Bloomsbury

Damn shame, but I'd been expecting the worst like most of you for a while.

Odd for BA to be the ones to inform me before MBNA. One month notice is also pretty much unheard of for something like this, pretty stingy.

The timing of this along with all the other cuts recently makes me think BA must have had a huge review of where to trim the fat. I'm not really surprised by this change, especially for non-fee cards in the current climate, but it's another reason not to be as loyal as I have been.

Swanhunter

I suspect the end was the large chunk of miles bought up front by MBNA had depleted and Chavios were unwilling to sell more on profitable terms.

sigizmund

So what are the other options for high-earning cards? I think the best you can get is 1.5 Avios / £ on BA Amex Premium, which given in how "many" places AmEx is accepted doesn't really justify £195 price tag.

Another option is HSBC Premier World ... something and something credit card, which is also £195 but it's only 1 Avios / £ which is just sad. :-(

Are there any other creative options of getting to 2 Avios / £ threshold?

NWIFlyer

If you think back to 2012 and the dismantlement of all the outstanding BD earning opportunities, they were disappearing at extremely short notice, and sometimes none at all. I seem to recall the Hilton agreement was pulled with almost immediate effect.

That simply couldn't happen with MBNA because of the mountain of pre-purchased BD miles they'd acquired at a very favourable price. This is just the final act to purge the BD/DC generosity - it's probably been planned for years, just waiting for the time to act.

irishguy28

30 September 2016

PUCCI GALORE

I'd like to add this. I know that I'm as old as my tongue and a little older than. My teeth but I go back a long way and my memory is as clear as a bell in certain matters. Do you not think that some of the enhancements come from the fact that there is no more British competition within Europe? Do you remember when there was NO catering on the Shuttles and you used to buy your ticket on board. The. Along came cheeky little BD offering Meals with wine (on the tray in those funny shaped bottles ?) and a full bar service with big bottles not miniatures. Those DC9s were barely off the runway and they'd be out and attach the bar trolley to seats as it was so steep? Suddenly along came Super Shuttle with the same on those 757 ( or 1-11 back ups?). We at BCAL always did meals in those 1-11 but we were not Heathrow based.

The battle is over. What BA could not beat, it bought. They chucked us the South American routes as they made huge losses. We made them profitable and then they wanted them back.

Forgive me but oddly enough I mourn BMI as it became. I loved that rather 'old' spirit that it still maintained and how it remained a thorn in BAs side. Now it's gone, and so has a standard that BA was forced to maintain.

Tiger_lily

I've shed a small tear reading this. Thank you.

CoweyB

For reasons that I can no longer remember I closed my MBNA Diamond Club credit card account and then realised I had made a big mistake...!

The BMI Diamond Club was great fun and like so many here I look back on it with affection - what a pity many of us are unable to say the same about the BAEC.

jonolhr

Being based in Manchester, with few direct flight on OW, *A miles are a good option for me. I have also found better reward availability on *A (although I know that's not a universal view!)

I have been using a Miles and More Amex in tandem with the DC Mastercard. The Miles and More Amex also comes with a companion Visa that earn a rate of 0.75 miles per £.

I do like the Lloyd's upgrade voucher concept though, but it's only one per year.

I can feel a spreadsheet coming! Although at some point I wonder if it's going to be better to ditch all the 'miles' credit cards and move to cashback, and pay for flights in cash!

howbigmassive

So is it worth maxing out the card with refundable fares at the end of September, letting the miles hit the account, transfer to BAEC and then cancel the flights for refund?

If I can figure out the potential cash flow problem this could cause, it's potentially 65k miles for free...

Olly-

Because of the interchange fee caps now in place you're not going to get anywhere near 2 Avios per £1 any more on a MasterCard or Visa. Even 1 Avios per £1 is generous!

knifeandfork

Well, we all had to know it was coming. The earning rate for those of us on the £60p.a. card was just too good to last.

It's a heavy, heavy blow, mind. We'll never have it that good again.

Seriously, someone need to gets eyes on Raffles pronto. He's gonna take this hard.

rupert_s

Now's the time to make the down payment on Jan's HMRC contribution.

dsf

Not that I'm going to do it, but just for the sake of argument... what would happen if I were to purchase one or more fully flexible expensive airline tickets before September 30th, transferred any DC miles I may earn for doing so prior to November 30th, and subsequently have circumstances change such that I would like to cancel those tickets...?

jonolhr

I believe BA charge £15.00 to cancel a booking, even of a flexible ticket. Also I am not sure the CC fees would be refunded.