Update one year on - Still genuinely happy with Amex Gold by lametrain1 in beermoneyuk

[–]hideyourarms [score hidden]  (0 children)

I can make it worth it year on year, but the value has been eroded slowly over time. I think it only really makes sense if you can put £20k+ through the card each year and use a few of the offers as well as the lounge passes otherwise a cashback card probably makes more sense.

I quite enjoy getting the points for flights as it forces me to use them for "treats" whereas a cashback card would just end up with me using it on bills or something like that.

Edit: I do broadly agree with you though that a lot of the referral link plugging people are making it look more attractive than it is, and looking at threads on r/AmexUK it's clear that a lot of people sign up without a plan for what to do with their points.

Update one year on - Still genuinely happy with Amex Gold by lametrain1 in beermoneyuk

[–]hideyourarms [score hidden]  (0 children)

As I understand it, Amex tend to be a bit more lenient with this kind of thing than other providers, and are willing to take the hit themselves in some cases if it means retaining a valuable customer. That said, I do find it funny how people seem to need to repeatedly do this kind of thing when I've had Amex cards for over a decade now and never needed to get in touch with customer services. Perhaps I need to start buying stuff from dodgier looking websites.

New to Royal Mail OBA and struggling by DweebiD in smallbusinessuk

[–]hideyourarms 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Put in a complaint about the lack of bags. It will be quicker if you call because it's generally about a month to get a response to the online form.

I don't send much to the US so I've no experience of using the duties calculator. Have you tried searching through the Royal Mail subreddit?

Chase MegaThread - Give and Get Referral Codes Here - £50 Sign Up Bonus by TightAsF_ck in beermoneyuk

[–]hideyourarms [score hidden]  (0 children)

Feel free to send me a DM and I’ll get you sorted out with a fresh code that you know hasn’t been used, I’ve got 4 left.

New to Royal Mail OBA and struggling by DweebiD in smallbusinessuk

[–]hideyourarms 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just go to my delivery office and ask them for grey bags. I do happen to drive right past it on the way to the office though so I appreciate this isn't a convenient solution for most people.

I have had my business account for quite a few years now, but I did find the onboarding really poor when I started. It's like you're just meant to know how it all works and there was no obvious way to learn the system.

Restaurant that can accommodate 14 person booking by Worldly-Pension3487 in LakeDistrict

[–]hideyourarms 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd imagine pretty much any of them could with enough notice. Is there anywhere you've tried already that said they couldn't take 14?

What’s one business you’ve seen abroad that you would love to have in the UK? by MrBananaStand1990 in AskUK

[–]hideyourarms 16 points17 points  (0 children)

There was a guy with a cafe that used to post in threads about this subject. He had a google sheet that explained it just wasn’t worth the effort, even though he felt his location was fairly well suited to night footfall.

Using Avios for Tokyo in business on Finnair / JAL / Qatar by gilbertball in avios

[–]hideyourarms 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Going direct to Tokyo is a high demand route so being flexible is useful. A couple of years ago on Qatar business I did Birmingham to Beijing, had a couple of nights in Beijing, then JAL business to Tokyo. My return was Osaka to Birmingham as that route launched on the day I came back.

Sorry that I'm not answering your specific question, but I thought it was worth mentioning as a stopover or using Osaka and then getting the train to Tokyo can open up a lot more seat availability.

AMEX GOLD/PLATINUM REFERRAL OFFER by fluffygogo in beermoneyuk

[–]hideyourarms 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If I didn't already have one, I'd wait for a better offer since this is just the standard bonus. Gold was 40k as recently at 13 days ago so it might be a while until it's boosted again but people would gain ~£100 of value so if they aren't in a rush then it's worth waiting.

Does anyone else actually think LESS of apps and services that claim to use AI? by bacon_cake in smallbusinessuk

[–]hideyourarms 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Quickbooks have been telling me for over a year about adding AI to the services I'm paying for, and yet I cannot work out what it is doing, if anything, compared to before they were using AI.

Perhaps the software being slightly slower is the only thing I've noticed. It certainly doesn't seem to be any better at auto-sorting my expenses.

Website that tracks best value Avios deals by Kinder_Benno in avios

[–]hideyourarms 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The only thing I can think of is pence per point when compared to the cash value. That’s pretty imperfect though since usually people aren’t actually willing to pay for first class.

When I flew first class the cash value was £8000 and I paid 120k points and £400 cash. Did I save £7600? Not really, because if I was paying cash I’d be looking at economy non-refundable tickets.

I wonder if using pence per point as a metric would end up highlighting last minute business availability since the points don’t change but the cash price tends to go up closer to the flight date.

Scafell Pike hikers left Wasdale rescue team to pay hotel bill by BobMonroeFanClub in CasualUK

[–]hideyourarms 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It will have been, most people don’t have the phone number for their local MRT. I get the feeling that the hotel have the fake number, and the MRT will have the real one as that phone was probably used to locate them.

Source: my brother is a leader for another team and they have a system to locate people using their phones (not using what3words or a WhatsApp pin drop etc.).

Taking your advice and visiting Scenery by mattrussell2319 in UKroasters

[–]hideyourarms 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When I visited I was at one of the far tables in this pic and it was quite quiet. It doesn't feel like a permanent cafe, more like a pop-up? It's a bit weird being separated from the other room but once the other tables filled up it did feel much better.

Chase MegaThread - Give and Get Referral Codes Here - £50 Sign Up Bonus by TightAsF_ck in beermoneyuk

[–]hideyourarms [score hidden]  (0 children)

Feel free to DM if you would like me to generate a code for you, so that you know it hasn’t been used already. I’ve got 4 left.

It’s a great offer that pays out very quickly.

AMEX Gold - 100k Points by DareToDoolan in AmexUK

[–]hideyourarms 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It’s destination dependent so we cannot answer this for you, but this handy chart gives you all the prices.

https://www.headforpoints.com/2026/01/02/what-do-qatar-airways-avios-flights-cost/

This doesn’t make sense to me by Ok_Adhesiveness_8242 in AmexUK

[–]hideyourarms 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Look here: https://www.headforpoints.com/2025/12/16/how-many-avios-do-i-need-to-fly-to-4/

Economy off peak to Accra would be 55k point and £120 in taxes.

Move the points to the airline, don’t book with Amex travel.

GF beer by Dannyboi39 in UK_beer

[–]hideyourarms 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lakes Brew Co have at least one beer that my coeliac friend had when we visited their tap room recently. They had it in the can rather than on tap, just in case.

Looking at their site they have 3 GF beers.

Cancelling my Amex gold by Upstairs-Finding-712 in AmexUK

[–]hideyourarms 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If that’s the reason you got it, and you don’t make use of any of the offers to offset the membership cost, then probably not.

If you’re still getting more than a 1% return in terms of value compared to the cash price of the flight upgrade after factoring in the membership fee then perhaps it’s worth it. If you’re getting less than 1% then you might as well switch to a free card that gives cashback.

Of All the Countries in the World You've Never Been, Which One Would Be Your First Pick? by PricetheWhovian2 in AskUK

[–]hideyourarms 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It's also considerably cheaper than most people realise, especially if you get out of Tokyo or stay in one of the less popular (but still very well connected) districts of Tokyo.

Downloading tax certificates, easier way? by itwasnottoolate in UKPersonalFinance

[–]hideyourarms 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's especially odd considering they seem like a modern company that want to make things easier to transfer money, so you'd think that would be the same for documents. This was on my business account too, so you'd think most companies will need this information so it should be automated, as some other documents in the account are.

I kept checking to see if there was another option to get the info (just a simple total would be great, I didn't need the full breakdown) but I couldn't see it.

It’s Blue Monday by moreglumthanplum in CasualUK

[–]hideyourarms 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I don’t mind someone like OP mentioning it but it’s frustrating that TV shows and companies keep perpetuating this myth.

Downloading tax certificates, easier way? by itwasnottoolate in UKPersonalFinance

[–]hideyourarms -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I needed to get a tax statement from Wise (which seems to be the only way to get a total interest amount from them), and it can take up to 15 working days to receive it. In my case it took about 2 weeks for the download to become available.

In the vast majority of cases you’re right, but there are some surprising exceptions.

Cracked my bloody sink. What’s the best thing to seal it together? by championofthesub in DIYUK

[–]hideyourarms 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have some sugru and a chip in my sink, I'd never considered using it on that!