Optimal SUB strategy

[Rossy]

Myself and the wife are nearing the end of our 2 year window without an Amex and keen to maximise the return we can now get from SUBs. Rob wrote an article about this ~18m ago, but I was wondering if the approach of signing up then refering each other for Nectar > Plat > BAPP is still the best route to maximise avios? I guess a lot hinges on whether or not pro rata refunds will still be available once the SUB has been activated?
Additionally, are Amex likely to take action if they see people trying to make this play?

[zio]

Yes the route to maximise SUBs hasn’t changed from when Rob last updated that article. Doesn’t matter which order you do plat/BAPP, but nectar must come first.
Pro rata refunds don’t affect the SUBs (just reduce your outlay if you are churning to get the 3 bonuses asap). The pro rata refunds still seem to be on borrowed time, so could be gone sooner rather than later.
You aren’t doing anything against the rules. As someone commented elsewhere earlier: blame the game.

[aq.1988]

The strategy to get the 3 SUBs is to do:
1. Nectar/Marriott
2. Platinum/BAPP
3. BAPP/Platinum

The Marriott card recently had a 60k SUB, so it probably won’t have an increased SUB for a while.

For both of you, it might not be worthwhile to go for all 3 cards, as that’s around £1k in card fees alone. Could do Gold (first year free), and then BAPP, and get 2 SUB’s.

There’s always the risk of not being accepted for all 3 cards too, so whilst you can get 3 SUB’s using that method, I’ve never recommended a friend to do it, as 20k nectar is not a lot tbh.

The Platinum currently has an enhanced bonus of the £400 Amex travel credit, so if you did go for the 3 SUB strategy, that offer will likely be over by the time you are ready to apply for it. Although, there was a better offer last year, so there might be a better one later.

I’d try to maximise your points by applying when there are enhanced offers on, as they are fairly frequent now. The BAPP enhanced bonuses have recently been direct with BA, so you can’t use a referral for those.

[NorthernLass]

Amex has tightened up a lot on acceptance in the last couple of years, there are extensive discussions in the relevant threads on here.

[Rossy]

Thanks for the feedback. I think Marriott would be preferable over Nectar as I’m keen to start building a pot of hotel points since my IHG points ran dry.
I hadn’t really considered the risk of not being accepted but it’s a good point. I guess using sites that offer pre-approval might mitigate this but assume I couldn’t then claim the referal as well?