visualAd

Thanks for the replies. I guess my conundrum comes from the fact that I am not travelling as much with work now and if / when I do start travelling again the preferred airline may not be BA so keen to ensure I have a bit of flexibility around my transfer options. If for a UK based person Avios beat all other programmes in terms of value then I would be look in to alternative Avios earning cards.

I have just cancelled my BA PP card and will sign up for that again in 6 months when I am eligible for the bonus again. I also have a cash back card with Barclays the gives 1% cashback for transactions using their AMEX and 0.5% on their Visa card so can easily move my spend to this if I close my Gold card. My other cononundrum is trying to work out whether 1% cashback is worth more than 1MR point, especially as the value of Avios / miles can be quite high when redeemed in premium cabins etc, even more valuable is the flexibility they provide around date and time changes. Combine this with the BA Gold card (this will drop back to silver Jan 2015), aiming for Avios may be the best option.

Raffles

BA vs VS is complex.

VS has a smaller route network and no short haul redemptions, plus few airline partners (and those they have are often unbookable).

VS is, however, cheaper in terms of both Avios and taxes for economy redemptions.

VS also has availability to North America which BA has basically stopped offering in premium cabins.

visualAd

How do you think Avios / MR points compare to a standard cash back card?

dannyrado

VisualAd, I hope you don't mind me joining the party?

I have the plat, and a tonne of amex rewards that I value very highly, I actually upgraded from the gold. I want to wait for a bonus, say 20-30%, to a decent program though, ie SQ, EY, not arseios. I do however begrudge them having £450 of my hard earned, do you think I can downgrade to the turquoise card, has anyone? Earn rate is the same at 1MR per £1.

Raffles

Yes, perfectly feasible.

Another option is add the Plat credit card http://www.headforpoints.com/2013/03...-card-as-well/ and then cancel the charge card and ask nicely to keep the credit card.

They will charge £36 per year but it keeps your MR account open.

dannyrado

Ta.

BI9J

Hi. Sorry if this is a silly question.
I am planning on getting a Amex gold card (UK) as I am getting a new car so the deposit will be in excess of the £2,000 needed to get the 20,000 points. I just wanted to know if there is any other promotions or referral schemes I should do before I apply for the card?

Secondly is there somewhere I can look to get a rough idea of how many points is required to fly to certain destinations. I would like to travel to New York next year.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

architect1337

As for travel to destinations. You can change AMEX MR points into Avios (or other airlines). The AVIOS website gives you an idea about points to travel. New York is approx 40,000 Avios points (1 AMEX point = 1 Avios) + fees, taxes etc.

Other airlines will be about the same.

Gagravarr

I'd suggest you have a look at some of the HeadForPoints articles on the Amex MR scheme, that should give you quite a bit more info on what they can (sensibly) be used for

Heading to New York, your main two options from MR points would be Virgin Atlantic or BA Avios. If going for the Avios route, consider going via Ireland or Germany with a partner airline for lower taxes and fees. See this Head For Points on Aer Lingus and this on Air Berlin

parklife

You have a few options

1. Cashback through topcashback or quidco
2. Use one of the referral offers in the wiki near the top of the page and get 22,000 points instead of the standard 20,000.

New York you would be looking at

40,000 World Traveller
60,000 World Traveller Plus
80,000 Club World
120,000 First

Plus taxes of course!

Using the Gold card reguarly could get you well on your way! Take advantage of the double points - and you can even get more......e.g. I get 4x points for petrol at Shell.

BI9J

Thanks for all the information everyone. I am going to do some research and look into this a bit more. Sounds good ^

JK

If you're looking for the points to cover air fare - I'd also consider the BA AmEx card at the moment, as they just bumped the introductory points awarded. The free BA card now gives you 9,000 Avios (instead of 3,000). You only need to spend £1k within 3 months to achieve that.

20k MRs are still worth more than 10k Avios, but perhaps you can manage both?

mia

Referral offers are permitted in one, and only one, thread in this forum. Please do not offer referrals when posting in any other thread.

Read the Wikipost of this thread for details:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...e-posting.html

JK

Sorry mia, my bad. It wasn't just a blatant attempt to win a referral - but I genuinely thought it was useful information for someone new, who might not new the referral route exists. Wasn't trying to bypass the rules. Sorry!

Adstring

Hello,

I understand that on renewal of my card after the first year, I'll receive 7,500 bonus points (posted one month after renewal). If I then cancel after the points have posted, will the bonus points remain and will I get the annual fee back?

When I cancel, do I have to have 'spent' my points (or at least converted them to miles?)

Thanks,
Adam