What do Sunday Telegraph readers do with their Amex Membership Rewards points?

I advised on an article in The Sunday Telegraph this week about how to use American Express Membership Rewards points.

Here’s a link although the site is paywalled. There’s nothing in it that I haven’t written about on HfP multiple times so you aren’t missing much if you’re a regular reader.

I thought you might be interested in extracts from the comments section under the article. Telegraph readers are generally literate (verbally and financially) so you would expect sensible feedback.

Here are a few:

From Chris:

If you have got enough money to be spending £100k per year on Amex then can you really be bothered spending time exchanging points for pennies?

Er, yes Chris. I suspect Chris believes that wealthy people keep warm in winter by throwing large piles of £50 notes into a roaring fire. In reality the majority of people with cash wealth (as opposed to housing wealth) got it via running their own business and have spent a lifetime focused on cost control.

From Joe:

When I closed the account to which my Amex card was linked they booted me out without any chance of paying from any of my other accounts, despite having been a client for almost two decades. And they kept all my points. Wouldn’t trust them as far as I can throw them.

No idea what Joe is on about 🙂 Failed Direct Debit? Let’s move on.

From Ale:

Avios is a complete and total waste of time. Worth nothing these days, most flights are unavailable and you can still get a cheaper flights elsewhere at the time you actually want to go.

Feedback for IAG there I think ….

From Alan:

I can’t see anywhere on the BA site that lets me convert avios to nectar points

The first Google search result for ‘BA nectar’ is the relevant page.

From Gavin:

You will never be able to use those lounge access vouchers. All lounges are full now all the time and only accept paid entry or business class passengers.

Fair point at peak times in the UK (not internationally).

From Richard:

I don’t fly much, so using the points on Amazon or Laithwaites wine works for me.

I had specifically written in the article that converting points to Nectar via Avios gets you 50% more value than doing what Richard does, getting himself 0.45p per point.

From Bennett:

Just use the Amex points as credit to clear your credit card balance.

See my reply to Richard above.

From LIz:

Wine Flyer – that’s a good way to use up your Avios.

As we showed here, you’re getting 0.68p per Avios via Wine Flyer so, admittedly, it’s not terrible. It’s not great either – we’d be aiming at over 1p – but there are far worse options. Such as:

From Julian:

just use them on amazon.

See my reply to Richard above.

From Jane (replying to Julian):

But then your return on the points is 10% less than buying [Amazon] gift cards, for example, as shown by the figures in the article. I just get get Amazon or M&S gift cards, as I shop there anyway.

No, Jane, don’t do it!

There are some thoughtful contributions from other Telegraph readers, which elevate the discussion to something nearer the HfP comments level:

From Al:

I accumulate thousands of points a year but rolling them into airmiles type schemes is a waste of time as it’s usually cheaper to buy the flights/upgrades elsewhere.

What can be useful with Amex is their rewards discounts. Most of them are pointless overpriced luxury brands, but I tend to make >£300 a year with the more regular ones. For example, LNER has 12% Amex cashback plus another 2% discount booking via LNER directly.

From Chris:

If you’re persistent enough and flexible you will find your seats depending on your flexibility. I have only flown First & Business since I started collecting in 2005.

From Bret:

The best thing about Amex (aside from their human customer service if I ever need to phone them up) is that if you are going overseas for work and need a local credit history (e.g. in the US for a few years), utter the magic words “Global Transfer” and Amex in your new country will use your UK credit history to support your application where you have no local creditworthiness to evidence. So far as I know, they’re the only major global credit provider that will do this.

From George:

I have been an Amex Platinum member since 1995, with gold 2 years prior to that and indeed have had good points benefits because I earned a lot in my working life.

The annual cost has increased hugely and whilst the cost to benefit ratio used to be good now I am over 70 the travel insurance no longer applies ( I though it was to 75 and was surprised that Amex never reminded me that I would loose it at 70). Indeed I still get letters that made me think I still had this.

You would think Amex would want to retain its senior members but now there is little to no point in me retaining the card at £575 a year.

From John (re lounge access):

You will struggle to use them in the UK but in the rest of the world, you should be fine. Lounge entry refusal is a UK phenomenon. At worst in places like the AENA-run lounges across Spain, they may ask you to wait at the door till the next flight boards to smooth out capacity. Whereas in Manchester, the airport-run Escape lounges put a “We’re full, please F off” sign outside when about 25-30% occupied.

From William (re ‘Avios are a waste of time’):

That may be true for short haul destinations, but you can get 1p per avios on many long haul routes even in economy (eg. to South America), thanks to the recent reduction in the required cash component via Reward Flight Saver. You can also redeem on Iberia and Qatar, which gives excellent value. I am flying from Singapore to London on Qatar Business class for 75000 avios plus £180. The cash fare for this same route would be £2500+. Finally this doesn’t take into account the extra value from the 2 for 1 voucher you can earn on the BA Amex, which substantially increases the worth of your avios.

It’s true that certain routes are practically off limits for redemptions (eg. BA Australia/Singapore) and you often need to book close to a year in advance. But with a little flexibility you can get good deals.

What can you take from this?

What you need to remember, as a HfP reader, is that you are very much in the minority in terms of knowing how to maximise the miles and points that you earn.

I think the comments above, from what in theory should be an above-average audience in terms of street smarts, show that.

This is good news for us though. The more people who redeem for sub-optimal redemptions, the lower the pressure on the financial performance of the programme and the more likely it is that higher value redemptions will remain – if only because of their PR value via sites like this.

---

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 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:

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.

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:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

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 on your spending.