What next?

Discussion in 'Air miles' started by James, Nov 19, 2016.

  1. James

    James New Member

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    Hi everyone, long time lurker but not really been active on here.

    So I got the AMEX platinum a while ago for the sign up bonus and hotel status' followed by the hilton visa and then the BA free AMEX. The platinum has been cancelled so I'm waiting for the six months to be up before I can reapply for the bonuses. I will shortly be cancelling the BA card too. I'm wondering which cards should I be looking at getting next while waiting for the six months on both cards to be up, what do you all think? I'm probably going to stick with collecting just AVIOS as I don't fly that often so collecting on multiple schemes will probably be a waste.
     
  2. JoeD

    JoeD Well-Known Member

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    Hi James,

    If you don't have the option of applying for the Amex Business Gold (I don't remember the criteria being that strict, so you might qualify even you don't think you would), personally I'd always go for the SPG Amex.

    Yes, there's the annual fee (£75) but you only need to spend £1000 to get the 10,000 Starpoints (11,000 if referred), and then you can get a pro rata refund.

    Transferring Starpoints to Avios is a bit of a waste to be honest - because Starpoints are so flexible I'd just keep them for a rainy day unless you really needed the Avios. The way things are going with Avios, I think it's time most people considered diversifying the Points/Miles they focus on (Avios are still definitely worth collecting of course, but for long-haul premium cabins there are much better options).

    You can use Starpoints for SPG and Marriott hotels, transfer to dozens of airline loyalty programmes and use for SPG Moments, so you never know when they will come in handy.

    You can always top up your SPG account by transferring Amex MR Points at a future date too (admittedly at a 2:1 rate, but that can still make a lot of sense - it tends to be how I empty my Amex Gold/Plat account before cancelling). The fact it's easy to shuffle Starpoints around between members of the same household is very helpful for building up a decent balance too.

    At the moment, the next best is probably the free MBNA Etihad card that's currently offering 15,000 Miles
     

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