Get 30,000 Membership Rewards points with Amex Gold – 5 days only

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• Mumof4 says:

  31 Oct31 October 21:57

  I really would like to do this, but just can’t see us managing the £2,000 spend in 90 days. Any tricks I should know about? I can’t get that many gift cards!!!

  • Raffles says:

    31 Oct31 October 22:31

    Book a refundable BA flight, move the points to Avios as soon as the bonus is credited, cancel the refundable flight. £15 BA fee to cover the cancellation. You need to time it right so the whole thing is done within 1 statement period.

    • craigmshaw says:

      3 Nov3 November 07:26

      Hi, can you go into more detail about this ‘trick’, precise timings etc. I would’ve thought the refunded amount would see the relevant # of points deducted, or is it that the t&c refers to money charged? Thanks.

      • Raffles says:

        3 Nov3 November 08:41

        The refund does remove the base points for the transaction. However, Amex will not take away the 20,000 point bonus which will have gone on your account by then, in most cases. (90 per cent of people get the bonus as soon as they hit £2k of spend, on the same day. The other 10 per cent have problems and end up chasing Amex for it. If you are in the latter camp, then obviously this won’t work as you won’t have got the bonus by the time your refund is processed.)

        • trickster says:

          3 Nov3 November 10:37

          Of course it doesn’t need to be BA. Are there any airlines that you can buy a refundable flight on that won’t charge a cancellation fee, and the holly grail, won’t charge a CC booking fee?

          I may have to do this too, now that I’ve realised I am shooting for three targets by Feb – BA Amex 2for1, Amex Gold bonus and PC Black Visa free night!

        • Jonathan says:

          4 Nov4 November 15:03

          Amex have got wise – I refunded a purchase which took me under the £2k spend limit, and my bonus MR were removed as well. I dont know what would happen if you had spent them already…

        • Raffles says:

          4 Nov4 November 16:29

          Interesting. However, nothing would stop you buying something refundable to take you over the limit and then refunding it AFTER you have spent the right amount next month. Eg if you spend £500 per month, you could buy a £500 refundable flight in Month 3 to ensure you hit £2k in 3 months, and then refund it at the end of Month 4 when you would have a £500 balance to pay anyway from Month 4’s spend.

• Andrew says:

  31 Oct31 October 23:49

  I have a green corporate amex (doesn’t earn MR). Am I still eligible for the promotion?

  • Raffles says:

    1 Nov1 November 06:31

    Yes

• Andrew Seftel (@andrewseftel) says:

  1 Nov1 November 10:18

  Any idea what the redemption rate is on Tripflex?

  • Raffles says:

    1 Nov1 November 10:20

    Click and it shows you, as long as you have some travel on your statement. It is under 0.5p I seem to remember, nearer 0.4p per point – I had a look a few weeks ago.

• cardman says:

  1 Nov1 November 10:39

  thanks for posting raffles, my application is pending a decision

  • cardman says:

    5 Nov5 November 16:42

    accepted

• Emma says:

  3 Nov3 November 13:36

  Thanks for posting this, I’m waiting for my card to come. It sounds like my husband would be able to apply for a separate account too? How does the referral work, is this something I can do as soon as my card comes or am I better getting him to apply now with thhe 30,000 point offer?

  • Raffles says:

    3 Nov3 November 14:37

    No, you would be better off referring him. You get 12k for referring and he gets 22k for being referred. The link is here http://www.americanexpress.com/uk/recommend-a-friend/default.shtml?page=CM

    • Emma says:

      3 Nov3 November 16:44

      Thank you, I’d tried searching but not been able to fine a referral link so wasn’t sure if it was something everyone could do. I’ll refer him once I’ve got my card number through

• Aoife says:

  4 Nov4 November 17:28

  Thanks for passing this on Raffles, great offer

• JimM says:

  4 Nov4 November 19:34

  Thanks too, just signed up in time.

• rossmacd says:

  4 Nov4 November 21:03

  Thank you Raffles – I have just signed up and been approved. Now to get spending the £2k….. I see someone upthread (Jonathan) used the book a BA flexible ticket and have it refunded trick, but does anyone else have any more evidence of Amex being smart in terms of removing the bonus MR points.

  Also, what does one do in the situation when your BAEC account is registered at an address in the EU, and my new Amex Gold is registered in the UK?

  • Raffles says:

    4 Nov4 November 21:26

    There is no problem sending UK MR points to a BA EU account, I have done it numerous times in the past.

    The obvious way to get around Amex taking the bonus back is to move it to BA as soon as it posts! However, it is easier all round if you do try to get the money out of the door within the 90 days even it means buying a few hundred pounds of supermarket gift cards. If you do need to book a refundable flight, try to delay refunding it as long as possible, even if it means having to settle your card bill with Amex and end up going into credit when you do eventually refund.

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