Nearing my £10k reward, what to do ….

[wookie192]

Hi,

I’ve never had a credit card until recently, I was recently promoted at work and I decided to finally apply for the BA Amex Platinum Plus card as I knew I’d be spending quite a bit of money with work and claiming it all back. I got the card on the 27th May and I’m now only £500 away from spending £10k and getting the 2-4-1 voucher. I know these are valid for 2 yrs but not sure I’d use it within that time and have seen other people not spend any more on their card till nearer the end of the year so they get the extra months to use the voucher.

I have a few questions as I’m still new to credit cards at the age of 32.

1) I’ve been reading on these forums for a while that people have multiple amex cards and are using them instead to still earn the points and bonuses. I thought with AMEX you could I my get the bonus if you’ve not been an amex customer in the past 2yrs?

2) Is there a usual best time to apply for credit cards that offer higher rewards? I.e. I got the 25k avios points but seen amex have offered higher bonuses in the past including this year.

3) what would you do in my shoes? Ideally I’d still like to earn avios points so I can get a good amount of points. I currently only have 39k points (25k of which was the amex bonus) and have a other 9k so far earned this month though credit card spending yet to be added around the 20th of this month.

4) if I was to apply for another credit card would it look bad on my credit file having 2 credit card applications in the space of around 2 months?

5) any tips would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

[wookie192]

Apologies for the bad grammar, autocorrect can be the devil at times.

[Tom2]

1. The only Amex sign up bonus you are now eligible for, without a 2 year gap, is the Platinum card (£575 a year), at the rate you appear to be spending you could probably sign up to that for the 50,000 MR points (if referred by someone) and close the card a month later and get a pro rata refund (this is ending in October so you would have to get a move on).

2. Not sure there is any pattern in when they come but there are regular increased offers throughout the year on different cards.

3. If the 9k Avios (£6k spend) is likely to continue then i would forget about stalling the 2-4-1 voucher and just keep spending on the card, if you can’t use it before it expires you cant use it but ultimately if you are wanting to use your Avios for long haul travel then you are going to need to build up your Avios collection anyway, you can earn another 2-4-1 next year.

4. Are you planning on applying for a mortgage in the next 6 months? If not then i wouldn’t worry. If you are then i think you would be silly to apply for another line of credit.

[Anna]

Have you read Rob’s series of articles on here about the different cards and best ways to collect avios and other points?
You could also consider applying for the avios Barclaycard (see articles here as well) which doesn’t affect Amex applications.

[wookie192]

Tom2 wrote:

1. The only Amex sign up bonus you are now eligible for, without a 2 year gap, is the Platinum card (£575 a year), at the rate you appear to be spending you could probably sign up to that for the 50,000 MR points (if referred by someone) and close the card a month later and get a pro rata refund (this is ending in October so you would have to get a move on).

2. Not sure there is any pattern in when they come but there are regular increased offers throughout the year on different cards.

3. If the 9k Avios (£6k spend) is likely to continue then i would forget about stalling the 2-4-1 voucher and just keep spending on the card, if you can’t use it before it expires you cant use it but ultimately if you are wanting to use your Avios for long haul travel then you are going to need to build up your Avios collection anyway, you can earn another 2-4-1 next year.

4. Are you planning on applying for a mortgage in the next 6 months? If not then i wouldn’t worry. If you are then i think you would be silly to apply for another line of credit.

Thanks for your response, do you or anyone have a referral link I can use for the platinum card?

Makes sense about not stalling on the existing card though, I don’t plan on applying for a mortgage anytime soon as already have one and that’s enough hehe.

[wookie192]

Anna wrote:

Have you read Rob’s series of articles on here about the different cards and best ways to collect avios and other points?
You could also consider applying for the avios Barclaycard (see articles here as well) which doesn’t affect Amex applications.

Thanks Anna, where can I find those articles?

[Anna]

There’s a list of topics on the home page!

[wookie192]

Thanks both of you. Can I just ask how I’d qualify for the bonus on the platinum card since it says:

“I understand I will not be eligible for any Welcome Bonus award if I hold or have held any personal Membership Rewards-enrolled American Express Cards in the past 24 months.”

But I have the Amex British Airways Premium Plus card?

Thank you

[Rui N.]

Avios cards are not Membership Rewards cards.

[wookie192]

Ah ok thanks 🙂

[RevolutionaryRuin]

wookie192 wrote:

Tom2 wrote:

1. The only Amex sign up bonus you are now eligible for, without a 2 year gap, is the Platinum card (£575 a year), at the rate you appear to be spending you could probably sign up to that for the 50,000 MR points (if referred by someone) and close the card a month later and get a pro rata refund (this is ending in October so you would have to get a move on).

2. Not sure there is any pattern in when they come but there are regular increased offers throughout the year on different cards.

3. If the 9k Avios (£6k spend) is likely to continue then i would forget about stalling the 2-4-1 voucher and just keep spending on the card, if you can’t use it before it expires you cant use it but ultimately if you are wanting to use your Avios for long haul travel then you are going to need to build up your Avios collection anyway, you can earn another 2-4-1 next year.

4. Are you planning on applying for a mortgage in the next 6 months? If not then i wouldn’t worry. If you are then i think you would be silly to apply for another line of credit.

Thanks for your response, do you or anyone have a referral link I can use for the platinum card?

Makes sense about not stalling on the existing card though, I don’t plan on applying for a mortgage anytime soon as already have one and that’s enough hehe.

Would you not also be eligible for the Gold Preferred Rewards Card bonus too? I’m sure you can get the Gold or Platinum bonuses if you only have the BA or Marriott cards. I haven’t checked the bonuses for a while though, so not sure if they’ve bumped the Platinum one up.

Check to see what works for you though. The Platinum one certainly has some benefits, but it’s a hefty fee if you don’t value all the credits (dining credit, Harvey Nics credit etc). The lounge access is a nice perk if you travel a lot though

[Rob]

If you have a BA card, the ONLY other Amex bonus you can get is Platinum.

Remember that the Plat fee is not refundable after 2nd October, so if you were not planning to keep it long term then you’d want to apply now and trigger the bonus before cancelling by 1st October at the latest. That said, you will EASILY get back the £575 fee – you’d get £600 of dining credit alone in your first 12 months.

The 8 articles under the ‘Credit Cards’ tab in the menu, plus the others on the home page in the ‘greyed’ sections 1/3rd and 2/3rd of the way, should point you the right way.

[wookie192]

Thanks Rob, got your email. Much appreciated and thanks all the other members 🙂

[RevolutionaryRuin]

Rob Burgess wrote:

That said, you will EASILY get back the £575 fee – you’d get £600 of dining credit alone in your first 12 months.

Probably worth pointing out that you’d only get £600 back in the first 12 months if you ate at one of the restaurants overseas twice. The £300 per year is split into £150 in the UK and £150 abroad…