pauldb

So has anyone holding the Plat card since then paying £0, or Gold/Green paying £30, which no charge card switching, got the letter?

Raffles

No letter for me, have held the same Plat since 1999 (according to the date on the front).

DYKWIA

And paid > £6k for the privilege

I always dread the renewal... But then pay anyway.

eddybarzoon

I've received the same letter as the OP. Plat charge card since 06 with the grandfathererd benefit of fee-free BA PP credit card. Spoke to Amex last night who confirmed this is basically the withdrawal of a benefit. I still hold my plat charge card.

Just curious: how much notice are Amex required to give of a variation to their Ts&Cs? Nothwithstanding what the anniversary date may be for a particular BA PP card account (mine happnes to be June) it appears from the letter that the effective date for the change is 16th March 2017.

Is that sufficient notice?

DYKWIA

Oh well, assuming I get the same letter, that will be my final link with BA/Avios removed. Apart from FT of course

LondonAndy

I received the same letter yesterday.

My BA AmEx statement says:
"A reduced annual card membership fee of £30 is payable for so long as you hold an Amex companion card. Otherwise, an annual fee of £150 will become payable."

So I guess it comes down to what an AmEx companion card is - I've got:

• Gold Credit Card
• Platinum Cashback Credit Card

These are both free, so they may be saying that you need a charge card. If so, then I'll simply cancel it. My wife and I each have a primary BA AmEx account, and we sometimes end up using the companion ticket for a domestic trip (although we do sometimes use it to fly F to the US or South Africa!). However, we can plan our vouchers so that we have 2 every other year and the four of us can go on a nice long-haul trip. I also am going to lose Hilton status in March, so may spend £10K on the BA AmEx and then £10K on the Hilton card....

Swiss Tony

Note it's your renewal date after March 16th that counts. Mine is mid-June. I wondered about the notice thing, as I know if a CC company puts interest rates up and you're carrying a balance, you can reject this. You can no longer use the card, but they have to leave you on the original rate.

I presume the equivalent here is that they drop you down to a standard card. Any accrued vouchers remain valid, but you can no longer accumulate on the old basis.

Raffles

Indeed. Would be trickier to justify the fee without the £195 'saving' from the BAPP.

On the other hand, cancelling is a bit like selling Gareth Bale and then using the money to buy five **** players instead :-)

Anyway, not sure I want the bother of separately organising travel insurance for a family of 4, car hire insurance, lounge access for my wife when travelling for work on Y tickets, Eurostar lounge access (can't buy that anyway) etc .... and obviously I'd miss all those amazing Platinum events .

I now use my Platinum Amex exclusively for Head for Points-related transactions and write off the £450 as a business expense which effectively gives me a 40% discount anyway.

grgraham

I've had the same letter too.

Platinum Charge and BA Premium Plus Amex holder since 2004.

Just spoke to Amex in Brighton - tell me it's a mistake, will send my details to marketing to rectify and gave me 500 Avios for my trouble.

We'll see what happens.

grgraham

If I do end up losing the fee free BA Amex it will make a difference for me:

It would then make sense for me to ditch the personal platinum charge and replace it with the business platinum charge via my Ltd company which still has the original unconditional insurance product - then saving me 40% tax as you suggest above.

Raffles

The business Plat doesn't allow guesting on the Priority Pass (definite) neither does it allow Eurostar lounge access (IIRC). The hotel status card list is not identical either IIRC.

In theory you could recharge the personal card fee to the Ltd, you'd just need to account for it properly.

pauldb

I've just made my call, with all my old card details / T&Cs gathered up for an argument, and was straight-off told the same: that the letter was sent to me in error. No 500 Avios though, but I'd rather have the reduction!

(Currently hold an Amex Plat charge too, but not continuously/historically.)

Tim_T

thats interesting, I wonder if they have changed their mind or made a mistake. You couldn't by chance message me the old terms and conditions? I logged a complaint with them last night over this and was promised a call back. I've held the platinum since 98 and the BAPP from early 2000s.

pauldb

Roger

I have held a BAPP Card since it was launched, paying £0 p.a. as a (then) Platinum charge card holder. Indeed, I got the recent 15,000 bonus Avios.

When AmEx famously changed its T+Cs the effect of which was to exclude me from various benefits, I cancelled the card. I have since used the PRG gold account at different times. Indeed, the £140 subscription has been taken this week. The BAPP sub has remained at £0 p.a until now.

The letter arrived yesterday. The AmEx person I spoke to seemed less aware than some of the others mentioned here.

AFAIK, the BAPP fee waiver was only ever applied to holders of certain companion CHARGE cards. Mention of companion CREDIT cards seems to have been lucky. Qualifying companion CHARGE cards were listed in the T+Cs. I recycled the T+Cs but cannot find a copy online.

I was already contemplating discarding the PRG. On its own, it's not cost effective but with a BAPP fee waiver, I could justify it. One thing's for sure. I will not be paying £140 + £195 next year.

Not according to the AmEx person I spoke to yesterday who told me my gold charge card didn't qualify.

I think you were lucky to get the waiver with a companion credit card.