Originally Posted by
ajdj
Hi, found my way here from paidtoshop and MSE. Have read lot's over last few days and now have some questions.
1. Can someone tell me if I apply for a BA Amex PP now and then a Platinum Charge Card in say, 6 months time whether I would get £120 discount on the £300 a/fee for the charge card? Or does it only work the other way around?
2. I'm aware of the benefits of Quidco to apply and Amex website says you get 6000 bonus miles for signing up but also seen some references to applying via a referral method for extra miles- any further info on this. ie. How many extra miles etc?
3. Finally (promise!), I am currently NOT a member of BAEC. Will be collecting miles via Tesco rather than flying- should I wait until applying for the Amex PP to get membership OR if I have to wait 6 months to apply for the BA Amex fee free (after taking Plat CC first) is it worth applying to BAEC via another method- or better to build miles via Tesco Mastercard> Clubcard vouchers> BA Miles in the meantime?
Aim is to travel F LHR-LAX next year on miles earned from Tesco and use the benefits of the Plat CC for hotel discount/upgrades, car hire benefits and travel insurance as I tour the West Coast. Won't be needing 2-4-1 on this trip as travelling alone. Thanks for any help offered!
1. No discount that way round.
2. Don't know.
3. There seems to be no point joining BAEC early unless you have a non-Tesco way of earning miles. There are other ways of joining, but why bother?
For your LHR-LAX trip in F, you will require 150,000 miles: in excess of £600 of Tesco vouchers or £100,000 of spend on the BA Amex PP or a combination of the two. Given your spending / points-gathering habits, is this a reasonable target? If not, note that many here consider the benefits of F over CW to be relatively small, and you could fly in CW both ways for 100,000 or F one way and CW the other for 125,000. Or you could pay for a World Traveller Plus ticket and upgrade to CW for only 25,000 miles. Also, be aware that award seats for popular routes at peak holiday times tend to sell out well in advance. The hotel discount / upgrade benefits of the Amex Charge Card really only apply for more expensive properties, particularly the Fine Hotels and Resorts (FHR) deals -
http://www.americanexpress.com/fhr. Check that this is the sort of property you want to be staying in / paying for, if you are factoring in this benefit to decide whether the Charge Card is worth it. If you feel it is not, then it does seem that the (free) Amex Platinum
Credit Card will also reduce your BA Amex PP fee to zero, after 6 months ownership. This is not in the official Amex FAQ though, and the situation may change in future.
Remember that if you are not a frequent flyer / traveller, then the benefits of the Amex Platinum Charge Card are limited: e.g. are you going to use the Priority Pass lounge access? Travel insurance for a single trip is fairly cheap, do you need the one year cover the Amex brings? Is it really worth £300 to you?
Finally, consider also / instead the bmi credit cards, which give you 20,000 Diamond Club miles free and then up to 2 miles per £1 spent. 37500 miles (= as little as £6250 additional spend) + £210 cash + taxes will get you a business-class return to N America on a Star Alliance carrier. See the bmi forum for more about this.