Card Dilemma

Hi guys,
After months of head scratching, I need some opinions / advice on a way forward.

Having intialy held the original VS Mastercard and saved enough for two UC returns for the Mrs and I, we jumped ship to the dark side and took out an BA Amex (the middle silver one) with a Tesco finest back-up MC.

With the companion vouchers, we've booked BA First to South Africa and CE to Rome (both forthcoming flights this year). I also hold BMI MC (to get the 20k reward!) who I also fly a fair bit with through work.

Here's the dilemma - UC for us was awesome! Okay, we have not taken our BA First flight yet, but I miss UC! So, my options are:

1) Stay with BA Amex & Tesco MC - best in terms of quick earning (effectively doubled up by the companion voucher) - fly with the dark side

2) Move to VS Amex - I'd appreciate views on the companion voucher and what it''s really worth - save up for UC!

3) Stick all my spend on BMI and spend miles on VS flights - heard some bad stories about using BMI miles to get VS reward flights - again, I'd appreciate views on anyone who has tried this.

I'm pretty easy on paying card fee's for better rates and with the help of Mrs nibbs, have no problems with qualifying spend!

Apologies for my long post - if you stuck it out to the end, thank you! [oo]

Cheers,
nibbs

Nibs

I have got both the BA Amex (premium one) and the VS Amex (black one). I had been loyal to the BA one for a few years and really got the benefit with the companion voucher. Using Tesco's also made my miles collection relatively easy and I had got 2 economy trips to Australia, a club to Dubai and 2 Firsts to Dubai in the space of a few years (and there is only me spending!!). Now with the VS Amex I feel that the miles do not add up quite as quickly and they really can't beat the Companion Voucher that BA does.

As much as I love Virgin - and the reason I got the VS Amex was because BA does not fly to LAS - I think that when I move back to the UK I will be going back to BA Amex (sorry guys [:I])

Having had both I really do feel that I get more for my money with the BA AMEX one.

By the way - if you have another AMEX (ie the Blue one) you don't have to pay such a big fee - ie I only pay 30 punds a year for the premium BA Amex instead of the 100 or so you are supposed to pay - and the BA Blue costs me nothing and sits in a draw!!

Not sure if that helps but it is my thoughts [:)]

PS BA First is really good - although I have not flown Upper yet!

What I would love for the Amex cards - both BA and Virgin - is lounge access for the premium ones the same as the platinum card gives you - but then I don't ask for much [:I]

Regards

AKS120

[RichardMannion]

Great question!

aks - bit lost on your comment about Platinum lounge access, AmEx Plat and Centurions no longer have Clubhouse access nor do they give you access to Terraces. They both do give access to AA, BMI, Delta, Continental, Northwest and Eurostar lounges; along with 2 Prestige level Priority Passes.

The Silver level BA AmEx is no longer available, but the tip about having another card is very valid. If you have a Plat/Cent you get the top level Black BA AmEx for nothing (instead of £120/year) - that gives the highest miles earning ratio of the cards.

My loyalty is with Virgin, but I don't have a Virgin AmEx - instead I have a Centurion Card where the vast majority of my spend is done (as I have an enhanced earning ratio for Membership reward points). MR points are useful as I can shift that to various programs as I need. For places that don't take AmEx, I use my BMI Mastercard (the fee free version) which is building me a nice pile of bmi miles which I will then be using for the extremely generous miles+money scheme on bmi. Starwood is a very good loyalty program for transferring points out, especially with the 5k bonus for every 20k transferred.

The BA AmEx companion voucher is very good, and much better than the VS AmEx 'equivalent'. As I am not earning many BA miles at the moment (all miles earned with BA are via flying) I'm not actively using my BA AmEx. When I start to get near the number required for a BA First reward, then I will spend the required £10k on my card so I can make use of it. So in essence I have the following:

Air:
Virgin
BMI
BA

Hotel:
Starwood
Hilton

They are all active accounts as such, but with preference to those at the top of each list as they are my preferred carrier/hotel chain. I can feed my Starwood points into any of the air programs I use, or use the points for points+cash for hotel stays. Hilton points aren't so versatile, and are only really much use for hotel stays within the Hilton group so I let them build up and then use them for free nights when I have enough. Sorry I'm rambling, but in essence I'm saying it doesn't matter if you have a few active air/hotel programs and let them build up.

Thanks,
Richard

Richard

You are completely correct - I was getting my lounges mixed up and I was thinking about the AA access so apologies for that. Although it would be nice if you could get access with the relevant premium AMEX card [:D]

I also did not realise how good the Starwood scheme was - I mainly concentrate on the airline ones!

I will also look into the centurion card.

Nibs - I think that you will get many answers and you will just have to find out the best for you - but definately take advantage of one - a mistake I made early on was 'spreading myself to thin' so I didn't earn enough on either to go very far - it was not until I used one exclusively that the miles started adding up.

Regards

AKS

We have 3 BA Amex premium plus card accounts from these we earn 3x 241 vouchers a year.We rack up at least 300k miles per year from shopping at Tesco and converting the clubcard vouchers to BA miles.A few flights plus card spend and whatever offers appear(Marriott/J&J/beefburgers/Birdseye beef or even buying a few miles from BA)means we are able to use the vouchers plus at least one extra ticket,This adds up to 7 F returns a year for 450k miles and 3x 241 vouchers.We did quite well with the old VS mastercard but nothing like the BA Amex P+ card offers.

Sorry to drag this old thread up but I have been trawling the site all afternoon trying to find the answer.

Many feel that the Virgin Companion ticket availability is rarer than hens teeth - do you have that problem on the BA companion ticket - or does there not have to be reward availabilty (for the companion ticket)

Thanks

It seems that on the next renewal, the BA Platinum Plus card will be £150, even if you have the Platinum charge card. [:(!] It does seem that BA upgrades with miles are cheaper than VS though, so I am being tempted to collect BA miles now. The VS rewards for the UK card seem very poor value IMHO.

Originally posted by spiceke


do you have that problem on the BA companion ticket - or does there not have to be reward availabilty (for the companion ticket)

Thanks

I have used the BA Companion ticket 3 times and never had an issue. I even used it when I was not flying [:w] - I booked my parents on a trip to Australia using Miles and the voucher. The nice man said that as long as my mum and dad were in my household account (which they were) then it was not an issue. Not sure if he was supposed to but it got my parents their dream trip.[y]

I have also used the companion ticket for Club tickets to Dubai and First tickets to Dubai - again I had no problem with either in terms of dates or availability.[:D]

The website gives you a good idea of when you can use it - I really don't think you will have too much of a problem if you plan ahead.

Regards
AKS120

Originally posted by spiceke


Many feel that the Virgin Companion ticket availability is rarer than hens teeth

Thanks

I'm not sure if the problem is that availability is rarer than hens teeth - more that in most cases using the companion ticket often saves you very little over two revenue fares in a less flexible fare bucket.

Originally posted by locutus
It seems that on the next renewal, the BA Platinum Plus card will be £150, even if you have the Platinum charge card. [:(!] It does seem that BA upgrades with miles are cheaper than VS though, so I am being tempted to collect BA miles now. The VS rewards for the UK card seem very poor value IMHO.

Just renewed Mrs JPs amex PP+ she holds an amex blue card fee was the same £30.My renewal with plat card was £0 same as usual.

Originally posted by spiceke

do you have that problem on the BA companion ticket - or does there not have to be reward availabilty (for the companion ticket)

Thanks

To use amex 241 you need reward availability for both tickets

To use amex 241 you need reward availability for both tickets

Thanks

Edited to fix quotes - honey lamb

Ok guys, ive just read this thread through. I rack up around 600k in a year on my VS amex. I normally use my 2 premium economy upgrade vouchers, but the companion vouchers are a waste as there never worth using. with ba only giving 1.5 points comapred to 2 with VS per £ spent, is it worth transferring my card over to the dark side?

Originally posted by rupsingh
Ok guys, ive just read this thread through. I rack up around 600k in a year on my VS amex. I normally use my 2 premium economy upgrade vouchers, but the companion vouchers are a waste as there never worth using. with ba only giving 1.5 points comapred to 2 with VS per £ spent, is it worth transferring my card over to the dark side?

Hi

Personally I think the BA 2 for 1 is a far better deal, especially with the anticipated spend that you mention. Depending on the usual factors of timw of year/availability etc you will easily walk away with 2 First returns to pretty much anywhere you want to go. So IMHO BA Amex is the way to go . In my circumstances VS companion vouchers have been of little use, as others have said I usually manage to pay for 2 less flexible seats (earning TP's and miles) cheaper than 1 full fare + companion.

Cheers

MS [:D]