growse

Hi, had a quick question for the experts out there.

I'm aware that a companion ticket scheme runs on the Amex Plat in the UK (and the US, I guess) where you essentially get 2-for-1 on air tickets in certain classes on certain airlines. Looking at the list, I don't see BA listed, which is annoying as I fly BA for business and have over 100k miles accumulated now.

A colleague has the BA Amex card and says that you can get BA companion tickets in any class with that card, and he recently used 100k miles to get 2 return business flights to the Caribbean.

So it's fairly clear that BA and Amex have a relationship - what's the chances I'll be able to get a companion ticket on BA business through my Plat card?

centuk

The Companion ticket on the Platinum Card is quite frankly a marketing gimmick at best.

It is only valid on full fare tickets. With the BA Premium Class sale on at the moment, you will probably be able to bag two business class tickets for less than the price of buying one ticket which would get you the free companion ticket.

growse

Is it worth switching to the BA Amex to get the companion benefits then?

centuk

Well, would depend on your choice and way of spending. Personally, I have the BA Prem Plus card also, but prefer to divert my spend through to my Cent card. I get Membership Rewards points with that - which I can then use in a wide variety of ways (including transferring to BA).

However, if you are determined to only use your reward points for BA, then may well be a good idea to get a BA card/Prem Plus card and spend on that only....

One note of caution, if you get it, I would only divert spending to the BA card, and not switch products all together. The platinum card's benefits far outweigh their fee IMHO.

growse

Hmmm, this is true. Platinum benefits are useful. My main issue would be that to get the Prem, it's another £150pm fee. The other option would be to get the basic BA card, but then I believe you need a £20k pa spend to qualify for the companion ticket (Prem it's only £10k). I'd easily hit 10k, but probably don't spend enough to meet 20k.

Hmmm.

Roger

I think the OP is confusing buying a companion ticket - paying $$$ for one ticket at a high price with the 2nd ticket 'free' - with the BA Amex's award ticket - book one ticket with BA Miles and get a second ticket 'free'. (In both cases, a bundle of taxes, charges, surcharges and sursurcharges are added.)

AFAIK AmEx don't offer BA companion tickets, and if they did, any AmEx charge card would suffice for payment.

The BA AmEx card is one way of earning BA Miles which can be redeemed as mentioned. All earned BA Miles can be used, whether from the card, flights, hotels, car rentals etc. The main factor is that GBP10,000 or GBP20,000 (depending on which card) must be charged to the card in a qualifying year to receive the e-voucher for the 2-4-1.

Jonobigblind

I recently switched from the basic BA Amex to the Premium Plus BA card despite the £150 fee. This was because of the 1.5 miles per pound spent, the £10k less needed to be spent (£10k opposed to £20k) and the fact that the 2-4-1 voucher is valid for two years instead of one (with the basic card).

Worth checking with Amex but some Plat holders have had a reduction in the fee for the Premium Plus card (down to £30 IIRC). That could be the incentive you need to apply.

Also, the travel insurance cover is slightly different to the policy provided by your existing Plat card - could be handy if you want some flexibility in covering your travel plans.

Roger is correct in that the 'companion ticket' is valid for miles redemptions only and there are taxes & surcharges tagged on. Still, I'm not grumbling, I'm going to get minimum J class (maybe F) flights to SYD for my honeymoon using the voucher and paying an acceptable amount for the privilege.

Worth it if you're loyal to BA, otherwise not too sure how else you would benefit.

Raffles

The Amex Plat companion tickets are not entirely useless. They are OK if your business travel policy lets you book fully-flexible tickets, because you can then take your spouse / partner for nothing. The snag, of course, is that you need to persuade your boss to let you book direct with Amex and not via your corporate TA.

The airlines and routes available are also restrictive. You obviously won't get BA with the UK Plat because airlines only offer this as a marketing effort to win business from BA in the first place.

growse

Thanks for the comments all - interesting about the potential discount on the BA Prem. I could easily spend £10k pa and getting 2-4-1 on BA-miles booked flights would be worth it.

I'm loyal to BA, but only because my company is and that's where I do the bulk of travel.

growse

Gave amex a call. They said they wouldn't do any sort of discount and I'd have to shell out £150 pa for the BA card.

Ah well.

Jonobigblind

Still thinking about it or is it a write off?