One year of British Airways lounge access with Amex Platinum …. you need to decide soon

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• Phil says:

  26 Feb26 February 17:09

  [Offtopic] If I hold a supplementary card on my wifes Amex account (Platinum or Gold Charge), will that prevent me from obtaining a sign-up bonus if I apply for a card in my own right? I have a gut feeling that it won’t, be wanted to check!

  • Mark says:

    26 Feb26 February 17:36

    No, it won’t.

  • Rob says:

    26 Feb26 February 20:18

    No, not an issue.

• sh83 says:

  26 Feb26 February 17:17

  Such a wealth of information in this comment string alone!!

  Raffles,
  From your past experience of years of Amex Plat, once Amex stop giving Marco Polo Gold as Plat perk, assuming they offer something else in lieu, does that mean at us who retain Amex Plat membership also are entitled to receive this new perk also?

  cheers
  sh83

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

    26 Feb26 February 18:56

    Yes, but it’s a big ‘if’. I don’t believe anything replaced HHonors Gold when that was withdrawn.

  • Rob says:

    26 Feb26 February 20:18

    It doesn’t work like that. This deal was UNPRECEDENTED. I have had a Plat since 1999 and this was the first time that they ever gave airline status. Even if a deal did come along, it is likely it would be someone like Lufthansa or KLM who was not in oneworld.

• Stephan says:

  26 Feb26 February 17:30

  When do you have to pay the fee for the card?

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

    26 Feb26 February 18:55

    The fee is charged when the account is opened, and on every subsequent anniversary.

• Pete says:

  26 Feb26 February 18:07

  Just to say to those asking about adding your MP number to a booking via the call centre.

  I tried this and the booking was totally messed up! It messes up the system when two numbers are in it. And even after 3 calls and an hour on the phone they couldn’t resolve it! In the end had to have my BAEC entered again manually when I checked in on both legs of my journey as the CX number got stuck in there even after BA removed it and insisted coming up on my boarding card each time.

  Since then I’ve manually changed the number myself via Finnair on 4 other bookings, then selected my seats, then change it back, and this has worked a treat with no problems at all.

  So my advise is don’t waste time calling!

  • Mark says:

    26 Feb26 February 18:13

    Same question as above… when you change it back does it definitely retain the seat allocations?

    I’d understood that allocations lapse if your status expires prior to flying. If that is indeed the case I wonder if this is a way around it, or whether they still lapse with the expiry of the CX status.

    Anyone know the answer to this?

    • Alan says:

      26 Feb26 February 18:22

      It definitely retains them, I used it a few times prior to getting BA Gold via bmi. My parents have also used it without issue. The only time I’d see an existing seat booking change due to a status change would potentially be a row 1 seat, as these are reserved for Gold.

    • Pete says:

      26 Feb26 February 20:19

      Definitely stays yes. When u change it back to BAEC go to MMB and view each leg of your trip. It says in Red your allocated seat numbers. This applies to all passengers in your booking. On Finnair you also see your seat allocation more clearly.

      Talking of what seats you can choose. I’ve found on my Domestic flights from Manchester you can’t select rows 1 to 6. They are not greyed out but error trying to confirm them. I particularly like the two Exit seats on Row 8 where there are just 2. I was able to choose these on some flights but not others. Not sure why!

      • Mark says:

        26 Feb26 February 22:10

        Interesting.. So could be possible to get free seat selection for all flights taken or booked during the period of validity then, so potentially up to two years if flights depending on how far in advance you book (for redemption availability particularly).

        • Polly says:

          27 Feb27 February 16:08

          Yes that’s correct, we have reserved already for next feb, and card expires in November this year. This worked last year also when we travelled the card expired. We had just changed it back to baec by the time we travelled.

  • CV says:

    26 Feb26 February 18:54

    My experience of BA call centre was exact opposite, they were able to resolve very quickly for me. Depends on the individual I suppose.

    Row 1 seat are reserved, but become available for everyone 3 days before flight (I think) i.e. I was able to book row 1 today for a flight on Saturday, however I don’t like row 1 and book row 3.

    • Pete says:

      26 Feb26 February 20:25

      I called 3 times and so 3 different advisors. Some don’t understand the request, ie Add as 2nd number. At one point I was told it was a Cathay Pacific issue. As you say it depends how knowledgable they are and so a bit random. Certainly not worth an hour of my time every time I want to add a seat! In the end only Checkin could correct my BAEC into the flights.

• Brendan says:

  26 Feb26 February 18:26

  My Gold card will be a year old in April so I just applied for the upgrade to Platinum, but it asked me for ‘personal income’ rather than ‘household income’ so I’m not holding out much hope of being accepted!

• Paul says:

  26 Feb26 February 20:03

  I’m nearing the end of my first year of AMEX Gold. Being the first year, there was no fee. I’ve made the spend requirement such that as things stand I will net 7500 MR on my renewal date in May (when of course I will also pay the £125 fee for the first time).

  Anyone know where I stand if I upgrade to Plat, taking advantage of the 15,000 offer? There was talk above that I would be charged the £125 for my (currently free) first year — but does this just subtract from the £450 plat fee, and get me another year? If it adds to the plat fee, that’s not sounding great. Also, I presume I loose out on the 7500 renewal MRs? Also not sounding great.

  Finally any referral deals for Gold > Plat upgrade?

  • Rob says:

    26 Feb26 February 20:14

    There’s no referral deal for Gold to Plat, 15k is ‘it’.

    If you upgrade to Plat you just get charged the £450. The previous comment meant that if you downgrade from Plat to Gold, you DON’T get the first year free – you start paying £125 from the off.

    The real driver should be Cathay Gold. If you want it and can really use it, that should outweigh the points. If that is not a big deal, then I would let Gold tick over, bank the 7500 renewal points and then consider cancelling (you’ll get most of the £125 back) with a view to getting it again – or getting Plat – after the 6 month gap.

    • Paul says:

      26 Feb26 February 20:46

      Sounds like good advice. Thanks, Raffles. Realistically, I don’t think I’d get significant usage out of Cathay Gold in the next year, so I am probably best waiting as you suggest.

      Will be interesting to see if the Plat offering changes in any way once Cathay Gold is no longer a benefit. Whilst it’s not a well advertised perk I get the impression it’s the main incentive for a lot of people. Are we likely to see a reduction in fee, or a replacement status offering I wonder?

    • FormalHall says:

      26 Feb26 February 22:28

      How long do the 7500 points for £15000 spend on the Gold charge take to post after the card ticks over into the second year? My anniversary date was 1st Feb, was hoping to bank the 7500 points before applying for the Gold to Plat upgrade. Amex says up to 60 days, but I was hoping it would be shortly to I have time to apply for the Plat before the Cathy Gold ends.

      • Rob says:

        26 Feb26 February 22:43

        From what others have said, it tends to happen at the end of the month, so potentially this week

      • Yozza77 says:

        27 Feb27 February 08:33

        Mine posted 2 days after the renewal fee, roughly 30 days after the anniversary date.

• Rob says:

  26 Feb26 February 21:19

  Correct!

  • Matthew says:

    27 Feb27 February 00:19

    Great, thank you!

• London Princess says:

  27 Feb27 February 07:26

  I currently have a BAPP and signed up for Platinum in Dec. Have met the signup bonus, received my MP Gold etc etc and phoned to cancel my card yesterday. Politely explained to the lovely gentleman at Amex that I no longer require the card as I tend to use my BAPP in preference. He was very understanding and helpful but then just before hanging up he asked if I would be interested in receiving 2MR per £ for the next six months if I were to retain the card….was just the sweetener I needed! Be interesting to hear if anyone else has had a similar experience lately?

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