GavT_london

All,

I received a letter from Amex regarding my annual fee for the BAPP card. An offer has been in place for a number of years whereby if you held a second AMEX card, then you would receive a reduction in the BAPP annual fee - reduced to £30 every year.
(I have held a platinum cashback card since 2004 and the BAPP since 2007 and still hold both cards now)

It would appear than AMEX have now removed this benefit based on the letter and the conversation i've just had with customer services.

I called Amex and firstly the guy mistook my question and was babbling on about companion vouchers, once i corrected him, he put me on hold and came back a few minutes later confirming that they had scrapped the fee reduction for members holding a second card.

The wording of the letter is a little wrong as it implies i no longer hold a secondary card. However this is def NOT the case.

Anyone else receive this letter or have information to confirm or contradict this? I accept the fee has been increase as it was well publicised on the BA board, however i was unaware that the t&Cs had changed to remove the fee reduction benefit for having a 2nd amex card.

As others on this board are likely in the same position and hold a 2nd amex specifically to get this reduced fee, i thought it was worth its own thread until we get clarity.

Thanks
GavT

mikeyfly

£195.00 is now the usual (increased) fee for the Premium Plus AMEX. I've just cancelled mine - despite over £50,000 spend this last 12 months and being a "top customer" they wouldn't reduce or remove.

GavT_london

apologies i missed a crucial bit of info - if you held two amex cards, the BAPP amex fee was reduced to £30 for as long as you held the 2nd card.
(in my case it was a cashback card which i had before i took out the BAPP, and i still have both cards).

Other people on FT will also be familiar with this arrangement hence me posting the OP as it hasnt been raised before and i checked with head for points to see if they'd received any intel before posting here.

DYKWIA

I still get my Premium Plus card for free. This is due to having a Amex Platinum Charge card.

I don't actually use either!

layz

That letter is so badly worded. I got my BA PP Amex in 2012 and despite having a Platinum Card since 2008 and various other Amex since 2003 I had to pay the full fee because they no longer gave a free BAPP to those with the Platinum Card or a discount to those who held another Amex.

So it looks like they're pulling the plug on those who got a discounted BAPP and using the fee rise as the time to do it.

pauldb

Not exactly: I have same £30/Platinum-credit set-up as the OP and last year with the fee change they specific confirmed the fee change wasn't going to impact us ... though I think some did lose the discount somewhat arbitrarily.

Nothing for me from Amex yet but haven't seen today's post.

Swiss Tony

I got this in today's post, too.

Gave AMEX a call to discuss. The problem I have is that BA's availability is so flaky and the TFCs so high on long haul, that I'm not going to pay £195 for the voucher.

Very helpful agent explained that the fee wouldn't be levied until a few months time and confirmed I could drop down to the free card, and keep the two vouchers I have.

I suggested we just switch over to the free card now, to which he responded by saying he would offer me an extra Avios per £ spent for the next three months, then I could call back to switch over.

Strangely, I though I was getting the discount off the back of my old Amex Platinum credit card that gives Membership rewards. He thinks it was off a charge card that I cancelled back in 2011. Oops....

leaveamessage

Ditto. Grandfathered from 2005.
If it was scrapped I wouldn't pay for it in addition to the plat fee...

GavT_london

Thanks Swiss Tony - was thinking it maybe been a mistake and the agent was wrong too - however your conversation seems to confirm the removal of the discounted fee.
I'll probably do as you say and swap to the free card as I have a 241 'banked' I believe...
its becoming increasingly hard to snag a 241 redemption to somewhere I want to go and the taxes are difficult to pay when usually for a few hundred more I can fly with Qatar or even AA (west ex-EU)

Swiss Tony

Yep.

In J:

BA LHR-HKG is £550 in TFCs
CX LHR-HKG is £220 in TFCs

If travelling in peak time (which we do) you save 180,000 avios but have to pay out £855 (2x TFC difference plus £195 for the Amex card) and work with BA's poor availability compared to CX.

Having made some very valuable one way redemptions round Asia, I'm now of the opinion that this is where the value lies for me. Better off just picking up a cheap revenue flight to Asia and taking it from there.

This makes the Lloyds/Avios card look like an even better deal!

LondonElite

These two experiences seem to completely contrast each other.

My most recent correspondence in this matter was from July 2016 in which Amex wrote to me:

"To make sure we can continue to offer the existing range of rewards and benefits linked to your Card, we are increasing the membership fee from £150 to £195 per year. Please note that this fee only becomes payable if you no longer hold an applicable Companion Charge Card alongside your British Airways Card."

My most recent statement includes the following wording:

"Fees > No annual cardmembership fee is payable for so long as you hold an Amex companion card. Otherwise an annual fee of £195 will become payable."

I've had the BAPP card since inception and have never paid an annual fee for it.

Very odd.

pauldb

Not really: they stopped giving the discount well before 2012.

LondonElite

Now I've reread layz's post you are correct and I knew that. The policy changed some years before that and those who previously qualified were grandfathered in.

GavT_london

Well it looks like the grandfather has been laid to rest

Tim_T

Ditto. Hold the platinum charge card. Just got off the phone. Told that the companion card has to be the gold or green charge card ???!!!