Good news if you lost American Express cashback because the merchant used a payment aggregator

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• BlueLabel says:

  28 Sep28 September 08:08

  OT (no bits) – after some advice please, If I may… our family of 4 wants to go west coast US for summer hols 2020, so SJC, SFO, LAX or SAN. There is a bit of Biz availability but no F yet (we’re using Rewardflightfinder to track it 😊). Do you think 4 x F seats will be released at some point soon? Or should we book J while we can – it’s still the fizzy end after all!

  • Shoestring says:

    28 Sep28 September 08:15

    Book J for certainty. I think you can upgrade for the difference later.

    • Kevin C says:

      28 Sep28 September 08:39

      My advice (with a family of 4) is to book in J. There’s no guarantee F seats will become available. If they do you can upgrade on the phone for the extra Avios and the change fee per person.

  • Jonathan says:

    28 Sep28 September 08:53

    No chance of getting 4F from LAX or SFO, it’s next to impossible to get 2! SAN has better F availability in general but you’d be lucky if they released 4 together, more likely in dribs & drabs which scuppers things if you’re looking to use 241’s. Upper Deck J on a 747 is a pretty decent way to fly though, especially if on a return leg with no CCR/First Wing.

  • Lyn says:

    28 Sep28 September 10:01

    I think SAN availability in F is more likely than LAX or SFO, but I’ve only personally seen 1 or 2 seats. I’d be surprised if they ever made 4 seats available at the same time.

    I suspect SJC might be the second easiest, since it is more of a business route than SAN for it’s access to Silicon Valley, but not as obvious a leisure route as SFO or the others.

    • Matt B says:

      28 Sep28 September 10:41

      If you are struggling for F or even J my personal experience is that LAS has had decent availability whenever I’ve been looking., especially if you need more than 2 seats. We got F out to SAN and also back from LAS over school holidays next summer easily enough. Originally booked J both ways but F came up within a few days.

• Nick G says:

  28 Sep28 September 08:20

  I’ve only just got my 1000 Avios for spending £30 at the supermarket offer. It’s took weeks of arguing with Amex. They wanted ME to prove I had used the offer as far as they were concerned I hadn’t. It took a screenshot of my online app showing the offer was redeemed before they would even look into it. Total garbage.

  I have to say rob I’m noticing more and more Amex offers never send an email once redeemed and they rarely post without a call to god knows where these days. I’m less and less impressed with Amex CS these days.

  On a separate note I’ve got a new gold card this week and immediately given a £14k credit limit. Considering our incomes that’s pretty obscene and I can see why if people don’t think enough they can get into an awful mess.

  • Jovanna says:

    28 Sep28 September 08:50

    I’m finding that I’m having to argue more with Amex. I used Stackry during the summer, which Amex had a 25% off promotion running. It didn’t post. I’m due about 8 quid. Once upon a time they’d credit your account. Amex can see the transaction but they’ve told me to call back after 90 days if it’s still not posted.

    I renewed my Platinum card in August. It went through at £450 but I’m struggling to see the value this year.

  • Terry says:

    28 Sep28 September 18:32

    I’ve had so many issues with Amex offers this year. GAP £10 back on £30 posted after a month. Google Store £75 on £375 never posted (5 weeks since transaction), Amex says it was done via Google Pay – but that is the only way to pay on Google Store other than PayPal. Papa Johns £5 on £20 hasn’t posted as yet (transaction was done a week ago). No email for any of the 3 transactions.

    Chat quality has gone down, they don’t seem to understand what I am talking about.

    Rob – could you please ask Amex about Google Store?

• Planning Geek says:

  28 Sep28 September 08:23

  Off topic.

  Fairly new to IHG. Which is better. Holiday Inn room is £165.

  15, 000 points / 10,000 + £44 / 5,000 + £65

  A little confused as to best value…..

  • Benj says:

    28 Sep28 September 08:56

    I would go the 15,000 point option there (around £60 worth of points using Rob’s 0.40 valuation I think). The two points + cash options work out roughly similar, and all three options much better than paying the cash price.
    Also remember that anything involving points generally won’t be a qualifying night for Accelerate offers (other than a “use points + cash” offer, which should be triggered by either of your points + cash options).

  • Crafty says:

    28 Sep28 September 08:57

    15,000 points, because to my mind this is worth £50.

  • Jonathan says:

    28 Sep28 September 08:59

    With a par points value of 0.4p then your total “cost” is £60, £84 & £85 so use 15k points as you’re getting more than 1p/point value. Only exception would be if you have a generous points & cash bonus available in your Accelerate targets

• Ed says:

  28 Sep28 September 08:25

  In the case of brook and wild afaik it’s online only, so all payments are going to be made online and therefore through Stripe

• David says:

  28 Sep28 September 08:27

  I raised this issue at the Centurion 20th Birthday Party 2 weeks ago, and they said just call and it will get sorted, but they also said they would try and review so its more seem less.

  • Brian says:

    28 Sep28 September 08:59

    More certainly does seem less in this case…

• Toto says:

  28 Sep28 September 08:40

  Bremont – overpriced watches with off the shelf movements dubiously claimed as in-house, that loses 50% off its retail price as soon as you walk out the door….i think i’ll pass

  • Rob says:

    28 Sep28 September 10:02

    Don’t all watches lose 50%? VAT is 20% (not paid on 2nd hand goods)

    • Toto says:

      28 Sep28 September 11:15

      Certain Patek, AP or Rolex models trade 2nd hand above retail by over 30% easily.

      Bremont is one of the worst brands for value retention if thats important to you, 50% is conservative.
      If you really want a Bremont…better off going to authorised resellers like goldsmiths / ernest jones rather than boutiques…where you are likely to get at least 20-25% discount off RRP.

      • Czechoslovakia says:

        28 Sep28 September 14:47

        NOT Ernest Jones, please! Bought 5 watches in their sale. Four turned up used, marked, and bits of packaging or warranty cards missing. Except one, which had the warranty card stamped by an EJ branch 2 years prior. Had to do a chargeback on 1 which went “missing” during their returns process. One of the watches was covered in dried on sweat, and none had their tags. The fifth got “lost” by their courier, DX. Goldsmith’s are great though…

      • Yuff says:

        29 Sep29 September 07:22

        If you know which Rolex to buy, stainless steel sport model, they have tended to rise in value.
        The one my wife gave me for a big birthday 3 years ago has tripled in value, although it took a long time to search one out. If you know what you are looking for it’s quite easy to increase the value.

    • Mr(s) Entitled says:

      28 Sep28 September 11:40

      Had my Rolex for 10yrs. Worth at least the same now, if not more than when I bought it. Sadly, when I bought it smart phones weren’t as prevalent making the watch somewhat redundant now.

      Now cars… There is a way to lose money quickly.

    • Charlieface says:

      28 Sep28 September 21:01

      What’s wrong with a Casio or Sekonda? Sorry excuse my ignorance/unfashionableness

  • Chris says:

    28 Sep28 September 13:23

    Agree with the watches. I bought two wallets, two ties, and a little bracelet for gifts, think total came to £530, but paid £130 with the cash back. I was going to return them if I didn’t get the cash back, so called complained, and got my £400 a month or two ago…

• N says:

  28 Sep28 September 09:00

  OT – ruse to get exit row seats on BA on the at-airport check on screens didn’t work this morning. Did OLCI yesterday, and when I put my passport into the machine it just spat out my boarding pass before I got a chance to do anything. Is there a work-around?

  • Shoestring says:

    28 Sep28 September 09:26

    drat – the workaround is just going to the check in agent and asking for an exit row seat, obvs some queuing involved

    did you by chance print or save the pdf of your BP when you checked in online? that crystallises your seat

    • N says:

      28 Sep28 September 14:50

      will have to resort to queuing!

      i hadn’t printed or downloaded. same thing happened on two different PNRs, so I think this is a change in the system…

• Billy says:

  28 Sep28 September 09:40

  O/T I had my yesterday flight 1200 flight from Faro to GTW cancelled due to the pilots strike. I was able to be rebooked later on for a different flight with BA on the same day but at 1930. Can I claim compensation for food and travel for the extra time delayed btw 1200 – 1930?

  • Shoestring says:

    28 Sep28 September 09:49

    yes on the food & drink (£25 per person, per meal, no booze)

    travel? why are there extra travel costs?

    • Billy says:

      28 Sep28 September 10:16

      Sorry I meant onward to travel to the airport I.e train and taxi. 14 days notice was given but I’m not claiming for the flight just the incidentals. Probably won’t make a difference now as I’ve stupidly misplaced the receipts. Are bank statements acceptable as proof or has to be receipts?

      Thanks

      • Shoestring says:

        28 Sep28 September 10:21

        was it a different airport? in which case you can get your extra travel costs refunded under duty of care

        they’ll probably say receipts only but you’d probably win if you could still provide good proof of expenditure ie bank statement with date & place

        • Billy says:

          28 Sep28 September 10:53

          Original inbound was from Faro to Gatwick 1200 which was cancelled. I then called up after the strike was called off and got it reinstated for Faro to LHR at 1930 as the Faro to Gatwick was not available at the time I called up to get it reinstated.

        • Shoestring says:

          28 Sep28 September 10:57

          different London airports is one area where BA can play tricky as they try to treat LHR, City and Gatwick as ‘London’ airports & initially often say you are responsible for your own transport if they switch airports on you (particularly ridiculous if you have a parked car waiting to get picked up!)

          regardless, they always cave if you insist, they want you to take public transport which is why they apply a £50 limit on taxis, lack of receipt a problem, though

        • Lady London says:

          28 Sep28 September 14:50

          BA has to cave on the transport. It’s written in EU261.

  • Rob says:

    28 Sep28 September 10:00

    No, not if it was cancelled 14+ days ago and the rebook was 19.30.

    If your flight was only cancelled yesterday then you are due compensation.

    • Shoestring says:

      28 Sep28 September 10:08

      there’s no 14 day rule for duty of care

    • Lady London says:

      28 Sep28 September 10:13

      Has there been definitive info on whether a flight cancelled or landing delayed over 3 hours, not notified min. 14 days ahead, IS eligible for compensation part of EU261?

      My feeling is that this pilots strike ase would not end up as ‘within BA’s control’. So duty of care yes, but is anyone sure compo also applies on this one?

      • Shoestring says:

        28 Sep28 September 10:17

        re: possible not-14-days’ notice, cancelled flight compo due to pilots’ strike – it hasn’t been tested or reported back on over at FT

        I also think it fails & not worth pursuing – one for Bott & Co

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