Amex (American Express) Discussion

Looks like I’ll be managing it even at the higher rate, at least this year. I just go with an assumption of 1% for simplicity, so 2% with the companion voucher.

Today I booked a BA reward flight without a companion voucher and the value was 2p per point. So it is possible and relatively easy to do.

So 4p is possible! What was the flight? (Aiming to maximise my return!)

The flight was Dublin - Helsinki - Tokyo.

With a companion voucher I booked Dublin - Gran Canaria for peak summer and that came to 4.3p per point.

The best value I get (and this is different for each person) is for short-haul economy during busy seasons, for long-haul business, and for last minute urgent flights.

Yes, but then you’re benchmarking against a cash fare you’d probably never pay.

Unless you’re otherwise paying for elevated classes exclusively on one particular airline then airmiles credit cards of any flavour are not money saving. (Not saying it’s objectively the wrong thing to do by the way, just pointing out it’s a very different proposition - it’s about affordably getting to something you otherwise wouldn’t.)

In before “but surely you’re overpaying if you ‘have to’ shop at Sainsburys/Argos” - this would be true if you had to put more than a few hundred their way (i.e. when you redeem). My favourite redemption is fuel because Sainsburys are the cheapest around here currently, and it’s not a spend you can workaround with a giftcard or whatnot. But even if I didn’t drive - I’m absolutely sure I could have directed some spend from Amazon (or wherever) to Argos just occasionally at little to no extra cost.

I never understood this argument as a way of putting down the value of a redemption. To me, it feels like saying you never saved money on an item you bought that was on sale because you’d never pay full price for it, even when the sale is genuinely a sale.

Guess some just value things differently. I guess we should look more at the taxes being paid vs. whatever ticket you’d pay for (full economy fair vs. taxes for business class).

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It’s not putting anything down; it’s just so different that its pretty daft making a comparison between.

If you want to actually save money - Cashback and Nectar will do that. Cash is cash and ultimately everyone needs food, fuel and home/tech/clothing to survive.

If you want to forgo that saving and instead create a path to a premium flight at a decent price, thereby achieving something that you otherwise never would have, then airmiles is the way.

There’s no inferred judgement, it’s horses for courses - but you can’t do the latter and think you’re genuinely earning 2+% if that’s calculatd based on a cash fare you’d never pay.

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But those points are still ultimately getting you back 2%+ of what you spent, regardless of whether you would’ve ordinarily spent on that item?

The points don’t suddenly become valueless.

Not in ‘real money’. Like I said, it’s a totally different game - you practically give up on the ‘straightforward’ fixed % reward and instead enter in to a scheme which gets you an affordable (not free) redemption for something you want but otherwise can’t have.

The saving, if you calculate it, is based on whatever you would have paid for a cash fare if you were buying one on the open market. That’d then give you a realistic value per point used which you could then use to calculate an effective % for comparison to the above. (And I wouldn’t recommend actually doing this btw, because it’d totally ruin the fun…)

It’s not about earning x% in rewards, it’s about living like a baller from time to time.

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Yep, that’s why I strongly believe more people should focus on cashback, even though I personally still prefer miles.

I used to spend MR/Avios exclusively on regional Business/First flights in Asia & US or on transatlantic BA F/J with the voucher (both I would gladly pay cash for). But as I travel less often I eventually had to mix in the highly aspirational but no way worth the cash fair redemptions.

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I’d be going with cashback if it was at least 1% throughout the board but sadly it’s not happening. Maybe Chase will shake things up for a few years.

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Bold statement there.

There is also an argument for the non-monetary value for air miles. You can’t put value to them when someone uses air miles to treat themselves (and their family). That be reward flights, upgrades, etc.

Some of us do extensively travel (46 flights this year, most was 54 in 2019). They are flights I would take with or without using air miles. I like the flexibility that air miles give me in case I need to change a flight or cancel a trip. The value I get out of them is way more than any cashback and Nectar will do.

At the end of the day, everyone plays the game differently and that is fine.

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I don’t disagree with any of that, but if it is “non-monetary” it can’t also be “2%+” when compared against cashback and Nectar.

:100:

But to anyone getting in to the rewards game for the first time it’s very important to know these are entirely different disciplines.

I’ve been wondering lately whether it was worth making the switch. I always find these schemes a little opaque and have for the longest time stuck with my 0.5% Amex card. It’s not like the market has much in the way to offer in terms of interesting reward cards though

If you’re spending more than £6k (or £10k if you only want cashback) annually, you’re likely doing yourself a disservice sticking with that card, as every £ spent above £6k would earn more on the Nectar card (and every £ spent above £10k would earn more on the paid cashback card, which you should be able to upgrade your existing card to.).

I will be tempted by the 2% back on everything cards in the states but will otherwise stick with miles.

With the cash back cards, is it always going to be yearly that you receive your cashback? I’m coming up to my first anniversary and going forward would much prefer a monthly or weekly option rather than yearly.

Only pays out at the end of every card year.

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Yes, this is one of the main downsides of the Amex Cashback cards as opposed to their other reward offerings.

Per Oriental 12 zodiac, 2024 is year of Dragon.

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