AMEX Credit Card

#21

So if you use the gold card @nickh transfer across all your bonus points to the relevant flight rewards program is there a certain notice of time you have to give in advance to avoid the second year fee?

#22

Im looking at either the Everday Cashback AMEX or the BA Avios AMEX I’m just not sure how much I’d actually use the points at my age atm - but may be surprised.

Cheers for the succinct answer

#23

I don’t believe so. As long as cancel your Amex within the first 364 days, you won’t pay the fee (I think).

It all comes down to your personal circumstances - I’ve never really needed the cashback - I always felt like it was pretty small, especially when I was younger and not spending as much.

So I figured the airmiles would come in handy one day (there’s no time limit on using them).

Fast forward a few years and I’ve saved thousands by using the airmiles - I’d estimate the cashback I’d have received to be significantly less (6 or 7 times less than the equivalent cost of the flights).

Doesn’t work for everyone, and you need to book flights in advance - But I personally love it.

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#24

Thanks for the speedy reply!

Have you ever used anything other than the Avios program?

My plan was to get an amex now in the next month and then use the card for a year and have enough points to pay/part-pay for a flight to dubai/aus as a part of travelling next august.

Do you really need to book “points” flight a year in advance? :thinking:

EDIT: was thinking of using the emirates or another airlines program other than BA saying as id be flying from dublin more than likely :slight_smile:

#25

I think collecting Avios is well worth it and if you’re clever about it you can actually get really good value from them when you redeem them. The headforpoints.com site is excellent for explaining the (sometimes arcane) rules and methods to extract the most value.

I know it’s a minor point but they do actually expire if there’s no account activity for 3 years, so it’s worth being careful if you’ve built up a lot!

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#26

I think you’re right, It is just understanding how to use them effectively I think - I think i’ll look at getting either the Gold AMEX or the BA AMEX - only like the BA one as I won’t need to min/max the cancellation and re-opening.

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#27

This is a valid point (activity can be as simple as paying in a few points).

So, with BA, the options for “rewards flights” (ones where you pay with Air Miles) are pretty slim the closer you get to the departure date.

I don’t know what the other options are like, as I’ve not used them.

The reason I stick with BA is because they fly all over Europe, and I don’t need to pay taxes on those flights.

If you fly out of Europe, you need to pay taxes, which at times, feel like the bulk of the ticket!

There should be “calculators” on the various airlines websites which show you how much you’ll have to pay…

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#28

Sorry to keep firing questions your way :joy: do you know what the “cool-down” is say for the account? I can see AMEX are trying to stop repeat sign-ups for bonuses but just wondered if you had any idea on if I cancelled I could only re-apply say X months later?

#29

I believe it’s straight away (could be proved wrong).

It was previously 6 months before you could claim the sign up bonuses - But I don’t remember seeing any restriction on simply re-applying (although there was never any benefit to doing this before).

#30

Im in two minds which to get.

I am getting married abroad this year and guest have been sending me cash to pay for their part of the holiday.

I was thinking of keeping all the funds in a pot and when I have all the money, applying for a amex and paying the lot on their, then when the bill comes, empty the pot and pay the amex balance.

Id expect it to be roughly ÂŁ8000.

Whether to get the gold and bag the 20000 points plus the extra points for the transaction.

Or go for the cashback, max ÂŁ150 in bonus period, plus the 1 percent or .5 percent depending on which cashback card

Maybe get a companion voucher for honeymoon?

Decision decisions…

#31

That’s terrible news… I wasn’t ever going to start churning points, but I was hoping to get the sign up bonus for the gold card when I get the cashback paid for my current one - I might just keep this card now, what’s the point

#32

So retailers are no longer funding your points?

I’m not sure I feel too sorry :wink:

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#33

Keep in mind that American Express may have charges abroad - I think the platinum cashback card does, for example.

The Nationwide Select CC has a smaller amount of cashback but it commission free, so might be worth a look.

#34

I have two Amex cards, aflight point one and a cashback one and there’s no annual fee on either

#35

You could always go for the cashback one instead. I’ve got two Amex. One airmile reward and the other a cashback

#36

I use the BA AMEX as I fly with BA for work.

You can actually combine rewards with BA so this year I used the BA companion voucher, spent around 100k avios and got us business class flights to the West Coast USA for two. The companion voucher essentially gets you a reward flight for free (in points terms) but you do still have to pay the taxes on both.

Saved thousands!

#37

I think I’m likely to grab the Gold AMEX points card for 11 months, ditch it before I have to pay the renewal fee (hopefully hitting the 20,000 bonus point haul) and then just moving back to the normal fee free BA AMEX (even though I won’t get anything for signing up) i’ll at least get the same deal £1 for 1 point and won’t need to pay.

#38

You’d be better off holding it until after renewal fee if you manage to hit £15,000 spend. You’ll receive 10,000 more bonus points and two more lounge passes. Then you can cancel and receive a pro rata refund on the fee.

#39

Unlikely to hit that on my salary without moving into the realms of only pro rata’ing about half of the annual fee.

I’m more just trying to “start early” with the whole points accrual. I’ve had just a basic CC for about a year now which does next to nothing for me (apart from provide credit obviously).

So I think i’ll just min max what I can, by the time I’m in a position to get that £15,000 deal 24 months would’ve gone and i’ll be able to re-sign up.

Does anyone pay their bills/ rent/ mortgage out of their credit card or know if this is possible?

#40

I don’t know how realistic paying rent is through credit card, but billhop can cover a lot of these (though for a fee) - https://billhop.com/gb/. Otherwise Curve card works for bills (just not with Amex).