Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

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

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I wanted to gently remind everyone that time is running out if you want to apply for the American Express Platinum card in order to get the free Cathay Pacific Marco Polo Club Gold card.

The last day to apply for the Cathay Pacific Gold card will be 31st March.  However, you must have your American Express Platinum card in your hand first.  This means, realistically, that you need to apply for Amex Platinum in the next 2 weeks to be certain that you receive it before 31st March.

If you are not familiar with this offer, this is how it works.

When you take out an American Express Platinum charge card you can apply for a Cathay Pacific Marco Polo Club Gold card, valid for one year

Cathay Pacific, like British Airways, is a member of the oneworld alliance.  This means that your Cathay Pacific Gold card gives you the same benefits as a British Airways Silver card when you fly with BA.

In particular:

You can use BA lounges, even when flying economy – and bring a guest

You can use the lounges of any other oneworld airline when flying with them (Qantas, Qatar, Cathay, Finnair, Royal Jordanian etc)

You can select seats on BA flights for free

You get an additional baggage allowance (BA only)

You can check-in at business class desks

The full list of benefits from a oneworld Sapphire card (which is what both BA Silver and Cathay Gold offer) can be found here.

But doesn’t Amex Platinum have a £450 fee …?

Yes, it does.  However, the fee is refunded pro-rata when you cancel.

When you cancel, you keep the Cathay Gold card for the remainder of the 12 months for which it is valid.  You also keep the three hotel status cards for the rest of the year – Starwood Gold, Accor Platinum and Carlson (Radisson) Gold.

There is also a very lucrative sign-up bonus with Amex Platinum, although you can only get this if you have not had an Amex Gold or Amex Platinum in the last six months.  You will receive 30,000 Amex Membership Rewards points, which can be converted into 30,000 Avios or 30,000 Virgin Flying Club miles amongst other things.

This is how the maths could pan out for you:

Apply for American Express Platinum within the next 2 weeks, to guarantee that you receive your card by late March

Go online and order your Cathay Gold, Starwood Gold, Accor Platinum and Club Carlson Gold cards (last day for ordering Cathay Gold is 31st March)

Spend the £2,000 in 3 months required to trigger the 30,000 Membership Rewards points

Transfer your 30,000 points – plus the extra points from your spending – into 30,000  Avios, Virgin Flying Club miles or whatever other programme you choose

Cancel the card after three months for a pro-rata fee refund

So, for just £112, you will get ….

So, assuming you cancel the card after three months, for a net cost of just £112 (3/12th of £450):

you will have earned 30,000 Avios and

you get the equivalent of a British Airways Silver card for a year and

you get Gold status at Starwood hotels for a year and

you get Platinum status at Accor hotels for a year and

you get Gold status at Carlson (Radisson, Park Inn) hotels for a year.

Which sounds OK to me.  A lot of people who take out the card intending to cancel actually end up keeping it, because the benefits package (which includes full travel insurance, Eurostar lounge access, two Priority Pass lounge access cards, access to Fine Hotels & Resorts deals, UK Hotel Collection deals and special Platinum promotions such as the free Melia hotel night last year) is impressive.

My full review of the American Express Platinum card is here.


best travel rewards credit cards

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

Huge 80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) and NO FX fees Read our full review

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback when you spend at least £2,000 per month.

Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card

Get 1% cashback when you spend at least £2,000 per month* Read our full review

Comments (188)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Phil says:

    [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!

  • sh83 says:

    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:

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

    • Rob says:

      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:

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

    • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

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

  • Pete says:

    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:

      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:

        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:

        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:

          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:

            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:

      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:

        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:

    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:

    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:

      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:

        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:

        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:

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

        • Yozza77 says:

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

  • Rob says:

    Correct!

  • London Princess says:

    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?

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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