Money blog: British Airways launching 'Amazon-style' app (2024)

Yesterday we talked about the dopamine hit you get when shopping - and spoke to a psychologist about how you might learn to control it.

But what if it's gone too far? That's what we're discussing in the second of this four-part series this week.

Apiece by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, published by Cambridge University Press in 2012, said shopping addiction, often referred to as compulsive buying disorder (CBD), "was first described by the German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin almost a century ago".

He called the disorder "oniomania" (from the Greekonios, meaning "for sale", andmania, meaning "insanity").

A hundred years on, the World Health Organisation doesn't classify shopping addiction as a mental illness, unlike gambling, video game addiction, pyromania and kleptomania - but psychologists are taking note of the subject.

According to a 2021 paper in theJournal of Behavioral Addictions, potentialsymptomsofa compulsive shopping disorder include:

• Preoccupation with shopping (an irresistible urge to buy a product);
• Reduced control over buying behaviours;
• Buying products but not using them for the purposes they were intended to serve;
• Using shopping to regulate mood;
• Negative consequences afterwards such as guilt, shame, debt, relationship problems;
• Negative mood and cognitive symptoms if attempting to stop.

Donald W Black, a prominent American psychiatrist, has written extensively on the subject. He says the "disorder has a lifetime prevalence of 5.8% in the US general population".

There has been much debate about whether CBD is a valid mental illness - amid concerns of over medicalising. However, a growing number of rehab clinics are offering treatment.

The Priory's website says: "If you are addicted to spending money, and are finding that it is affecting your finances, relationships, health and quality of life, this is just as serious as any other addiction."

The Abbey Care Foundation says signs you may have a shopping addition include juggling multiple credit cards, hiding extravagant spending from your family, hoarding things you don't use and getting angry at anyone who tries to get in the way of your spending.

The foundation even breaks down different types of shopping addict:

• Bargain-seekers:These people have a shopping habit of actively seeking items on sale. When they spot items for less than their perceived value, they purchase them. This behaviour makes them feel like they are winning and relieves shopping addiction.
• Collectors:This shopping addiction entails seeking out different versions of a particular item. The desire to collect or complete a set of similar items drives this addiction.
• Show-offs:The compulsive behaviour is driven by the desire to buy high-value items. In some cases, the individual's self-worth or self-esteem is attached to making such purchases.
• Trophy-hunters: The shopping addiction is for rare, expensive items. The individual intentionally looks for the most expensive or rarest items and gains satisfaction in buying them.
• Shopping bulimics:This shopping addiction is like the eating disorder known as bulimia nervosa. Individuals categorised as shopping bulimics make large, frequent purchases only to request later refunds. They do so to cushion themselves from the financial consequences of making such large purchases.

Join us tomorrow as we speak to a woman for who this used to be all too real - leading her into £40,000 of debt.

Passengers will soon be able to book British Airways flights in a few clicks as part of a major revamp by the airline.

The company told The Telegraph it wanted to style its website on the "three clicks and you can check out" approach of Amazon.

British Airways said it was spending £7bn on a revamp, which would see the company's app and website relaunched.

Other changes will include new planes, revamped seats and refurbished airport lounges.

Customers will also be able to rebook, claim a refund and cancel flights online.

The new website is currently being trialled by people flying from London Gatwick to Montpellier in France, Antalya in Turkey and Bari, Cagliari and Catania in Italy.

Basically, student finance is a government-financed loan that covers university students' tuition fees and living costs for the duration of their study.

There are two main types of loan, tuition and maintenance - we'll take each in turn.

Tuition fees

Undergraduate courses in England generally cost students about £9,250 a year.

That's a lot for a young person (or their family) to cover, so the government offers to pay that outright, direct to the university, on their behalf.

This is known as your tuition loan - we'll come to how this is repaid later.

Maintenance loans

These help students cover day-to-day costs, such as rent and food, while studying.

For the 2024-25 academic year, students can borrow anywhere between £4,327 and £13,348 for each year of study - depending on where you live, where you're going to study and your family's financial situation.

See how much you could be entitled to by clicking here.

The various plans

Here's where it gets more complicated. What plan you may be on is listed below...

Why no Plan 3? The repayment plan for postgraduate loans in England and Wales is actuallyPlan 3.

In the UK, you pay nothing up front, and the amount you pay back each month is determined by how much you earn.

You'll repay a percentage of your income over the threshold for your type of loan, depending on how often you get paid - see the table below for the thresholds.

With those thresholds in mind, you'll repay either:

• 9% of your income over the threshold if you're on Plan 1, 2, 4 or 5
• 6% of your income over the threshold if you're on a postgraduate loan (Plan 3)

If you're on multiple plans, the rules are slightly different.

If you don't have a postgraduate loan, you'll repay 9% of your income over the lowest threshold out of the plan types you have.

In this scenario, you'll only have a single repayment taken each time you get paid, even if you're on more than one plan type.

But if you do have a postgraduate loan, you'll repay 6% of your income over the postgraduate loan thresholdand 9% of your income over the lowest threshold for any other plan types you have.

You don't need to worry about paying it off each month yourself if you're employed - the money will be deducted from your earnings before it hits your account, like income tax.

Interest rates

Like any loan, you'll be paying back what you owe plus a little bit on the top - known as interest.

With student loans, that extra on the top isn't so little right now, as it is linked to retail price rises.

• 6.25% if you're on Plan 1
• 7.8% if you're on Plan 2
• 6.25% if you're on Plan 4
• 7.8% if you're on Plan 5
• 7.8% if you're on a postgraduate loan plan (Plan 3)

Read other entries in our Basically... series...

Royal Mail's incoming owner has refused to rule out stamp price hikes under his leadership.

In fact, Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky seemed to suggest there might be more increases to come.

"I can't make unconditional commitments," he told The Times when questioned on the topic.

"[If] your circulation is 50% of what it was … you either need to go home, or you need to increase the unit price and hope that people will pay for it. Because if not, you are making losses.

"You can be loss-making for a year or two, but you can't be in a loss for 20 years. It's simple maths. There's no mystery to it."

First class stamp prices have more than doubled since 2018 from 67p to £1.35.

The businessman, nicknamed the Czech Sphinx, had his £3.6bn offer accepted by the postal service's parent company, International Distribution Services, last week.

It said the agreement included a series of "contractual commitments" to protect public service aspects of the Royal Mail - such as its universal service obligation to "one-price-goes-anywhere" first-class post six days a week.

Many were shocked by the deal, with Royal Mail reporting losses of £1m a day in recent years.

You can read more about the Czech Sphinx below...

A major error that meant 500,000 families did not receive their scheduled child benefit today has been "fixed", HMRC has said.

In a post on X, HMRC said affected families would get the money on Wednesday morning, two days after the payments were due...

Multiple readers have got in touch to say they had been affected by the problem, which meant almost a third of payments scheduled for today were not made.

ReaderSusan1984 said: "When should we expect to receive the missing payment? This has left not just me but so many more families with kids completely stuck for food and fuel this morning."

Earlier, HMRC apologised and said it was working urgently to resolve the issue, which would not affected payments scheduled for tomorrow (see post at 14.41).

Child benefit is usually paid every four weeks on a Monday or a Tuesday at a rate of £25.60 for an eldest or only child and £16.95 for each additional child.

The bank has today announced wholesale rate hikes across its residential and buy-to-let mortgage product ranges.

The new rates, which come into effect tomorrow, will be applied largely across its two, three and five-year fixed rates for purchase and remortgage.

However, a number of rates available to existing HSBC customers looking to switch will also see increases.

Brokers say more lenders could increase rates this week.

This is thanks to an uptick in swap rates due to hopes fading for a cut to the base rate set by the Bank of England in June.

Here is what some industry insiders told Newspage...

The dreaded 'higher for longer' scenario is no longer a mere notion: it's the harsh reality for many. It looks like these elevated rates are here to stay for the foreseeable future.

Ranald Mitchell, director at Charwin Private Clients

We can now expect more awkward conversations with clients who have read that rates are coming down and inflation is under control. HSBC have been fairly competitive recently so the hope is that they just need to turn the tap off a little to catch up and this isn't an upward trend that will continue into the summer period.

David Stirling, independent financial advisor at Mint Mortgages and Protection

HSBC is one of several lenders to already have announced changes this week. Even with the higher rates on offer, I would not suggest waiting in the hope of a drop any time soon. My advice to borrowers is take control of the situation and start the process of arranging a new deal as early as possible, secure a rate and, if a better one materialises, change to it.

Simon Bridgland, broker/director at Release Freedom

Child benefit payments have not arrived on time for approximately half a million people.

Almost a third of payments scheduled for today were not made - and we've had multiple readers get in touch to say they've been impacted.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has apologised and said it is working urgently to resolve the issue.

"We're sorry that some customers' child benefit payments have not arrived as scheduled and we are working urgently to resolve the issue," said an HMRC spokesperson.

"The issues that caused payment problems today will not impact payments scheduled for tomorrow."

Child benefit is usually paid every four weeks on a Monday or a Tuesday at a rate of £25.60 for an eldest or only child and £16.95 per additional child.

Some people may receive the benefit weekly, for example if they are a single parent or receiving certain other benefits, such as universal credit.

HMRC added on X that there was "no need for customers to call us" and it will provide updates on the social media platform.

As of August 2023, 6.91 million families were in receipt of child benefit payments.

Reader Sam E said: "No warning, complete denial, no update, just endless worry for those who rely on the benefit. The denial in particular is an insult. How long will it be until it's sorted?"

Last week, the Scottish Parliament passed a bill meaning local authorities can set an additional charge for overnight accommodation.

For tourists heading to Scotland, that means an extra fee for staying hotels, bed and breakfasts and holiday lets.

According to Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, the fee will be a percentage of the cost of a hotel or other room.

For instance, a 1% levy on a £200 booking means a visitor would pay £2 in tourist tax.

We asked our followers in LinkedIn if the tourist tax would put them off visiting the country.

The majority of them (59%) said it wouldn't stop them from taking a trip there - but 41% would think twice.

Any charges or levies are not expected to come into effect until spring 2026, as councils need to consult local businesses before carrying out an 18-month implementation period.

Those receiving disability benefits will not pay any charges, with children and young people also exempt.

Manchester, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole already charge people to stay the night.

Manchester's £1-a-night City Visitor Charge was introduced last April, and is estimated to have raised around £2.8m in its first year.

European hotspots like Barcelona and Venice also have tourist taxes, with the Spanish city charging visitors €3.25 if they're staying in official accommodation.

Your comments on LinkedIn:

"We love Scotland (I'm a Scot) but live close enough to drive up and do some shopping and stay over for a meal etc and we do so perhaps every six weeks or so. So I'm now classed as a 'tourist' even though I spend about £200 on a room - perhaps another £200 quid on a meal and drinks etc etc - not to mention the money we spend in the shops. And they want to charge us both £2.50 a night?"

Paul Mclean

Many countries apply tourist taxes, so why should Scotland be any different?The big questions, for me, are how will the money be spent? Will it be spent directly benefiting the city or just vanish into government coffers? The other is who counts as a tourist. A foreign national visiting from a country outside of the UK would seem a sensible definition, but to charge domestic visitors would probably be shootings themselves in the foot somewhat.

Scott Taylor-Barr

From my experience, Edinburgh is already one of the most expensive cities to visit.

Greig Cahill

Hopefully the contributions are put towards the development of tourism, and/or will be used in the right ways. From my experience working in France, French nationals are very accepting of the tourist tax and in France, I see the logic in it. Let's hope it works... 🤞🏻

Jennifer Wightman

Virgin Atlantic has launched the first flight of its new service from Manchester to Las Vegas today.

It makes Manchester Airport the only place outside of London to offer direct flights to America's west coast.

Virgin Atlantic already has a daily connection to Sin City from London Heathrow, but launched the new route to support strong customer demand in the North West.

It marks the airline's fourth service from Manchester to the US, building on established services of Orlando, New York and Atlanta.

"Few places sum up the glitz and glamour of international travel like Las Vegas. Giving passengers in the North the opportunity to fly there directly and experience everything it has to offer is a real game-changer," Chris Woodroofe, managing director at Manchester Airport said.

The launch has been marked with showgirls joining the flight's cabin crew and welcoming flyers at the check-in desk.

Flight VS85 on an A350-1000 departed Manchester Airport at 9.50am.

Rolex has increased the price of some of its watches in the UK after the cost of gold surged.

The leading luxury watch manufacturer has hiked some prices by as much as 4%.

One of its most famous pieces, the Daytona chronograph, will now cost you £38,700 - up from £37,200.

The price of a yellow golf GMT Master II has also increased from £34,000 to £35,400.

That's according to information on its UK website, which is tracked by Bloomberg.

Typically, Rolex raises prices for its watches annually in January.

It increased prices in the UK by about 4% for some models at that time but left US prices unchanged.

It comes after the price of gold reached record highs earlier this year, coming in at £1,932.44 per ounce in April.

Increased prices isn't the only thing that makes buying a Rolex difficult, though.

Despite high prices, waiting lists for them have been rising, according to Watches of Switzerland.

Some waiting lists can be years long, which is part of the reason they are so exclusive.

So even if you have a spare £35,000, you might still find it difficult to actually get your hands on one.