BAD NEWS (2): Your BA Premium Plus Amex fee is going up – but more Club seats opened

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• Craig says:

  1 Jun1 June 10:27

  This makes the two year churn cycle the only way to go for a couple. Refer, sign up bonus, earn 241 and cancel for a partial fee refund. Repeat for their partner every other year from a different Amex.

  • BuilBackBetter says:

    1 Jun1 June 10:33

    +1

  • bafan says:

    1 Jun1 June 10:34

    Until they introduce the “once in a lifetime” language in the T&Cs, U.S. style.

    • meta says:

      1 Jun1 June 10:54

      Or they invalidate the use of 241s if you don’t hold a card which is technically already in T&C, just not enforced.

      • WaynedP says:

        1 Jun1 June 11:00

        @meta my thoughts too.

        Though someone made the interesting point that it’s BA at point of sale that needs to implement a refusal, not Amex.

        Amex may like to insist that BA play ball and implement Amex’s T&Cs more rigorously, but it’s likely that BA’s IT isn’t up to the task, for now …

        • Magic Mike says:

          1 Jun1 June 11:14

          Seeing as BA’s IT infrastructure couldn’t spot an injection attack on the payment page of their website for months, I wish them luck forcing payment to a particular type of Amex card for a particular type of redemption ticket…

        • Genghis says:

          1 Jun1 June 11:36

          Should the “need to hold the card” terms be sensu stricto applied, I’d like to see how they hold up to challenge given the FCA’s “treat customers fairly” principle. I.e. having to pay a fee for multiple years covering the periods of earning the voucher, using the voucher and then travelling using said voucher.

          When I made a complaint to the FOS over Amex closure of my accounts, I had a Companion Voucher in my BAEC. I used the terms to my advantage in that I had to have an Amex to use the voucher I had validly earned and Amex closing my accounts had lead to a direct loss of not being able to use the Companion Voucher.

        • Doug M says:

          1 Jun1 June 11:42

          But Amex presumably is up to the task, as they display the flight details on their statements. So whilst they may not be able to refuse at the point you pay BA, they presumably could after a couple of days when the transaction would normally confirm from pending?

        • Memesweeper says:

          1 Jun1 June 11:59

          @Doug… that’s sly. Don’t give them ideas.

        • meta says:

          1 Jun1 June 13:59

          It can be simply enforced by asking for a card at check-in/boarding. If no BA logo, refuse boarding. Airlines sometimes do that already.

        • Phil says:

          1 Jun1 June 16:21

          Last week I had a BA Avios CSA insist I use the BAPP card used to earn the Companion Voucher. When I explained that it was cancelled, she got concerned about the payment not processing. I tried to reassure her it would all be fine but she insisted I use a BAPP in my name… so I used the supplementary card I have to my wife’s account. Only after the payment processed fine did she remember that I’d said my card was cancelled. The wonders of BA customer services and IT!

        • WaynedP says:

          1 Jun1 June 17:44

          @meta Even I would object irritably at that. No-one should be forced to hold a fee incurring card for months after having booked and paid for a flight. See Genghis point indicating Fin Ombudsman concurs.

          Of course, if Amex stops paying pro-rata fee refunds, then the consumer’s hand is considerably weakened.

          @Phil It generally augurs badly when it becomes clear that the troops on the front line have been drilled to parrot orders from higher up. That often betrays an uncomfortable spotlight on an unwelcome practice facing a firmer clamp-down.

        • meta says:

          1 Jun1 June 20:14

          @WaynedP check reports on Flyertalk and various travel blogs of people being asked to show a card at check-in. I remember reading about someone being let to check-in only when they had remembered last four digits and the expiry date.

          Ultimately you can object, but you wouldn’t be able to do anything on the spot when they don’t let you board.

• Jimmy says:

  1 Jun1 June 10:28

  Rob, any idea if there’s some more positive news in the pipeline to soften the blow?

  • Super Secret Stuff says:

    1 Jun1 June 10:35

    If they wanted to soften the blow, they’d have done it all at the same time

  • Youllnever says:

    1 Jun1 June 10:55

    They already softened the blow with the increase in Avios seat availability.

    • CarpalTravel says:

      1 Jun1 June 11:03

      I am a bit surprised they didn’t announce that at the same time.

• AJA says:

  1 Jun1 June 10:33

  Well this is not brilliant news. Fortunately I have until May 2022 before the higher fee kicks in. We are currently spending on the OH’s card which unfortunately renews in September. Renewal of that card will depend on whether we spend £10k on it before then and then renewla of mine depends on whether we spend £10k before May 2022. That said the free card is now less attractive since the companion voucher is only valid for economy, I haven’t sat there since 2003 so have no intention of doing so in the future, besides it requires £12k of spend which is still more than the BAPP. We also have 3 companion vouchers between us. I think that we might well end up just using the one card although earning the 1.5 Avios per £1 is still attractive. I presume the 2 year moratorium before getting a sign-up bonus still applies? Suddenly the free Sainsbury’s card becomes more attractive. Does it still have the 10k NP sign up bonus?

• Dickie H says:

  1 Jun1 June 10:35

  It seems to me that for long-haul premium redemptions:
  (1) greater reward availability; and
  (2) the exclusion – via the extra £55 pa – of users whose earning / spending meant they were only ever marginally in this game;
  equals more redemption opportunities for those who have the spend / avios.

  But RFS is a.sweet spot that could get hammered by the masses who realise that £12k spend could now get them and a partner away to Europe …

  • Joe says:

    1 Jun1 June 10:38

    Agreed – I am not too upset by these package of changes!

• jil says:

  1 Jun1 June 10:37

  the extra £55 fee is for the better design of the card, current amex plastic card looks cheap

• Super Secret Stuff says:

  1 Jun1 June 10:39

  I really, really hope that Chase are going to go in aggressively on this. They may even buy another “card” brand like Diners club to make it happen. I can hope

  • sigma421 says:

    1 Jun1 June 10:43

    I have similar hopes but don’t really see how they can unless the interchange fee cap is lifted (which would not be something that businesses would welcome at the moment).

    • Super Secret Stuff says:

      1 Jun1 June 10:55

      They could get around it by buying a brand of card, like Visa or Mastercard, and then because they are the bank as well as the interchange they can charge whatever they like. Same argument as Amex use.

      Given that Creation appear to be attempting to pull out of the Credit Card game they might be looking to sell the Diners Club processing business

      • Youllnever says:

        1 Jun1 June 10:58

        What does Diners Club have to do with Creation? Pretty sure Creation doesn’t own Diners Club.

        • Super Secret Stuff says:

          1 Jun1 June 11:01

          My bad, I thought they did

      • RussellH says:

        1 Jun1 June 11:03

        Yesterday’s e-mail about getting 3x points for the next two months on the Marriott M/card does not look like they are trying to pull out – unless, I suppose, all the extra points are financed by Marriott, who are trying to persuade Creation to not only keep the card going, but to re-open it to new clients.

        • Paul Pogba says:

          1 Jun1 June 11:54

          They might have prepaid for a certain number of points or had a contractual minimum purchase that hasn’t been met because many of us are/were spending less due to the lockdowns.

• Al says:

  1 Jun1 June 10:43

  This is good news for those of us who aren’t particularly loyal to BA. I have my points spread across multiple schemes and often book two one ways using different methods. Seems like this will introduce flexibility and potential fees savings for me.

  • meta says:

    1 Jun1 June 10:56

    You could do that before. Nothing changes apart from the fact that now you can do it in a more simplified way and hopefully online!

    • Babyg says:

      1 Jun1 June 11:03

      you couldnt book two one-ways are make use of 241s from outside of the UK.. now you could fly out with virgin, and back with BA (using a 241)… – i think thats where AI was going with that..

      • meta says:

        1 Jun1 June 14:05

        You can use 2 x241s for nested flights and thus recreate two-one ways. I’ve been doing that for a while now.

• J says:

  1 Jun1 June 10:47

  I need to do the calculations again, but pretty sure this will be the end for me when my anniversary date come around. Only use the 241s for short haul, so all the value has been in the extra 0.5 avios/£1. The numbers were tight last time, when compared to using an alternative for 2 years and then taking a new sign up bonus, so I assume it no longer makes much sense. And 18 months of stockpiling avios without spending takes away any desperation. I guess most on HfP who close the card would switch spending to another Amex – so I doubt there’s much downside.

  • The Savage Squirrel says:

    1 Jun1 June 12:36

    Why worry about the anniversary? It’s an arbitrary point in time. Given pro rats refunds you can and should continuously evaluate whether it’s the right thing to hold the card…

    • J says:

      1 Jun1 June 18:00

      Fee only goes up at anniversary – £16.25/month makes sense, £20.85 probably not. I’ll try to spend the £10,000 in the first few weeks after anniversary then quit.

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