A warning for British Airways Gold Guest List / GUF / GUF2 holders

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• Louise says:

  7 Dec7 December 10:11

  OT – Amex Offer on my Platinum – 10% off at TFL
  Save to Card to get a 10% statement credit on pay as you go contactless payments made at TfL stations by 14/01/2019
  Offer only available to the first 60,000 Cardmembers who save the offer to their Card.

  • Rob Walker says:

    7 Dec7 December 10:14

    Yeah just saw that. Seems like an excellent deal. Just a shame I’m not London based and rarely visit!

  • C says:

    7 Dec7 December 12:21

    Don’t have this, which is a shame since I do contactless from zone 9-1 every day!

• Rob Walker says:

  7 Dec7 December 10:18

  OT: I was once told that the payment due date on AMEX charge cards is somewhat ‘flexible’, and that as long as you make payment before your next statement is generated, nothing bad will happen.

  Does anyone have recent experience of doing this? I was actually told this by AMEX customer services, but as I was actually calling to ask about the direct debit on my SPG *credit* card, I didn’t have much confidence in him!

  • Voltron says:

    7 Dec7 December 10:38

    My “due” date is always 13/14 days after the plat charge statement, seems very short timeline compared to other providers

    • Rob Walker says:

      7 Dec7 December 10:47

      Yes, it’s always a much shorter period than even their own credit cards.

      • Lumma says:

        7 Dec7 December 12:28

        Maybe it’s similar to the direct debit date they use for their credit cards which I think is 2 weeks before the final due date. Suppose it comes in handy if the payment is rejected for any reason as you have time to rectify it without incurring any charges

  • Lady London says:

    7 Dec7 December 19:52

    Personally I wouldn’t do anything that could show up as a missed payment on an Amex charge card. It’s just not worth the risk if this type of “unpublicised” policy changes or gets audited.

• John says:

  7 Dec7 December 11:24

  If my Iberia balance is currently negative due to the promotional Avios I transferred to BA will I be able to transfer anything I buy in this promo?

  • Anna says:

    7 Dec7 December 11:29

    It might just reduce your negative balance, why not buy the smallest amount first and see what happens?

  • Peter K says:

    7 Dec7 December 11:48

    I once had a negative balance in my Avios.com account (about -100 IIRC). I could not use combine my avios (I tried to move points into the account to make it positive) until I had earned avios to make the amount a positive figure again via an outside source (eg Tesco transfer).

  • Lady London says:

    7 Dec7 December 19:53

    I am quite certain Iberia will swallow whatever Avios you put in there, up until the balance is positive again.

• Andy says:

  7 Dec7 December 12:46

  OT but bits. I have 2200 accor points expiring at the start of January and no plans to use them. Are there any cheap ways to keep those points alive? I see their e-rewards programme gives 250 points with the first completed survey, but would they post in time to keep my balance alive?

  • Andy says:

    7 Dec7 December 12:47

    Forgot e-rewards is invitation only, so that option is out.

  • marcw says:

    7 Dec7 December 13:12

    Cheap europcar? Use them?

  • Alan says:

    7 Dec7 December 13:46

    They have their own opinion panel thing “Club opinions” It gives you points for completing surveys. It also extends the expiry date of your points. Given the small number fo points you earn from doing their surveys, the expiry extension is the most useful part of the whole thing.

    • Alan says:

      7 Dec7 December 22:28

      Totally agree – the number points they award is a pittance, esp given how long the surveys can take (or how often they screen you out half way through) but resetting expiry is definitely handy!

  • Peter K says:

    7 Dec7 December 14:06

    Not sure if it still works (I never did manage to get it to work first time round) but you used to be able to turn small amounts of Accor points into avios at Iberia.

    • Shoestring says:

      7 Dec7 December 15:19

      The auto convert trick of *any* amount of Accor points to IB Avios is still going strong, you need to be prepared to mess around a little to get it working, though

• Liz says:

  7 Dec7 December 12:47

  OT Small Shop question – if the same Shop appears in two different towns can you use the same card in both shops and get both credits. They weren’t both listed last year but this year they are. It’s wines and spirits so would be good to get it in both as we can’t use the Magestic Wine offer up here over the border!

  • EwanG says:

    7 Dec7 December 14:32

    Liz. Yes. And to answer my own question from the other day, if a participating SS retailer has multiple branches but a branch is not shown on the map (through the map view of searching for the retailer name) you could still get the credit. Tested this out on Wednesday and received the email even though the branch I went to is not on the map at all, but other locations (including the city centre location) are.
    Good to hear -makes up for the Majestic loss!

    • Liz says:

      7 Dec7 December 16:26

      Great Ewan thanks. Tried one shop in Cupar today and will try again in St Andrews next week!

      • BJ says:

        7 Dec7 December 16:36

        Ewan/Liz, have you found any good chocolate shops? The usual suspects in Edinburgh do not appear to be on the map this year.

      • EwanG says:

        7 Dec7 December 17:51

        James, Coco still appears on the map. I will head there next week! Is that what you are referring to?? Not too far to some branches of Margiotta (mentioned in previous days by others), Vino and other off licenses – also good places for lunch / dinner!

      • BJ says:

        7 Dec7 December 19:02

        Yes, thanks Ewan, I have no idea what I am doing with the map, even when directly searching Coco it didn’t come up. I have not started this year yet do I better get a move on.

      • Liz says:

        7 Dec7 December 19:40

        The map is useless. I sat one night a few weeks ago and wrote out all the local towns and shops that we could visit over this 2 wks. I wrote down a fish shop in Arbroath. Went to the shop today and spent £30 and agreed to pay over 3 cards but it wouldn’t go through. Checked the map again when I got home and it’s not there now. It was definitely there a few weeks ago. Had to use my IHG card instead. Managed to use it in the Nickel and Dime for some bits and pieces today. It also didn’t appear again when I put in Arbroath but did when I put in Nickel and Dime. Strange things happening with the map.

        Not found any specific chocolate shops. Trying not to buy any! There was some chocolates in Luthvians in Cupar today which is a wine merchant but has a deli section as well. Lovely shop!

      • BJ says:

        7 Dec7 December 20:48

        Yes, it is the map that has discouraged me from even trying so far this year, and experiences like yours don’t help either. I will try Coco to stock up on Colombian chocolate, Margiotta and Dusit Thai. I don’t fancy chasing a whole load of missing transactions so I’ll not be overdoing it. Good luck with your tea and sail, it was rough out there today 🙂

        • Alan says:

          7 Dec7 December 22:39

          Indeed – I’ve just done a couple of Margiotta so far this year! Have done well with other Amex Offers though – am loving Morrison’s being on every purchase, planning quite a few more!!

      • Liz says:

        7 Dec7 December 21:47

        My experience has been ok so far except the one shop today. Done 22 transactions and only 4 I’ve not had emails for. Other Amex offers have all posted so far too.

      • BJ says:

        8 Dec8 December 06:59

        Ah, that sounds more encouraging Liz.

• GRIMZ says:

  7 Dec7 December 12:49

  OT, Does anyone know how this will work:
  Booked flights today for me and my father on a BA 241 to Bangkok.
  I wanted to book this for me and my wife but we were recently married and I need to change the name. BA are doing this for me but the name change will take time.
  I will call up to change the name on the 241 once this has been done and pay the £35 fee but was there a better way of doing this?
  BA wouldn’t book the flights while I was awaiting the change of surname?

  • Louise says:

    7 Dec7 December 12:56

    Is she getting a new passport? i went away when married still on my maiden name

  • Alex W says:

    7 Dec7 December 13:25

    Could you just create her as a “new person” on your friends and family list?

    As long as the name on the passport matches the name on the ticket when she flies, there is no problem.

    NB if you weren’t aware you can cancel a ticket for free within 24 hrs of booking BUT award seats may not be available any more.

  • Anna says:

    7 Dec7 December 14:18

    If the 2 4 1 is being used for you and your father, why do you need to change the name on that?

    If you mean you’ve booked a separate ticket for your wife, I’m not sure name changes fall within the £35 change policy.

    • GRIMZ says:

      7 Dec7 December 14:26

      Sorry iv maybe not made myself clear. Its me and my wife that are going but I have booked the other ticket for my father until I get the name changed. (means the seat is secured and I don’t miss out)
      I hope I don’t have to pay £70 for cancelling both names and rebooking?

      • Shoestring says:

        7 Dec7 December 14:58

        Just out of interest, no criticism intended, why have you done it this way, GRIMZ? You could just have booked using your wife’s maiden name. Her name doesn’t somehow change (legally) because she got married to you. As far as anybody else is concerned, she might now be Mrs Grimz but legally she’s both Ms Maiden Name *AND* Mrs Grimz & I guess her passport is still Ms Maiden Name unless you feel like wasting money on a new unnecessary passport.

      • Mark2 says:

        7 Dec7 December 15:06

        I thought that I had read that it was not possible to change the name on an airline ticket. Hope I was misinformed.

        • Rob says:

          7 Dec7 December 15:10

          You can’t change the name. If you could, people would buy up cheap flights 11 months in advance and resell them 1 month in advance in order to pocket a massive profit.

      • Anna says:

        7 Dec7 December 16:00

        You can make minor changes with some airlines, if, for example, you spelled the name wrong on the booking (don’t laugh, my OH has actually done this!). Delta wanted £65 to amend one letter in my middle name so we just risked it and it was fine. But Rob is right, you can’t effectively change the person travelling. You’d have to cancel the whole booking, hope the seats reappear and re-book. And I think it will be £70 to cancel for 2 of you unless you do it within 24 hours.

      • Louise says:

        7 Dec7 December 16:33

        The thing to do would book your wife under maiden name and if she did get a new passport then change her name!
        Hopefully you are within 24 hrs?

      • Shoestring says:

        7 Dec7 December 20:02

        My wife has never bothered to change anything to be Mrs Shoestring on paper, she has just kept her maiden name for absolutely everything, work, passport, bank, bills, house deeds etc.

        Far easier that way, she says – & it’s certainly never remotely bothered me.

        I think she has 1 email address she uses with ‘my’ surname on – but that was probably just because she needed another name/ alias to remember & not confuse with her maiden name email addresses.

      • Anna says:

        7 Dec7 December 21:20

        Shoestring, that’s exactly like me. I hope you take advantage of her dual identity…

• Dawn says:

  7 Dec7 December 13:00

  I’m about 3 weeks away from my Iberia account being 90 days old. Can I buy the Avios now, wait for the 3 weeks and then transfer to my BA account?

  • Shoestring says:

    7 Dec7 December 15:02

    sure

    • Shoestring says:

      7 Dec7 December 15:09

      ly not (sorry pressed send!)

      You can try buying the Avios but not sure it lets you until a/c 90 days old & you’ve earned more than 1 Avios

  • Anna says:

    7 Dec7 December 16:04

    As far as I can gather, you can buy the Groupon avios (it’s easier than I thought it would be after setting up my Iberia and Spanish Groupon accounts, let’s just hope they post now!), but not the Iberia bonus avios.

• BOI says:

  7 Dec7 December 13:19

  OT: Any bonus to refer or join BAEC?

  • Peter K says:

    7 Dec7 December 13:57

    No. I’ve never known them to offer one.

  • marcw says:

    7 Dec7 December 14:01

    There are every now and again, but usually targeted to other countries (Germany and Italy I think were the last offers)

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