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hello all!
At the end of May my Gold Amex renews for £160 and I am struggling to use all the benefits:
– lounge access, I access via BA status
– travel booking via amex travel, I never used it. Unless an upgrade is guaranteed I won’t consider the benefit (i am gold with hotels.com which gives free upgrade but I haven’t been given one nor late/early checking for free)
– insurance (i use my BA amex premium card for this and I have extra travel insurance on top)the only benefit that i use really is the deliveroo cashback which is going to expiry at the end of August.
I called retention and offered me 10k points only which doesnt still make worth it…
Does anyone know if the lounge passes expire after one year? (I haven’t used them for a while now)
If I cancel this amex gold, will I be able to obtain a welcome bonus in 2 years time + first free year?
Am I missing other benefits? Would you be able to suggest how maximise the benefits?
Many thanks
You get 4 lounge passes each membership year.
Personally, I would cancel the card after the first year.
If you want to keep your membership points, get the ARCC card. Although this would stop you getting future sign up bonuses. https://www.headforpoints.com/2023/04/02/review-american-express-rewards-credit-card-4/
thanks Alex, would the passes expire after the year or they stay on the card? I haven’t used any at all this year nor previous nor 2021..
Not being my only Amex anymore and paying £250 for BA Premium I don’t think it is worth adding £160 for the gold unless I start maximising the benefits?
You get 4 passes each membership year. Unused passes are not carried forward. If you have used 4 passes this year, you will get another 4 next year. If you haven’t used any passes this year, you will still only have 4 next year.
Personally, I wouldn’t keep gold after the first year. If you are collecting Avios, transfer your Membership Reward points to Avios before closing the card.
I hope you had a supplementary card on your account for the 3000 points bonus?
https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/benefits/supplementary-cards/It can be useful to have a second Amex card. You will potentially get more offers, or the chance to use offers twice, including Shop Small.
You could consider the Nectar card. Free in the first year, with an earnings rate of 1.25 Avios (2 Nectar Points) per pound spent. Useful if you want to delay triggering your 241 voucher until late in your BAPP membership year. You get a bonus of 3000 Nectar Points (1875 Avios) for adding a supplementary card (after you have received your main card! – don’t ask for a supp during the application).
I don’t know off the top of ny head how having the Nectar Card would affect your potential for future sign up bonuses.
I called retention and offered me 10k points only which doesnt still make worth it…
Some may suggest that you are not obligated to keep the card, even after the 10k retention points have landed.
I had nectar so i won’t get the bonus anymore, but I don’t want to open a new card either..
I kinda concur with you.
We use the Deliveroo credit and don’t use the lounges so if the Deliveroo credit goes then the card won’t come close to covering the fee for me.
However, Amex do pro rata fee refunds so I’m waiting until they formally remove Deliveroo as an offering before cancelling.
One of the main attractions for me on this card is a £25k annual spend earning 1.5 MR per pound. I value this more than 1.5 Avios per pound from my BAPP as MR are transferable.
I was going to ditch it after the first year and got the ARCC in anticipation of doing so. I took the 10,000 MR when I called to cancel (if no retention I would have cancelled) but have not sought a retention bonus since as I don’t push these things.
I’m also conscious that I might not be able to get more Amexes as I am now retired and “independently wealthy” can be a bit hit or miss when applying for credit!
I kinda concur with you.
We use the Deliveroo credit and don’t use the lounges so if the Deliveroo credit goes then the card won’t come close to covering the fee for me.
However, Amex do pro rata fee refunds so I’m waiting until they formally remove Deliveroo as an offering before cancelling.
One of the main attractions for me on this card is a £25k annual spend earning 1.5 MR per pound. I value this more than 1.5 Avios per pound from my BAPP as MR are transferable.
I was going to ditch it after the first year and got the ARCC in anticipation of doing so. I took the 10,000 MR when I called to cancel (if no retention I would have cancelled) but have not sought a retention bonus since as I don’t push these things.
I’m also conscious that I might not be able to get more Amexes as I am now retired and “independently wealthy” can be a bit hit or miss when applying for credit!
Makes sense, currently I use mostly my BA premium card because i get 1.5 avios per £ instead of the 1 per £ with gold. Mostly use the gold only for foreign transactions were I get double points per £, so I don’t really get the bonuses anymore with this low spending on it. I might renew, accept the 10k points and when the final deliveroo bonus comes in I will cancel and get partial refund of the fee.. but they might want the points back
I’m grateful for Alex’s clarifications on the lounge passes. As there are 6 of us, I was hoping we might be able to accumulate 8 from 2 membership years, but that looks to be ruled out.
I also agree with Froggee’s analysis on the 1.5MR per pound. I think this is a good sweet spot for someone who isn’t doing an annual 2-4-1 trip (we certainly can’t), but wishes to continue to accumulate points. Our non-BA airfares booked on the card will earn us double points (plus the pro-rata bonus) too.
My wife will need to decide in June whether to retain after the first year. Although we aren’t retired and our pay isn’t keeping up with inflation, so along with a potential shift in Amex attitude, I’m a little less presumptuous that we could cancel and re-apply at will. It might need to be the gold OR the BAPP as a keeper.
Where did people see about the Deliveroo credit going?
My travel has fallen off a cliff and most of it these days is on a cruise ship rather than flying, with the exception of a couple of trips I’ve got planned. So I’m not really using the lounge access much. Deliveroo credit I do use and it does help take the sting of £160/annum away (as I get £120 returned).
Most of my spend is on the Barclays Avios Plus card these days. Amex points are transferrable, sure, but most of my spending of them would likely be BA or QR anyway.
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