My partner has some big purchases coming up, so is thinking of signing up to Amex platinum for the bonus (and status with various hotel chains) then cancelling ASAP to get most of the annual fee refunded. A few questions before she does so: - if she hits the spending target in the first few days, how quickly is she likely to be able to take the bonus and then cancel? I'm guessing a month or so? - if she gives someone a supplementary card, will that be a financial link that shows on credit checks etc? - if she refers me for a card and then cancel before I've met the qualifications for the bonus, I guess she won't get the referral bonus? Thanks, and sorry about the basic questions!
The welcome bonus comes within a week or two from hitting the spend target from my experience. Dont think there’s any credit check for supplementary. Certainly not for many that I applied. The referral bonus almost always get deposited on the day the applicant receive new card.
Thanks! Planning to sign up today and get through the £4k spend in a day or two after the card arrives. Wonder if we'll get the bonus before Amex stops giving 0.9p/MR points... In terms of supplementary cards, I was thinking more about being linked to someone on credit reports. My partner might give a supplementary card to someone with a poor credit rating, so wouldn't want to be linked to them as far as credit reference agencies are concerned...
Should work out fine re getting the bonus before the 20th I reckon. Cards normally arrive a few days after applying for me, and the points should get triggered a couple of days after the spend is hit. Re supp cards, I've never heard of anything like that being an issue. The only thing to remember is that the main cardholder is responsible for paying the bill, so only give them to people you 100% trust!
Thanks! In terms of referrals, I've had a gold card a few months ago, but if I get referred to the British Airways premium plus card then I'd be eligible for the avios bonus and my partner would get 12,000 MR points on her platinum card?
Giving a supplementary card will get you bonus MR as well, I think 3000 points for Gold and 5000 points for Plat.
It looks like statement credits will be the way to go while Amex is still paying 0.9p/MR point... Does anyone know whether - if the credits are used against a purchase that's ultimately refunded - this would be a problem? Open to suggestions of better uses of MR points, but anything I can see looks like a lot of effort for minimal extra value... I know avios can be worth more, but we generally fly from Scotland (so little value in short haul to Europe). We're hoping to head to Japan in the next year or two but - unless I'm missing something - we'd struggle to get any great value redemptions even if we accrued 100k avios between us?
Best value would be hitting 10k spend on BA Premium Plus for a companion voucher and book a trip to Japan in business class.
Thanks. I'd struggle to spend £10k on amex, but had wondered about that... A single business ticket ticket to Japan is 75k avios - so could cover the flight one way, but then have to pay cash for the return? Unless I'm misreading the redemption charts?
At the moment, I've been burning all the points on my Plat for 0.9p. Given the flight deals we are likely to see in the next year or so (including miles sales), it's hard to argue that converting into Avios/most other miles instead would make sense. Put the money saved aside into a Japan travel fund. The one thing that could make sense, potentially, is to transfer to Virgin Flying Club to redeem for flights on ANA. Biz Class RETURN is just 95k miles and First Class is 120,000: https://insideflyer.co.uk/2018/11/fly-first-class-japan-less-1700-return/ The issue there is how much you are prepared to trust Virgin Flying Club at the moment, and what would you do with the miles if the ANA redemption went away or was made more expensive before you booked.
Thanks - tempting options, but think I will go for the 0.9p/point Any idea if using this against purchases that are later refunded would cause me problems?
Shouldn't be a problem. If you redeem the points against purchases that are later refunded, all that will happen is that your balance will be in credit once the refund hits. You can then either just spend that, or ask Amex to send you a cheque if you're closing the account straight away. If you mean what happens if you redeem points that are earned from a purchase that is later refunded, you end up with a negative Points balance once the refund comes through. You can then wait to properly earn those points before closing the account (so that you don't have a negative points balance when you cancel the card), which is probably best if you value long term relationship with Amex; or you can cancel the card with a negative points balance.
Thanks - good point about not annoying amex too much! Will chat with my partner and try not to take the p with a negative points balance. I don't think she's planning a new amex card within the next two years, though, and the ~£40/month she keeps the platinum may be worth annoying amex for...
Bonus paid and redeemed - should end up a good few hundred up, so thanks for the advice! Decision is now how long to keep the card for. Worth hanging onto it for a bit longer - in the hope of a retention offer when partner does cancel - or as well just to cancel now to save fees?
Have you considered downgrading to the AmEx green card instead If cancelling the platinum? That’s only £60pa and in my view shouldn’t annoy AmEx as much as a full cancellation.
