MSE News: Got an AA reward credit card? You won't earn loyalty points from October

Former_MSE_Paloma

AA credit card customers whose card is issued by MBNA should redeem their points as soon as possible...

Read the full story:

Got an AA reward credit card? You won't earn loyalty points or cashback from October




Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply. If you aren’t sure how it all works, read our New to Forum? Intro Guide.

hilr

"....as they'll no longer be able to earn cashback on fuel and spending or collect points on purchases from October."

OK, I've just called the AA/MBNA helpline 0800 917 8612.

The adviser assured me that I WILL be able to continue to earn cashback on the new MBNA More Rewards Credit Card account. What they do not know at this stage is the ratio of points earned according to spend.

Clearly a conflict with the article.

Now, which view is correct?

BeansOnToast_2

Can anyone shed any light on the criteria they used to decide on which MBNA card we would get, More Rewards or Platinum? I've been allocated the Platinum

phillw

hilr wrote: »

"....as they'll no longer be able to earn cashback on fuel and spending or collect points on purchases from October."

OK, I've just called the AA/MBNA helpline 0800 917 8612.

The adviser assured me that I WILL be able to continue to earn cashback on the new MBNA More Rewards Credit Card account. What they do not know at this stage is the ratio of points earned according to spend.

Clearly a conflict with the article.

Now, which view is correct?

Both. If you currently receive AA reward points then any outstanding points will expire at 10pm on October 23rd and you will not receive any more but your AA credit card will continue to work.

I have a rewards plus card which when you redeem points collected on fuel as cashback it works out at 3%, but there was another reward card which was the same but received less points and whatever the AA Fuel Card gives you (is it this card?? http://www.fuelcard.ie/aa/benefits/). The article is quite vague on the details but then so is the AA.

Some time in November you will receive new MBNA cards.

If you get the MBNA Platinum card you won't receive any rewards or cashback.

If you receive the MBNA more reward cards, you would receive both an Amex card (2 points per pound) and Visa card (1 point per pound). New customers get double points for the first 90 days but I don't know if we will. 5,000 points can be redeemed for £20. So the standard rate is 0.4% for the Visa and 0.8% for the Amex, the rate is so bad it's not worth having. You get a slightly better rate if you swap them for vouchers (0.5% for Visa and 1% for Amex), but it's still pretty poor. You can beat that with 0% purchases card and use a First direct/HSBC/M&S 6% regular savings account as your repayment vehicle, or for regular cashback Amex offer 1.25% (Some 0% purchase cards even come with other rewards too).

Supposedly somehow the two cards use the same PIN, but I don't know technically how this works for offline validation if you change the PIN. I don't plan on bothering to find out.

It is unclear to me whether using your AA card after October 23rd will earn you the Visa points you will get from the More rewards, if you are going to be signed up to receive that.

BeansOnToast wrote: »

Can anyone shed any light on the criteria they used to decide on which MBNA card we would get, More Rewards or Platinum? I've been allocated the Platinum

What AA card did you have? I assumed it was mostly that.


Also this part of the article appears to be wrong for me:

Depending which AA reward credit card customers have, they usually earn either cashback (3% on fuel and 0.5% on other spending) or reward points (one point for every £1 spent on motoring or fuel and for every £2 on everything else). One point is worth 1p if spent on AA products such as breakdown cover, but is only worth 0.5p if redeemed as 'cashback', for shopping vouchers or an array of other rewards.

I get 3 points per pound on fuel with the AA rewards plus, but redeeming it as cashback is 1 point = 1p. I signed up when they opened the trial for AA members. What everyone else has been getting appears to now be a secret. I certainly wasn't aware they had any actual cashback cards, just reward points cards where you could redeem for cashback. For me the cashback rate has always appeared to be the same as redeeming it for any other reward, so cash wins.

Thrugelmir

All part of an EU directive. Points and cash back will be pretty valueless going forward.

phillw

Thrugelmir wrote: »

All part of an EU directive. Points and cash back will be pretty valueless going forward.

Cashback cards have been pretty poor for a long time. It was nice knowing that I was saving 3% when I bought fuel. I may take out a 123 card for a year, I assume it's days are numbered though.

Other than the 3% on fuel the only other big loss is Tesco club card and to a lesser extent Sainsbury nectar points.

bigadaj

Logically then you would, expect cashback to reduce or be eliminated, but they are a useful marketing tool.

Santander obviously make a charge for their cashback, and with the 5% now on offer on tsb debit card banks will be looking for opportunities to use these as marketing tools.

Would be interested to see the actual cost or revenue generated in the cash back and rewards cards in comparison with the marketing and advertising budgets, as there's a huge opportunity for savings from one to the other.

Thrugelmir

bigadaj wrote: »

Would be interested to see the actual cost or revenue generated in the cash back and rewards cards in comparison with the marketing and advertising budgets, as there's a huge opportunity for savings from one to the other.

The money is made the transaction fees charged to the retailer. That's also being squeezed. So longer term whether an account is profitable to maintain may be a key business driver. Cards won't be given out willy nilly.

phillw

bigadaj wrote: »

Santander obviously make a charge for their cashback, and with the 5% now on offer on tsb debit card banks will be looking for opportunities to use these as marketing tools.

TSB are only offering 5% for a year when you do contactless payments. Like the 5% on current accounts they are buying business. Don't expect this long term or for another more established bank to offer anything like this.

I don't expect the 123 credit card to continue offering 3% on fuel.

*EDIT* They are continuing, just a higher fee and a cap on the cashback to make it unattractive....