One year Gold trial whilst maintaining Premium Plus

[borischelski]

New joiner/first poster so my apologies if this may be a stupid question!

I have used the premium plus for many years but am tempted to switch to the Gold just for the opening 12 month period.

I will certainly make £6k purchases over the next 12 months. However Reflecting that will entail a substantial £850 worth of fees over that rolling 12 month period, I wondered if anyone may have previously given any thought as to a cost benefit analysis of trialing the Gold whilst maintaining the premium plus ?

My main expenditure will be on BA flights & holidays with the sole objective of collecting BA Avios points to pay for future flights when I eventually retire.

Any advice greatly appreciated

[Scott]

Amex Preferred Rewards Gold waives the fee in the first year, however from the 850 future you mention it sounds like you’re actually asking about the Platinum card, whose fee is 600 + 250 for your existing BAPP?

What do you hope to achieve by taking out the card? The BAPP has a higher earnings rate (1.5 Avios vs 1 MR point per £ spent.)

There isn’t really a lot to ‘trial’, it’s just a credit card, they all work the same! Either the benefits make it worth the fee for your own spending pattern or they don’t.

[aq.1988]

It seems like you’re mixing up the Gold with the Platinum card?

To clarify, the Gold is free in the first year, but you won’t be eligible for the bonus.

As you mentioned the £6k spend, and £850, presumably you are asking about the Platinum. The fee is actually £650, so your total annual card fees will be £900.

I guess you have to weigh up is £650 worth the 40k MR points you will earn, which equal 40k avios. You can also put some value on the £100 Harvey Nichols credits, and £150 UK dining, and £150 global dining credits, plus the hotel statuses, Priority Pass, and travel insurance, to work out your net cost to buy 40k avios effectively.

Then, you also need to consider if going for the SUB, you will lose out on 9k worth of avios you would have earned on your BAPP (although you will also earn 6k MR), and if by spending £6k on Platinum, can you still spend enough on the BAPP to earn the companion voucher?