Calchas

This is incorrect. Resident European Union citizens are required to register on the electoral roll; but (unless they are also Commonwealth citizens) they are only entitled to vote at local and EU elections.

I can only comment on my experience. For the first card I obtained about two years or so back at my current address, when I'd only just arrived, I was (probably) not yet on the electoral roll when I applied for the card---I cannot say with certainty.

Further, I had been a little nomadic before then with addresses so I decided to give them the address where my principal bank account was still registered as my "previous address". But it had been a while since I actually resided there so I doubt I was still registered as an elector there either. (It was also a UK address.)

For the first two applications I made at this address (more or less at the same time) Tesco Bank and AmEx both wanted me to send them a certified copy of my passport and a recent utility bill. They were happy enough with that.

Whether that is normal or not I couldn't say.

Wayfahrer

Every legal resident can take part in local elections. General election only citizens, though. Dunno nothing about Commonwealth stuff.

We are talking about UK residency. At least temporary. Note sure what lying you refer to. No one was talking about that stuff. Not me at least.

But thanks for the info.

Edit: I just realized @Calchas' post.
Thanks for the update!

Wayfahrer

Seeing Membership Rewards (UK) Hotel awards is interesting, however:
2 MR to 1 Starwood
1 MR to 2 HHonors
1 MR to 3 Carlson
I didn't delve into hotel points valuations, though.

Okay. If there isn't a dedicated public UK FF forum (strangely, the only major country without but whatever) and I am bored of time and time again explaining in new topic openings how this topic is for a European perspective and not American... And we already have a UK/European community in this very topic so I guess it is appropriate to ask here about value of redeemable hotel points vs. flight points.

As you Raffles have 10 M MR points I guess that's a good starting point (I didn't delve much more yet into that, either). Is it worth redeeming them more to hotels or flights? Which? When?

Sorry for being boring by quoting myself for the second time but where else I am supposed to ask this? Seriously, feel free to direct me to the appropriate topic with this.

Generally speaking, you better spend your miles (Membership Rewards points, transfer hotel program points, etc.) on actual flights which are in general would be more expensive to pay cash on (in general First and Business, but can be Economy to more out-of-reach destinations as well). OK, if you do not like that much flying around back and forth, any good value to spend miles on hotel stays? I guess that might be (from the flight analogy) the super-expensive hotels (either luxury or a more expensive destination like Moscow) and I don't know how they compare in value to flight awards.

Thanks for your insights.

Raffles

Carlson is the best hotel transfer option, over 1p per point from UK MR.

The airline transfers are all 1:1, occasionally with transfer bonuses to BA and Virgin, so you really need to delve into the nuances of each airline scheme.

Calchas

It's substantially more complicated than that: https://www.gov.uk/what-elections-you-can-vote-in

If you don't like flying, hotel rewards will be of more value to you.

You might prefer to go for a cashback credit card, then you can just spend the money on what you like.

YQ surcharges make ex-EU economy redemptions bad value in my opinion. There are a few exceptions such as AB, but they don't really fly to "out-of-reach" places.

Wayfahrer

Exactly, that's what I am saying. If I calculated correctly Raffles could spend his 10 M MR points on 600 days stay at ~$500 a night at Radisson Royal Moscow. Not bad, expect for the cold.

This can never be as good as either flight or in my case, hotel rewards, right?

No one in their right mind would guess YQ stands for fuel surcharge, thanks god I learned to use the FT dictionary first. ^
Nevertheless, this sentence and its meaning is still too dense for me to comprehend.

Anyways, I wanted to ask if there such a thing exist in the UK as single use credit card numbers (for safer online shopping)?

Markie

Never seen them myself.

Wayfahrer

Thanks.

It would be nice to know if UK or US TopCashBack site is more generous?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/s-p-m...l#post22204879

Since no answer in the specific thread. And this is the UK thread.

Wayfahrer

Bump.

Raffles

It is a pointless question, which is why no one replied. Each merchant sets their own rates. Some merchants only appear one one site not the other. More importantly, it is 100 per cent dependant on what merchants you would use.

Note that TCB uses IP addresses to monitor addresses though. If you access the site from outside the UK or US your ability to do Paypal is withdrawn.

Wayfahrer

Thanks Raffles for the clarification, now I totally see the point.

Say, I am neither in the UK or the US (having the appropriate IP address is not an issue; just a click away) and I am mostly interested in the travel providers which are represented on both sites.

In this regard which can be said to be more generous? UK or US site?

Raffles

I don't understand why you're bothered. If there is an arbitrage, open an account with each, if not, look at the 3-4 companies which presumably cover 90 per cent of your spend and check those specifically!

Wayfahrer

Understand your points. Thanks.

Wayfahrer

Re: www.headforpoints.com VS. Chris Guillebeau of www.frequentflyermaster.com and http://www.creativelive.com/courses/...ris-guillebeau

@Raffles

- I just read some - hopefully - key pages of your wonderful Head for Points blog
- The bottom line: I am still clueless on how to get the 10 M Membership Rewards points you accumulated (in how much time?). Which, actually would be a key point to me
- Manufactured Spending is basically of no use, fair enough

On the other hand I had the chance to read Chris Guillebeau's (NYT bestselling author of The $100 Startup) Frequent Flyer Master 'product'. Yes, it is more like a product than a daily blog (or even multiple daily blog) and I share some insights here how your two resources compare.

(I just read that things people share in public are of better quality than what they share in private, so I do it here)

- Chris' product is especially geared for Americans but it is a great resource for some newbie concepts, step by step guide
- Your blog is more geared to some semi pros at least? From the language or if I try to pick up some insights. It seems to be to me, or correct me if I am wrong.
- On your blog one must read so much more text to have some (even so advanced to her/his level) insight, see multiple daily blog posts, vs. Chris has maybe one overview post per week in a fairly newbie friendly language.
- Yes, you have a 'start here' and 'best posts' section of your site, but perhaps it would be a great addition if you would not only arrange them in chronological order but into a logical order on how a newbie should proceed. Still much more letters for a newbie to have to read on your blog compared to Chris' material, the 'start here' is all about Avios, still no clue at all about the 10 M MR points.
- Do you have any feedback on how many newbies your blog turned into Frequent Flyer Masters? )

- Still clueless why the UK is maybe the only country without a dedicated Frequent Flyer community/forum. Yes, topics here and there on the American dominated FlyerTalk, such as this one, very convenient to locate them. Any clue? Yes, you mentioned there is one invitation only forum, but maybe it is too advanced anyway, what I am looking for is simple beginner information.

- At this point if you don't mind I PM you with something

Many thanks

Keep up the good work

Wayfahrer

Re: Update from 30 minutes later:

I was thinking about it and here are some additions:

@Raffles

I guess it would be very helpful for your readers (at least to me) if you blog about your personal FF strategy, just like Chris does:

- Here is this new offer, I will use it/I skip it/I just sign up for the sign up bonus then don't use the card
- Here are the FF programs I most often use (because if I live in this area and this is my home airport, if you live elsewhere rather use that, etc.)
- Here is my card portfolio I most often use
- Here is how much FF points I earn in a year and here is exactly how I do it
etc.

This would be very helpful for a newbie, she/he sees, hah if the expert does this, then probably it is a good strategy for me as well, I am not completely left alone to figure everything out.