Leither

Hi - I am a GC holder with a BA Amex relocating to the US. I will still be flying BA internationally 4-5 times per year (In business or first) so will have good spend and points through booking on my Amex. HOWEVER, when I have tried to change my home address with Amex to my new address they said that BA will no longer allow them to transfer points to my Exec club account as they will only accept points if the card address is in the UK. Amex doesn’t have a US product associated to Avios (according to the Amex call centre) so essentially there is now no benefit to my BA Amex . Has anyone else managed to relocate to the US and keep getting points through the BA Amex ? Thanks in advance

guv1976

While Amex does not have a US-issued card that earns Avios directly, US-issued Amex cards that earn Amex Membership Rewards points are an alternative. MR points earned on U.S.-issued Amex cards can be converted to BA or IB Avios -- sometimes with an attractive transfer bonus being offered.

Leither

That’s helpful thanks , they suggested the delta card for my domestic flights but a MR card might be better as my bigger spend will be international with BA. Because of the 3 points per Ł1 spent on BA flights deal I can usually hit c100000 points on the international flights plus the airmiles so it stacks up nicely which is why I wanted to find a way to keep my BA Amex (which isn’t a problem) and keep the triple points on my flight spend (which is a problem due to the BA rules)

Geordie405

One thing I would say in defense of Amex is that they have a feature called Global Card Transfer. Amex will issue you with a credit card in your new country of residence (i.e. the USA in the case of the OP) based on your credit history in your departing country (i.e. the UK) subject to eligibility etc. This makes acquiring a credit card in the USA a lot easier than it would otherwise be, and it allows you to start building up your credit score from day one. It's definitely something I would recommend looking at. Although banks will obviously consider new residents for credit, it is a lot harder and they may grant only a very small credit limit and, simultaneously, expect you to lodge funds equivalent to that limit with them.

Leither

Thank you this is a good tip. strangely they didn’t suggest this until after the card application failed (because I have no US credit history), then it went through to the Global team and they sorted it straight away , not quite the same credit limit as my UK card but still good for someone with no financial history in the US .

jerry a. laska

As you were told by Amex, once you change your BAEC country of membership you will no longer earn Avios on your monthly spend. You could choose not to change your BAEC country of residence and continue to earn as you do now. You could also apply for a Chase visa (with usually an attractive bonus) and once you have charged $30,000 in a calendar year you receive a companion ticket.
Also, have a look at these threads:
BAEC addresses and UK/US cards
Moving to USA FFP advice

Mixbury

There is a Chase card that awards 3 avios per dollar spent.

pauljeff

As someone who has recently moved:

Do an international card transfer - i.e. open a US account and port the MR points over. once a year there is a 40% conversion bonus to avios so you're getting 1.3 (FX Rate) * 1.4 Avios per MR.

Get an amex plat in the US. It gives 5 MR (= 7 Avios with transfer bonus) per dollar spent on flights which is way better than the chase visa.

Ideally, try to spend the avios on family visiting you or try funky things with nested flights where you are always 'mid-trip' in the USA so that your flights are all bought ex-UK (I started trying to do this and then gave up as we didn't go back to the UK enough) - the taxes fees and charges are much lower on ex-UK.

corporate-wage-slave

I can't add much to the advice given above but I would like to welcome you, Leither, to the BA forum here on Flyertalk, and I imagine this place will be useful for you in your move to the USA.

If your stay in the USA is just going to be a few years I wonder if it would make more sense to stay UK resident for BA purposes?

golfmad

Just to clarify, it's currently:

3 Avios per $1 spent on BA, Iberia and Aer Lingus
2 Avios per $1 spent on hotels
1 Avios per $1 spent on everything else

golfmad

May I add my welcome to you too.

I moved here in 2011. If you're going to be in the US for more than a short time I would certainly give up the UK BA Amex and move to a combination of Amex in the US and Chase for BA. I also use Citi and Barclays in the US for AA. I have kept an Amex card in the UK.

If you've not lived in the US before you'll probably find that your UK credit score will be completely useless in the US and this is where the Amex global transfer is particularly useful as you can get going building your credit score with an Amex card. You probably won't be able to obtain a Chase card for a few months until you've built some credit history but after that the US banks will start throwing cards at you. Paying a mortgage or rent or a car loan is a great way to build some credit history in the short term.

As soon as move you'll need to apply for your social security cards and that will make it easier to obtain your US driving license. Good luck with the move.

LondonElite

Excellent advice.

guv1976

MR points can be transferred to Delta or to BA or IB. Avios can be redeemed for "MileSAAver" (low-tier) award seats on AA. Depending on the particular AA itinerary, BA might require fewer or more Avios than IB for the exact same AA award itinerary.

Amex will charge a small fee for transferring MR points to domestic (U.S.) FFPs like Delta Sky Miles; no Amex fee for transferring to foreign FFPs (like BAEC or Iberia Plus).

mec72

Get Amex Plat for flights (5 MR per $) and Amex Gold for supermarkets and restaurants (3 MR per $). If you can, also get Chase Sapphire Reserve. Remember that Chase which has some of the most attractive cards has a 5/24 rule, so think about strategy when applying for cards and try to prioritize the Chase ones.

Also, remember that most US FF programs have moved away from standard award charts, so a one-way business class ticket on Delta to the UK can easily cost 275,000 miles; partner awards will usually be the sweet spot - or booking Delta tickets using VS miles. VS is generally very useful as a back-up and MR point transfers to DL and VS are instantaneous so if you see availability, you can book the ticket right away.

Mixbury

Thank you, I was thinking only of the Avios.

Unless you're after the Chase travel together voucher (and even then you might be better retaining the UK BA AMEX at GBP 10k spend versus USD 30k for the Chase - but remember the departure point of each is in the respective country), the AMEX Platinum offers 5 points per dollar on airline spend, and a reasonably reliable (though not guaranteed) annual 40% bonus on transfers to BAEC (which can remain UK registered). Therefore USD 10k spend nets 30k avois with Chase and 70k with AMEX assuming you net the transfer bonus. Then there are the welcome bonuses...