Amex Platinum cashback

JohalaReewi

At what point is it worth switching from the old tiered rates to the new 1.25% rate with annual fee? Doing basic maths, I make it a minimum £2000 spend just to cover the £25 annual fee before you start to get any cashback.

However, Amex are famous for rounding cashback down to the nearest 1p on each transaction. So if you spent £1.59 each time you still only get 1p cashback, and it would be £3975 spend to get £25 to cover the annual fee. ** See edit below

OK you get double cashback in the 1st month so a £1000 spend in month 1 could cover the annual charge (or it could be as much as £2475).

Compared to the tiered rates, at the 0.5% rate, you have to spend a minimum of £2 to get any cashback and you could be losing cashback on up to £1.99 per transaction. With the 1.25% rate, you only have to spend a minimum of 80p to get cashback (50p in month 1) and only lose cashback on up to 79p on each transaction (49p in month 1).
For a £3.99 spend, the old cashback would be 1p, the new cashback would be 4p.

So the potential to earn more cashback on spend up to £3500 is much greater on the new scheme.

I feel a spreadsheet coming on...

**edit
Have just spotted in the new T&Cs...

Cashback is earned on every full pound spent per purchase. Amounts eligible for cashback will be rounded down per purchase to the nearest full pound. Subject to any promotional offer we may make to you and to the rest of this „Cashback‟ section, an annual cashback on the aggregate amount of all purchases will be payable to you by us at the following rate:
(a) 1.25% on the aggregate amount of all purchases other than for purchases made at warehouse retailers in the United Kingdom where 0.5% will be payable on the aggregate amount. You can find out which retailers we treat as warehouse retailers by calling us on the telephone number on the back of your card or checking our website americanexpress.co.uk
(b) An additional cashback of 1.25% on the aggregate amount of all purchases made during your card anniversary month will be payable to you by us if you have made purchases in excess of £10,001 on your card in the preceding 12 months.

Seems to be at odds with what shows on the online cashback statement.
Maybe this is for the new card only?

locky123

Had Amex Platinum since March 2010. Spend between 10K-20K pa on it Just checked what the tiered rate is quoted on old statements and says...

0.5% for aggregate amounts up to £3,500
1.0% for aggregate amounts from £3,501 to £7,500
1.25% for aggregate amounts in excess of £7,501

Just done a few calculations and seems their latest one @ 1.25% gives slightly better cashback.

Are there any other catches apart from the annual fee?

Is it possible to apply for another Amex Platinum whilst keeping current one?

thegoodman

Have you looked at cap one cashvback card?
The tiered is higher but it is master card and work at most places.

w211

locky123 wrote: »

Is it possible to apply for another Amex Platinum whilst keeping current one?

I don't know, but if you have the credit card, then you can apply for their charge card, which I've done. They didn't do a credit check, and was immediately accepted (though I did have their credit card for the last 5 years where the balance was paid off in full every month - obviously to take advantage of the cashback).

malcolmffc

Why do cashback cards always offer more cashback on supermarket and petrol station transactions? I presume it's because the card provider's fee is higher on these, but I find this surprising - most supermarkets and petrol stations belong to big chains, who you would expect to negotiate a lower merchant fee than smaller shops.

JohalaReewi

malcolmffc wrote: »

Why do cashback cards always offer more cashback on supermarket and petrol station transactions?

I know what you mean but the Amex platinum CC pays the same rate for all transactions.

cajsa

here's a thought ( probably daft) my card is platinum cashback with no annual charge, what if i referred myself to the newer platinum cashback card with the annual fee of £25, would i get £25 for the referral and a further £25 when i use it ?

or alternatively not come up with daft ideas:idea:

zerog

cajsa wrote: »

here's a thought ( probably daft) my card is platinum cashback with no annual charge, what if i referred myself to the newer platinum cashback card with the annual fee of £25, would i get £25 for the referral and a further £25 when i use it ?

or alternatively not come up with daft ideas:idea:

... you won't be able to refer yourself. Maybe you can refer your wife or you can refer a friend, close it and then get them to refer you back after 6 months