Will British Airways ever tell people that the Nectar conversion rate is devaluing?

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• Nick says:

  8 Mar8 March 07:36

  I didn’t realise (my bad!) that the 10 day delay in converting Avios to Nectar points had been reintroduced. Of course they’re taken out of my BAEC account instantly though. Anyway, no big deal, as I’m in no particular rush, but just wanted to convert some now, at the better rate, for a future Sainsbury’s spend. Just a bit frustrating though, and, although I appreciate, allegedly, it’s to avoid scams, it’s, in my mind, just another BA negative.

  • Lady London says:

    8 Mar8 March 14:10

    Yeah it’s the equivalent of a bank only crediting a pay-in 3 days later and meanwhile investing your money on the international money markets for their own account. Which banks used to do I think.

    10/365 days reduces that liability value somewhere deep in the bowels of BA’s accounting I suppose, by a tiny percentage but on a gazillions-type liability

• Kathy M says:

  8 Mar8 March 07:40

  I have always been very happy with Nationwide and and hope this new link does not spoil it. If you have their Flexplus paid account, there are no overseas fees on their cards. Until now, their travel insurance has been excellent, especially for the elderly ( but they have just changed the provider so I will have to see if it still is at renewal). For anyone with a car, their breakdown cover pays for the account fee. No gimmicks or points, but straightforward and has been very fair.

  • BJ says:

    8 Mar8 March 08:13

    Not much different from the VM paid account, the latter might now be a bit better..

  • Chris L says:

    8 Mar8 March 08:59

    We’ve also been very with our Nationwide Flexplus account and travel insurance up till now. Unfortunately, the new insurance provider does not cover the value of miles/points used to pay for a flight so we are searching for a new provider. Virgin Money and Lloyds seem to offer this.

    • JDB says:

      8 Mar8 March 11:41

      @ChrisL – it’s worth looking at the detail of this change re points/Avios. While it’s a bit of a disappointing it only applies to the cancellation and cutting short sections. For the latter, with Avios you can cancel up to 24hrs so the insured ‘window’ is very short. The new policy will also pay out if you had purchased the Avios. For cutting short, NW will still pay to get you home, they just won’t refund the Avios, again unless they were bought.

      I fear this is a change we will see replicated and there aren’t many insurers behind these policies so Aviva that is now taking over NW policies has given the same wording as it has on HSBC Premier.

  • Ironside says:

    8 Mar8 March 11:51

    I’ve been broadly happy with Nationwide. The banking has been solid; the mobile phone insurance has been straightforward. The travel insurance has been shown to lack coverage but that’s what a Platinum AMEX is for.

    The Internet Banking, however, is dire. The back-end is woefully out-of-date and it shows on the front-end too. I know from insiders that Nationwide is aware but it’s one of those mammoth projects that comes with a lot of potential downside (see TSB). If ever I close that Nationwide account, Internet Banking will be why.

    • RussellH says:

      8 Mar8 March 14:17

      What is wrong with their online banking? Seems much the same as all the others. The only gripe I have is that you want to pay the same payee from more than one account, you have to set up that payee for each a/c that you have.
      Though their constant warnings that you may be about to pay a scammer whenever you set up a new payee also gets very wearing.
      They all do it (have to?) now, but N’Wide seem worse than the others

      • cin4 says:

        9 Mar9 March 18:51

        They already explained. Most obvious in the atrocious front end UX.

  • PhatGit says:

    8 Mar8 March 14:30

    @kathy m. The change in insurance provider is not good. Had an add on as I have minor osteoarthritis in 4 fingers. Cost me nothing from the old provider but have already been given a three figure renewal price as it runs out 2 days after the switch. Cheaper to get a separate policy

• Gaz says:

  8 Mar8 March 07:58

  I want to change up 150k avios points to nectar points. I am worried if I put through a transfer today on 8th March then it means the time it will take to convert means I’ll be taken pass the 11th march and will receive the new unfavourable rate of 400 avios points for 400 nectar points. Please can someone clarify?

  • BJ says:

    8 Mar8 March 08:10

    When you transfer all the details will be set out, just screenshot it for peace of mind but I doubt you’ll have any problem.

    • Gaz says:

      8 Mar8 March 09:54

      Thank you

  • Owen Rudge says:

    8 Mar8 March 08:12

    You can only convert 50,000 Avios a month I believe. However, the rate is confirmed when you fill in the form, so you should still get the old rate today.

    • BJ says:

      8 Mar8 March 08:18

      Yes, forgot that. Still time for an autoconversion too, does it go out on Mondays same as Nectar-avios?

    • Gaz says:

      8 Mar8 March 09:54

      Thank you

  • Backpacker says:

    8 Mar8 March 12:35

    I just converted some – the screen tells you the conversion rate, and you get the confirmation email specifying the rate also. No risk here

• Nick says:

  8 Mar8 March 08:10

  IMHO, you should be OK. When you convert, the online system shows you how many Avios you want to convert from, and the Nectar points you’ll receive. I’d just take a screenshot of that page to be safe. Hope that helps.

  • Nick says:

    8 Mar8 March 08:11

    Snap! 🙂

    • BJ says:

      8 Mar8 March 08:20

      I’m rarely first when this happens 🙂

  • Gaz says:

    8 Mar8 March 09:56

    Thank you

• Andrew J says:

  8 Mar8 March 08:32

  People to do collect Avios from flying, believe it or not, not all from credit card spend.

• BJ says:

  8 Mar8 March 08:40

  Most who do it propably have real or perceived difficulties with reward availability, reward cost, insufficient avios, or time constraints so just want to cash out. I cashed out a big chunk at 0.8p when my avios balance went over 1.3M and invested in Star Wars lego..

• Mark says:

  8 Mar8 March 08:44

  What do “Which” say about the Virgin buyout:-

  https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/nationwide-takeover-virgin-money-what-it-means-for-customers-aK9iq0B0C0LT

• Danny says:

  8 Mar8 March 09:01

  70% bonus on Virgin Points is a good deal for long haul travel on SkyTeam partners.

  • Jonathan says:

    8 Mar8 March 09:25

    It’s particularly lucrative with Singapore Airlines, although finding availability is the fun part !

    Saying that, they’re an airline that’s great in Economy

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