BA Amex premium plus

holidaysforme

Hoping to sign up for this end of Feb. This is the earliest I can do it, as will be six months from cancelling the gold card.

My main aim is to get the companion voucher, as well as the usual sigh up bonus incentive.

I see the fee is now £195 annually though.:(

Do people think the companion voucher plus the other benefits justifies the fee?

Also, what is your experience of being able to use the companian voucher successfully.?
I'm used to booking flights months in advance, as we have to bag school holiday flights for a couple more years yet.

Any thoughts/ experiences would be helpful. Thanks.

lev441

holidaysforme wrote: »

Hoping to sign up for this end of Feb. This is the earliest I can do it, as will be six months from cancelling the gold card.

My main aim is to get the companion voucher, as well as the usual sigh up bonus incentive.

I see the fee is now £195 annually though.:(

Do people think the companion voucher plus the other benefits justifies the fee?

Also, what is your experience of being able to use the companion voucher successfully.?
I'm used to booking flights months in advance, as we have to bag school holiday flights for a couple more years yet.

Any thoughts/ experiences would be helpful. Thanks.

It works as long as you have enough points to successfully use the companion voucher....! I just redeemed one way flights to cape town using 241 voucher... hoping to add the return trip from Johannesburg next week.

Fee increase to £195 a bit of a bummer, but still think it's benefits outweigh the costs.. The companion voucher is arguably the most valuable perk of any airmiles credit card.

Oh - sign up now for the BA card - the bonus points of 25,000 avios (26,000 avios if someone refers you - happy to do this - PM me) instead of 18,000 which ends beginning of Feb.

If you held a amex gold card previously, you wouldn't be eligible for sign up bonuses for the platinum charge card (or any card which uses membership rewards)

holidaysforme

lev441 wrote: »

It works as long as you have enough points to successfully use the companion voucher....! I just redeemed one way flights to cape town using 241 voucher... hoping to add the return trip from Johannesburg next week.

Fee increase to £195 a bit of a bummer, but still think it's benefits outweigh the costs.. The companion voucher is arguably the most valuable perk of any airmiles credit card.

Oh - sign up now for the BA card - the bonus points of 25,000 avios (26,000 avios if someone refers you - happy to do this - PM me) instead of 18,000 which ends beginning of Feb.

If you held a amex gold card previously, you wouldn't be eligible for sign up bonuses for the platinum charge card (or any card which uses membership rewards)

Funnily enough, it's Cape Town I have in mind for 2018 hopefully using a companion voucher,- hence the interest in the Amex PP.

Unfortunately I can't sign up till end of Feb/beg of March, as that's when my six months will have elapsed from cancelling the preferred gold card.Hubby, can't apply till June either, so we'll have to make do with the paltry 18,000 sign up bonus:D

Thanks for your input. Good to know, you think it's worth it.

HHarry

You can have the BA premium plus and the Gold at the same time as they use different 'currencies' (avios and membership reward points).

The 241 is great if you've got a bit of flexibility. We're off to Canda in First and had loads of choice because we weren't committed to a certain time of the year. School holidays might be tricker if you have a specific location in mind, but if you can be flexible I'm sure you'll be OK.

My Wife and I take it in turn to churn our cards - sign up, get bonus, earn voucher, redeem, close account, swap to the other person. Repeat every 6 months.

lev441

holidaysforme wrote: »

Funnily enough, it's Cape Town I have in mind for 2018 hopefully using a companion voucher,- hence the interest in the Amex PP.

Unfortunately I can't sign up till end of Feb/beg of March, as that's when my six months will have elapsed from cancelling the preferred gold card.Hubby, can't apply till June either, so we'll have to make do with the paltry 18,000 sign up bonus:D

Thanks for your input. Good to know, you think it's worth it.

You are able to hold both the gold card and the premium plus and get the bonuses on both- I'd definitely recommend doing it before the bonus period expires! I've got personal experience in getting the bonus whilst having a gold card.

I'll let you know if I manage to add the return journey on next week.. hoping it's not too much of a hassle!

Roger1

Note that 2-4-1 reservations to Cape Town are notoriously difficult to book. Availability sometimes improves closer to the travel dates. Make a dummy booking at ba.com for 2 award seats to CPT and see what's available.

Award seats become available at midnight GMT 355 days ahead of travel. Serious travellers like lev441 book a one-way flight, then when the date for the desired return flight comes, they phone to add the return flight for a fee (£35 per person?). Of course, there are two elements of risk here - would you phone in time to get the 2-4-1 outbound? And same question for the inbound.

FWIW, a similar situation applies for flights to west coast USA. OTOH there is usually availability to New York and elsewhere including Johannesburg.

Having had the BAPP AmEx since its inception over 15 years ago, I have found it increasingly difficult to book 2-4-1s for my desired destinations and I am thinking about cutting it up.

One other thought. Yes, the BAPP is a useful earner for Avios, but it works best if you are a medium to heavy traveller on BA/AA/IB/AY as it's the flights that earn lots of points. I'd find it difficult to recommend the card on its own without the boost from flights.

Marchitiello

Just for clarity on applying for An Amex Card having previously cancelled one:

As specified very clearly in the small print about the bonus eligibility, the 6 months restriction only apply if you held a card of the same family in the previous 6 months and bare in mind that Amex will allow you to hold up to two charge cards and two credit cards.

So back to the bonus, in your case, it will only be restricted if you held the BA Amex (blue) or the BA Premium Amex (black) in the last 6 months.

Your own restriction based on what you said, would be to get any bonus related to the Rewards Membership charge cards (green, gold and platinum).

holidaysforme

Marchitiello wrote: »

Just for clarity on applying for An Amex Card having previously cancelled one:

As specified very clearly in the small print about the bonus eligibility, the 6 months restriction only apply if you held a card of the same family in the previous 6 months and bare in mind that Amex will allow you to hold up to two charge cards and two credit cards.

So back to the bonus, in your case, it will only be restricted if you held the BA Amex (blue) or the BA Premium Amex (black) in the last 6 months.

Your own restriction based on what you said, would be to get any bonus related to the Rewards Membership charge cards (green, gold and platinum)

.

unfirtunately, I do hold the Blue Amex (free one) Hadn't even considered that this would be a barrier to applying for the PP. it was the gold card which I ironically thought would be the problem!!

I also just last week referred my OH for the blue card for the referral bonus. Arrgh, what bad timing.

Will have to wait now till one of us cancels this card, wait six months, and then apply for the Amex PP. will also miss the hefty sign up bonus as well:(

holidaysforme

lev441 wrote: »

You are able to hold both the gold card and the premium plus and get the bonuses on both- I'd definitely recommend doing it before the bonus period expires! I've got personal experience in getting the bonus whilst having a gold card.

I'll let you know if I manage to add the return journey on next week.. hoping it's not too much of a hassle!

Yes let me know. Be interesting to see how you get on. Good luck.:)