Hi guys. I took out a BAPP Amex. Achieved the signup bonus after spending the required amount within the timeframe. Parked it. Wife got a BAPP and we've just hit the target for the signup bonus. Going to switch back to my BAPP Amex now and continue towards the trigger point for the companion voucher. What do I do about the wife's BAPP Amex? Do I wait for all the Avios to be shifted over to BAEC and then cancel the card? downgrade to the free BA Amex? something else? Any idea how often the Avios gets transferred automatically, and is there a way to force this to happen quicker by cancelling the card (or downgrading to the free card)? It's unlikely (but not impossible) that we will achieve two lots of companion vouchers given we've already done a Gold preferred rewards Amex each already. So given that there do not seem to be any other cards out there that would be of use to us, with perhaps the exception of an IHG card (but I'm already platinum through stays paid by employer) should I keep her BA PP Amex active? Is it easy to go to/from free card to PP card without issues? Would appreciate some thoughts please people. Thanks.
I would cancel it rather downgrade - at the very least you can then get points for referring her if she wants to get another card in future. Avios should transfer automatically sometime around the end of the statement month. I'm actually not entirely sure what happens if you cancel a card before the avios/points have transferred. I would hope that Amex still sends them over on the same date they would have done if you kept the card, but I would definitely want to get that confirmed from them in writing first (the online chat people on the amex site should be able to let you know either way). I don't think you can make the Avios transfer more quickly, but could be wrong. As regards maybe hitting the 241 on her card, I wouldn't worry about it at this point. Cancel, then reapply (and get the referral points) in future if you think you might be able to. You might also want to consider the Amex SPG card (30,000 Marriott Points sign up bonus). £75 fee, but there's a pro rata refund as usual. Hope some of that helps!
Thanks for the reply. As we already received the signup bonus for the preferred rewards gold cards, I don't think we would be entitled to the signup bonus from the SPG card. In fact, I don't think there are any Amex cards we can still get signup bonuses from at all until we cancel our gold or Amex cards and then wait 2 years. Unless I've misunderstood the rules of course. So, if we cancel her card, we would presumably get a pro-rata refund right? What if we instead just downgraded her to the free BA Amex? would we still get a refund? And would the clock still be ticking on the 1 year timer to hit the 10k spend for her companion voucher? Thanks.
Ah yes - I'd forgotten how draconian the news sign up rules are! Pro rata refund would be fine either way. 241 on the free card requires 20k spend, not 10k like the BAPP, so I'm not really sure what the advantage of downgrading would be as opposed to cancelling and getting a new BAPP (with referral bonus) when you're ready.
Thanks. A related question: when I hit my target spend to trigger the companion voucher, how long does it take before the voucher is available to me? Can I then cancel that BAPP card, even though I will have held it for under a year? Would the voucher still be valid for use despite me no longer holding any BA Amex cards (I will still own a preferred rewards gold card so can use that for paying the taxes when I use the voucher). Finally, does the voucher need to have been used & consumed within it's period of validity, or do I merely need to have made a booking within that ti
No worries! It should pop in your account quite soon after hitting the spend - if it's not there after about 5 days I'd give Amex a ring. Cancelling is fine - you need to have an Amex in order to use the voucher, but it doesn't have to be a BA one. You need to have booked and flown the outbound leg by the voucher expiry date - the return leg can be on a later date.
Just got told by Amex live chat that if I cancel my card before using the companion voucher, the voucher is also cancelled. This sounds like nonsense to me as it implies that I would need to renew my card membership fee for a further year since the voucher would naturally expire well after the 1st year of my BA PP Amex card.
Yes, that's a well-known mistake the amex agents pretty much all make. The reality is that the certificate stays in your BAEC account and you can use it as long as you have some kind of Amex card to pay the taxes etc.
With the new rules that AMEX implemented a couple of years ago, it might be worth cancelling BAPP and applying for the Platinum card. It is currently running a promo with a 65k sign up bonus so have a look at it
