What next after 2-4-1?

[Blu2513]

Hi, what do people do after hitting the £10k spend and getting the 2-4-1 voucher in their BAEC account….

Do you keep the BAPP card to get more avios points or do most people cancel the card for a refund on the membership fee?

If you cancel the card do you downgrade to a standard amex card or wait until you’re ready to use the voucher and then get a new amex card? (I think I’ve read on here that you must use an amex card when using 2-4-1 voucher to book flights).

If I downgrade to a standard amex, would that also stop me getting SUB’s for other amex cards over the next 24 months as per their terms and conditions?

I don’t plan on using my 2-4-1 voucher for atleast 1/1.5 years.

Thanks

[can2]

I don’t downgrade as it may impact my credit score. I also enjoy the higher avios earning rate. If you have a second player in the game, you can move the spend to that card. After all to use the 241 you need avios.
And there are many instances that people had some difficulty when they reapplied after downgrading.

[Reney]

I cancel and move onto the next bonus, I have several players and there is always someone who is up on their 24 months gap. Annoyingly we are going miss the plat uplift by 3 days 😤

To Can2’s point, you need avios to use the 241 and in some cases quite a lot of them, I find rotating through bonuses the best way for us.

[baec_newbie]

Downgrading has no effect on your credit score. The biggest issue is in relation to eligiblity for SUBs. It depends on the card in question, but you certainly won’t get a SUB if you have had the same card in the last 24 months, and in some cases (e.g. Platinum SUB) if you have had any personal Amex at all in the last 24 months.

With Barclaycard a viable option (albeit with terrible IT), that may be worth considering going for when they have their next SUB. The current Platinum SUB offer is also very attractive, if you qualify for it.

[memesweeper]

Blu2513 wrote:

Hi, what do people do after hitting the £10k spend and getting the 2-4-1 voucher in their BAEC account….

Ditch the card and move on is my current approach. Amex Business Gold is my long-term keeper for Amex, with Hilton Barclays alongside for majority card spend. Eventually I’ll go back to holding a personal Amex too, BAPP for a while. I don’t want to be locked into Avios exclusively, or any airline scheme for that matter.

[WillPS]

baec_newbie wrote:

Downgrading has no effect on your credit score. The biggest issue is in relation to eligiblity for SUBs. It depends on the card in question, but you certainly won’t get a SUB if you have had the same card in the last 24 months, and in some cases (e.g. Platinum SUB) if you have had any personal Amex at all in the last 24 months.

With Barclaycard a viable option (albeit with terrible IT), that may be worth considering going for when they have their next SUB. The current Platinum SUB offer is also very attractive, if you qualify for it.

Platinum SUB doesn’t exclude any personal Amex at all, it excludes any MR earning (Green/Gold/Plat + Rewards CC).
BAPP similarly only excludes Avios earning cards

Everything else excludes any other personal Amex.

[Reney]

WillPS wrote:

baec_newbie wrote:

Downgrading has no effect on your credit score. The biggest issue is in relation to eligiblity for SUBs. It depends on the card in question, but you certainly won’t get a SUB if you have had the same card in the last 24 months, and in some cases (e.g. Platinum SUB) if you have had any personal Amex at all in the last 24 months.

With Barclaycard a viable option (albeit with terrible IT), that may be worth considering going for when they have their next SUB. The current Platinum SUB offer is also very attractive, if you qualify for it.

Platinum SUB doesn’t exclude any personal Amex at all, it excludes any MR earning (Green/Gold/Plat + Rewards CC).
BAPP similarly only excludes Avios earning cards

Everything else excludes any other personal Amex.

Not completely correct. Having amex plat and or BAPP in the last 24 months would exclude Marriott and Nectar SUB.

[Blu2513]

Thanks everyone for your replies and help.

I am a little confused. It’s my understanding that to use the 2-4-1 voucher I must use an Amex card to book the tickets and it must be in my name, also I must use the 2-4-1 voucher within 2 years?

My plan was to book something in around 1.5 years. So I would still need an amex of some sort to book those tickets eventually.

As others have said, I still need/want to be earning avios over the next 1.5 years. Which card would they downgrade me to, as that doesn’t seem clear having looked around the site? Would the downgraded card still earn me avios?

I currently have 160,000 avios, so I’m in no rush and quite close to what I’d need to claim 2 business class seats using the 2-4-1. So I can wait for a good SUB offer to appear on maybe the barclaycard avios mastercard etc as someone suggested above.

Is there any danger in not holding any amex card for 1.5 years and then applying for one at the time when I want to use my 2-4-1 voucher, or should that be fine?

I have no other players to use, I’m solo. Sorry for all the questions but im a little confused on what strategy is best for me!

Thanks

[Simey]

Blu2513 wrote:

Thanks everyone for your replies and help.

I am a little confused. It’s my understanding that to use the 2-4-1 voucher I must use an Amex card to book the tickets and it must be in my name, also I must use the 2-4-1 voucher within 2 years?

My plan was to book something in around 1.5 years. So I would still need an amex of some sort to book those tickets eventually.

As others have said, I still need/want to be earning avios over the next 1.5 years. Which card would they downgrade me to, as that doesn’t seem clear having looked around the site? Would the downgraded card still earn me avios?

I currently have 160,000 avios, so I’m in no rush and quite close to what I’d need to claim 2 business class seats using the 2-4-1. So I can wait for a good SUB offer to appear on maybe the barclaycard avios mastercard etc as someone suggested above.

Is there any danger in not holding any amex card for 1.5 years and then applying for one at the time when I want to use my 2-4-1 voucher, or should that be fine?

I have no other players to use, I’m solo. Sorry for all the questions but im a little confused on what strategy is best for me!

Thanks

I am in a similar boat. I already paid for the BAPP card so yes, I could get rid and get some fees back but it’s the best Avios earning card on the market so may as well just keep it if the £250 or so fee is not a major dent on your budget.

I’ll probably go for the Platinum next soon (pending decisions..) for their big bonuses and general other benefits. My plan is to spend on the Plat for the SUB then maybe switch back to the BAPP card to rack up Avios and maybe try to get another voucher after the year expires and can earn towards it again.

You’ll always need Avios so it makes no sense to get rid of the BAPP in my opinion. The 2 cards together are a hefty £800 a year or so but if you use the voucher AND the benefits of the Plat smart, you get a good return on your investment.

As others said, the only other worthwile SUB you can get is on the Plat or the Gold AMEX. Once you exhausted both, you need to take a 2 year hiatus to be able to do this again – especially if you are solo atm.