British Airways Premium Plus membership fee refund

[jezza76]

Hi, do i need to pay the £250 membership fee in full to then get the pro rata refund? Or can i just pay the minimum amount and then cancel the card?

I have hit the £3000 spend and im just waiting for the 70,000 points to transfer to BAEC Account

[SteveJ]

Your account balance does not need to be zero when you request account closure.

Its actually easier not to have a nil balance as you would end up in credit. Within a day or two of account closure the pro rata refund will credit and then you have your net closing bill to pay.

Of course make sure your points are in BAEC and make sure the above approach doesn’t mean you miss a payment due date.

[jezza76]

Ok great, thanks so much. I’ll just pay the minimum amount (£25) and then cancel when the 70,000 hits my BAEC

[Andrew J]

jezza76 wrote:

Ok great, thanks so much. I’ll just pay the minimum amount (£25) and then cancel when the 70,000 hits my BAEC

If you only make the minimum payment you’ll be charged interest on the remaining balance.

[jezza76]

Andrew J wrote:

jezza76 wrote:

Ok great, thanks so much. I’ll just pay the minimum amount (£25) and then cancel when the 70,000 hits my BAEC

If you only make the minimum payment you’ll be charged interest on the remaining balance.

Oh! So i have to pay interest even on the membership fee?

Thats the only balance left on the account (£250). So the only way to avoid interest is to pay off the whole £250? I think my points should get transffered the next day after the minimum payment due date. So i was going to cancel then..would i still have to pay interest?

[Andrew J]

Yes, you would pay interest on any balance on your account if you don’t pay the full amount by the due date.

[No Longer Entitled]

It’s not the end of the world if your account goes into credit. For amounts under £500 they will just bacs the money to you and you can request this via chat.

[Harrier25]

…and card fee refund credits can be transferred to any other Amex card you hold.

[JDB]

Quite surprised to see so many people helping out a 70k hit and run merchant, bailing straight after SUB spend! The mess around the 35k/70k and the number of newbies here who have asked questions about how quickly you can cancel etc. will undoubtedly mark a watershed in this game.

[Andrew J]

Agreed, hopefully this will be an end to unduly generous SUBs and Amex move to incentivising customer retention instead of acquisition.

[jezza76]

Thanks everyone, ill probably just pay it off in one go and get a refund so i dont get charged interest.

JDB wrote:

Quite surprised to see so many people helping out a 70k hit and run merchant, bailing straight after SUB spend! The mess around the 35k/70k and the number of newbies here who have asked questions about how quickly you can cancel etc. will undoubtedly mark a watershed in this game.

Lol not hit and run. I have another BAPP card which im keeping to hit the 10k and 2-4-1. This ones my dads and i wont hit the 10k so i’ll have to cancel it after i get my points.

[Harrier25]

Just goes to show, sometimes it’s best knowing the whole story before shooting from the hip. 🙂

[NorthernLass]

All these people reporting their accounts suspended then closed (or their mates’) got me wondering if Amex are now proactively “reviewing” any new accounts which have yet to hit the 70k SUB and find a reason to stop them …

[StanTheMan]

jezza76 wrote:

Thanks everyone, ill probably just pay it off in one go and get a refund so i dont get charged interest.

JDB wrote:

Quite surprised to see so many people helping out a 70k hit and run merchant, bailing straight after SUB spend! The mess around the 35k/70k and the number of newbies here who have asked questions about how quickly you can cancel etc. will undoubtedly mark a watershed in this game.

Lol not hit and run. I have another BAPP card which im keeping to hit the 10k and 2-4-1. This ones my dads and i wont hit the 10k so i’ll have to cancel it after i get my points.

Quite literally, the definition of a hit and run !!

[JDB]

Harrier25 wrote:

Just goes to show, sometimes it’s best knowing the whole story before shooting from the hip. 🙂

It’s just the OP’s Dad doing the hit and run rather than him; one didn’t need to know the full story to identify that this person’s actions are going to contribute to major changes that will be detrimental to many HfP readers. Applying for the BAPP, taking the 70k and then cancelling long before even getting to the voucher isn’t serious; it’s financial hooliganism.

[No Longer Entitled]

Financial hooliganism – are you for real?

The Terms and Conditions are written by only one party in the transaction. They can stipulate any clauses they want, provided they are legal. If they were really concerned the bonus avios would be awarded at the end of the first year and the fee would be non-refundable. But they aren’t concerned, at least not enough to change.

Meanwhile they make $7bn profit a year with an APR near 30% while money is still (comparatively) cheap. Does you heart bleed for all the people who have contributed to their profit as well? I mean, it shouldn’t, because AMEX’s sole purpose is to maximise their profit for their shareholders. Much like my main purpose it so maximise my profit for my shareholder (me!). Sometimes they win. Sometimes their consumer wins. Que sara sara.

[JDB]

No Longer Entitled wrote:

Financial hooliganism – are you for real?

The Terms and Conditions are written by only one party in the transaction. They can stipulate any clauses they want, provided they are legal. If they were really concerned the bonus avios would be awarded at the end of the first year and the fee would be non-refundable. But they aren’t concerned, at least not enough to change.

Meanwhile they make $7bn profit a year with an APR near 30% while money is still (comparatively) cheap. Does you heart bleed for all the people who have contributed to their profit as well? I mean, it shouldn’t, because AMEX’s sole purpose is to maximise their profit for their shareholders. Much like my main purpose it so maximise my profit for my shareholder (me!). Sometimes they win. Sometimes their consumer wins. Que sara sara.

I couldn’t care less because I’m not in the SUB game, but the many here who are will suffer from this type of more extreme behaviour. To me, just because someone is rich, pickpocketing them is still not acceptable, but clearly you feel differently; not my problem. Amex is a very profitable company but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be treated with respect and beware, they can and do bite back.

[alig4th]

No Longer Entitled wrote:

Financial hooliganism – are you for real?

The Terms and Conditions are written by only one party in the transaction… If they were really concerned the bonus avios would be awarded at the end of the first year and the fee would be non-refundable. But they aren’t concerned, at least not enough to change.

Exactly this.

However, they do seem concerned enough to (apparently…) be going to the effort of running internal reviews and cancelling a number of people’s cards.

[No Longer Entitled]

@JDB – your terms of reference are very emotive. Pickpocketing is oft associated with theft. You appear to be confusing this with a contract drafted by one party, that both parties willingly enter into.

It really is just what happens every day in business (trying to maximize the contract to your benefit) being borne out at a consumer level. Which also means AMEX cannot “bite back” but they can decline a person’s business which is totally fine, but not quite the same. At the end of the day it is simply a commercial relationship, not an personal one.

[alig4th]

No Longer Entitled wrote:

@JDB – your terms of reference are very emotive. Pickpocketing is oft associated with theft. You appear to be confusing this with a contract drafted by one party, that both parties willingly enter into.

It really is just what happens every day in business (trying to maximize the contract to your benefit) being borne out at a consumer level. Which also means AMEX cannot “bite back” but they can decline a person’s business which is totally fine, but not quite the same. At the end of the day it is simply a commercial relationship, not an personal one.

Just to warn you, I’ve found trying to have a logical debate via internet forums is rather fruitless as it’s unlikely to lead to either side changing their viewpoint or stopping use of emotive language when – it would appear – feelings are so strong on the matter.

[Harrier25]

JDB wrote:

I couldn’t care less because I’m not in the SUB game

It’s not really worth you getting all worked up over it then, is it?

[zapato1060]

I just did my ninth bank switch in the last year. JDB (who I respect) must think I’m the second coming of Lucifer.

[jezza76]

Well this sparked quite the debate!

I’m almost scared to ask this but i’ll ask it anyway….

Does it matter if i pay the membership fee from my account/debit card when asking for a refund (considering it’s my dads BAPP card) or will they be funny about sending the refund to a debit card thats not in his name?

[SteveJ]

They will only refund the Amex account holder.

[jezza76]

Thanks mate