Two Amex?

blon

Just to confirm, you guys think it is possible to earn a second welcome bonus by getting a second Amex card?

reclusive46

blon wrote: »

Just to confirm, you guys think it is possible to earn a second welcome bonus by getting a second Amex card?

It is as long as its not the same type of rewards program. So a membership rewards bonus card and a cashback sign up bonus is fine.

blon

What about a Cashback Platinum followed by Everyday Cashback Platinum? Not the same card but same kind of bonus (=monetary).

blon

* bump up *

InsideInsurance

blon wrote: »

What about a Cashback Platinum followed by Everyday Cashback Platinum? Not the same card but same kind of bonus (=monetary).

Are you referring to the increased initial %age? Or referral fees/ affiliate marketing cashback?

Assuming the former which is the actual welcome bonus then read the terms, a quick scan shows both cards saying:

Introductory offers are not available to existing American Express Cashback customers

blon

Thanks for pointing this out. Then I'll look if I get accepted to what seems to be the next best thing, the " Amex Preferred Rewards Gold*"

InsideInsurance

blon wrote: »

Thanks for pointing this out. Then I'll look if I get accepted to what seems to be the next best thing, the " Amex Preferred Rewards Gold*"

Remember if someone else recommends you that you will get 22,000 MR points as the introductory offer rather than the normal 20,000

blon

Thanks, I noticed this, but also that you get a little over GBP 10 in affiliate marketing cashback if you order the card through topcashback, which has the advantage of being cash.

From what I gather a major drawback of reward points as opposed to cashback from cashback cards is that it is discontinuous, i.e. you constantly need to get beyond certain threshold to be able to redeem them on the deals with the best conversion rates (and that you can use).

For example, as I do my groceries at M&S, I can use the 20,000 points to 100 GBP voucher conversion (I'm assuming the terms of the M&S gift card issued through Amex do not exclude grocery shopping at M&S?!). This seems to be one of the best, close-to-cash conversions available with a rate of 0.5% to 1%, depending on whether you buy groceries, petrol (1%) or anything else (0.5%) - traveling may yield even higher conversion rates, but unless you travel a lot it may not be as worthwhile, especially given the high competition on flight prices through sites as kajak, orbitz etc.

Given this 0.5%, I still find the Platinum cashback card far superior that gives you 1.25% from the first quid and just costs GBP 25 a year. But I guess the main selling point of the Gold card is the higher status it is supposed to convey.

zerog

blon wrote: »

Thanks, I noticed this, but also that you get a little over GBP 10 in affiliate marketing cashback if you order the card through topcashback, which has the advantage of being cash.

From what I gather a major drawback of reward points as opposed to cashback from cashback cards is that it is discontinuous, i.e. you constantly need to get beyond certain threshold to be able to redeem them on the deals with the best conversion rates (and that you can use).

For example, as I do my groceries at M&S, I can use the 20,000 points to 100 GBP voucher conversion (I'm assuming the terms of the M&S gift card issued through Amex do not exclude grocery shopping at M&S?!). This seems to be one of the best, close-to-cash conversions available with a rate of 0.5% to 1%, depending on whether you buy groceries, petrol (1%) or anything else (0.5%) - traveling may yield even higher conversion rates, but unless you travel a lot it may not be as worthwhile, especially given the high competition on flight prices through sites as kajak, orbitz etc.

Given this 0.5%, I still find the Platinum cashback card far superior that gives you 1.25% from the first quid and just costs GBP 25 a year. But I guess the main selling point of the Gold card is the higher status it is supposed to convey.

Redeeming for a voucher is one of the worst things you can do with MR points. If you wanted 0.5% cashback then just get the capital one classic extra.

I get in excess of 5p per MR point (so 5-10% cashback) when using them for airline miles, although I wouldn't pay that much if I had to pay cash, so it's only effectively 1-2%

blon

@zerog: Thanks for sharing your view. How do you go about the conversion to airline tickets? Do you transfer the Amex reward points to some airline's miles, or do you book flights directly through Amex?