PointsMeanPrizes

I was looking in to the Amex and various other cards which get you BAMiles and then I clicked on the ad to the right of this page;
BA Visa Sigature Card

Imagine a perpetual BOGOF on club tickets, that would be fantastic. No having to wait for sales or MFU availability. Also you get nearly double the BAMiles as it is 1 per $ with the current exchange rate of around 1.78 that is better than a premium Amex!

Of course you would need a US address etc Has anyone found a way around this yet?

Shuttle-Bored

But it's only on full fare tickets - which is fine is you fancy shelling out over Ł6,000 for a J ticket to SFO for example....

Now my maths isn't that fantastic (as the Barra crew will testify... ), but I don't think it is quite as good as double.

Premium Amex:
1.5 Miles Per Pound (Non-BA) = 1.5 miles per $1.78
3 miles per pound (BA) = 3 miles per $1.78

BA Visa:
1 BA Mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases (so $1.78 would earn 1.78 miles)
2 BA Miles for every $1 spent on British Airways (so $1.78 would earn 3.56 miles)

So if I've done the sums correctly, it's 18% better for both?

Raffles

You'll find that one full-fare ticket (with a second one free) is substantially more expensive than buying 2 discounted ex-Europe Club World tickets - or probably even two ex-London non-refundable Club seats.

If you're looking for other cards to get BA Miles:

The Priority Club card has a 10,000 point opening bonus, transferable into 2,500 BA Miles (or indeed 1 free Holiday Inn night)

The Hilton and Marriott UK cards also come with a points bonus, although not enough on its own to transfer to BA without adding to it

The Shell visa card comes with a Plus Points bonus from time to time, but there are meant to be restrictions on transferring these to BA Miles if they come from the credit card instead of from buying petrol.

If you can find an offer from Amex for bonus Membership Rewards points for signing up to a normal charge card, you can transfer these to BA by laundering them through Priortiy Club or Starwood Preferred Guest.

And don't forget the BMI Visa. It is still the best offer going - 20,000 miles for signing up, and 1.5 miles per Ł1 spent. 'Cash and miles' gets you a business class flight to the US, South Africa, Caribbean etc for 37,500 miles + Ł245 + tax.

PointsMeanPrizes

I just looked at the full fare rices and you are indeed correct. In fact the BOGOF is only valid until the end of '05 anyway.

18% is also only a small amount to sacrifice I suppose to get the 241 Amex voucher too. Is there a similar one for Canada as teh Canadian $ is much weaker then the US?

Disco Volante

If you use a US Amex card in the UK, purchases would be converted from Ł to $ and the foreign exchange charges would be added. Assuming you do not have a $ bank account, you would have to convert Ł into $ to pay the bill, incurring a second set of foreign exchange charges. This is an expensive way to earn miles. Additionally you bear the risk of your purchases increasing in price if the Ł were to fall against the $.

lewinr

keep in mind that if most of your charges are in pounds then all your charges will be hit with 2% to 3% in currency conversion fees if you get a card billed in another currency. Furthermore, unless you generate income in that other currency, you'll have to convert from UKP to that currency in order to pay your bill, taking a further hit. You'll find you are paying at least 3% if not more just to get an extra 18%+ return. Not worth it...

craz

I guess people simply dont read everything there is to read.

Point 1 on the notes STATES that you must be a US Resident using a US Address. So in order to get this to work one would indeed need to use a friends address in the US, sign up as a US Executive Memeber with a US BA # , Just not worth the hassles, thats besides as noted by others the costs involved in charges being converted to US$ from GBP and then having to buy US$ in order to pay back your friend who has paid your acct off.

debug

US resident doesn't necessarily mean just having an address - it means being "known" to the US system - including a US Social Security Number. To get one of those you need a non-touristy visa and it all gets very complicated very quickly. Without one it's doubtful you would pass any credit check. I also believe that the US has tightened the rules recently (patriot act thing) for credit cards.

PointsMeanPrizes

Thanks to those above for taking the time to point out the glaring holes in my master plan to earn many many miles with only the same outlay.

The moral of this story?

Look before you jump.