Best Credit Card in the UK to get TG miles ?
Sep 19, 2013, 11:10 am
#2
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: Thai ROP Gold, BMI DC (RIP), Avios
Posts: 189
Hi RICK69,
I don't think collecting ROP miles on UK Issued credit cards is easy, but there are a couple of options, mainly involving transfers via the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) hotel programme, with an additional bonus if you transfer in increments of 20K points.
1) UK issued SPG Amex card - £75 per year charge, can transfer collected miles from SPG account to ROP, 20K points = 25K ROP Miles. However, point collection isn't very generous.
2) UK issued Amex Membership rewards - £125 per year charge, 2:1 conversion rate to Starwood points, but additional points (such as first year bonus, travel or overseas spend, etc) make collection easier than SPG Amex card. 40K Membership rewards = 20K Starwood points = 25K ROP miles. Other Amex cards can also participate in Membership rewards, with differing charges/earning rates.
3) I believe an International Amex dollar card may be allowed to transfer to ROP direct as this is similar to US based Amex card, but unsure of process/charges/currency exchange etc.
4) Transfers via other hotel schemes such as Hilton HHonors are possible, but generally very poor value for money. (10K Hhonors = 1K ROP).
Sometimes sign-up bonuses for these cards could make them more attractive.
I'd love to learn of better option than those listed above but it seems most loyalty providers think the UK wants AVIOS !
Hope this helps - Graham
I don't think collecting ROP miles on UK Issued credit cards is easy, but there are a couple of options, mainly involving transfers via the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) hotel programme, with an additional bonus if you transfer in increments of 20K points.
1) UK issued SPG Amex card - £75 per year charge, can transfer collected miles from SPG account to ROP, 20K points = 25K ROP Miles. However, point collection isn't very generous.
2) UK issued Amex Membership rewards - £125 per year charge, 2:1 conversion rate to Starwood points, but additional points (such as first year bonus, travel or overseas spend, etc) make collection easier than SPG Amex card. 40K Membership rewards = 20K Starwood points = 25K ROP miles. Other Amex cards can also participate in Membership rewards, with differing charges/earning rates.
3) I believe an International Amex dollar card may be allowed to transfer to ROP direct as this is similar to US based Amex card, but unsure of process/charges/currency exchange etc.
4) Transfers via other hotel schemes such as Hilton HHonors are possible, but generally very poor value for money. (10K Hhonors = 1K ROP).
Sometimes sign-up bonuses for these cards could make them more attractive.
I'd love to learn of better option than those listed above but it seems most loyalty providers think the UK wants AVIOS !
Hope this helps - Graham
Sep 19, 2013, 12:27 pm
#3
Suspended
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 368
Hi RICK69,
I don't think collecting ROP miles on UK Issued credit cards is easy, but there are a couple of options, mainly involving transfers via the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) hotel programme, with an additional bonus if you transfer in increments of 20K points.
1) UK issued SPG Amex card - £75 per year charge, can transfer collected miles from SPG account to ROP, 20K points = 25K ROP Miles. However, point collection isn't very generous.
2) UK issued Amex Membership rewards - £125 per year charge, 2:1 conversion rate to Starwood points, but additional points (such as first year bonus, travel or overseas spend, etc) make collection easier than SPG Amex card. 40K Membership rewards = 20K Starwood points = 25K ROP miles. Other Amex cards can also participate in Membership rewards, with differing charges/earning rates.
3) I believe an International Amex dollar card may be allowed to transfer to ROP direct as this is similar to US based Amex card, but unsure of process/charges/currency exchange etc.
4) Transfers via other hotel schemes such as Hilton HHonors are possible, but generally very poor value for money. (10K Hhonors = 1K ROP).
Sometimes sign-up bonuses for these cards could make them more attractive.
I'd love to learn of better option than those listed above but it seems most loyalty providers think the UK wants AVIOS !
Hope this helps - Graham
I don't think collecting ROP miles on UK Issued credit cards is easy, but there are a couple of options, mainly involving transfers via the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) hotel programme, with an additional bonus if you transfer in increments of 20K points.
1) UK issued SPG Amex card - £75 per year charge, can transfer collected miles from SPG account to ROP, 20K points = 25K ROP Miles. However, point collection isn't very generous.
2) UK issued Amex Membership rewards - £125 per year charge, 2:1 conversion rate to Starwood points, but additional points (such as first year bonus, travel or overseas spend, etc) make collection easier than SPG Amex card. 40K Membership rewards = 20K Starwood points = 25K ROP miles. Other Amex cards can also participate in Membership rewards, with differing charges/earning rates.
3) I believe an International Amex dollar card may be allowed to transfer to ROP direct as this is similar to US based Amex card, but unsure of process/charges/currency exchange etc.
4) Transfers via other hotel schemes such as Hilton HHonors are possible, but generally very poor value for money. (10K Hhonors = 1K ROP).
Sometimes sign-up bonuses for these cards could make them more attractive.
I'd love to learn of better option than those listed above but it seems most loyalty providers think the UK wants AVIOS !
Hope this helps - Graham
Thank you so very much Graham for taking the time to explain all of this so clearly.I looked on the Amex website & could not make head or tail of it.I called Amex & they could not explain it clearly.
Like you have said it does not seem very easy to get TG miles on a UK credit card.
If someone knows better please let us know.
Thanks again Graham for your kind help.
Rick
Oct 8, 2014, 11:20 pm
#6
Join Date: Oct 2014
Programs: ROP Gold, Freccia Alata Gold, Top Bonus Gold, H Honours Diamond, Starwood Gold, SQ, NZ, QF
Posts: 11
Hi Rick, for what it's worth, I have a UK and an Australian AMEX Card. I am able to transfer points from my UK card once every 12 months and I then transfer to ROP from the Australian card. The points are transferred from the UK card at the current rate of exchange for GBP/AUD ( about 1:1.8.) Most AMEX staff in the UK are unaware that this can be done but just press them on it. Note: it can only be done once very 12 months; you may need to make a couple of phone calls; and once completed AMEX will write to you to confirm the transfer. If you can enrol somehow for an overseas AMEX account it could be useful for this alone.