Amex/american express

Man of Honour
Joined
24 Sep 2005
Posts
35,487
What is the best way of booking the avoid reward flights with a companion voucher? Just tried to do it via the British airways app and nearly threw my phone out of the window. Awful, simply horrible!

Also has the value of points changed? I seem to recall that 150000 and a voucher (paying for taxes) would get a return business class trip to Japan in off season, yet I couldn’t seem to get anywhere near that. Again, I cannot understate how bad / slow / crufty the app experience was so perhaps what I could find was on peak, or the app just didn’t work.

Finally, where can I find the peak / off peak British airways flight calendar for 2020?
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Feb 2004
Posts
21,204
Location
Hondon de las Nieves, Spain
Well i got rid of my Gold card and swapped for the BA Plus card. The plan is to hit the £3k signup bonus next month and then sack it off and switch to the Vitality cashback card.

I figure it'll net me around £400 a year cashback (2%) with no annual fee and i'm valuing that more highly than the Avios points as i'm not a huge flyer so building up a big balance constantly without churning through cards is going to be tricky. Plus there always seem to be better flight deals available by being flexible on locations/dates than using the Avios redemptions, after taxes are factored in.

Only shame is that the Vitality cashback booster is capped at £1000/month and aside from that the cashback is just the standard Amex card. Would've been better if they offered the £25 fee version.
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
9,158
What is the best way of booking the avoid reward flights with a companion voucher? Just tried to do it via the British airways app and nearly threw my phone out of the window. Awful, simply horrible!

Also has the value of points changed? I seem to recall that 150000 and a voucher (paying for taxes) would get a return business class trip to Japan in off season, yet I couldn’t seem to get anywhere near that. Again, I cannot understate how bad / slow / crufty the app experience was so perhaps what I could find was on peak, or the app just didn’t work.

Finally, where can I find the peak / off peak British airways flight calendar for 2020?
Use the BA website. It's still terrible, just a little less terrible.

I found the same - couldn't go anywhere useful in Business/First so I cancelled the card and the 2 vouchers I had expired.
 
Associate
Joined
7 Jan 2020
Posts
1
Hello everyone,
I am having some issues to understand how works the reward system of American express UK.
My business partner just took a Business Platinum amex and I am the supplementary card holder with a third party authorisation.
However, even if I can basically discuss anything regarding rewards points over the phone with Amex, I am still unsure if I can transfer some of "our" reward points to MY airline loyalty program account.

I found the following sentences on the uk amex website:
"Any person chosen by the primary Cardmember can become an authorised 3rd party on the account allowing them to redeem. In order to appoint an authorised 3rd party, the primary Cardmember must complete a 3rd party form. The designated person will then have full access to the primary Cardmember’s Membership Rewards account, and will be able to request a Points balance and make redemptions.

Some of our travel partners may allow 3rd parties to travel using Points from the primary Cardmember's account, but this varies by partner. Please check with the partner before Points are redeemed."

Does anyone have an idea how I could benefit from the rewards we are getting in this business account? In the US, it is pretty easy if you are an authorised user.

Thanks in advance
 
Caporegime
Joined
20 May 2007
Posts
39,655
Location
Surrey
The Amex Nectar card is the best card i have. I got it before they made the points collecting worse, so i rack up nectar points like there is no tomorrow. 1 point for every pound, and then 500 bonus points on top of that for every £500 point spent in a month . Also get double or triple points at some partners.

I end having loads at double up time and end up having a few hundred to spend in Sainsbury's just before Christmas. Pays for all the prosseco and champagne :p

I also cant remember the last time i ever bought coffee when out and about as you can free nero drinks with nectar too.
 

Jez

Jez

Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
33,073
The Amex Nectar card is the best card i have. I got it before they made the points collecting worse, so i rack up nectar points like there is no tomorrow. 1 point for every pound, and then 500 bonus points on top of that for every £500 point spent in a month . Also get double or triple points at some partners.

I end having loads at double up time and end up having a few hundred to spend in Sainsbury's just before Christmas. Pays for all the prosseco and champagne :p

I also cant remember the last time i ever bought coffee when out and about as you can free nero drinks with nectar too.
You just caused me to have a look at that card, it would suit me well as we spend a fortune with Sainsbury’s. it is actually slightly better now than the card which you have by the looks of it? It is a flat 2 points per £1 and with a bonus of 20000 points after 3 months (one off). Thank you for that as I’d never have thought about a nectar linked credit.
 
Caporegime
Joined
20 May 2007
Posts
39,655
Location
Surrey
You just caused me to have a look at that card, it would suit me well as we spend a fortune with Sainsbury’s. it is actually slightly better now than the card which you have by the looks of it? It is a flat 2 points per £1 and with a bonus of 20000 points after 3 months (one off). Thank you for that as I’d never have thought about a nectar linked credit.

Oh yeh! It got worse for a time, but it seems to have got better now! I did get the bonus as well.

Edit: It has a £25 annual fee now! That would eat a bit into the nectar profits. I joined when there was no fee. Still a pretty god card though.
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Feb 2004
Posts
21,204
Location
Hondon de las Nieves, Spain
@Poulos

As far as i'm aware you'd only be able to discuss transactions relating to your purchases. I'm also not sure if Amex UK allow you to transfer to an airline scheme in a different name to the main account holder. My wife has a bunch of points and can't transfer them to my Avios scheme for example.

It may be different on Business cards though. Best to phone them up, they're really helpful.
 

Jez

Jez

Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
33,073
Oh yeh! It got worse for a time, but it seems to have got better now! I did get the bonus as well.

Edit: It has a £25 annual fee now! That would eat a bit into the nectar profits. I joined when there was no fee. Still a pretty god card though.
Just had it pointed out to me that current amex customers cannot get the bonus :(
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Feb 2011
Posts
3,619
I’ve two Amex cards. A gold one which collects points and a platinum cashback. Currently use the platinum one for business use on which I spend a good chunk every year (c. 10k) with the gold one for personal use.

Would it be worth my while swapping them around and focusing on collecting points?
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Jan 2006
Posts
15,942
Just used another 2-4-1 voucher

business class Heathrow to Kuala Lumpa and ret from Bangkok for £590 each, smashing :)

nice - I've got 275,000 Amex points on my gold card, and just started a BA amex to get the companion voucher so should have some pretty decent options open up with that many points.
 
Don
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
41,733
Location
Notts
nice - I've got 275,000 Amex points on my gold card, and just started a BA amex to get the companion voucher so should have some pretty decent options open up with that many points.


I'm down to 65k avios and and 125k VA but I'm currently accumulation avios at over 15k a month
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Jun 2010
Posts
6,566
Location
Essex
Bumping:

Anyone else have an Amex Platinum Cashback Credit Card and just received an email saying the rates are changing -

From:
1% for first £10k
1.25% for over the first £10k
To:
0.75% for first £10k
1.25% for over the first £10k

It’s a bit annoying but there’s no alternative really.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Jun 2010
Posts
6,566
Location
Essex
I’ll keep using it. It’s effectively 1% off everything you spend. It adds up. But it’s a bit annoying they’ve reduced it. Although there’s no alternative really.
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Feb 2004
Posts
21,204
Location
Hondon de las Nieves, Spain
I found cashback is not the best reward scheme, the points are. But you got to be patience and wait for deals to spend it on things.

Do you spend them on anything other that flights?

I had both a BA card and also the regular Membership rewards cards, but with no flights from Manchester and generally only flying around Europe anyway there weren't many benefits. Using them for Amazon vouchers etc seemed a poor use and was around 0.5% in effect. I did use around 35,000 points for car hire once, but that only would've cost around £140 elsewhere due to the inflated Sixt prices. I just couldn't find another use for them.

Then i probably spend 15k-20k a year. That's only 20,000 points at most which doesn't seem to get much.
 
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