Got a British Airways American Express? Are you ready for the 1st September changes?

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• Chris Heyes says:

  26 Jul26 July 05:28

  Rob But there is a way to use both differant 241s on the same booking (I think ?)
  I have a 241 I can use it in first or Business for two of us yes ?
  Partner has a new 241 from Sept she can use it for two as well yes ?
  Therefor 4 or 6 can travel using 241s as a mix if Partner gets another 241 second year

  • Will says:

    26 Jul26 July 06:41

    They will be separate bookings. Perhaps you can get availability on same flights but no guarantee

  • BJ says:

    26 Jul26 July 06:46

    No, that would be 2 bookings Chris, one for you and one for your partner. Remember too that bookings have to be voucher holder + 1 therefore one person holding 2 vouchers does not equate to voucher holder + 3 on a single booking.

    • Chris Heyes says:

      26 Jul26 July 07:48

      BJ Of course meant on same flight “not booking”
      But still allows 3 241s to be used for 6 people

      • BJ says:

        26 Jul26 July 08:04

        I think what Rob means is one PNR because absent that you incur risks to you party travelling together and associated hassles if it all gets messy.

      • Marc says:

        26 Jul26 July 08:24

        Chris, that’s right – but only if three different people hold the vouchers. Which might not always be the case.

        • Chris Heyes says:

          26 Jul26 July 09:03

          Marc Not correct One person can book for 4 using two 241s
          example 1 + 3
          Plus me can book using a 241
          Total 6 people booked using three 241s

  • Rob says:

    26 Jul26 July 11:26

    Obviously you can do it if the vouchers are in different names!

• Mij says:

  26 Jul26 July 06:12

  How can you see how much you’ve spent so far in a year?

  • Hardpack says:

    26 Jul26 July 06:23

    It’s on your statement on one of the last pages

  • Paul pogba says:

    26 Jul26 July 06:24

    The Amex app has a counter (on the “membership” section of the iOS version).

• TimM says:

  26 Jul26 July 06:46

  I have the free BA Amex card and will never spend £20,000 on it in a year. Which card is more generous for collecting Avios for relatively low-spenders?

  • BJ says:

    26 Jul26 July 06:54

    If you can spend £10k in a year then keep the blue but upgrade to BAPP just before reaching £10k. Trigger the voucher then cancel or downgrade to blue again after the voucher is safely in your BA account. If you cannot spend £10k then the PRG during the first year when it is free, otherwise the fee-freefree American Express Reward Credit Card.

    • Paul Pogba says:

      26 Jul26 July 07:00

      The Nectar Amex generates 1.25 Avios/£ and has a lower fee so might be worth checking out: https://www.headforpoints.com/2021/02/06/review-american-express-nectar-credit-card-3/

      • BJ says:

        26 Jul26 July 07:21

        Yes, this is true but the offers on Nectar card are generally not as great as those on the MR cards. Over a year I would expect the return on the MR cards to exceed the extra 0.25 avios/£ on the Nectar card especially for a low spender. For example, PRG earns more on travel and currently earns 2 avios/£ on spend for many with the offer. If avios was the goal for a low spender I would still go with an MR card and back it up with a Sainsbury bank Nectar card for shopping at Sainsbury and Argos only provided they regularly shopped there or would consider doing so.

        • Paul Pogba says:

          26 Jul26 July 09:05

          Are you sure the number of offers is significantly lower over the long term? My ARCC had about 6 offers on it when I barely used it, its now taken over from BAPP as my primary card (to avoid triggering the 241) and the number of offers looks about equal.

        • BJ says:

          26 Jul26 July 11:47

          @Paul, I am sure the general spend threshold offers are better on MR cards. They also attract the amex travelnoffers and Morrison offers. Doubt anybody had a Morrisons offer on Nectar but happy to be corrected. Not really a factor anyway for us who holding multiple cards but people such as Tiim with lower spend may prefer fewer or a single card. In such cases getting the right card for the big picture is more important.

    • JDB says:

      26 Jul26 July 07:14

      I think it is a big assumption that this will continue to be allowed after 1 Sep. With the bigger gap in benefits between the vouchers and asking for an increased fee, Amex cannot, from a regulatory/fairness perspective, give the better voucher to the majority for £250, but allow others to have it for a twelfth of that.

  • Guernsey Globetrotter says:

    26 Jul26 July 07:05

    From 1st Sept the annual target spend to trigger the new 2-4-1 (economy only) voucher for your current card drops to only £12,000. If that is doable for you, you are OK with the flight class restriction & don’t want to pay an annual subscription for the premium card then the basic BA card is still your best Avios option, mainly because a 2-4-1 voucher is so powerful in terms of boosting your Avios possibilities if not travelling alone.

  • Harry T says:

    26 Jul26 July 07:13

    Nectar.

    • BJ says:

      26 Jul26 July 07:37

      No, see my point above. The ‘problem’ with HfP, and other blogs too, is that Rob has to keep the articles quite simple both for clarity and to prevent them from becoming too long. In practice this usually means that for the most part articles consider issues in isolation or at best in a limited wider scope. The bigger picture needs to be considered by each according to their own circumstances and when doing so the conclusion reached will not always be the same as that reached by the article. That is not to say that the article is wrong, only that one size does not fit all and that issues should be considered in both wider and personal context.

      • Doug M says:

        26 Jul26 July 10:12

        Whilst I agree with your broader point that the answer is typically more nuanced, I think reliance of ‘offers’ for a decision process is quite flawed. In my experience they’re so random and senseless that they’re near impossible to value. Gold has had a decent spell with the Deliveroo offer, which I’d guess us widely used, and various get double points on your next X spend. Whilst I have not had one for around 18 months the Plat always seemed the most useless for offers, I appreciate that those that kept it have done OK from redemption offers, but those are pretty abstract and related to brass neck. I don’t factor offers into a card decision.

        • BJ says:

          26 Jul26 July 11:51

          Not just relying on offers to drive the decision though. There are other factors such as the relative value of referrals and additional cards on MR cards compared to Nectar.

  • TimM says:

    26 Jul26 July 11:17

    Thanks for all those comments. As I can see, the Nectar Amex earns 0.25 Avios per £ more than the free BA Amex but has an annual fee of £25 (though free in year 1). If you value your Avios at 1p each, by my calculations I would need to spend 2500p/0.25 = £10,000 per year to break even on the £25 Nectar Amex over the free BA Amex and then not be within £2,000 spending of the BA 2-4-1 (economy only) voucher.

    I liked BJ’s strategy of shuffling cards approaching a £10k spend and back again to get the full BA 2-4-1 voucher, but as I don’t intend spending £10,000 in one year, it seems the free BA card is still the best option, at least for collecting Avios.

    I am more than happy to be corrected.

  • Rob says:

    26 Jul26 July 11:24

    Easy life – Amex Rewards Credit Card, 1 point for £1, free for life, convert into Avios BUT also all other Amex partners so far more flexible than Avios

    Harder life – Nectar with ‘first year free’ for 1.25 Avios per £1, cancel after first year, possibly get Amex Gold free for a year then back to Nectar etc (and after 2 years of this get a BAPP so you can bag the bonus)

    • TimM says:

      27 Jul27 July 07:49

      Excellent strategy Rob. Thanks.

• MrD says:

  26 Jul26 July 06:55

  I’m ready, I’ve moved to collecting Tesco points.

• Carl Cross says:

  26 Jul26 July 07:04

  Thanks for all the great writing on this topic Chris – did as advised and got myself to £20K of spend on the free card, triggered the voucher and have now upgraded to the premium and cards received [intended to anyway]. Wouldn’t have got to £20K without forward planning as business expenditure low still so thank you for your great article!

• Ed Newman says:

  26 Jul26 July 07:07

  There is actually a really easy way to upgrade as I did it this week and was done within minutes using this link: https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/benefits/upgrade/ba-premium-plus-credit-card/

• David says:

  26 Jul26 July 07:14

  Card anniversary 11th Sept 21 with £10K+ spent on the free card. If I pay £195 today to upgrade and trigger 2-4-1, and then downgrade again next week after the cards/voucher have arrived – any implications? Would I get refunded 51 weeks pro-rata (worth doing!) or only refunded the 4 weeks or so before my card anniversary date? If the latter, perhaps work keeping PP for the next year for the higher earning ratio. Unless it gets charged again on my anniversary date…? Confused!

  • BJ says:

    26 Jul26 July 12:26

    If you downgrade again before your next statement is issued you may not get charged at all. However, I wouldn’t play such games with amex. I alwatsvtry to give tghem sonething and hold any cards at least three months, six in most cases.

• jjh4yb says:

  26 Jul26 July 07:33

  I’m thinking of giving up on my Premium BA AmEx. A subscription that comes in at over £20/month seems steep, I’d previously rationalised it on the quality of insurance provided. I’m a solo traveller, so companion vouchers are not a great incentive.

  Therefore the comment, “These people should not be BA Amex cardholders, frankly, because there are more generous cards available but let’s ignore that for today.” grabbed my attention.

  Is there a current item pointing these cards out or an item in the pipeline?

  Many thanks for continuing to keep us so well informed.

  • BJ says:

    26 Jul26 July 07:39

    If used wisely the voucher will save you your £250 many times over.

    • jjh4yb says:

      26 Jul26 July 08:17

      I’m wondering if you missed my comment about being a solo traveller or am I missing something?

      • JDB says:

        26 Jul26 July 08:34

        I was wondering about your comment re “quality of insurance” on the BAPP card?

      • BJ says:

        26 Jul26 July 09:04

        As a solo traveller Virgin voucher would work better if you found their network useful. There are places for solo travellers to make contact, might be worth exploring as an option to explore BA voucher. Don’t mean to travel together, just to fly together.

  • Doug M says:

    26 Jul26 July 10:24

    I don’t think the BAPP has the equivalent of decent travel insurance, so I’d check what insurance means to you. Virgin have a much smaller route network and harder to find points redemptions, if you’re a USA traveller their voucher may work for you, but that’s a £200 card. The solo BA voucher is via Barclays Premier banking. That’s in the £150/year range, but does provide Avios to offset that cost, albeit a bank account and not a credit card. The days of the Lloyds voucher for £24/year have sadly ended.
    As a solo traveller myself, my strategy in the broadest sense is Amex Gold in 13 month spells to get the extra 10K MR, BAPP every two years for 25K sign up, and on and off Plats for those benefits as needed. Non Amex fallback is IHG black card that’s no longer available.

  • Doug M says:

    26 Jul26 July 10:52

    @jjh4yb. As a solo traveller that often allows for greater flexibility. Whilst Avios redemptions can be a real winner, they can also be quite poor value for long haul without 241 given fees on them. Have you considered ex-EU? It’s my go to method for long haul, and means earning good chunks of Avios without too much credit card faffing.

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