 October. We paid for same day results but got the certificates about 90 minutes later.

      • Kevin says:
        22 Nov22 November 10:09

        Thanks for the feedback.
        I am planning to have the same day result and unfortunately the AMEX20 discount code no longer can be used.

        • Harley says:
          22 Nov22 November 17:59

          Hi Kevin, it was me who had to wait for over 2 hours. After my holiday i sent them a long email about it and they have refunded the test fee yesterday

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