AA Rewards Visa Card

Nodge51

I recently applied for the AA Rewards Visa card. I've done a search on this forum and it seems there have been problems with an AA Rewards Plus card but not sure if this is the same thing. According to the AA website, as an AA member I should get 2 points per £1 spent on fuel and motoring and 1 point per £1 on all other expenditure. Right from the start I've been unable to reconcile my points with my expenditure. I have now received my first statement which shows an expenditure of £361.52 with points earned 354.61. This expenditure included £69.95 on fuel so by my reckoning I should have 431.07 points.

I have queried this with the AA via their internal messaging system and I've been told..

"Thank you for your patients. I have checked with our Marketing team who advised that the account you applied for is the one for AA members and entitles you to 1 reward point for every £2 retail spend and 3 reward points per £1 spend on fuel transactions up to a total of £2000 per year. Many thanks."

The points I've been allocated don't match either version exactly but it's nearer to their's than mine.

I ignored the temptation to comment on the bad spelling and sent them the link to the relevant page on their website. I've just received a reply saying the information they sent me was correct. I've just replied back saying I had a copy of the page on the website which I would be forwarding to the financial ombudsman unless they sorted it out and gave me the points as advertised. I don't know if this will have any effect but I'd be interested to know if anyone else has this problem and any suggestions as to how to proceed.
Thanks

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

Is it a case of only getting a point for each COMPLETE pound spent?
e.g. spend £5.99 and get only 5 points, not 5.99 points.

Edit: No that can't be it as I see you have received fractional points. Back to the drawing board.

R34GTT

I'm not sure about their point calculations but to clear the card types up - there are two versions of their rewards card:-

• Rewards Plus (no longer accepting new customers)
• Rewards

I have the Rewards Plus card and I applied for it on the basis that you get:

3% cashback on fuel
0.5% cashback on everything else.

The cashback like you say is calculated based on points

You get 3 points per £1 of fuel
You get 1 point per £2 of everything else

Once you reach 2000 points you can convert this into £20 cashback in the form of a credit to your credit card account.

It sounds like you have received the Rewards Plus card like me which regardless of you being an AA member or not earns points at the same rate (initially it was only available to AA members, then non-members in October then closed all together a month later).

The Rewards card however does have different rates for members and non members. For AA members a higher earning rate of 1 point per £ on everything else and 2 points per £ on fuel. Again calculated based on points (I have underlined the difference to the Plus card):

You get 2 points per £1 of fuel
You get 1 point per £1 of everything else

So the Rewards Plus card earns 1 Point more on Fuel purchases but 0.5 points less on everything else compared to an AA member taking out the Rewards Card.

Edited this as it looks like the point redemption values are different between the Rewards Plus and Rewards cards.

Rewards Redemption Values
Motoring/Fuel purchases:
4% AA products
2% high street shopping vouchers
1% cash back

Everything else:
2% AA products
1% high street shopping vouchers
0.5% cash back

Rewards Plus Redemption Values
Fuel purchases:
?% AA products
3% high street shopping vouchers
3% cash back

Everything else:
? % AA products
0.5% high street shopping vouchers
0.5% cash back

Nodge51

Thank for the reply RG4GTT. So it looks like I applied for the Rewards card and they are giving me the points for a Rewards Plus card. This is no good to me a I spend very little on fuel and quite a lot on other purchases so I really need the 1 point per £1 spent as promised on their website.

I was hoping to hear from someone else who had the Rewards card to see if they were having the same problem.

The main problem is that the Rewards scheme seems to be operated outside of the AA and any correspondence you send them is just passed on to them and they just maintain everything is in order when it isn't.

SCO

Nodge51 wrote: »

The main problem is that the Rewards scheme seems to be operated outside of the AA and any correspondence you send them is just passed on to them and they just maintain everything is in order when it isn't.

It is MBNA that run the card.

R34GTT

May be worth ringing them?


'If you have a query about your AA Reward Points, call us on 0800 917 8612.'

Nodge51

R34GTT wrote: »

May be worth ringing them?


'If you have a query about your AA Reward Points, call us on 0800 917 8612.'

Thanks for that number. It took a long time but I did eventually establish that I had been issued with a "Rewards Plus" card instead of a "Rewards" card. They're going to send me a new card and correct my points allocation.

R34GTT

Nodge51 wrote: »

Thanks for that number. It took a long time but I did eventually establish that I had been issued with a "Rewards Plus" card instead of a "Rewards" card. They're going to send me a new card and correct my points allocation.

Good end result, though it seems a waste for them to have to issue you a new card rather than just allocate your account to the "Rewards" version. Assuming you also get a new credit card number and PIN? That seems crazy, I bet the card design will be identical too.

Nodge51

R34GTT wrote: »

Good end result, though it seems a waste for them to have to issue you a new card rather than just allocate your account to the "Rewards" version. Assuming you also get a new credit card number and PIN? That seems crazy, I bet the card design will be identical too.

Yes, it did end up very messy. For some reason they couldn't just amend the points allocation of my existing card - they are sending me a new one and I have to sign the terms and conditions again. Means changing my direct debits and I'll have to re-register the new card with various online stores and so on. To be honest though after being on hold twice and being passed from one department to another I was just glad to end up with someone who was actually prepared to resolve the issue.

The_AA_Company_Representative

Glad you got this sorted. If you have any further questions you can also visit the link [EMAIL="aacreditcardrewards@theaa.com"]aacreditcardrewards@theaa.com[/EMAIL] with your name, address and telephone number so we can get back to you.