Hi all,
With Monzo looking to integrate AMEX into the app, I was surprised at how many people have them. I was always under the impression that they were premium credit cards. Maybe they are and I am just poor 
What is the benefit of an AMEX card? I know they tend to have good air-mile rewards but for non-frequent fliers are they worth getting? (Obviously on the basis that you can pay it back in full every month and not putting yourself into debt yada yada yada)
Check out this link to see all the rewards you can claim with the points you earn: https://catalogue.membershiprewards.co.uk/ 
You don’t have to be a frequent flier…
I use the air miles for family holidays - Spend as normal for a few years, and then all of a sudden you can enjoy dirt cheap flights for the family.
You can also transfer them to other things (like Amazon vouchers etc), but the air miles swap is by far the best value.
Do you have to pay an annual rate for an AMEX card?
Plus based on the link @Tunny posted above, I don’t utilize many of the airlines listed either.
Basically, not sure whether it is worth getting one. Me and my wife would like to start travelling more generally. But at the moment we tend to do all-inclusive family holidays so don’t know if it would be beneficial.
Historically I’ve been a “cheapest deal on a flight” kind of person (so, like you, wouldn’t have used any of the amex “partners”).
But when you convert them to BA points, you’ll find it becomes very cheap (plus, BA isn’t anywhere near as “fancy” as I thought it would be).
Effectively, if you are staying in Europe, it’ll cost you barely anything (as you still pay for taxes) - But a family of 4/5 will cost between £100 and £200 in taxes (total), and that is all you’ll pay for the entire return flight (it includes luggage etc).
I use the Gold card which has an annual fee of £140 per year.
But… I use it between 6 months and 11 months, get all of the extra bonuses I can get, and then I cancel the card and my wife signs up.
It’s an extra admin task, sure - But it’s saved us thousands on flights.
I’m assuming that you have had to use all the points by then?
Also once your wife finishes her year do you then re-sign up?
You don’t need to use the points - You just transfer them to your BA Executive Club account (which you can share with other family members).
But yes, any points left in the account will be lost.
As Elton John once sang… It’s the cirrrrrrrcle of life!
TBF, even if I paid the £140 per year, it would still work out cheaper due to the savings on flights.
But yeah, we don’t pay the fee, because we keep swapping (you can’t re-apply for 6 months), but that fits in fine with having 1 on, 1 off.
Edit - And as for the BA Executive club, your wife points would go into her own account, which you can share - So you can keep building them up 
Ah I see…you convert them to points and they stay within BA then.
(Now googling BA flights from Manchester)
A very rough guide would be 15-20K points per person for a return flight.
The reward flights aren’t that straightforward to book either - You have to try and do them as far in advance as possible (they are released 355 days in advance I believe).
But if you aren’t massively picky, you’ll usually find something!
And is it 1 point per £1?
Generally, yeah.
With the Gold card, you get 20,000 bonus points if you spend £2,000 in the first 3 months (I think).
So if both you and your wife did that in year 1, you’d already have at least 46,000 points.
And if you used my referral code (which I won’t spam on here), it would be another 9,000.
Once you are signed up, you’d just use your own referral code to refer your wife, and then flip it around when she needed to refer you…
Ok…next question
Is there a limit on how long BA points last for? And do you only pay the annual fee at the end of the first year?
Just like with an individual account, your Household Account Avios stay with you as long as you collect, spend, purchase or share some Avios at least once every 36 months .
If you roll into year 2, you pay the £140 fee (so you can cancel on the 364th day if you’d like, and not pay a penny).
You’ve pretty much sold this to me…
Now to persuade the wife…
"Hey, honey… Do you want to go anywhere in Europe for next to nothing?
All we need to do is change what card we spend on for the next 1 or 2 years?"
If that doesn’t work… Nothing will.
I have a BA Amex card, no fee. I use it frequently to buy my holidays and I fly with BA most of the time. I do mostly long haul, don’t bother visiting mainland Europe anymore, mostly the USA/Caribbean/South Africa and so I get a decent amount of Avios points. Plus any other purchases I make on the card I get Avios points. I’m up to almost 100,000 Avios as it stands. It’s great for cashing in on flights or upgrades.
I would like to add, I’ve only had the card since Christmas, but I’ve earned a lot of points since then.
So, I should probably add this new (and gutting) piece of information…
The “churning” days are over…
Thanks go to a departed Monzo forum member for the information.
Noooo
@nickh I’m looking at wiping my Santader CC with my student Overdraft (not actually that much but just to “zero” it) and then get an AMEX for the Monzo integration and now that I have a better credit score.
What is usually better, Cashback or Avios points? Or is it really on a case by case basis? Have you only ever had Avios CCs or also dabbled in Cashback?
I have been using the Gold credit card (1 point - 1 avios).
Cashback is more versatile (for obvious reasons), but avios will generally give you more “value” providing you are wanting to book tickets anyway.
At times, it can be 4/5/6 times more value than the equivalent cashback would have offered.