Avios credit card strategy for a newbie and newcomer to the UK
Oct 14, 2017, 5:34 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 7
Avios credit card strategy for a newbie and newcomer to the UK
Hi everyone!
I am new to this forum and most of all, I am new to this points world. I hope I am in the right section for the below. Figured it would be better here than in the credit card section, as it seems very much US oriented over there. Let me know if I need to move it somewhere else. Thanks!
Let me give you a quick background of my situation: I used to live in Switzerland where the point culture is inexistant (or at least I have not come across it!) and made a lot of travels with United back and forth to the US. Accumulated a fair amount of points this way which was useful on star alliance airlines.
Since earlier this year, I moved to the UK where obviously there are much more options around credit cards and benefits/fees coming with them and where having avios seems to be the easiest way to travel on points.
When I got here, I opened an HSBC premier bank account and got the MasterCard platinum with it. Didn’t really look at the benefit and all of that card, just took it because of the lounge access and my extended need of them for my weekly commute back and forth to Switzerland.
We are now finally settling in with my wife and I am now trying to get a more structured strategy around points. The idea being to be able to take my wife (and potentially my newborn kid) on long haul vacation in business class once a year.
After reading a fair amount of blogs (kudo to HFP!) and a bit of these forums, here is the strategy I arrived to. Can you please tell me what you think about it and if I am missing some other points?
As a side note, we are probably spending approx 40k£ per year on credit card btw my wife and myself.
1) start Jan 1 (choosing this date for easiness purpose) by getting Amex BA platinum and get the the 25k avios bonus within a month. Keep that card until reaching 10k pounds (most likely within 3, then downgrading to the Amex BA classic and canceling 30th of June (after having transferred my avios and 241 voucher to my BA account)
2) open 1st of July an Amex gold MR and reach the sign in bonus 20k with a month. Keep the card 6 months and cancel it 31st of dec.
3) get back to Jan 1 with the Amex ba platinum and restart from there (should get the bonus again after the 6 month period)
4) at the same time do exactly the same for my wife - should be possible to trigger 2 x 241 voucher + 2x each card bonus this way.
5) keep the hsbc card for the lounge access and non Amex acceptable expenses, or maybe downgrade to free hsbc credit card
What do to think of the above? Does it make sense to you?
A few other questions:
- can I transfer my wife’s avios and MR points towards my account to get more quickly able to redeem a biz flight ticket?
- do you have any tips to build my credit worthiness ASAP in the UK? Need to still google that, probably some good articles on that already
Thanks for your precious help trying to navigate through this new world!
I am new to this forum and most of all, I am new to this points world. I hope I am in the right section for the below. Figured it would be better here than in the credit card section, as it seems very much US oriented over there. Let me know if I need to move it somewhere else. Thanks!
Let me give you a quick background of my situation: I used to live in Switzerland where the point culture is inexistant (or at least I have not come across it!) and made a lot of travels with United back and forth to the US. Accumulated a fair amount of points this way which was useful on star alliance airlines.
Since earlier this year, I moved to the UK where obviously there are much more options around credit cards and benefits/fees coming with them and where having avios seems to be the easiest way to travel on points.
When I got here, I opened an HSBC premier bank account and got the MasterCard platinum with it. Didn’t really look at the benefit and all of that card, just took it because of the lounge access and my extended need of them for my weekly commute back and forth to Switzerland.
We are now finally settling in with my wife and I am now trying to get a more structured strategy around points. The idea being to be able to take my wife (and potentially my newborn kid) on long haul vacation in business class once a year.
After reading a fair amount of blogs (kudo to HFP!) and a bit of these forums, here is the strategy I arrived to. Can you please tell me what you think about it and if I am missing some other points?
As a side note, we are probably spending approx 40k£ per year on credit card btw my wife and myself.
1) start Jan 1 (choosing this date for easiness purpose) by getting Amex BA platinum and get the the 25k avios bonus within a month. Keep that card until reaching 10k pounds (most likely within 3, then downgrading to the Amex BA classic and canceling 30th of June (after having transferred my avios and 241 voucher to my BA account)
2) open 1st of July an Amex gold MR and reach the sign in bonus 20k with a month. Keep the card 6 months and cancel it 31st of dec.
3) get back to Jan 1 with the Amex ba platinum and restart from there (should get the bonus again after the 6 month period)
4) at the same time do exactly the same for my wife - should be possible to trigger 2 x 241 voucher + 2x each card bonus this way.
5) keep the hsbc card for the lounge access and non Amex acceptable expenses, or maybe downgrade to free hsbc credit card
What do to think of the above? Does it make sense to you?
A few other questions:
- can I transfer my wife’s avios and MR points towards my account to get more quickly able to redeem a biz flight ticket?
- do you have any tips to build my credit worthiness ASAP in the UK? Need to still google that, probably some good articles on that already
Thanks for your precious help trying to navigate through this new world!
Oct 14, 2017, 5:58 am
#2
Join Date: May 2017
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 120
As someone who's got into this in the last year or so and has just redeemed their first J 2-4-1, here's my take.
Pick an alliance and stay with it - you will be rewarded. I would imagine for most people on the BA board, this would be Oneworld. Route all of your travel through your chosen alliance (this is especially helpful if you have a choice of business travel provider). My strategy here is for westbound long haul, use BA or AA. For European short haul, use BA. For eastbound long haul AVOID BA like the plague and go with Cathay or Qatar. Firstly the Asian carrier's products are far superior, secondly there are some absurd fees to be had business class with Qatar if you're prepared to fly from another European airport. It's not uncommon to see Oslo/Stockholm to New Zealand for £1600. Deciding to fly Club Europe (BA's European business class) is normally a question of tier points - if the fare is circa 20% more expensive I'll go for that to get the tier points, if not Ill stick with economy. The key here is to get BA Silver (600 tier points a year) ASAP - this nets you lounge access, fast-track security, extra baggage and free seat selection. Long haul this can save you hundreds a year in seat selection alone, and short haul you can pay economy prices and get the business experience (less the frankly average onboard meals).
In terms of card churning, it sounds like you know what you're doing, but remember that you can hold multiple Amex products at once and still get the bonuses - if you apply for the gold card and the BA premium card at the same time, you will get both bonuses. Remember that the Amex gold can be churned every 6 months too and make sure one of you always has the card so that you can refer the other before cancelling This is a good way of racking up points for free. Two things I would add here are: both get the SPG Amex card - this will net you 20,000 SPG points between you which can either be used towards a hotel, or using the 25% miles bonus can be joined and then turned to Avios, netting you 25,000 Avios. Secondly, keep the BA premium card. It's tempting to get rid of it once you have the voucher, but another key point is the 1.5 earning rate. If you're putting £40k a year through the card that's 60,000 points instead of 40,000. You'd be hard pressed to 'buy' 20,000 points for £195 which is what you're doing, and that's not taking into account the value of the companion voucher, which will likely save you thousands.
Welcome to the party, I only wish I'd started earlier! Your aim of one business class flight a year paid for entirely with Avios (minus the taxes and surcharges of course!) is very achievable.
Pick an alliance and stay with it - you will be rewarded. I would imagine for most people on the BA board, this would be Oneworld. Route all of your travel through your chosen alliance (this is especially helpful if you have a choice of business travel provider). My strategy here is for westbound long haul, use BA or AA. For European short haul, use BA. For eastbound long haul AVOID BA like the plague and go with Cathay or Qatar. Firstly the Asian carrier's products are far superior, secondly there are some absurd fees to be had business class with Qatar if you're prepared to fly from another European airport. It's not uncommon to see Oslo/Stockholm to New Zealand for £1600. Deciding to fly Club Europe (BA's European business class) is normally a question of tier points - if the fare is circa 20% more expensive I'll go for that to get the tier points, if not Ill stick with economy. The key here is to get BA Silver (600 tier points a year) ASAP - this nets you lounge access, fast-track security, extra baggage and free seat selection. Long haul this can save you hundreds a year in seat selection alone, and short haul you can pay economy prices and get the business experience (less the frankly average onboard meals).
In terms of card churning, it sounds like you know what you're doing, but remember that you can hold multiple Amex products at once and still get the bonuses - if you apply for the gold card and the BA premium card at the same time, you will get both bonuses. Remember that the Amex gold can be churned every 6 months too and make sure one of you always has the card so that you can refer the other before cancelling This is a good way of racking up points for free. Two things I would add here are: both get the SPG Amex card - this will net you 20,000 SPG points between you which can either be used towards a hotel, or using the 25% miles bonus can be joined and then turned to Avios, netting you 25,000 Avios. Secondly, keep the BA premium card. It's tempting to get rid of it once you have the voucher, but another key point is the 1.5 earning rate. If you're putting £40k a year through the card that's 60,000 points instead of 40,000. You'd be hard pressed to 'buy' 20,000 points for £195 which is what you're doing, and that's not taking into account the value of the companion voucher, which will likely save you thousands.
Welcome to the party, I only wish I'd started earlier! Your aim of one business class flight a year paid for entirely with Avios (minus the taxes and surcharges of course!) is very achievable.
Last edited by jackcarr; Oct 14, 2017 at 6:04 am
Oct 14, 2017, 6:54 am
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Brighton. UK
Programs: BA Gold / VS /IHG Diamond & Ambassador
Posts: 14,197
You need to look at where you are likely to travel to and THEN pick an alliance to collect points on.
There are still plenty of destinations not served by BA and its codeshare and alliance partners.
If you are flying back and forward to Switzerland a lot then why not stick with LX - you'd still be able to collect with *A
As to card churning check the rules carefully as some providers are putting limits on repeatedly earning bonus miles and might make you wait 6 / 12months before you can (re)apply
And remember with most programmes collecting the miles is the easy bit. It's spending them that is the problem.
There are still plenty of destinations not served by BA and its codeshare and alliance partners.
If you are flying back and forward to Switzerland a lot then why not stick with LX - you'd still be able to collect with *A
As to card churning check the rules carefully as some providers are putting limits on repeatedly earning bonus miles and might make you wait 6 / 12months before you can (re)apply
And remember with most programmes collecting the miles is the easy bit. It's spending them that is the problem.
Oct 14, 2017, 7:54 am
#4
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,809
Welcome to Flyertalk Max35111, welcome to British Airways board, and indeed welcome to the United Kingdom. At least the weather is no worse than Switzerland! I hope we will see more of you here.
Reading between the lines of your first post I think you are doing the right things, though I don't have a forensic knowledge of this area, and there are some stickies and the Dashboard which can also help.
The ideas I would add into the mix are consider if you are going to have a relationship with Tescos (including their credit card); get yourself signed up to Avios.com as well as the BAEC version (for things like fuel and perhaps one off purchases for your new home, including the e-store and Banbury); finally also get yourself on to Iberia's IB+ scheme, and put a hotel booking or something on it. You may not need IB+ but if they do some offer your account may not be fully available for 90 days after the initial credit.
Reading between the lines of your first post I think you are doing the right things, though I don't have a forensic knowledge of this area, and there are some stickies and the Dashboard which can also help.
The ideas I would add into the mix are consider if you are going to have a relationship with Tescos (including their credit card); get yourself signed up to Avios.com as well as the BAEC version (for things like fuel and perhaps one off purchases for your new home, including the e-store and Banbury); finally also get yourself on to Iberia's IB+ scheme, and put a hotel booking or something on it. You may not need IB+ but if they do some offer your account may not be fully available for 90 days after the initial credit.
Oct 14, 2017, 8:02 am
#5
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: NCL
Programs: BAEC and Hilton mostly
Posts: 655
I recommend www.moneysavingexpert.com , particularly the forum sections on cards and credit, and also a free sign up to their 'credit club'. There's lots of good consumer advice on the site as well.
Oct 14, 2017, 8:18 am
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BA Gold/OWE, several MUCCI, and assorted Pensions!
Posts: 32,146
If the OP uses Hilton Hotels, an addition earning aspect is joining Hilton Honours and subscribing to their Double Dip preference, which gives (a vew) additional Avios. Remember that 'every little helps'.
Otherwise the OP seems to be on the right track (I know nothing about card-churning). The BA Amex PP cards leads to additional Avios benefits when booking BA, Avis/BA and BA Holidays, of course. Works very well for our purposes!
Otherwise the OP seems to be on the right track (I know nothing about card-churning). The BA Amex PP cards leads to additional Avios benefits when booking BA, Avis/BA and BA Holidays, of course. Works very well for our purposes!
Oct 17, 2017, 8:29 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 7
Thank you guys for your great inputs.
Will try to get that moving now and start stacking up points.
Any chance to get a status match from united to BA in your experience? Wouldn’t mind the platinum being transferred vs re-earned with BA!
thanks!
Will try to get that moving now and start stacking up points.
Any chance to get a status match from united to BA in your experience? Wouldn’t mind the platinum being transferred vs re-earned with BA!
thanks!
Oct 17, 2017, 9:10 am
#9
Join Date: Jun 2003
Programs: BA, IHG, 5C
Posts: 4,413
You seem to have missed an angle that you can refer your wife for the various Amex cards, and then vice versa, so better to hold them for opposing 6 month periods than simultaneously.
If you refer wife wife for the BA Premium Card, she'll get 26k avios and you;ll get 9k. For the Gold Amex, it's 22k+9k MR. And you can also refer from Gold to Plat for 35k+18k MR which might make the £450 less painful, given all the insurance and status benefits included (if you drop the HSBC duplicated costs).
Did you have any relationship with Amex in Switzerland? I believe they will consider this in the UK.
You might also consider the Lloyds card - particularly for when your child reaches 2 and you need to book a 3rd ticket. You get an upgrade voucher after £7000 spend which can be on a Mastercard.
If you refer wife wife for the BA Premium Card, she'll get 26k avios and you;ll get 9k. For the Gold Amex, it's 22k+9k MR. And you can also refer from Gold to Plat for 35k+18k MR which might make the £450 less painful, given all the insurance and status benefits included (if you drop the HSBC duplicated costs).
Did you have any relationship with Amex in Switzerland? I believe they will consider this in the UK.
You might also consider the Lloyds card - particularly for when your child reaches 2 and you need to book a 3rd ticket. You get an upgrade voucher after £7000 spend which can be on a Mastercard.
Oct 19, 2017, 2:32 am
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 7
You seem to have missed an angle that you can refer your wife for the various Amex cards, and then vice versa, so better to hold them for opposing 6 month periods than simultaneously.
If you refer wife wife for the BA Premium Card, she'll get 26k avios and you;ll get 9k. For the Gold Amex, it's 22k+9k MR. And you can also refer from Gold to Plat for 35k+18k MR which might make the £450 less painful, given all the insurance and status benefits included (if you drop the HSBC duplicated costs).
Did you have any relationship with Amex in Switzerland? I believe they will consider this in the UK.
You might also consider the Lloyds card - particularly for when your child reaches 2 and you need to book a 3rd ticket. You get an upgrade voucher after £7000 spend which can be on a Mastercard.
If you refer wife wife for the BA Premium Card, she'll get 26k avios and you;ll get 9k. For the Gold Amex, it's 22k+9k MR. And you can also refer from Gold to Plat for 35k+18k MR which might make the £450 less painful, given all the insurance and status benefits included (if you drop the HSBC duplicated costs).
Did you have any relationship with Amex in Switzerland? I believe they will consider this in the UK.
You might also consider the Lloyds card - particularly for when your child reaches 2 and you need to book a 3rd ticket. You get an upgrade voucher after £7000 spend which can be on a Mastercard.
do you know also if my wife can give me the avios she earned with her Amex? In order to quickly build enough points to quickly take a ticket?
Thanks!
ps: no Amex in Switzerland so all should be fine there!
Oct 19, 2017, 2:32 am
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 7
You seem to have missed an angle that you can refer your wife for the various Amex cards, and then vice versa, so better to hold them for opposing 6 month periods than simultaneously.
If you refer wife wife for the BA Premium Card, she'll get 26k avios and you;ll get 9k. For the Gold Amex, it's 22k+9k MR. And you can also refer from Gold to Plat for 35k+18k MR which might make the £450 less painful, given all the insurance and status benefits included (if you drop the HSBC duplicated costs).
Did you have any relationship with Amex in Switzerland? I believe they will consider this in the UK.
You might also consider the Lloyds card - particularly for when your child reaches 2 and you need to book a 3rd ticket. You get an upgrade voucher after £7000 spend which can be on a Mastercard.
If you refer wife wife for the BA Premium Card, she'll get 26k avios and you;ll get 9k. For the Gold Amex, it's 22k+9k MR. And you can also refer from Gold to Plat for 35k+18k MR which might make the £450 less painful, given all the insurance and status benefits included (if you drop the HSBC duplicated costs).
Did you have any relationship with Amex in Switzerland? I believe they will consider this in the UK.
You might also consider the Lloyds card - particularly for when your child reaches 2 and you need to book a 3rd ticket. You get an upgrade voucher after £7000 spend which can be on a Mastercard.
Oct 19, 2017, 2:39 am
#14
Join Date: Jun 2003
Programs: BA, IHG, 5C
Posts: 4,413
You can only refer BA card <> BA card, or Amex Charge <> Amex Charge (but can mix Gold/Plat, and BA free/premium).
You don't need a Lloyds account for a Lloyds card, but they do run % cashback offers for spending with some retailers that you can only access as a current account holder (not really worth the hassle to me).
You and your wife can "join" your BAEC accounts as a household account, which allows you to pool your balances for redemptions, including your avios gained individually from Amex. Your guide to Household Accounts
You don't need a Lloyds account for a Lloyds card, but they do run % cashback offers for spending with some retailers that you can only access as a current account holder (not really worth the hassle to me).
You and your wife can "join" your BAEC accounts as a household account, which allows you to pool your balances for redemptions, including your avios gained individually from Amex. Your guide to Household Accounts
Oct 19, 2017, 2:48 am
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 7
You can only refer BA card <> BA card, or Amex Charge <> Amex Charge (but can mix Gold/Plat, and BA free/premium).
You don't need a Lloyds account for a Lloyds card, but they do run % cashback offers for spending with some retailers that you can only access as a current account holder (not really worth the hassle to me).
You and your wife can "join" your BAEC accounts as a household account, which allows you to pool your balances for redemptions, including your avios gained individually from Amex. Your guide to Household Accounts
You don't need a Lloyds account for a Lloyds card, but they do run % cashback offers for spending with some retailers that you can only access as a current account holder (not really worth the hassle to me).
You and your wife can "join" your BAEC accounts as a household account, which allows you to pool your balances for redemptions, including your avios gained individually from Amex. Your guide to Household Accounts