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American Express blocks multiple sign-up bonuses, starting immediately
Legacy_user
Posts: 0 Newbie
in Credit cards
https://www.headforpoints.com/2019/03/21/american-express-new-sign-up-bonus-rules/
"This will effectively end card churning for most people.
Before I go on, I want to stress one thing. The new rules on bonuses do NOT stop you applying for any of these cards. They simply influence whether or not you will qualify for a sign-up bonus when you do.
It is also worth remembering that, even if YOU no longer qualify for a particular bonus, your partner or other adult family members might.
What is changing?
Until today, American Express sign-up bonuses followed two basic rules:
Cards were grouped into families based on reward type (Membership Rewards points, Avios, Starwood points, Nectar points) and your eligibility for a bonus depended on whether you had recently had a card in the same ‘family’
There was a six month restriction in place between cancelling an American Express card and being able to re-apply – with a new bonus – for a card in the same ‘family’
This is what is changing for the personal American Express cards:
The concept of ‘families’ has gone for most products. The eligibility rules now span ALL personal American Express cards in most cases.
The look-back period increases from six months to 24 months
Whilst there are two exceptions, in simple terms you cannot get a sign-up bonus on a personal American Express card if you have held ANY personal American Express card in the last 24 months.
Are there any exceptions to these new rules?
Yes. There are a few exceptions to the above:
The Card is only impacted by the change in the look-back period to 24 months. The old rules on eligibility remain – you cannot have had either of the two British Airways American Express cards in the previous 24 months BUT American Express does not count any other card you may have had.
(In plain English: if you’ve had a Platinum / Gold / Starwood / Nectar / Platinum Cashback card in the last two years, but NOT either of the BA Amex cards, you are eligible for the bonus on the Premium Plus card – but not the free BA Amex)
is only impacted by the change in the look-back period to 24 months. The old rules on eligibility remain – you cannot have had a Preferred Rewards Gold, Green, Platinum or American Express Rewards card (all of which earn Membership Rewards points) in the previous 24 months BUT American Express does not count any other card you may have had.
(In plain English: if you’ve had a BA / Starwood / Nectar / Platinum Cashback card in the last two years but NOT a card offering Membership Rewards points, you are eligible for the bonus on the The Platinum Card – but not Preferred Rewards Gold)
Small Business and Corporate products are not impacted at all. The existing rules apply for those. Importantly, the six month rule continues to apply for these cards.
(In plain English: if you’ve not had any personal or business card offering Membership Rewards points in the past six months, you are eligible for the bonus on the and , assuming you own a qualifying small business)
Can you summarise this by card?
Here you go:
If you currently have the free British Airways or British Airways Premium Plus credit card ….
You would need to cancel and wait 24 months before you can get a bonus on Platinum Cashback, Platinum Cashback Everyday, British Airways, British Airways Premium Plus, Preferred Rewards Gold, Starwood Preferred Guest, Nectar, American Express Rewards
You can get a bonus NOW on IF you have not held a Preferred Rewards Gold, The Platinum Card, Green or American Express Rewards card in the previous 24 months
You can get a bonus NOW on or IF you have not held a Preferred Rewards Gold, The Platinum Card, Green, American Express Rewards, American Express Gold Business or American Express Platinum Business card in the previous six months and meet the qualifying criteria for having a small business
If you currently have Preferred Rewards Gold, The Platinum Card or American Express Rewards credit card ….
You would need to cancel and wait 24 months before you can get a bonus on Platinum Cashback, Platinum Cashback Everyday, British Airways American Express, Preferred Rewards Gold, The Platinum Card, Green, Starwood Preferred Guest, Nectar, American Express Rewards
You can get a bonus NOW on IF you have not held a British Airways or British Airways Premium Plus card in the previous 24 months
You would need to cancel and wait six months before you can get a bonus on or , assuming you meet the qualifying criteria for having a small business
If you currently have a Nectar or Starwood Preferred Guest credit card ….
You would need to cancel and wait 24 months before you can get a bonus on Platinum Cashback, Platinum Cashback Everyday, British Airways American Express (free version), Preferred Rewards Gold, Starwood Preferred Guest, Nectar, American Express Rewards
You can get a bonus NOW on IF you have not held a Preferred Rewards Gold, The Platinum Card, Green or American Express Rewards card in the previous 24 months
You can get a bonus NOW on IF you have not held a British Airways or British Airways Premium Plus card in the previous 24 months
You can get a bonus NOW on or IF you have not held a Preferred Rewards Gold, The Platinum Card, Green, American Express Rewards, American Express Gold Business or American Express Platinum Business card in the previous six months and meet the qualifying criteria for having a small business
If you currently have a Platinum Cashback or Platinum Cashback Everyday card ….
You would need to cancel and wait 24 months before you can get a bonus on Platinum Cashback, Platinum Cashback Everyday, British Airways American Express, Preferred Rewards Gold, Green, Starwood Preferred Guest, Nectar, American Express Rewards
You can get a bonus NOW on IF you have not held a Preferred Rewards Gold, The Platinum Card, Green or American Express Rewards card in the previous 24 months
You can get a bonus NOW on IF you have not held a British Airways or British Airways Premium Plus card in the previous 24 months
You can get a bonus NOW on or IF you have not held a Preferred Rewards Gold, The Platinum Card, Green or American Express Rewards card in the previous six months"
"This will effectively end card churning for most people.
Before I go on, I want to stress one thing. The new rules on bonuses do NOT stop you applying for any of these cards. They simply influence whether or not you will qualify for a sign-up bonus when you do.
It is also worth remembering that, even if YOU no longer qualify for a particular bonus, your partner or other adult family members might.
What is changing?
Until today, American Express sign-up bonuses followed two basic rules:
Cards were grouped into families based on reward type (Membership Rewards points, Avios, Starwood points, Nectar points) and your eligibility for a bonus depended on whether you had recently had a card in the same ‘family’
There was a six month restriction in place between cancelling an American Express card and being able to re-apply – with a new bonus – for a card in the same ‘family’
This is what is changing for the personal American Express cards:
The concept of ‘families’ has gone for most products. The eligibility rules now span ALL personal American Express cards in most cases.
The look-back period increases from six months to 24 months
Whilst there are two exceptions, in simple terms you cannot get a sign-up bonus on a personal American Express card if you have held ANY personal American Express card in the last 24 months.
Are there any exceptions to these new rules?
Yes. There are a few exceptions to the above:
The Card is only impacted by the change in the look-back period to 24 months. The old rules on eligibility remain – you cannot have had either of the two British Airways American Express cards in the previous 24 months BUT American Express does not count any other card you may have had.
(In plain English: if you’ve had a Platinum / Gold / Starwood / Nectar / Platinum Cashback card in the last two years, but NOT either of the BA Amex cards, you are eligible for the bonus on the Premium Plus card – but not the free BA Amex)
is only impacted by the change in the look-back period to 24 months. The old rules on eligibility remain – you cannot have had a Preferred Rewards Gold, Green, Platinum or American Express Rewards card (all of which earn Membership Rewards points) in the previous 24 months BUT American Express does not count any other card you may have had.
(In plain English: if you’ve had a BA / Starwood / Nectar / Platinum Cashback card in the last two years but NOT a card offering Membership Rewards points, you are eligible for the bonus on the The Platinum Card – but not Preferred Rewards Gold)
Small Business and Corporate products are not impacted at all. The existing rules apply for those. Importantly, the six month rule continues to apply for these cards.
(In plain English: if you’ve not had any personal or business card offering Membership Rewards points in the past six months, you are eligible for the bonus on the and , assuming you own a qualifying small business)
Can you summarise this by card?
Here you go:
If you currently have the free British Airways or British Airways Premium Plus credit card ….
You would need to cancel and wait 24 months before you can get a bonus on Platinum Cashback, Platinum Cashback Everyday, British Airways, British Airways Premium Plus, Preferred Rewards Gold, Starwood Preferred Guest, Nectar, American Express Rewards
You can get a bonus NOW on IF you have not held a Preferred Rewards Gold, The Platinum Card, Green or American Express Rewards card in the previous 24 months
You can get a bonus NOW on or IF you have not held a Preferred Rewards Gold, The Platinum Card, Green, American Express Rewards, American Express Gold Business or American Express Platinum Business card in the previous six months and meet the qualifying criteria for having a small business
If you currently have Preferred Rewards Gold, The Platinum Card or American Express Rewards credit card ….
You would need to cancel and wait 24 months before you can get a bonus on Platinum Cashback, Platinum Cashback Everyday, British Airways American Express, Preferred Rewards Gold, The Platinum Card, Green, Starwood Preferred Guest, Nectar, American Express Rewards
You can get a bonus NOW on IF you have not held a British Airways or British Airways Premium Plus card in the previous 24 months
You would need to cancel and wait six months before you can get a bonus on or , assuming you meet the qualifying criteria for having a small business
If you currently have a Nectar or Starwood Preferred Guest credit card ….
You would need to cancel and wait 24 months before you can get a bonus on Platinum Cashback, Platinum Cashback Everyday, British Airways American Express (free version), Preferred Rewards Gold, Starwood Preferred Guest, Nectar, American Express Rewards
You can get a bonus NOW on IF you have not held a Preferred Rewards Gold, The Platinum Card, Green or American Express Rewards card in the previous 24 months
You can get a bonus NOW on IF you have not held a British Airways or British Airways Premium Plus card in the previous 24 months
You can get a bonus NOW on or IF you have not held a Preferred Rewards Gold, The Platinum Card, Green, American Express Rewards, American Express Gold Business or American Express Platinum Business card in the previous six months and meet the qualifying criteria for having a small business
If you currently have a Platinum Cashback or Platinum Cashback Everyday card ….
You would need to cancel and wait 24 months before you can get a bonus on Platinum Cashback, Platinum Cashback Everyday, British Airways American Express, Preferred Rewards Gold, Green, Starwood Preferred Guest, Nectar, American Express Rewards
You can get a bonus NOW on IF you have not held a Preferred Rewards Gold, The Platinum Card, Green or American Express Rewards card in the previous 24 months
You can get a bonus NOW on IF you have not held a British Airways or British Airways Premium Plus card in the previous 24 months
You can get a bonus NOW on or IF you have not held a Preferred Rewards Gold, The Platinum Card, Green or American Express Rewards card in the previous six months"
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Comments
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I wondered when this would happen since they also made the change recently to the US Amex cards as well0
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Saw this on HFP this morning.
Not entirely surprising, especially after the interchange cap affecting their co-branded cards.
Thankfully we just started (Gold -> BAPP) so I can soon refer my wife for Gold then BAPP as both can give bonuses.0 -
I'm a bit annoyed as I was going to get a Gold card soon (Have BA at the moment). But means I won't get the bonus points. Meh. Bigger disasters at sea. But yeah, once again the rules designed to help us just end up hurting us.This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com0
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Arg - will cost us a packet.
Can anyone understand exactly what the rules are re the BA vs other cards? I have had nectar, plat, gold in the last year including one currently. Could I still get a BA one?
Can you still get referral/referee bonuses even if you don't qualify for the sign up bonus?I think....0 -
Oh dear.......was getting used to those lounge passes every year0
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couriervanman wrote: »Oh dear.......was getting used to those lounge passes every year
You still get them albeit at the cost of the annual card fee0 -
Arg - will cost us a packet.
Can anyone understand exactly what the rules are re the BA vs other cards? I have had nectar, plat, gold in the last year including one currently. Could I still get a BA one?
Can you still get referral/referee bonuses even if you don't qualify for the sign up bonus?
You can get the BAPP (paid one) with the bonus, so long as you've not had any BA card in the last 24 months. The free one won't generate a bonus as you have an Amex in the last 24 months.
I can only presume BA was involved in ensuring their premium card is attractive to new customers...
The changes don't impact referral bonuses from what I can see...0 -
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https://www.headforpoints.com/ gives a pretty good explanation. Bit sick about this but heard it was coming!! Only got back into Amex in last year after my Flybe came off a route i used.
However, cleaned up on the PR Gold card (x2), Nectar (x2) and currently on Platinum cashback at the moment.
Stayed away from the Avios ones because 1) i'm not clued up enough with Avios and 2) it is a 3k spend for the bonus in the first 2 months as opposed as to the normal 2k which would need at least one big spend for us.
I thought the fee for the Black BA one was £195 and they would refund pro-rata if cancelled after triggering bonus so would cost approx £33 for the 25k avios??
sorry got that wrong....it's 3k in first 3 months not first 2 months. So would be approx £49 if you took the 3 months.0 -
I don't see any mention of the Costco card. Does anyone know how they fits into the equation?Whilst my posts do not constitute financial advice, I am always, without fail, 100% right!
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