The fee is not reducable - although it is a no-brainer in Year 1 for £220 (after quidco / topcashback) and 40,000 MR points.

You should find that the fee pays for itself, though. You get full travel insurance for yourself and family, plus you can give out supplementary cards to people who also get the full travel insurance - give your parents a card (don't let them spend on it!) so they can save a pile, for eg.

You should also be able to generate savings via the 'no need to pay for any insurances with your car hire' benefit of the insurance, and the Fine Hotels & Resorts hotel packages, which usually give you breakfast, 4pm check-out, upgrade and an extra amenity thrown in - I got Euro 100 of benefits from a recent one-nighter at the Park Hyatt Hamburg, for eg, for an identical rate to the one on hyatt.com.

The other benefits (Eurostar lounge access, BMI lounge access etc) can be useful but difficult to put any value of them. Same with SPG Gold, which isn't really worth much. Hilton Gold (good for 1 year) DOES have value - free breakfast, free internet.

Also worth remembering that if you have your card by Feb 2012, you can apply for 1 free year of Cathay Pacific status, which is equivalent to BA Silver and gets you into the BA lounges. I have the PDF of the application form if it is not included in the initial pack, which it may not be as it was targetted (but was opened to anyone who rang to complain and asked for the form!).