Amex Gold charge - business retention

Hi guys

Thought some of you might find this bit of info useful.
I rang Amex up today to cancel my gold charge card, having only opened it last year to get the 20k miles.

As I now have the annual fee Virgin Mastercard there didn't seem any point in keeping the Amex account open.

Amex asked me why I wished to close, I said because I get 2 miles per £ with VCC rather than 1 with Amex.

The bit that might be of use to you is that they were willing to 'accelarate' the miles to 1.5 miles per £1 if I stayed with them. Bear in mind I've hardly used the card so of hardly any use to them!

Might be worth other gold-carders ringing up to see if they will offer them that deal

Cheers
Andy

[HighFlyer]

Thanks for that Andy!

Prompted me to cancel my Gold Card that i also took out for the 20k miles. Similarly, they asked why i was cancelling it and i explained that i got a better deal with Mastercard in terms of earning VS miles. They offered me the 'accelerator' to 1.5 points per £1 spend, refunded my £80 annual fee, given me bonus MR points and are sending a 'complimentary gift' in the post (whatever that is?) ... all the while that im insisting i dont want the card! And its still not cancelled! A few rounds of this and i could come off quite well!!

They also told me that they are relaunching the Gold Card with another offer (likely not VS, but who knows) but they are collecting feedback from customers on promo's they would like to see.

They are also launching a 'Red' card - whatever that is?

Sarah - see, I'm jealous now..no free gift for me! Or annual fee refunded...good effort!

Andy

I got the fee refund, but not the extra miles. To be honest I am OK with that, as I just cut up my card anyway and accepted the siging on miles were free )so what's to moan about! I wouldn't get too excited about the fee gift highfly - unless you find it difficult to wake up in the morning, in which case a second one may be useful......

[HighFlyer]

Sarah - see, I'm jealous now..no free gift for me! Or annual fee refunded...good effort!

Andy, they offered me the accelerator scheme but after my third or fourth insistance of 'no, i dont want that or the card, can you cancel it please', the lovely chap i spoke to basically said "will you stay if we refund the annual fee" - can hardly say no when i effectively got 20k miles for nowt. It wasnt offered straight away.

highfly - unless you find it difficult to wake up in the morning, in which case a second one may be useful......

LOLOL You referring to a 'charming carriage clock'?

I'll let you all know what they sent. More MRP's would have been prefferential, but i cant wait to see what treasures AmEx have rummaged up for me!

Originally posted by HighFlyer


LOLOL You referring to a 'charming carriage clock'?

Not quite, but nearly right. Of course a "blow-up M'Lord" would wake you up in the mornings, and be worth having a second one of. [}:)] But that is not what I am referring to either

[HighFlyer]

a "blow-up M'Lord" would wake you up in the mornings

:D:D

Brill!! Wouldnt say no to one of those!!

[Bazz]

Sometimes it is dignified to show restraint

Originally posted by Bazz
Sometimes it is dignified to show restraint

I have heard that, but never tried it myself;)

i have a friend who called amex today got his fee refunded and miles
increased to 1.5 per £. they told him they are offering 1.5miles for
customers who spend £3500 per year

[?] not sure where to post this question but here seems as good a place as any!

I have an AMEX Gold Charge card, used it dilligently over the years and built up a lot of reward points. Then I became a virgin miles junkie and realised I could transfer the rewards... happy boy!

Then I discovered the Virgin Credit card, and realised that for a lower fee I could collect two miles for every pound.. even happier boy!

But I'm a clingy kind of person and despite only having used my Amex card for a recent cheap flight booking through their travel service, I like it shinning back at me from my wallet, so have yet to cancel it.

I still regularly get offers for platinum and have often fancied this for two percieved benefits that I think could justify the cost:
1) Access to Priorirty Pass Lounges.
2) Global travel insurance.

Now, I am not a gold FC member (yet), and frequently travel at my own expense so get the cheap seats. So, unless I bump into one of you jolly nice chaps and chapesses, access to any kind of lounge would be interesting.
Also due to some "life changes" I'm in need of a annual travel insurance policy as I'm no longer covered on the house insurance of the house I am still financing!

So my question is, if you want lounge access, and travel insurance is the Platinum Card worth it?

I suppose I could try to get some kind of deal when I phone up to cancel my gold membership that might make it initially more interesting... and since no one has yet posted an itinerary on the same day as my next Y flight I will be needing priority pass instead!

Thanks


Simon

Amex Plat doesn't give you club house access. ISTBC, But I think it includes priority pass, and you can buy that separately for less lucre.

[RichardMannion]

True Sailor, but it depends waht level of Priority Pass you are comparing that to. The level that AmEx Platinum gives you is Pretige level that is about 240 on its own, so if you think you are going to do more than 10 lounge visits (5 returns), then it would probably make better sense to take the Platinum card as you get the Prestige leve then. When you couple that with the insurance for you and your supp cardsit will soon take you past the 275 annual fee.

There are other small benefits such as MR annual fee is part of the Plat annual fee, and access to the FHR program, don't forget SPG Gold either.

Thanks,
Richard

Thanks for the clarification, and you are of course quite right. As you say it depends how much you will use a "Priority pass quality" of lounge (IMHO they ain't no CH and are often overly busy due to paid access), but also how much you value the insurance (remembering companies should be covering this for their traveling staff). I would also say that PP seem to do promos with monotonous regularity

Thanks for the replies, it looks like I could justify it just on those two grounds. I've done three Y long haul in the last 6 months and have another coming up in April and since I always prefer to arrive in plenty if time, and always do OLCI I have a lot of time watching the world go by.

Anybody know what level of freebies are available in PP lounges, such as beer?

I guess if beer is free and in comparison to airport prices I could come close to drinking my monies worth!


Oh how I long for my first UC flight, or better still a gold FC card!
But I suppose once i've tasted the club house, then the PP lounge will really not be up to it.

don't forget SPG Gold either.

I have held a UK plat card for 15 years and have never been offered SPG Gold.

[RichardMannion]

That sounds about right for AmEx nowadays, just call them up and speak to travel who will enrol you.

click here

Under Hotel Programmes

Thanks,
Richard

So, bottom line, what refreshments are available in a priority pass lounge, does it include beer in whatever quantity you need to help you sleep and is it free?

Yes (9 times out of 10) to all your booze questions. I have even seen people packing up their hand luggage with it [n]. Food tends to be light snacks (crisps, nuts, cake,etc.). Seats often at a premium. Sometimes free internet (rarely).

If you want my very honest opinion save your money. PP lounges have become to un-exclusive. If you want to use a longe pay your £12-15 per visit. But even better, use the money you have saved to by good drinks in the bar - its just as good as the PP lounges.

I've received a few PM's about pay-per-entry lounges. So I have started a new thread on it. Suggest we move the debate here, as it is an issue in itself.

Thanks Jeremy,

I'll see what comes out of the new thread before making my decision.
I'm hoping the bulk of my travel from the middle of the year will be in business class anyway, so no need for paid lounge access.

But an Amex platinum card carries a lot of kudos in china, even if nowhere outside of Shanghai/HongKong/Beijing accepts it.

Simon.