Raffles

I don't think there is a required minimum, but I would leave it a month or so.

Blueboys999

That puts my point exactly and better than I was able to myself.

Like you, it wasn't that alone that prompted me cancelling but it did tip the balance against me paying the fee for another year.

tangey

I have also not received the offer. I do have 360k in MR and 320k in baec. Did ANYONE with a significant MR/BAEC balance get the offer ?

I did an 80k transfer on blind faith the last time there was a 100% offer, even though I didn't get the targeted offer, and I did get the bonus, so perhaps they are targeting those that previously didnt use the 100% offer ?

diamond club freeloader

+1: this issue has also tipped me into not renewing at the higher rate next month.

Olly-

I didn't use the 100% offer and haven't been targeted for this one either.

EDIflyer

Well I've over 220k MR and over 500k BA and could see the banner ad (not that I've been told about it in any other way, so would be totally unaware of it unless I'd seen the postings on here). I don't think AMEX know what your BAEC balance is anyway - they can move points into it but for Data Protection reasons I find it unlikely they'd know what the balance is. I didn't make use of the prev 100% bonus (I think it was before I got the card) but given I have plenty of Avios at present I think I'll hold off and not make use of this 40% one.

britbronco22

For those getting mad at Amex for not being targetted with the bonus, do you know for sure that it is an Amex offer?
It seems more likely to me that it is a BAEC offer, as any MR transfers to BAEC will also result in a cash payment from AMEX to BAEC. Therefore it is in the interests of BAEC to encourage transfers rather than AMEX.
Now rather than having to give out a bunch of free Avios to hardcore earners (who may transfer at the normal rate), I would expect BAEC to be more interested in attracting people that haven't transfered to BAEC before, or people with low balances, to try to get them hooked.
So I wouldn't be so hasty to get mad at AMEX.

In the meantime I'm going to wait around in hope that the takeup is quite poor, and that later in the year BAEC realise they aren't going to hit their cashflow targets and decide to run another 100% offer!

Raffles

Amex will have a budget, of sorts, for the amount of cash they are willing to handover to BA, VS etc (compared with the zero cash they handover whilst points stay unredeemed). Amex will therefore have capped the number of people they offer this. By now Amex will know what percentage of people targetted will respond and what percentage of their balance they will move.

I doubt BA or VS care, probably more the merrier for them, it is cash in the door and the inflation creating effect of printing more miles is unlikely to worry them!

Unfortunately, for BA, they have created a lose-lose for themselves in recent years with Amex, Tesco and WorldPoint bonuses. Only if you were desperate for avios would you now convert out of any of these programmes at the standard rate since it is highly likely another bonus will be along.

Newbies will not know what a turnaround this is. For the first 7 years or so of the Tesco arrangement there was not a single bonus. Similarly, the Ba Amex bonus 2 years ago was the first I can remember since getting Plat in the 1990's. Now they come along like buses.

britbronco22

I still don't see why Amex would try to incentivise people to move MR points to BAEC, as you have just explained it means AMEX have to handover cash to BAEC. Surely BAEC have the most to gain, so they would be offering the bonus?
I suppose if you say that AMEX have a limit on cash they can spend in a year on transfers, then BAEC could offer the bonus, but AMEX get to decide who to target it at.

golfmad

It could be something as simple as the desire to remove some of the contingent liability on their balance sheet. There may be some limit with which their auditors feel comfortable. Just a wild guess.

Wozza2404

I actually spoke to Amex about it, and their answer was "We do currently have a fantastic bonus offer for transfers to BA, but you're not having it so eff off." or something like that, anyway.

I'd have thought if it was a BA offer they'd have happily passed the buck; "Unfortunately BA chooses who is targeted for this promotion..."

britbronco22

I was sceptical of this at first, but after thinking it over you could be right.

The only way it make sense to reduce your contingent liability with cash, is if you are paying less cash then the worst case liability.
If there are other redemption methods more costly to AMEX than buying Avios from BAEC, then it would make sense to encourage people to convert to BAEC.

For example, the near cash transfer options for MR points are 0.5p. If they have to pay BAEC less than 0.5p per Avios, then that could reduce their liability by more than the cash paid to BAEC.

Or it could be that BAEC want to speed up cashflows from AMEX. We can only guess!

golfmad

Again, pure speculation but it might be an audit issue and not related to the actual value. There might be a point where the auditors feel uncomfortable with the levels of contingent liability?

I agree. If BA want to bring forward cash they may well offer AMEX a discount for a limited amount and for a limited time. It's then up to AMEX to work out how to fill that quota; hence a targeted offer.

Raffles

BA will be funding the bonus. Amex, whilst having to hand over some cash, gets kudos for running the bonus, which makes MR points more valuable and therefore makes you more loyal to Amex.

What we don't know is whether BA is capping the bonus miles it wants to award (but their love of cash would trump it I think) or Amex is capping the cash it pays out.

The bonus will also tempt some people to move to BA who otherwise would not. mR points can be cashed in for 0.5p. If you don't value an avios at well north of that, you will never transfer to BA. With a bonus, you may change your value calculation. BA therefore gets cash from Amex which would otherwise have been paid to say, say, M&S for a gift voucher.

taff_2003

I cancelled my Amex Gold MR card about 1.5 months ago as I didn't want to pay the renewal fee. This was my only MR card. Prior to closing it, I recommended my wife for the Amex Gold card, which she took out, and I transferred the balance of my MR account to her (paying £15 fee) in order that we could take advantage of one of these BAEC transfer bonuses in the future.

Typically, she hasn't been targeted with this bonus, and I get home from work today to find that I've been sent the pamphlet in which I have been targeted with this offer.

I don't suppose my MR account is still active on Amex's systems, and I could pay the £15 to transfer all my wife's MR point to me, and then I transfer the points into BAEC? I've seen mention that MR members have a grace period of a few months after cancelling their only MR card. Probably wishful thinking though...