ReneeMoss

I have a First USA Platinum British Airways Credit Card. I received in the mail today, a SIGNATURE First USA British Airways Credit Card - with an expiration date extended 6 months. The First USA Rep. could not tell me if there would be a charge for the extra 6 mos. extension - (the fee for the SIGNATURE card will be the same ($65) as the Platinum card - but has additional services (similiar to the Platinum Amex Card)The Rep. explained only some accounts are being oferred this very new card and you cannot apply for it. What, if any, is your experience with this offer? Is there a possibility that BA/First USA will offer this card in the future, with a promotion mileage bonus? I had a bad experience when First USA bought the Chase Manhattan credit card accounts, my Chase card was transferred to First USA - A new First USA card was sent to me, which I accepted and paid for. Then a promotion for new applicants for the First USA card was announced, and included 10,000 bonus miles with no fee for the first year. I had a devil of a time to get First USA to give me the 10,000 miles, and I ended up having to pay the annual fee. I don't want to have this happen with the new SIGNATURE Card, should I accept it. I'd appreciate your comments and input on this, Thanks, Renee

wanderlust

The FirstUSA platinum that I had was not BA, but I dropped them like a ton of bricks some time ago. Of all the accounts I have ever had, they were by far the absolute worst. From rotten customer service to two-cycle billing and short grace periods. I still get offers, but I will never again have an account with them. They are a sorry excuse for a credit card account.

Oops. Sorry, let me get off my soap box. But I really did have an extended string of very bad service with them.

Their Signature card may be altogether different. But given their track record, I wouldn''t bet on it.

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doc

Agree with wanderlust. First USA has been a nightmare. I have several inactive or cancelled accounts with them. My wife, however, responded to an offer for a free box of Godiva chocolate for a fee free card about a year ago. She couldn't resist the free Godiva but has not used the card!

pgupta011

I could not resist the 10K BA mile plus fee waived for the first year offer from them. Got the miles, no problems with the card so far.

WVFM

I have to say that my experience with FirstUSA has been positive. I applied for the BA card last year and have spoken to FirstUSA a couple of times (increase credit limit, add additional card, send new card in time for holiday etc.) and their response has been quick and pleasant. Also the BA miles are posted only a couple of days after the statement date, and well before the payment date

MileageAddict

I went with FirstUSA a year ago to complete the segments I needed for a Southwest Airlines ticket. Got rid of the card as soon as the segments posted.

Their customer service could go in college text books as an example of how bad customer service can be.

burkey

I too have had problems with FirstUSA, the problem being that they keep taking the merchants word over mine, even though I had the documentation. It took 3 months to resolve this. Just of note, these charges in dispute were on an American Medical Assoc Plat card... However, I did just sign up for the BA card which is now down to 5k miles, and no fee for a year just for the miles.

baobab

On Sunday we returned home after a three week trip. Since we'd been (mostly) wandering about Europe, Diners had been the card of choice until we made the requisite duty-free stop at Heathrow. I waved the BA visa card, but there was some problem: the phone rang and the lady who was assisting us spent some time in confused conversation with a Visa rep. Things did not seem to be progressing and time was trickling away, so she asked whether I wanted to speak to the Visa person to sort it all out or whether I'd rather use my Diners card, which I had hauled out at the first sign of trouble. At that stage I hadn't the time or patience to deal with what I thought was a demagnetised card, so Diners it was, and off we went to the aeroplane.

When we arrived at home many hours later, there was a long message on our answering machine telling us that someone in Philadelphia (where the gardener had been prior to the trip to Europe) had tried to order $3000 worth of air-conditioning on our account, and that First USA had put a hold on the card...

We are currently waiting for new cards, which we have been told to expect in 7 to ten days. The gardener dealt with all of this, but we have been fairly pleased with the way it's been handled.

[The lady in the duty-free shop probably had some idea about what was going on, but didn't want to alarm us - she was very nice to us, as she obviously believed that I am myself!]

SteinerboyCA

I've had the BA Platinum Visa for a while and have had good experiences with it so far (miles post on time, they let me off of $100+ finance charge when I was late paying due to staying longer in Europe than I anticipated). I spend about $25K/year with these guys so they tend to be happy to help out. Service has been OK - not as good as Diners or Amex.

I also use Diners Club (which I like a lot - but is just not accepted widely in US yet) and have signed up yet again with Amex for the Delta promo.

SteinerboyCA

I've had the BA Platinum Visa for a while and have had good experiences with it so far (miles post on time, they let me off of $100+ finance charge when I was late paying due to staying longer in Europe than I anticipated). I spend about $25K/year with these guys so they tend to be happy to help out. Service has been OK - not as good as Diners or Amex.

I also use Diners Club (which I like a lot - but is just not accepted widely in US yet) and have signed up yet again with Amex for the Delta promo.

SteinerboyCA

I've had the BA Platinum Visa for a while and have had good experiences with it so far (miles post on time, they let me off of $100+ finance charge when I was late paying due to staying longer in Europe than I anticipated). I spend about $25K/year with these guys so they tend to be happy to help out. Service has been OK - not as good as Diners or Amex.

I also use Diners Club (which I like a lot - but is just not accepted widely in US yet) and have signed up yet again with Amex for the Delta promo.

SteinerboyCA

I've had the BA Platinum Visa for a while and have had good experiences with it so far (miles post on time, they let me off of $100+ finance charge when I was late paying due to staying longer in Europe than I anticipated). I spend about $25K/year with these guys so they tend to be happy to help out. Service has been OK - not as good as Diners or Amex.

I also use Diners Club (which I like a lot - but is just not accepted widely in US yet) and have signed up yet again with Amex for the Delta promo.

Woofer

I personally have had great service with First USA bank. They had some problems when BA switched from Chase to First USA because they didn't have a dedicated cust. service staff. The calls bounced around everywhere. Now they have representatives that only deal with British Airways cardholders so the service seems better. I received the new signature card also. I've been told there won't be any bonus miles because the card isn't being marketed to the masses, it's an upgrade for preferred cardholders. Plus it sounds like you're lucky to have gotten the 10,000 bonus since all you really did was accept and sign the new card First USA sent you after the switch from Chase. Those bonuses are usually for new applicants only. Good going!