Card choice dilemna

Have got a choice regarding cards, and hope you can give me some advice.

I'm booking 2 seats UC for next February ( if the plane is Ok, otherwise it's BA, but that's another thread ) and want to make the most of the miles earning opportunities offered by either Virgin credit card or AMEX. I typically spend around £10k+ a year on my present card, but want to earn miles when I spend ( I don't on my present card )

The Gold AMEX seems the best option - 3000 miles + 24069 miles for each UC ticket + nearly 5000 points ( double £2469 when paid for on the card ) = 56000 points. I would then be wanting to upgrade that to Platinum for the travel benefits later on. I'm concerned though that it appears the "double points when you pay for Virgin flights" offer on Gold does not extend to Platinum.

The Virgin card though is free ( unless you take the £80 double points card ) but means I could just earn the miles in everyday use and would still earn 4000 miles + 24069 miles for each UC ticket + the double miles as before.

Decisions Decisions! They both seem quite close comparatively then, as you can see.... I'm looking for reasons for going either way, hopefully.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

David.

[Nottingham Nick]

Hello David and welcome.

RM is our resident Amex guru and will pass comment on the Amex questions no doubt.

My input would be more simplistic - the choice (for me) Amex or Mastercard comes down to whether I would get value for money from the, not inconsiderable, plat fee.

If you would benefit sufficiently from the insurance, Priority Pass, Hilton / Starwood Gold etc. then I would say that the differential in the points for one trip would be a secondary consideration.

If the above benefits are not enough to convince you to splash out on Amex, then the VS fee card is an alternative that is welcomed in more places than Amex and will get you almost as many FC points.

You could however take the long term view of aiming for Centurian and Clubhouse admission:) I think your spend would have to increase from 10k a year though.

Nick