Amex maximising sign-ups – best option?

[RichFamilyFlyer]

Good Morning All,

Seems a temporary break in the drab weather thankfully. Just a quick question, I just wanted to check the ‘route to maximise Amex sign-up bonuses’ is still current i.e. Nectar Amex – Platinum Card – Prem Plus Card,

Ergo, I still receive the sign-up bonuses for each of these cards if I follow this pathway.

And is it literally as simple as the sign-up needs to just be after chronologically even if the other card is still live i.e. Day 1 sign up for Nectar card, after receiving the Nectar Amex card, I apply for the platinum card etc?

Thanks

[aq.1988]

You can also swap the order of the Plat and the BAPP.
Might be useful as the Plat has recently had an enhanced SUB, so the BAPP might have an enhanced bonus sooner.

The rules for the Plat is that you can’t have had any MR earning card in the last 2 years, and for the BAPP, you can’t have had any BA Amex in the last 2 years.

So you could start with another card not in those card families, and get the SUB on that, and still be eligible on the Plat and BAPP, I.e Nectar or Marriott.

Just be careful, as you won’t necessarily be accepted for the other cards later, as Amex seems to be tightening up recently, and you could find yourself stuck with only the Nectar card. Applying for multiple cards close together might hurt your chances of being approved for all of them too, plus would make your window to hit the spend targets smaller if they overlap (might not be a problem if you are a high spender).

[RichFamilyFlyer]

Thanks aq.1988,

A fair point regarding acceptability of other cards once obtaining the nectar card, and definitely worth considering. Im currently requiring a largish purchase which would instantly hit the nectar card bonus and then about a month after I would be wanting the platinum card for its hotel statuses, and paying for holidays to utilise its travel insurance perks also (late september).

Have you personally had or heard then of AMEX stopping applications of multiple card such as my aofrementioned route, as this most definitely would be a sticking point?

[aq.1988]

Not doing the route you are proposing, or for applying for multiple cards in a short space of time, per se. But, there have been numerous posts on these forums about people being declined recently (might have been more to do with income tbf), but some may have been declined for already having high credit limits on their existing cards, as I have also seen online posts where people have had to reduce their limits before being approved. If you get a high limit on your Nectar, may be worth asking to reduce it before you apply for the Plat, or at least before going for the BAPP.

I started with Gold, then applied for the free ARCC, as I was planning to cancel the Gold, and didn’t want to move my MR out; ended up keeping the Gold, but reduced my credit limit on my ARCC (as I had a ridiculously high limit), before I applied for the BAPP to make sure I was approved when the 70k bonus was on.

A month apart for 2 cards might be ok, a third in a short space, might be risky.

[Carlos]

considering you get 25k for gold and only 30k for the plat, id swap the platinum for gold as the annual fee is far less
also consider you need to spend approx £9k over 9 months to actually hit the SUB, 3 months apart

[aq.1988]

Carlos wrote:

considering you get 25k for gold and only 30k for the plat, id swap the platinum for gold as the annual fee is far less
also consider you need to spend approx £9k over 9 months to actually hit the SUB, 3 months apart

The problem with that is the OP wouldn’t be eligible for the SUB on the Gold if they started with the Nectar. If they skipped the Nectar, and went straight for Gold, its a good shout given how close the SUBs are right now, and they could even upgrade from Gold to Plat later, and get 20k for that.

[Reney]

No one has mentioned yet but pro rata refunds are stopping in early October so either you are planning to complete all your spend and cancel before the cut off or paying for the full fee (you can still cancel and not keep it for the year) which makes the costs higher.