Reply To: Barclaycard Avios Plus the best option?

[Reney]

Jumping in as no one seems to have mentioned your balance transfer point. We know that Amex has tightened its criteria on who gets approved and a few people who historically have not had problems have been rejected. By the sound of it, you are planning to carry a balance, just to say it might not look good on your BAPP application when the time comes, worth trying to whittle that down before application.

You could get the Barclays paid card, do the spend, get the points paid out and downgrade a nd carry on spending. If you are planning to leave your voucher/points to be selected it is not clear what happens if you downgrade e.g. if they force the voucher on you. Also depends on when your BA tier point year ends.