Amex BA to another Amex card

London7766551

Has anyone ever transferred from a BA Amex to another type of Amex?

With international travel off the books for a while, I don't see it's value anymore, there is another silver cashback card which looks better. I have some points to use by June next year, will probably just burn them on a hotel in the UK unless travel becomes more stable.

I don't want to have another search on my credit file or a new Amex account, just to transfer the card if possible.

D3xt3r5L4b

You can only change within product types. I.e Avios card to Avios card, reward credit card to rewards credit card, charge card to charge card etc.

If you want the cashback card you’ll have to apply for it. And one credit search will have little to no effect on your file unless you’re going through a mortgage application.

adamp87

I’ve read a few times that Amex don’t carry out a hard search for a second card they do an internal search, but I’ve found no concrete evidence to confirm

London7766551

D3xt3r5L4b said:

You can only change within product types. I.e Avios card to Avios card, reward credit card to rewards credit card, charge card to charge card etc.

If you want the cashback card you’ll have to apply for it. And one credit search will have little to no effect on your file unless you’re going through a mortgage application.

Cheers, Do you know if this would come the same Amex membership or can you have two memberships? if I applied for another card.

I am only worried as my credit file is littered with past credit cards and current accounts (all closed within good standing) and I want to have some stable accounts. I don't want it to show the first amex as being closed and a new one opened. I don't think I will make any changes if that is the case.

D3xt3r5L4b

London7766551 said:

D3xt3r5L4b said:

You can only change within product types. I.e Avios card to Avios card, reward credit card to rewards credit card, charge card to charge card etc.

If you want the cashback card you’ll have to apply for it. And one credit search will have little to no effect on your file unless you’re going through a mortgage application.

Cheers, Do you know if this would come the same Amex membership or can you have two memberships? if I applied for another card.

I am only worried as my credit file is littered with past credit cards and current accounts (all closed within good standing) and I want to have some stable accounts. I don't want it to show the first amex as being closed and a new one opened. I don't think I will make any changes if that is the case.

You can link any new Amex cards to your existing online account once you receive them.
Its inevitable that the old one will be marked as
closed unless you just keep it open.

Is it the premium card? You can downgrade it to the free card then update to the premium one at a later date.

hermante

Yes, Amex sometimes doesn't do hard credit searches for existing customers applying for a second product. After all a search costs them money. However if you have had the BA card for a long time, they may prefer to do a search to get an updated view of your credit history.

You don't need a new Amex account - you can add the new card to your existing account.

Note that as an existing cardholder, you won't get the improved 5% cashback rate for the first 3 months. To get this you have to close your existing Amex and wait for 2 years before applying again.

If you are worried about the age of your accounts on your credit report, don't close the existing Amex, just apply for another one. There isn't really any benefit to closing the old card if you don't intend to be Amex-less for 24 months, unless your total credit limits are ridiculously high that you don't think even Amex would approve you for a new card.

If you have the paid BA card, obviously downgrade it to the free one as there is no point paying the fee.

msallen

London7766551 said:

I have some points to use by June next year....

That doesn't make sense. Avios don't expire. You do lose your right to use them for Reward Flight Savers (i.e.fixed price European redemptions) if you don't earn/spend any for three years, but that is easily resolved by keeping the card and making the occasional purchase with it (downgrading to the free one if you have the premium one). I've not earnt/spent an Avios for over two years since I stopped travelling for work, but I just recently put through a £2.50 Tesco clubcard transfer in order to extend their RFS usability for another 3 years.

2ilent8cho

If you drink you can use your Avios to buy alcohol........ i'm still aggressively collecting Avios, i've gone in a bit of a panic as my balance dropped below 1 million Avios points as a booked 3 reward flights for next year and i like to stay in 7 figures, they don't expire unless your account has no transaction on it for 3 years. BA have already extended the 2 for 1 vouchers by 6 months, the premium ones last 2 years anyway. Why not carry on collecting for when flying around the world starts back up again? Gives you a bigger pot to spend on flights, hotels, attractions, experiences or drink.
If you are really wanting to change the Amex card, the Amex Rewards credit card might be better than the cashback one. You can still convert points on that card to Avios (or Virgin) at a future point if you wanted or if the airlines go under you can use the points on other things like amazon. 

London7766551

msallen said:

London7766551 said:

I have some points to use by June next year....

That doesn't make sense. Avios don't expire. You do lose your right to use them for Reward Flight Savers (i.e.fixed price European redemptions) if you don't earn/spend any for three years, but that is easily resolved by keeping the card and making the occasional purchase with it (downgrading to the free one if you have the premium one). I've not earnt/spent an Avios for over two years since I stopped travelling for work, but I just recently put through a £2.50 Tesco clubcard transfer in order to extend their RFS usability for another 3 years.

They never expire?

Am I missing something, everywhere I look it says 36 months. 

D3xt3r5L4b

London7766551 said:

msallen said:

London7766551 said:

I have some points to use by June next year....

That doesn't make sense. Avios don't expire. You do lose your right to use them for Reward Flight Savers (i.e.fixed price European redemptions) if you don't earn/spend any for three years, but that is easily resolved by keeping the card and making the occasional purchase with it (downgrading to the free one if you have the premium one). I've not earnt/spent an Avios for over two years since I stopped travelling for work, but I just recently put through a £2.50 Tesco clubcard transfer in order to extend their RFS usability for another 3 years.

They never expire?

Am I missing something, everywhere I look it says 36 months. 

You have to collect, spend, purchase or share at least 1 Avios point every 36 months otherwise they will all expire, yes.