AMEX Cashback card

jodders

I currently own an AMEX Cashback card and have been a customer for a few years now. It looks like they to have one now, you will have to pay a yearly subscription. Does this apply to new customers only?

Thanks
J

lisyloo

Normally it's the case that the card company starts a new deal on different terms and leaves existing customers alone, but I believe they could change your contract if they wanted.

I suspect it probably is for new cards only.
Why not call them, there is a number on the back of your card and they have a UK call center and I believe it's a geographic number.

If you can let others know that would be great.

[Deleted User]

New cards only or if you choose to switch. I still have the no fee one.

As lisyloo says though, you could be informed of the change with 30-60 days notice at some point, and you could choose to accept or decline.

Aargh

Currently have the original no fee Amex platinum cashback card (£198 cashback in feb:)). Recieved an email inviting me to upgrade to the new AMEX card with few days ago, given I use the card for pretty much everything I opted to upgrade/sidegrade to see how it goes this year.

I would have switched to another cashback provider but the AMEX even with £25 fee is quite good.

JohalaReewi

I also have the old no-fee card and was offered the chance to upgrade to the with-fee card. But first, I put my last year's cashback through the spreadsheet and worked out what my cashback would have been if I had been on the new deal. My actual cashback was £106 and this would have been £138 under the new scheme but there would also have been a £25 fee so the net gain would have been £7. So slightly better for me.

What you need to watch out for with the new scheme is the max cashback is 1.25% but with the old scheme, it is 1.5%. So up to £10,000 of spend, the new scheme pays higher cashback. Above that, the old scheme has the higher cashback and will make up the lost ground and overtake.

Some basic figures:-

1st £3500: old card 0.5% = £17.50, new card 1.25% = £43.75
2nd £6500: old card 1% = £65 (total £82.50), new card 1.25% = £81.25 (total £125)
3rd £7000: old card 1.5% = £105 (total £187.50), new card 1.25% = £87.50 (total £212.50)

At this point (£17,000 spend) the new scheme is £25 better than the old scheme which covers the annual fee. Above this, the old scheme pays better.
You do get the anniversary bonus month with the new scheme which you would need to factor in, but you have to wait 12 months for it to kick in even if you convert from the old scheme to the new scheme.

For example: If your annual spend is £18000 = £1500 per month, you would get about £18.75 as additional bonus cashback in the second year. Doing a rough factoring of the bonus month, from the second year the break even annual spend would be around £29000 instead of £17,000.

The above examples are the maximum cashback you can get at each level. The actual cashback will be slightly lower due to the way cashback is calculated and rounded. Also, the old-scheme limits might be amended.

dachaidh_2

AVOID Amex Platinum

The accumulated Cashback is credited to your account once in a Cardmembership year.

But NOT the first year.

You will have to pay a second £25 membership fee in order to benefit from the first year.

And it isn't Cashback, you never get the cash. It is credit on the card.

Not accepted by VW, IKEA, B&Q incl Screwfix or John Lewis.

Santander is a much better deal and accepted everywhere.

ahxcjb

John Lewis *do* accept AMEX. http://www.johnlewis.com/Help/Help.aspx?HelpId=6 - stop spreading mis-information.

pvt

dachaidh wrote: »

AVOID Amex Platinum

Santander is a much better deal and accepted everywhere.

Had to pinch myself, but yes, someone really is advocating using Santander here!

ahxcjb

pvt wrote: »

Had to pinch myself, but yes, someone really is advocating using Santander here!

I would feel exceptionally embarrassed if I produced a Santander bank card as a means of payment. Anything to do with Santander screams of incompetence.