British Airways AMEX Card

Danny-r · 12 November 2018 at 12:45AM

Hi Guys,

Wondering if anybody can help with this query or if anyone has any experience of it.

Looking at applying for this card to get some cheap (or free) flights. My current credit card gets paid off completely every month but I don't get anything from them so felt I need to move to a card where I get some benefits!

The card states that you get 5000 free points if you spend a total of £1000 (I'm assuming a total and not a one-off) within the first 3 months. On the BA website it states that if you are referred by a friend that you will get 6000 points (and your friend will get 4000 points).

To me, it reads as though you will gain an additional 6000 points for being referred, however I am wary that I could be misinterpreting it and that you get 6000 points instead of the 5000 points.

I've looked at contacting AMEX but it seems they reserve their chat for existing customers. Has anybody had any experience of this.

Thanks in advance,

Danny

Craig1981 · 12 November 2018 at 6:58AM

Morning
although i dont have the card, the way i read it, you will get points for refer a friend, and after three months, if spent the £1k, you would get the other 5000

on their site, it states "tell your friend about these offers", which then takes you to the card benefits site.

msallen · 12 November 2018 at 9:20AM

I can't answer your specific question I'm afraid, but I feel I need to correct you on something else.

Before you spend years religiously putting your spending through this card and accumulating lots of Avios, I recommend you do your homework on the value of Avios for flights.

You mention getting free flights. This is absolutely not possible, as you will always have pay a certain amount of cash alongside the Avios for a flight. This co-payment makes certain types of flights very poor value as Avios redemptions - namely 99% of long haul economy flights. If you have any intention of using them for this then I suggest you reconsider now.

Avios can be very useful for short haul or for long haul in a premium cabin, if you can find availability on the flights you want, but you do often have to have a little flexibility.

If you are planning to use them for long haul in a premium cabin, then unless you are planning to travel alone, I would take a look at the paid version of this card instead, as the 2-for-1 voucher earned more quickly on this card makes it worthwhile.

A good place for you to start your research is at headforpoints.com. More advanced tips can be found (amongst lots of other stuff about flying BA) at www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club-446/

Nick_C · 12 November 2018 at 9:47AM

OP. There are cards with much better sign up bonuses than the free BA Card.

The Amex Gold Card gives you 20000 Membership Reward points if you spend £2k on the first three months. You an convert the MRs to Avios at a rate of 1:1

Ask someone to refer you, and you get 22000 instead of 20000

The Amex Gold Card is free for the first year. Switch to a different card before the anniversary to avoid the fee. And you also get two free entries to an airport lounge.

Avois Reward Saver flights in Europe cost £35 return plus Avois. But they do come with a free luggage allowance.

Long haul flights in Business or First cost about £550/£600 return plus Avios.

normanna · 13 November 2018 at 4:04PM

There's a site I use and it gives lots of info on credit card points and how to make the best use of them. Others are correct in saying that redemptions are much better value for money if used on business and first class travel. You do still have to pay quite high taxes though but still best value for money. There are annual fees for the best ones (or a fee after a year).

https://www.headforpoints.com

System · 16 November 2018 at 2:03PM

Hello. I have the BA black AMEX.
It's value comes from the companion voucher when you spend £10k per annum. Basically when you redeem an Avios flight you get another ticket "free" (you still pay taxes, fees and charges.

If you have a lot of Avios from business travel, and are wiley, you can get a business or First class redemption, basically 2 first class tickets for the price of one. which is a huge saving.

Using it for economy or even premium economy is rather pointless. You have to max the value of the voucher. I would say business class long haul minimum.

The_Analyst · 17 November 2018 at 10:09AM

Danny-r wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Wondering if anybody can help with this query or if anyone has any experience of it.

Looking at applying for this card to get some cheap (or free) flights. My current credit card gets paid off completely every month but I don't get anything from them so felt I need to move to a card where I get some benefits!

The card states that you get 5000 free points if you spend a total of £1000 (I'm assuming a total and not a one-off) within the first 3 months. On the BA website it states that if you are referred by a friend that you will get 6000 points (and your friend will get 4000 points).

To me, it reads as though you will gain an additional 6000 points for being referred, however I am wary that I could be misinterpreting it and that you get 6000 points instead of the 5000 points.

I've looked at contacting AMEX but it seems they reserve their chat for existing customers. Has anybody had any experience of this.

Thanks in advance,

Danny

I have the black BA Amex - I got an introductory bonus of 25,000 Avios for spending 3k in the first 3 months (we're about to move house, so no problems there!) and there is still an offer on my account to refer a friend.

Nick_C · 17 November 2018 at 10:24AM

The BA "Black" Amex (BA Premium Plus) is worth getting at some point if you can make use of the "two for one" voucher.

But with an annual fee of £195, its unlikely to be the most appropriate card for OP at this time. Once you are within sight of having enough Avios to book the flight you want, that's the time for the BAPP card - but only if you can spend £10k in an account year, and only if you will make use of the 241 voucher.

You can also upgrade from the free card to the BAPP before reaching the £10k spending target, get the voucher, downgrade again, and get a pro rata refund on the annual fee.

But at this stage OP, you should just be aiming to collect as many Avios as possible, and a cheap and easy way is to churn cards with high sign up bonuses.

silvercar · 17 November 2018 at 11:37AM

Agree with what others have posted. If you want to make the most of the Avios flights, you either need short flights that are called Reward Flight Savers where you only pay £30 (£50 in business) or long haul business/ first flights where you broadly pay the economy fare (that they call taxes and charges) and the rest with Avios.

It also helps if you are flexible on dates and destinations to get the flights you want. There is a new website that someone put together that shows you when Avios flights are available to particular places, that makes the search a lot easier.

https://www.baredemptionfinder.com

Tim_tothepoints_ · 17 November 2018 at 10:17PM

As has been stated above, the Amex Gold Rewards Card would be a far better route. This offers 20,000 points (22,000 with referral) for a £2k spend in 3 months which can converted 1:1 to Avios. In response to your original question though, yes I think you're misinterpreting - I believe the total points is 6,000 with a referral (not 6,000 extra)

Visit my blog, or pop me a message if you'd like more info (or a referral) for Amex cards.

British Airways AMEX Card

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