Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Forum Replies Created

  • in reply to: Loganair Glasgow to Southampton
    ClubSmed

    I have received the e-ticket but the flight is not showing up in my “my bookings” area of the BA app or website. Is this usual because it is a partner airline, or is it just buggy BA IT again?

    in reply to: Loganair Glasgow to Southampton
    ClubSmed

    Thanks, I wish I had asked this question before booking and I would not have book the last flight…

    ClubSmed

    When I wanted a “dummy” account to switch from, recently, I opened a Santander Basic bank account as there was no overdraft and so no credit check so it won’t affect credit ratings (if those things bother you as I know credit ratings don’t bother some people)

    Did you ever figure out (/see on your report) whether Santander did a credit check or added it as a credit account to your reports?

    Thinking of doing a switch but need a new donor account, and if they’re going to do a credit check/add a new credit account, I may as well open a full current account.

    I opened a ThinkMoney current account for this purpose as they are part of the CASS (Current Account Switching Scheme) but do not perform credit checks when opening a basic bank account.

    in reply to: Why is BA IT so bad?
    ClubSmed

    I understand that BA are dealing with the same sort of legacy issues that banks do, however…
    I have not had such an issue with a bank where I cannot see my account details/transactions but can have other products sold to me (at least not as an ongoing issue).
    It is not like this is a new issue of bookings not being displayed, it has been an issue for a substantial amount of time. Strangely it does not appear to be an issue in the app

    in reply to: Premier Account – Avios Plus bonus issues
    ClubSmed

    Avios rewards was activated for my by the advisor upon the opening of the account. This was all before I had any physical items (card, PIN, reader).
    Did you not have to have a session with an advisor to open up the account?

    ClubSmed

    Yes, it will count towards your annual spend
    No, it will not be counted as a BA transaction as the Avios points are transacted through another organisation
    Yes, you can pay with your BA Amex card for annual subscriptions, not sure about monthly

    Hope that helps

    in reply to: Best card arrangement for HMRC
    ClubSmed

    Why do you use Curve Metal rather than the standard Curve? Is there a max transaction rate with the standard that I can’t see on the compare plans page of Curve?

    in reply to: Curve metal, commercial card received
    ClubSmed

    Possibly a silly question, but I cannot find the answer to it anywhere…
    Why do you need to upgrade from the Curve standard card to Curve Metal to pay an HMRC bill?

    ClubSmed

    @ClubSmed you will find there is a world of difference between what Experian says and any credit score vs real life applications. Barclays as by far the largest credit card provider in the UK has vast amounts of proprietary credit data and does not like lots of unsecured credit lines elsewhere. Amex is the same currently per many recent comments here.

    It isn’t just Experian giving that message, it is ALL 3 of the credit reference agencies!
    As to your specific claim, I had ~£90k of access to credit card funds and applied for Amex 2 months ago and was successful and now have >£100k access.
    The OP states that they did not cancel existing access to credit card funds and got accepted for a Barclaycard and now has a “ridiculous” amount of available credit.
    So which should we choose to believe? The credit reference agencies and the evidence, or some random person venting on this thread?

    ClubSmed

    FYI
    Don’t cancel credit cards and expect to have your credit rating increase, the opposite will happen. A factor that is taken into consideration when assessing your score is how much unused credit you have available to you, with the higher the amount being better.
    You state that you have a very good credit score, but how have you measured this? To get a good picture you should check your score via all three credit scoring agencies. This can be done free of charge via Experian, ClearScore (for Equifax) and Credit Karma (for TransUnion).
    I was certainly very surprised how I was viewed by the other agencies when I had a score of 999 with Experian.

    It’s utter nonsense to suggest “how much unused credit you have available to you, with the higher the amount being better”. People are consistently getting refused for having too much unsecured credit. Card providers are unsurprisingly getting much pickier and having excessive credit on multiple cards is a major red flag.

    I suggest you should have done a Google search for “refused for having too much available credit” before making such a claim. The results that come back from the experian blog states “There’s no such thing as too much available credit when it comes to your credit score” and on the next result Nerd Wallet says “It’s not possible to have too much available credit on your credit cards.”

    Silly question, but where do you do the acct switch from? Normally with switches it’s been done as part of the new acct process, where do you do it it from when the premier acct has already been opened?

    Also, do you need to have any direct debits on any of the accts to qualify for any of the bonuses?

    You can do it in the Barclays app. Just go to “Products”, scroll down to “Our Services” and you will see “Switch Current Account”.

    As for the Direct Debits, it does not mention them on the site, so possibly not necessary:
    “To qualify for the 25,000 Avios joining bonus, you’ll need to join Barclays Avios Rewards – within 4 months of opening your first Barclays current account. Then, you’ll need to complete a full switch of your old current account to us, using the Current Account Switch Service – within 3 months of joining Barclays Avios Rewards. You will then receive your joining bonus in the fourth month of Barclays Avios Rewards membership”

    ClubSmed

    FYI
    Don’t cancel credit cards and expect to have your credit rating increase, the opposite will happen. A factor that is taken into consideration when assessing your score is how much unused credit you have available to you, with the higher the amount being better.
    You state that you have a very good credit score, but how have you measured this? To get a good picture you should check your score via all three credit scoring agencies. This can be done free of charge via Experian, ClearScore (for Equifax) and Credit Karma (for TransUnion).
    I was certainly very surprised how I was viewed by the other agencies when I had a score of 999 with Experian.

    I received an email request yesterday from Barclays asking for my feedback on opening my Premier account, so I took the time to respond and detail exactly what the experience was like…

    in reply to: Upgrade from Barclaycard Platinum?
    ClubSmed

    I have just received an email from Barclays asking for feedback on my Premier Account opening experience.
    The feedback is not going to be favourable…

    I think as the OP’s closest airport in MAN, they would likely also have a flight MAN to LHR in the mix. If so, it would mean that they would have enough points with the Marrakech example.

    in reply to: “welcome to your Premier account”
    ClubSmed

    I also received a blue card rather than a black one

    in reply to: Never again BA ?
    ClubSmed

    I’m BA Gold and I now only fly BA when the price is right for somewhere I really want to go…

    Personally, I only fly with any airline when the price is right for somewhere I really want to go. Why else would you fly?

    You could argue that Back to Back tier point runs are not about “somewhere [you] really want to go”, rather about the journey/incentive. It could also be argued that a business trip could not be “somewhere [you] really want to go”
    I do take your point though, everyone flies to get from A to B in the mode that is most convenient for their purpose. To pretend otherwise is ridiculous

    in reply to: Upgrade from Barclaycard Platinum?
    ClubSmed

    Do you think non-activity on the Platinum card plays a role in not seeing any upgrade offers? It only appeared a 2-4 weeks after activity and on another household none at all, so will try the Thurs tip

    I have not used my Barclaycard Platinum in a long time, so maybe the lack of Avios Plus (only Std Avios) Credit Card could be due to that. I expect it is too late for me to test this and actually get under the wire for this offer now though…

    in reply to: No way to apply
    ClubSmed

    Looks like I will not be able to avail myself of the 100k offer as nobody seems to be able to assist me in changing my Platinum Card to the Avios Plus card. The app will only let me chose the basic Avios card (or Barclaycard Rewards), so I am only able to get the bonus for opening the Premier Account.
    Hopefully they will run this offer again soon and I will be able to get it that time, if not, I do not think I will be sticking with Barclays as this has been a bit of a shambles!

    in reply to: Should I cancel and re-book?
    ClubSmed

    You can also get the sleeper train rom Glasgow to London, but you could fly return to London in Business twice for that price…

    in reply to: Double tier points from BA Holidays
    ClubSmed

    Thanks for clearing that up!
    I thought it would be, but as it is not explicit in the offer or T&Cs I thought it best to check here with people who have actually gone through the process.

    in reply to: 50% ‘buy Avios’ bonus now on
    ClubSmed

    As I understand it, the 50% bonus is on single transaction purchases of Avios, not on the subscription service and only on values of 5000 Avios and above.
    If you purchase 200,000 avios this way you will get a bonus of 100,000 avios making a total of 300,000 and it will cost you £3,215
    If you subscribed to the 200,000 avios subscription and boosted that with a single transaction for 105,000 avios (70k + 35k bonus) it will cost you £2,924
    (£1,789 + £1,135)

    With the subscription service you get the points trickled to you through the year though, with the single transaction you get the points in a lump sum so can use right away.

    Hope that helps

    Has anyone had any experience where they have successfully opened the Premier account but have not been able to change the Barclaycard to Avios Plus?
    That is the situation I am currently in. I had a Barclaycard Platinum credit card already, and have not got over the hurdle of opening a Pemier Account (did it via video chat as no availability in branch). However the app is not showing Avios Plus as a option for me to change to from my Platinum, it is only showing the standard Avios credit card.
    I do not want to have gone through all this and still not get the incentive offered.
    If anyone has experienced the same and managed to solve it, I would love to hear how.

    in reply to: No way to apply
    ClubSmed

    Thanks @jj
    I called that number and have managed to get a Video Appointment, let’s see if that works out…
    I completely agree that Barclays really need a better process!

    I had my Video Appointment today and managed to successfully open the Premier Account. The switching of my existing Barclaycard Platinum to an Avios Plus card seems to problematic. The app only shows the ability to change to the Avios card, not the Avios Plus. Maybe it will update in the system overnight? If not I can see hours of calls to Barclays to have to resolve this in time…

    in reply to: Uber, Android & Avios connection
    ClubSmed

    I connected my android Uber app yesterday to BA, here’s how I did it:
    1) Make sure you have the latest version of the app
    2) Click on the “Account” icon in the bottom right hand corner of the app
    3) Scroll down to “Settings”
    4) Select “British Airways Executive Club” under “Rewards”
    5) Follow the instruction to link your account

    Hope that helps

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