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Long time lurker, first time poster.
Just looking for opinions on the above.
I currently have the BA Premium Plus card, and I spend 10-12k a year on that, thus qualifying for the companion voucher.
This gets me the 3x avios bonus when using the card, also. I’m BA Silver, if relevant. Will be gold by March 2023.As someone who likes shiny things, I keep trying to find a way to justify getting the platinum, but wonder if I’d be better sticking with the BA PP.
I’d use the £150 food vouchers on the Platinum, both at home and abroad. And I could find something to buy to use up the Harvey Nichols allowance. But other than that, I feel like I’d be losing the 3x Avios from the BA card (so, between 30-36k a year, by my calculations).Am I missing something on the Amex Platinum that would make up this shortfall? I don’t really value the hotel status as A) it’s not much of a benefit when most of the conditions are ‘if available’, and B) I don’t use hotels that often.
I fly AA metal when booking with BA, thus securing Main Cabin Extra seating if I need to fly Y. Normally I’m PE, and my upcoming trips are all in J.
I know answers on ‘worth’ will be subjective, but other than good sign-up bonus, I can’t see why any regular BA flyer would take the Amex Platinum?
Any thoughts are welcome, thanks.
For me, the companion voucher is valuable however do a search to see how this compares if you had to gather the points (assuming you are eligible for the platinum sign up which is 65k plus 6k you spend potentially more if you purchase using their travel portal since you already have ba silver) plus a couple of referrals you can swing by thats a lot of MR points converted into avios
In short, I wouldn’t bother in your position. If you can only justify ~£400 of value of the platinum, it isn’t worth the extra 200 odd for you, given you do not benefit much from hotel status which can be very lucrative. For example, earlier this year, my OH and 18+ children (one of them is the supp on my plat) stayed at a Waldorf in Dubai for 8 days. The gold status via plat saved us just shy of £1k in breakfast benefits. This immediately covers 2 years of fees before I even touched the Harvey Nichols/Dining credits.
I also have BA silver from regular (leisure) flying so get lounge etc. from that, but I personally see no/limited overlap between BAPP and Plat as they are fundamentally very different products.
Sadly this really is one of those subjective ‘value’ positions, and is fundamentally going to be different for everybody!
In short, I wouldn’t bother in your position. If you can only justify ~£400 of value of the platinum, it isn’t worth the extra 200 odd for you, given you do not benefit much from hotel status which can be very lucrative. For example, earlier this year, my OH and 18+ children (one of them is the supp on my plat) stayed at a Waldorf in Dubai for 8 days. The gold status via plat saved us just shy of £1k in breakfast benefits. This immediately covers 2 years of fees before I even touched the Harvey Nichols/Dining credits.
I also have BA silver from regular (leisure) flying so get lounge etc. from that, but I personally see no/limited overlap between BAPP and Plat as they are fundamentally very different products.
Sadly this really is one of those subjective ‘value’ positions, and is fundamentally going to be different for everybody!
you have more than 18 offspring?
You’re earning more points per £1 spend with the BA PP card anyway.
It’s the hotel status and the travel insurance you have to consider for £175, which may or may not be worth it for you.
You can have both if you’re going to direct enough spend through them to justify the fees. Some years we just put the £10k through the BAPP to trigger the 241 and put other Amex spend through MR cards. We’re not London bankers either, just good at identifying opportunities to use Amex!
If you qualify for the sign up bonus, why not have the plat, get the bonus use the food credit and buy something at HN and then close it for a pro rata refund.
It doesn’t have to be a long term relationship.If you don’t want to pay double fee, close the BAPP whilst you have the plat and then go back to the BAPP when you are done with the plat.
A short fling with the plat every 2 years can be very lucrative.
Wot Reney says.
You need to separate your thinking into:
*which card do I want to keep long term (usually BAPP if got a partner, possibly Barclaycard Plus if not)
*which cards do you want to get and churn, after taking advantage of their benefitsThese are two separate discussions in your head.
Plat is a NO BRAINER if you can spend the £6k. If you cancel on 31st January and do NOT use the international dining credit, then you get:
*60,000 points (60k Avios)
*£200 Amex Travel voucher
*£100 of HNicks
*£150 of UK dining 2022
*£150 of UK dining 2023…. for 5 months of fee, so £250 – for £1,200 of stuff.
I did not even consider taking the Platinum and then closing it, that’s a brilliant suggestion.
I have some spending coming up towards the end of the year so I’ll take it out in October so I qualify for the 60k.Thanks for your help, people 👍
Don’t forget to get referred (from Rob or a friend and family), you will get 65k points instead of 60k points!
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