AA Internet Extra Issue 5 3.20%

colin79666

Received my account opening letters today. Confirmed as issue 5.

jonnyfgood

I currently have savings in the AA internet saver issue 4.

I recently received a letter from the AA reminding me that my bonus rate would end in early March.

Last year I moved my savings from a previous AA account issue 2 or 3 into issue 4 so I didn't have the rigmarole of transferring money out, setting up a new savings account and transferring all the money into that one, in doing so probably losing interest for about 14 days.

Having looked at AA savings accounts to see if they had brought in a new issue I noticed issue 5 had become available, however i also noticed that it expired in December.

As I can't keep my money in issue 4 after March because I will lose the bonus, and I cannot now upgrade to issue 5 saving me a load of hassle, i guess that unless the AA bring out issue 6, I will have to research the best accounts in late feb, set one up and transfer my money into it.

Is there any way round this? I would be keen to leave my money with the AA but not by losing the bonus rate. I notice that an AA rep appears on this site from time to time, perhaps they could make a suggstion?

opinions4u

Looks to me like you can just ring up and change it back to an "on bonus" account.

Their web site says:

Existing saver:
If you would like to transfer your existing AA Internet Extra into our AA Internet Extra (Issue 4), just call us on 0845 603 3358. We will transfer your account on the day you call.

To find a regional phone number you could take a look at www.saynoto0870.com.

psychic_teabag

The FAQ at http://www.theaa.com/savings/faqs_internet.html says you can have as many internet extra accounts as you want. So there should be no obstacle to opening a new one and transferring the balance.

Mandelbrot

psychic_teabag wrote: »

The FAQ at http://www.theaa.com/savings/faqs_internet.html says you can have as many internet extra accounts as you want. So there should be no obstacle to opening a new one and transferring the balance.

Apart from the fact that they say that any new account has to be initially funded from the linked (non-AA) account, and to transfer from one savings account to another you need to phone them up, rather than do it yourself?

Q. Can I open my account by transferring from another AA savings account?


A. No, you will need to apply for a new AA Internet Extra and arrange for the deposit to be paid from your linked account.
If you do wish to transfer from an existing AA savings account at a later stage, please phone the AA Savings Team on 0845 603 6302. Lines are open 8am to 8pm Monday to Saturday.

Er, this is supposed to be an Internet (i.e. online) account, isn't it?

jonnyfgood

Thanks for your comments everyone.

IMO the only issue that seems available right now is issue 4,.but as that is the issue I am currently with, I can't do that.

Issue 5 is closed, and I don't want a fixed plan. I suppose I will have to give their 0845 line a go at some point, but it seems I might end up going elsewhere. Santader seem to be offering the best similar account right now.

psychic_teabag

It doesn't say one account per issue. So you should be okay to have a second issue-4. Well, that was my reading of it, anyway.

But since you'd need to phone them anyway (to arrange the transfer, which is a bit annoying) one call should get you a new account with a new bonus period. When I upgraded from issue 4 to issue 5 via phone, there was no nonsense about having to open the account then initially fund it with external money.

I was going to say just phone them since you have nothing to lose, but I've not yet found a non-0845 number for them, so there is the price of the call :-( (They're open saturdays, if you have inclusive 0845 calls with BT at the weekend, for example.)

BTW the Monmouth BS flexible saver account is still available AFAIK - 4% on up to 12k if you don't need many withdrawals. (And you can add another 12k in April.) I'm rather surprised it hasn't yet made it into Martin's weekly email (and hence instantly oversubscribed and withdrawn). And there are other accounts available now that beat what you're getting with the AA - don't need to wait until March to look for something better.)

whibbled

Amazed to receive a letter today from AA Savings, stating that the bonus period on my AA Internet Extra (Issue 5) Account will end on
20 April 2012.

As I transferred into the account on 20 December 2011, I rather expected to have TWELVE MONTHS at the 3.2% rate!

Anyone else had a similar letter?

psychic_teabag

Did you convert from an existing issue-4 account, or anything interesting like that ? You say "transferred" rather than "opened". But issue-5 has only been around since August'11 so couldn't have opened an issue-5 back in April.

whibbled

Yes......My issue 4 was due to drop to 0.5% in December, so phoned in and transferred to Issue 5, just in time to catch the 3.2% rate before it was withdrawn.

As a matter of note, I've been with AA Savings for some time, and had previously transferred from Issue 3 to Issue 4 a year ago, with no trouble experienced at all.

I think that someone at AA Savings or Birmingham Midshires must have got their underwear in a tangle this time! :eek: