Barclaycard Avios Plus holder – the ‘signing up for Barclays Premier’ thread
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Appreciate there are a load of different permutations, but thinking a thread for the following scenario may be useful (selfishly, since this is my position):
Currently a BC Avios Plus holder. Hit the original SUB a few months ago
Currently a HSBC Premier account holder
Currently have HSBC WE MC, which was a WE upgrade from the free card only in Feb 2022HSBC Premier account works well for us, I have a Premier ISA and Premier savings account plus an investment account that I pay into monthly. Kids also have children Premier linked current & savings accounts.
Anyone else in a similar position of being eligible for Barclays Premier SUB of 125k Avios and considering jumping from HSBC? Anyone done it recently and have any thoughts or regrets?
My thought process is currently:
Whilst happy with HSBC, there is nothing (apart from customer loyalty) keeping me with them. They do the job needed, nothing more. My mortgage is elsewhere and although I am due 40,000 HSBC points in Feb 2023, this translates to 20,000 Avios so is dwarfed by a potential 125,000 SUB bonus for switching to the Barclays Premier account.
Looking online, the points holding me back are:
– ISA & Savings account, plus investment accounts aren’t as attractive as HSBC accounts (from what I can see)
– The kids account options don’t appear to be as good as the HSBC accounts
– The whole switching process – although there is a guarantee, I can still see it being a pain
– We have a joint account, and it was a pain to go into the Branch when first setting up to do 2 x identity etc. I’m not sure if this has moved on since then, as it was 10+ years back when we opened the HSBC account
– I got lucky I think with BC Avios Plus – accepted instantly as a new customer with a high 5 figure credit limit. Compared to others, I got off lightly, so this worries me for bank account issues. CC account I can live with being screwed for a while, bank account not so much.I always planned to switch from the HSBC WE card to the free Premier card once I hit the 2nd part of the WE SUB. I pay £255 for this (£195 + £60 for supp) and was planning on downgrading it to the free card in favour of my Barclaycard Premier once I received the 2nd year bonus.
I’m on the fence but swaying towards the 125k Avios SUB opportunity.
I am in a similar position with Avios Plus card. I have just got the premier account, but for the bank switch I am using my rarely used Starling account and will keep my main banking as is. I will then transfer monthly the funds required to keep the Barclays Premier account active.
I am in a similar position with Avios Plus card. I have just got the premier account, but for the bank switch I am using my rarely used Starling account and will keep my main banking as is. I will then transfer monthly the funds required to keep the Barclays Premier account active.
+1 although I have the hilton so cant go via the avios plus route
My thought process is currently:
Whilst happy with HSBC, there is nothing (apart from customer loyalty) keeping me with them. They do the job needed, nothing more. My mortgage is elsewhere and although I am due 40,000 HSBC points in Feb 2023, this translates to 20,000 Avios so is dwarfed by a potential 125,000 SUB bonus for switching to the Barclays Premier account.
Looking online, the points holding me back are:
– ISA & Savings account, plus investment accounts aren’t as attractive as HSBC accounts (from what I can see)
– The kids account options don’t appear to be as good as the HSBC accounts
– The whole switching process – although there is a guarantee, I can still see it being a pain
– We have a joint account, and it was a pain to go into the Branch when first setting up to do 2 x identity etc. I’m not sure if this has moved on since then, as it was 10+ years back when we opened the HSBC account
– I got lucky I think with BC Avios Plus – accepted instantly as a new customer with a high 5 figure credit limit. Compared to others, I got off lightly, so this worries me for bank account issues. CC account I can live with being screwed for a while, bank account not so much.I always planned to switch from the HSBC WE card to the free Premier card once I hit the 2nd part of the WE SUB. I pay £255 for this (£195 + £60 for supp) and was planning on downgrading it to the free card in favour of my Barclaycard Premier once I received the 2nd year bonus.
I’m on the fence but swaying towards the 125k Avios SUB opportunity.
Not sure why people confuse current account switch with ISA accounts. You can leave the ISA accounts as they are?
HSBC WE cards – how do you manage the lounge access for kids? Or is that not necessary for you?
If its too much trouble, just open a Starling or Monzo account and switch after 2 weeks?
Not sure why people confuse current account switch with ISA accounts. You can leave the ISA accounts as they are?
This is why banks love to encourage current account switches. Many people, wrongly IMO, like to keep all their banking with one institution. Tempt someone with a current account switch bonus as a loss leader, hope to get all their other business.
Do joint Barclays Premier accounts count?
Thanks for the comments…..I think I was jumping to a complete exit from HSBC. From reading the comments, I plan to:
– Do a switch from my HSBC account so all DD etc. are taken care of (I do have Monzo but then I’d need to sort out DD etc. myself)
– Leave Premier ISA & Premier Savings account plus Investment account intact, and see if HSBC force me to close these since I won’t have salary paid into the Premier account anymore. The non Premier ISA & savings rates with HSBC are on a par with Barclays so if that happens, I can switch if I want to
– Downgrade Premier WE MC to the free MC prior to Feb 2023, so I don’t pay the fee againBBB – we’ve been lucky – prior to having Amex platinum, we’ve never been charged by HSBC WE MC for lounge access as a family of 4 with 2 cards. We used it 4 times, on 2 holidays.
I am in a similar position with Avios Plus card. I have just got the premier account, but for the bank switch I am using my rarely used Starling account and will keep my main banking as is. I will then transfer monthly the funds required to keep the Barclays Premier account active.
This is exactly what I’m hoping to do after I complete my next trip in November (Starling’s unlimited ATM withdrawals comes in handy!). I don’t want to change my main account (Monzo) as its just too convenient for me.
I’m still not clear on:
1) is the salary requirement 75k or £3,300 a month (as stated on the splash pages). I am slightly shy on the former but not on the latter..
2) will Barclays make a fuss about me transferring 4k via standing order every month rather than ‘salary’Just spoke to Barclays, they confirmed that it needs to be a direct payment of salary from an employer rather than a S/O from another account to qualify.
@Scottpat78 not sure why you’d rock the boat with HSBC tbh. In your shoes I’d be using the monzo account, can be too hard to shift 2 DDS over to make it work.
Just spoke to Barclays, they confirmed that it needs to be a direct payment of salary from an employer rather than a S/O from another account to qualify.
They would say that…
Just spoke to Barclays, they confirmed that it needs to be a direct payment of salary from an employer rather than a S/O from another account to qualify.
They would say that…
True, I was dubious. When they first called we were going through the process to upgrade before I asked about the salary payments. They then backtracked and said it needs to be a direct payment for their systems to pick up, which doesn’t make sense, some people might well be paid by S/O. I gave up in the end, couldn’t be bothered with the hassle, rather not have to endure anymore Barclays customer service.
In a very similar position here. HSBC premier insurance is attractive for us due to personal situation (mainly pre-existing conditions that sometimes add cost weighting and process etc, but are already accepted by HSBC). Was planning to forgo the 25k for using switching service, and just open the account to get the 100k. I was then going to do a monthly transfer via s/o which works for other accounts like this. Wonder if anyone has experience of this with Barclays in the past?
If its too much trouble, just open a Starling or Monzo account and switch after 2 weeks?
Just beware there are many reports online that Starling/Monzo will automatically reject you if you apply for an account again after you’ve switched away, with no known time limit. This could come back to bite you in the future as their accounts do have some unique things not available elsewhere – e.g. Starling have (in my opinion) the best business account around at the moment, but you can only get it if you have a current account with them. (This is because they really don’t like being used to set up a sacrificial account just to switch away, as it results in them losing money on the whole account setup/KYC/etc.)
Anyone got insight whether the CASS switch is a mandatory requirement as part of receiving the promo bonus?
I’m happy with main current account, but have an old Cardcash account Ive not used for years.
I plan to sign up for Premier, point my salary into Premier, then (if I must), CASS switch the Cardcash account.
Finally got the pin of the debit card through to set up the premier account. There is no way of adding to the Barclay card app, so I’ve downloaded the Barclays app. I can’t register the account on this app as it rejects my phone number as there is an account linked to the phone number (avios plus card).
I’ve tried logging in on a browser, and this was successful, but the option for the avios rewards is not showing, only blue rewards is available.
Any insights would be appreciated. I still need to register for the avios rewards and do the account switch.
I recently downgraded to the free Avios card because I couldn’t justify the Plus one based on the lack of benefits. Guessing I can’t upgrade again can I?
I applied for a sole account. Going to settle for 100k Avios and use the account for a few months first before deciding to switch.
I applied at the weekend and the app has been stuck at ‘reviewing checks’ since. Any tips or need to wait it out?
I would be happy to do the above but it’s still not clear to me whether
a) I need to directly pay my salary into the account
b) I need to do a full switch of an existing accountto receive the 100,000 points.
Based on what I hear about barclays customer service I’m not really willing to do either of the above, even for £1,000+ of avios.
I would be happy to do the above but it’s still not clear to me whether
a) I need to directly pay my salary into the account
b) I need to do a full switch of an existing accountto receive the 100,000 points.
Based on what I hear about barclays customer service I’m not really willing to do either of the above, even for £1,000+ of avios.
You don’t need to do a switch for the 100k, but you would get an additional 25k for the switch. You do need to put Avios Rewards on your Premier account for the four month period.
Once you have confirmed your income is over £75k, it appears to be acceptable to transfer a sum of around £3,500/month into your account roughly equivalent to a salary that you can have paid elsewhere.
That was my reading of the terms and conditions but they are so badly worded that it’s not 100% clear. Will take a quick look and see what position I’d be in if I was to do the above and for some reason not be awarded the 100,000 points.
It’s also not 100% clear if need to hit the £3,000 card spend to qualify for the 100,000 although I assume you don’t.
That was my reading of the terms and conditions but they are so badly worded that it’s not 100% clear. Will take a quick look and see what position I’d be in if I was to do the above and for some reason not be awarded the 100,000 points.
It’s also not 100% clear if need to hit the £3,000 card spend to qualify for the 100,000 although I assume you don’t.
These are the eligibility terms:-
“When you’ll be eligible for the Avios Bonus
You will be eligible for the Avios Bonus when you hold a Barclaycard Avios Plus card and Barclays Avios Rewards, provided that you open or join one or both of those products during the Qualifying Period. You’ll still be eligible if you open or join them by switching from another product during the Qualifying Period.
You must also continue to hold both products for four months from the date of the product you’ve opened or joined most recently.
It doesn’t matter which product you open or join first, or if you already hold one product prior to the Qualifying Period.
You won’t be eligible for the Avios Bonus if you hold both products prior to the Qualifying Period.
You also won’t be eligible for the Avios Bonus while you (or any additional cardholders) are in breach of your Barclaycard Terms and Conditions, the Retail Customer Agreement, the Barclaycard Avios Rewards Rules or the Barclays Avios Rewards Additional Conditions.“I would be happy to do the above but it’s still not clear to me whether
a) I need to directly pay my salary into the account
b) I need to do a full switch of an existing accountto receive the 100,000 points.
Based on what I hear about barclays customer service I’m not really willing to do either of the above, even for £1,000+ of avios.
Believe it or not I still get paid by cheque, yes really, they were happy with this for the Barclaycard Avios Plus card but would they accept it for the Premier £3500 a month??
I applied for a sole account. Going to settle for 100k Avios and use the account for a few months first before deciding to switch.
I applied at the weekend and the app has been stuck at ‘reviewing checks’ since. Any tips or need to wait it out?
I applied on October 9th and have heard nothing since.
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