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£5k spend earns them say £50 in fees
2500 Avios is “typically valued” on here at £25
It would be most fascinating to learn what card companies pay for Avios, but given that many are redeemed in poor-value ways or left to expire unused, I would be stunned if it’s more than 0.7p.
£5k doesn’t earn Amex £50. Less than £25.
If the total fee charged to the merchant between the interchange fee, bank fee etc. is 2%, which seems modest to me, they’d earn £100
@SSS not many bigger merchants pay 2% these days and also Amex only gets a small cut of the fee the merchant pays. Lots of snouts in the trough as the money passes through the system.
Re: “What they do provide is these magic new customer acquisition and retention figures that are totally essential to the Amex investor proposition”
If Amex are so keen on attracting ‘new’ customers, this form of ‘MS’ as you describe it, why did they massively increase the qualifying period from 6 to 24 months? This must have had a substantial negative effect on their acquisitions.
@Scott even Amex has to draw the line somewhere! The six month churning had reached epidemic proportions with so many sites telling people – it was just too costly even at were generally lower SUBs then. More importantly, the FCA takes issue with what it calls the “loyalty penalty” i.e. they don’t want to see existing customers disadvantaged vs new ones. One off inducements are allowed but they have, for instance, clamped down on introductory savings rates not being offered to existing customers, insurance renewals not being more expensive than new customer quotes. etc. It’s difficult to justify repeatedly offering inducements after two years but at six months it became untenable. There was also the issue of being do different to the US even though that’s a more competitive market in the premium space.I think all this will change at Amex; it’s got too expensive and too distortive. They have got in a pickle with retentions, having to justify why you need to offer inducements if a product genuinely meets the ‘value for money’ test. And now also re pro-rata refunds perhaps owing to the negative effect launching a Titanium card (or whatever it will be called) on Plat holders who in the US are also very unhappy about supp changes.
It would be most fascinating to learn what card companies pay for Avios, but given that many are redeemed in poor-value ways or left to expire unused, I would be stunned if it’s more than 0.7p.
that is still £1.75m set aside for this offer and this is the poorest offer around at the moment
Only 40% of people if that will achieve it assuming 100.000 people take the offer that would only be £700k
Not sure why everyone is up in arms over amex offering free avios – if you’re not interested in getting something for nothing, then don’t take them up on it.
So what is the big news that we were told was coming on Monday. Or have I missed something?
I don’t believe Monday had any significance, other than being the date the pro-rata refunds would have ended (but then didn’t). I think people were just reading too much into things.
Well this heading is exactly how I feel just now! I will summarise my 40-minute chat exchange:
Me: I had 2 saved offers, for Marriott and Hyatt. Both were redeemed on the same day, approx 3 weeks ago. The Marriott cash back posted the next day, but there’s still no sign of Hyatt and the offer is still showing on my saved offers page.
Chat: The last Hyatt offer you saved expired in April 2023
Me: I am looking at the offer, it expires 10/12/23. This is saved on the main card and supplementary.
Chat: There is no record of this in your account.
Me: I am sitting here looking at it as we speak.
Round and round for a bit, then supervisor comes on.
Sup: We see this offer expired in April 2023
Me: I am literally looking at it, and it expires Dec 10th. On both cards.
Sup (goes away for a bit): The offer was already saved by the maximum number of people so you are not eligible for it.
Me: And yet here it is, saved to 2 cards (uploads screenshots of both saved offers)
Eventual outcome: they will “look into it and get back to me within 35 days”
Moral: Don’t assume that just because your Amex account shows something, it’s actually the case. And always take screenshots!
Well this heading is exactly how I feel just now! I will summarise my 40-minute chat exchange:
Me: I had 2 saved offers, for Marriott and Hyatt. Both were redeemed on the same day, approx 3 weeks ago. The Marriott cash back posted the next day, but there’s still no sign of Hyatt and the offer is still showing on my saved offers page.
Chat: The last Hyatt offer you saved expired in April 2023
Me: I am looking at the offer, it expires 10/12/23. This is saved on the main card and supplementary.
Chat: There is no record of this in your account.
Me: I am sitting here looking at it as we speak.
Round and round for a bit, then supervisor comes on.
Sup: We see this offer expired in April 2023
Me: I am literally looking at it, and it expires Dec 10th. On both cards.
Sup (goes away for a bit): The offer was already saved by the maximum number of people so you are not eligible for it.
Me: And yet here it is, saved to 2 cards (uploads screenshots of both saved offers)
Eventual outcome: they will “look into it and get back to me within 35 days”
Moral: Don’t assume that just because your Amex account shows something, it’s actually the case. And always take screenshots!
Get back onto them and tell them you’ll upload a screenshot of the offer via Document Centre
I eventually did that (for both cards) during the 40 minute tooth-pulling exercise which was that chat! There was also a surreal bit when the agent was insisting that I must have booked a hotel called “The Hyatt” using the Marriott offer 🤦♀️
I eventually did that (for both cards) during the 40 minute tooth-pulling exercise which was that chat! There was also a surreal bit when the agent was insisting that I must have booked a hotel called “The Hyatt” using the Marriott offer 🤦♀️
Maybe they’ll use the new inflated fees to fund some training for their off-shore customer services team?
My 60K for signing up for the Plat + meeting spending requirements had not been posted after 3 months, and it took me 3 solid weeks of chats and phone calls and the ubiquitous screenshots before they sneaked it in one night (without informing me of the update).
I eventually did that (for both cards) during the 40 minute tooth-pulling exercise which was that chat! There was also a surreal bit when the agent was insisting that I must have booked a hotel called “The Hyatt” using the Marriott offer 🤦♀️
The CS has really gone down the toilet lately.
I would call them rather than use the chat and make sure you speak to someone in Brighton. Failing that, an email to the executive office, detailing the facts and no emotional language should get you somewhere further than this pathetic response. Good luck and do let us know how it goes!If c/s are having trouble understanding the issue then it’s much quicker to have them clearly state they won’t help you and then tell them to raise an official complaint. This wastes their time, the complaint resolvers time who then raises it with the team involved, you get your issue sorted and normally some compensation for your wasted time/being told incorrect info. Much quicker, easier and beneficial to you
Of course it’s ridiculous having to resort to this but is the only way I find you get issues sorted unless you are very lucky and get a helpful/knowledgeable agent in the first place
I eventually did that (for both cards) during the 40 minute tooth-pulling exercise which was that chat! There was also a surreal bit when the agent was insisting that I must have booked a hotel called “The Hyatt” using the Marriott offer 🤦♀️
Maybe they’ll use the new inflated fees to fund some training for their off-shore customer services team?
Sorry, but they have already spunked the anticipated fees on the huge new SUBs and ongoing retention offers to persuade people to keep the Plopinum card so customer service will continue to be under funded/resourced.
Looks like my car dealership has stopped using Amex from early this year. And it’s not a small dealership that I’m talking about: instead, it’s a large, multinational manufacturer where you’d think Amex would be accepted.
I’ll reluctantly use Barclays, but it’s another nail in Amex’s coffin really. Why don’t they just focus on keeping merchants and customers happy rather than screwing everyone over?
I’ve seen far too many merchants scrapping acceptance lately, which really makes the card less attractive just when they’re increasing annual fees.
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