Considering dumping the Virgin credit card...

3 months into second year of having it, not planning to book virgin for a bit, but perhaps will try BA (the companion flight has value). Do you get any refund of annual fee if I bin it, or is that gone, and I might as well keep it for next 9 months just in case?

[mitchja]

No, you won't get a refund so you might as well keep it and then cancel before your next anniversary date.

I'm not sure but the "proper" Amex will refund fees on a pro- rata basis -as this card is MBNA issued it may be totally different. I think you're right about the BA Amex having more value with the companion offer and the ( currently) fee free Amex Gold is a good option with the MR promotion ( which is further enhanced by a referral by an existing Amex member like me ): PM me if you want a referral ).
I use my VS Amex rarely now as I find the proper Amex a better option especially when combined with the reasonably frequent conversion bonuses offered when transferring to VS or BA ( which recently have been 30- 40% on top of the original MR points).
DL

Annual fee isn't refundable. Keep the card until 1 month before expiry and then cancel it.

You never know when an extra line of credit ..or even FC miles, might be needed.

Paul

To me its whether that sale comes on near christmas, and then I bust out the card for a 1K upper like last year.

However, I think that sale was forced cos BA was selling at the same price, so I could do the BA purchase then...

But I doubt we'll see that sort of sale anytime soon... Doesn't stop me sitting bouncing on my seat on November 30th this year...

I've got a business platinum amex too, so that gold card (personal) is unlikely to be giving me any mileage bonuses. They've not told me its gone up to 450 quid yet, so I will throw a wobbly if its not costing me 300 quid this year too..

BA Amex does sound appealing. Lets get this clear, its a companion on a reward fare right? Is that ok on business and first? Earned on 10K on their black card? Is there nothing on 5K? (like the VS premium upgrade on reward?)

25K current bonus on 3K spend on BA black card is indeed very tempting...

I've got a business platinum amex too, so that gold card (personal) is unlikely to be giving me any mileage bonuses. They've not told me its gone up to 450 quid yet, so I will throw a wobbly if its not costing me 300 quid this year too..

My understanding is that if you didn't receive a MR promotion on the business Plat you can earn promotions on other card applications ( both ordinary Amex and BA). If you currently hold an Amex card that had a MR promotion attached ( and ISTBC the Amex Business Plat has had some decent offers in the past) I think you'll be out of luck.
Don't hold up much hope on the increased fee being waived either -I had no luck whatsoever ( and it seems a load of others over on FT didn't either ).
DL

My understanding is that if you didn't receive a MR promotion on the business Plat you can earn promotions on other card applications ( both ordinary Amex and BA). If you currently hold an Amex card that had a MR promotion attached ( and ISTBC the Amex Business Plat has had some decent offers in the past) I think you'll be out of luck.
Don't hold up much hope on the increased fee being waived either -I had no luck whatsoever ( and it seems a load of others over on FT didn't either ).
DL

Aha, I didn't get one before...

But I should expect a fee raise next month on renewal then? Damn... 300 was justifiable. 450 less so.

My understanding is that if you didn't receive a MR promotion on the business Plat you can earn promotions on other card applications ( both ordinary Amex and BA). If you currently hold an Amex card that had a MR promotion attached ( and ISTBC the Amex Business Plat has had some decent offers in the past) I think you'll be out of luck.
Don't hold up much hope on the increased fee being waived either -I had no luck whatsoever ( and it seems a load of others over on FT didn't either ).
DL

Aha, I didn't get one before...

But I should expect a fee raise next month on renewal then? Damn... 300 was justifiable. 450 less so.

Then (as I said ISTBC) you can probably apply for a card that is offering one now .
I think the fee raise is inevitable for you unfortunately .It seems even mega spenders ( of which I'm not one ) have had little luck ( better luck it appears though if you are US based). Retentions "may" offer something small ( gift voucher etc) for renewal but don't expect anything huge .
Good luck .
DL

To me its whether that sale comes on near christmas, and then I bust out the card for a 1K upper like last year.

However, I think that sale was forced cos BA was selling at the same price, so I could do the BA purchase then...

But I doubt we'll see that sort of sale anytime soon... Doesn't stop me sitting bouncing on my seat on November 30th this year...

I've got a business platinum amex too, so that gold card (personal) is unlikely to be giving me any mileage bonuses. They've not told me its gone up to 450 quid yet, so I will throw a wobbly if its not costing me 300 quid this year too..

BA Amex does sound appealing. Lets get this clear, its a companion on a reward fare right? Is that ok on business and first? Earned on 10K on their black card? Is there nothing on 5K? (like the VS premium upgrade on reward?)

25K current bonus on 3K spend on BA black card is indeed very tempting...

yes the BA Amex is a companion on a reward flight and does include Club and First. We use it every year in Club and on two occasions we have been upgraded to First :0 ^) ^) I am now spoilt for life :w

I am cancelling my VS Amex this week as I didn/t even get around to using my PE upgrades this year.

Sunshine 8D

Just applied for Amex Gold, no fee in first year + 30000 bonus... 8D

Offer ends today follow this link...!
http://headforpoints.com/2012/10/31/300 ... days-only/

Cheers for posting this scooby, just filled it in myself. Cannot resist all those miles.. ii) ii)

Shall be watching this thread with interest as my VS Black Amex is due renewal soon and I am toying with the idea of switching over to platinum amex instead. Whilst the miles earned is not as high there are some pretty good transfer bonuses out there and not tied to VS, so could feed one of my other FF accounts (hotel or airline)... hmm decisions decisions..

Are the benefits that come along with an Amex card worth it?

Are the benefits that come along with an Amex card worth it?

I recently renewed ny Amex Plat having initially decided that I was going to dump it following the £150 annual increase and the major changes to the travel insuranc provided with the card. A few things swayed me - customer service has been ecellent for me - I had a dispute with Hertz that they sorted with no bother. Another is that I have a load of car hire booked with Hertz in Jan/ Feb and using the car cover provided with the plat card means that I won't have any nasty surprises insurance wise. The special Plat car rate also means it was WAY cheaper than using someone like Red Spot. There's generally no hassle with Hertz and the plat card either - the agents don't even bother to upsell insurance because they know what the Plat card covers. Priority Pass has also been useful to me flying out of provincial airports often on the " less glamorous " carriers ): ( and not forgetting that a plat supplementary card holder also qualifies for this).
FHR have also tried very hard to help with a few bookings ( as have the concierge service) and I've received invites to events that had I been London based I'd have probably attended.
Who knows what I'll do after this trip? Yes it's costly but in honesty I saved way more than that during my upgraded stay at the Hilton in Tokyo earlier in the year .
DL

To add to the thread, now banked 4 times G returns waiting to be found. The frustration with the useless companion fare, we haven't used the PE upgrades, as always bag miles for G flights. Likely ditch, and remain on Plat, likewise with DL, things like priority pass/ insurance/Hilton/hertz get used, the fee hike is hefty, so might as well counteract with dropping the VS crd, however the loss of the Visa aspect will need some thought, probably something like an avios visa, to keep that slow migration of miles over to the darkside for anything other than MAN based VS.
VS need to step up the game in terms of perks on this card if they hope to keep loyalty...a useable companion voucher may just swing it...

You can always downgrade to the white card and use the visa card to get a few miles if places don't take Amex.

I ditched the black card last year and use my BAPP card mostly. This is the first year I've used a BA companion voucher. My companion is very happy about it.