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Don't Apply For The BA Amex Card....
Just a heads-up - I have a friend who works for Amex in the UK and they have told me not to apply for the BA/Amex card because in the new year there will be a new one coming out that offers a much better reward that the one available at the moment.
I assume the OP is referring to a signup bonus, as if a new card has any better ongoing benefit it will be a simple case of existing cardholders upgrading to the new card.
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The current special offer (9k on the free card, 25k on the paid card, with Quidco as well) is pretty close to the most generous they have ever offered. Why go much higher?
Also,in terms of timing, if you want to get through your £10k quickly to get the 241 voucher then now, pre Christmas spending, is a good time to do it - and may even offset the loss of a slightly better bonus later.
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Also,in terms of timing, if you want to get through your £10k quickly to get the 241 voucher then now, pre Christmas spending, is a good time to do it - and may even offset the loss of a slightly better bonus later.
Kindly add me to your xmas pressie list, it will further help your point collection, and you will barely even notice it if you are already spending £10k on pressies!
Programs: BA Gold, BA Lounge Rats, BA Audit Survivors, CW Kitchen Defender, CX Noodle Connoisseurs Club
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Raffles
But this makes no sense.
The current special offer (9k on the free card, 25k on the paid card, with Quidco as well) is pretty close to the most generous they have ever offered. Why go much higher?
Also,in terms of timing, if you want to get through your £10k quickly to get the 241 voucher then now, pre Christmas spending, is a good time to do it - and may even offset the loss of a slightly better bonus later.
If you read the OP carefully, he seems to be talking about a new card, not an increased bonus or any extra benefit on the existing products.
Maybe they have listened to me and decided to offer a BA Amex which you can earn status as well as points on! (*runs for cover)
I expect we will all be able to upgrade to the new card if it does become a reality.
My ideal card would look like this:
It would be matt black in colour obviously
40K Avios signup bonus, 20K for the referrer
100K a year household income (to keep the riffraff out)
£300 a year card fee
2 Avios per £ with double for foreign spend and no FX loading (OK, we can dream)
241 at £10K
Instant Bronze status, then 10 TP per £1000 spend (150K a year would get you to Gold, assuming the instant bronze didn't actually give you the 300TP)
Last edited by PanGalactic; Nov 30, 12 at 2:35 pm..
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PanGalactic
My ideal card would look like this:
It would be matt black in colour obviously
40K Avios signup bonus, 20K for the referrer
100K a year household income (to keep the riffraff out)
£300 a year card fee
2 Avios per £ with double for foreign spend and no FX loading (OK, we can dream)
241 at £10K
Instant Bronze status, then 10 TP per £1000 spend (150K a year would get you to Gold, assuming the instant bronze didn't actually give you the 300TP)
Bravo, pure genius Monsieur PanGalactic. Please apply forthwith for the job of Marketing Director for Loyalty Cards at Amex and implement this idea on your first day in the job.
My first reaction was to violently disagree with earning status on your credit card. But thinking about it a little at the levels Panny suggests it seems like a pretty good idea to me:
- £1000 = 10 points is more of a 'top up' to help those who get close by don't quite succeed with flying.
- you would still need to be spending £5000 a month to get silver, and that's a pretty high spend rate - not the sort of thing you cold blag with tesco vouchers!
- bronze is worth little anyway so fine to give that away.
Programs: BA Gold, BA Lounge Rats, BA Audit Survivors, CW Kitchen Defender, CX Noodle Connoisseurs Club
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ColdWalker
My first reaction was to violently disagree with earning status on your credit card. But thinking about it a little at the levels Panny suggests it seems like a pretty good idea to me:
- £1000 = 10 points is more of a 'top up' to help those who get close by don't quite succeed with flying.
- you would still need to be spending £5000 a month to get silver, and that's a pretty high spend rate - not the sort of thing you cold blag with tesco vouchers!
- bronze is worth little anyway so fine to give that away.
I quite understand why most people who had earned their gold card bum on seat would violently oppose this, so thanks for your empathy!
I'd just like to add that I believe most people who would be capable of earning their status with such a high spend are unlikely to be flying very regularly and would probably pay for (or have enough Avios for) business class tickets for those 2-3 trips they make every year, so there should be no problem with clogging up lounge space as they would get access in any case.
I wasn't just suggesting this to stir up another row (honestly), but trying to be realistic about what the perfect BA credit card for the UK market should look like to make good business sense for Amex, BA and us the consumers. Hence the high spend required to achieve silver/gold.
I was also thinking (and I hope that noone from Amex is reading this right now) that the 10K threshold for the 241 is probably a bit too low in all honesty and wouldn't be at all surprised if this was raised in the future, although I'm sure this wouldn't be a trivial matter either technically or PR wise, especially considering some people would have already begun earning their 241 that year.
I'm therefore revising my opinion and think the PannyBAMEX should offer up to 2 x 241s per year at 15K then another one at 40K and the spend levels to reach the 241 on the current BAPP and free BAMEX should be raised to 20K and 30K respectively. Comparing to the LTSBPDA that gives you a crummy Y only, lose it if you cancel 241 for 15K spend, it would still be competitive!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ColdWalker
seems like a pretty good idea to me:
- £1000 = 10 points is more of a 'top up' to help those who get close by don't quite succeed with flying.
- .
This is exactly what I have been trying to explain for many years:
Change in flying habits to fewer flights, means loss of colour on card = loss of status perks, HOWEVER, the reduction in flights also means the reduction of times that the benefits can be recouped! Ultimately, not 'costing' BA too much.
It is not as if you will be in the GC swilling the New Zealand Cab Sav every week of the year (or you would have earned the points anyway and be a Silver / Gold).
So, the occasional 'freebie' silver perk to a heavy spending BA Amex holder wouldn't go amis...
I must point out that not only have my flights dropped away, my Amex spend has almost died, too
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