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Hi everyone, would be interested to know your thoughts on this. Firstly just for context, this is the current situation. Myself and P2 both use my own BAPP AMEX putting all our spending through one account. P2 doesn’t want to get their own card in their name but is happy to be an added user on my own. So far in our card year we’ve put around £17k through the card since August. We have used two companion vouchers so far on long haul business travel, once to Tokyo and the other an open-jaw trip that we haven’t taken yet to SIN/HKG which will be next year. The Avios required for the first trip were obtained through sign up bonuses, card spend, and the existing pot of Avios I already had; the new trip has been possible due to the Avios subscription – we don’t spend/earn enough to get 200k Avios just through the AMEX or even with other avenues like Nectar.
Before the announcements of changed costs and companion voucher thresholds I was already debating whether to cancel or downgrade to the free card as I felt that whilst we were obviously getting these Business flights for a great deal, we were still spending at least £1125pp for the tickets (£899 for the Avios subscription, £250 for the BAPP, and £550 each in RFS taxes). Now that we’ve taken/booked the big trips we want to do, I want to cut back on spending and move to a card that is free or makes money. As a single person I would probably move to a cashback card but this is less good as a couple I feel that at least with points we can both contribute to a shared trip whereas with cash back it would be harder to attribute whose is whose. So my options as far as I can see it:
1) Downgrade to the free BA AMEX, we should still be able to hit the companion voucher each year for economy and we’d like to do more short haul European trips.
2) Move to the Gold Card and get the first year free – the MR points we’d probably eventually convert to Virgin to maybe to do trip to Cape Town in Premium in the future as that was potentially the next long haul flight we’d do if we kept the Avios subscription. I would evaluate again in a year’s time whether it was worth keeping the card at that point or moving to something else.
3) Ditch Amex altogether and move to the free Barclaycard (which I already have as my non-Amex card) – although they would need to at least double my credit limit for this to be a viable option.
Would love to know your thoughts. To clarify, wanting to ditch the BAPP hasn’t really got anything to do with the £50 fee increase or the voucher trigger threshold increase. It’s just about not wanting such a big up-front additional outlay to acquire the Avios to use in long haul Business cabins.
Sorry for the essay!
I think it depends on what you value. You might not be able to go on business but perhaps a downgrade to premium economy with the BAPP might justify the fee.
In my case we’re a family of 3 (infant under 2) and we don’t generate enough avios for a long haul business trip per year so I’m going with one big business long haul redemption every 2 years. I have already got one voucher to use next year and will re-evaluate once I get my next voucher (my BAPP renews in October). If I can’t generate enough for a business redemption I might go with premium economy and boost my avios balance to get balance needed.
I’ve decided to go for the Amex Gold, and then when the free year runs out I will downgrade to the free card to keep an AMEX in the wallet and use the cashback offers. I am debating whether to sign up in the next day or so or leave it a month as I still have the BAPP until it renews in August but I think I want to focus on Virgin points now so unsure whether to keep getting Avios at the higher rate or move spending over to the Gold card (assuming application is accepted).
What would people do if they wanted to change their points focus, move to a new card sooner or keep the spend going through an already paid for higher earning card until nearer the time of renewal?
I annoyingly cancelled my VACC so will probably wait the 6+ months now to reapply and see how I get on with the Gold.
Same boat as you bennymoon, this is why I use the VA Rewards + CC. If I don’t have enough points I just use the companion voucher with cash, even then it’s worth the £160 annual fee for me. Yes the route network is much less than BA, but if the destinations are still something you see favourably then it would work for you.
Same boat as you bennymoon, this is why I use the VA Rewards + CC. If I don’t have enough points I just use the companion voucher with cash, even then it’s worth the £160 annual fee for me. Yes the route network is much less than BA, but if the destinations are still something you see favourably then it would work for you.
I think the conclusion I came to is that while Virgin’s route network is smaller, I’m statistically more likely to fly to the places they go: I have friends and family near Salt Lake City (which Virgin don’t fly to but Delta do the only direct flight there from London) and I have a friend in Washington DC, and I’d probably go to NYC again to see some shows or something. My partner is from China so he might benefit from the PVG route and we’d love to try Cape Town and that is a Virgin route. So I think where Virgin wins is when you have a destination they fly to that you would want to regularly go to.
Yeah I always feel unless you’re generating 140k+ avios a year for a long haul biz class ticket, it’s tricky to use the BAPP Companion Voucher. To me I’d never pay cash for a club Europe ticket, I’d just fly low cost from a northern airport (living up in the north it’s a pain to get to LHR for short haul). So generally only go to LHR for long haul. The ability to pay cash and use a companion voucher on virgin is just great!
I’d just fly low cost from a northern airport (living up in the north it’s a pain to get to LHR for short haul). So generally only go to LHR for long haul. The ability to pay cash and use a companion voucher on virgin is just great!
I’m in Bristol and my parents live very close to Gatwick so would usually do European flights from either BRS or LGW but Bristol is sort of the right side of Heathrow so for long haul it’s not a horrendous inconvenience. But yeah there’s no way I can be generating the required points for BA Business without using a subscription or points boosts, so would rather use the Virgin voucher with cash tickets.
Im in a tricky spot. Most of my redemptions have been on IB which come with much lower Avios and lower taxes and fees so my pot has gone further than most. I have had to juggle and do tricks to even meet the 10k on each card for me and the wife. That was at 10k let alone now that itll be 15k! I will 100% keep one of the 2x BAPPs that we have as it covers 2x people (wife and child) and get rid of mine and do something else wether on Virgin/Barclays.
Issues are I spend very little, 70% of my outgoings are mortgage/overpayments and unfortunately theres no way to get Avios there. Payzone/Paypoint have been a lifeline for Council tax etc. People are lucky they can syphon through side businesses etc and 15k is a spit in a bucket.
@zapato, one thing I do is make sure all my travel spending goes on Amex, and that soon adds up. If I can get the best price via BA, throw that into the mix and get 3 avios per £ as well. I reluctantly don’t use Amex abroad because of the FX fees, but make sure I pay as much as possible in advance instead of at check out.
I applied for the Gold card and was accepted. Have a trip to Amsterdam in June, so what do people think is the best Priority Pass lounge at LHR T5?
I applied for the Gold card and was accepted. Have a trip to Amsterdam in June, so what do people think is the best Priority Pass lounge at LHR T5?
Club Aspire is the least bad. On my last visit the Plaza Premium was appalling, poor service and disgusting food.
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