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Old 14 Dec 19, 08:07 PM  
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Originally Posted by Rescuer View Post
Wow. The lounge and the flight look like a holiday in themselves.
I’ll be nipping dh’s head to ditch the Tesco credit card and get a BA Amex one now!

I’ve never really thought about Washington before although I know dh would love to go, great to hear that your trip involved lots of walks, that’s not the picture of Washington I had in my mind.
Given that you're a food snob (I just read your Milan trippie) you'd love sampling all the treats in the lounge. It was like a holiday in itself, that's why I wanted to have the airport hotel Baltimore so we didn't have to travel at the other end and could just fall into bed when we arrived. You really should be twisting your DH's arm to get an Amex, mind it takes forever to save up points now. We got lucky by nominating each other for a card every 6 months as we got bonus points for referring a friend, we did it a few times. But Amex changed the system so now you can't get the bonus points unless you've not had a card for something like 24 months. I'd happily nominate you if do want an Amex

Washington was a great walkable city, we loved it. Plus the weather was perfect for October half term.
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2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
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2020: DLP.
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Old 15 Dec 19, 12:12 AM  
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Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
Given that you're a food snob (I just read your Milan trippie) you'd love sampling all the treats in the lounge. It was like a holiday in itself, that's why I wanted to have the airport hotel Baltimore so we didn't have to travel at the other end and could just fall into bed when we arrived. You really should be twisting your DH's arm to get an Amex, mind it takes forever to save up points now. We got lucky by nominating each other for a card every 6 months as we got bonus points for referring a friend, we did it a few times. But Amex changed the system so now you can't get the bonus points unless you've not had a card for something like 24 months. I'd happily nominate you if do want an Amex

Washington was a great walkable city, we loved it. Plus the weather was perfect for October half term.
Sounds right up my street. Just right for a good snob like me 😂

That sounded like a great way to gather points. Do you have the one with the fee or the basic one? We’ve used BA holidays for the summer. The benefits on the Tesco card used to be good but they are rubbish now so Amex may well be the way to go. If we do get one I’d happily let you nominate me if we both get points.
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Old 15 Dec 19, 08:42 AM  
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Originally Posted by Rescuer View Post
Sounds right up my street. Just right for a good snob like me 😂

That sounded like a great way to gather points. Do you have the one with the fee or the basic one? We’ve used BA holidays for the summer. The benefits on the Tesco card used to be good but they are rubbish now so Amex may well be the way to go. If we do get one I’d happily let you nominate me if we both get points.
We use the BA Amex paid for card. Its £195 in advance per year. But if you cancel the card after 7 months for example then you get a refund for the last 5 months. The reason we use this card is that you only have to spend £10,000 to earn the 2 for 1 voucher. I find the spending the money surprisingly easy...all the monthly food, petrol and other expenses are put on the card, plus of course the holidays are all paid for by card. But you need to have enough Avios points for 1 person to then get the flight with points and that does take time. In the past the Avios rewards were great as both people got points, something like 10,000 points for nominating someone and then the other person got points for spending a specific amount of money within a time period. Like I said they didn't mind that people played the game of keeping the card for 6 months, then nominating their partner collecting the points and cancelling the card. We repeated this process for a few rounds, as it was also fine for me to have a card on Dave's account and vice versa so we always had our own card just the account holder changed every 6 months. Of course it was a pain that we got a new card and had to change online account details but I soon realised it was easier to pay as much though paypal online as possible as then I only had to change one set of details.

Anyway, that's probably way too much information. I'm not sure what the rewards are like at the moment since they changed the rules. I was half joking about nominating you, but if you decide to get a card and don't know anyone in real life who has an Amex then I'll happily nominate you or your DH or anyone else for that matter!
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2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC.
2020: DLP.
2021: Jamaica. Rome.
2022: Orlando.
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Old 15 Dec 19, 01:47 PM  
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Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
We use the BA Amex paid for card. Its £195 in advance per year. But if you cancel the card after 7 months for example then you get a refund for the last 5 months. The reason we use this card is that you only have to spend £10,000 to earn the 2 for 1 voucher. I find the spending the money surprisingly easy...all the monthly food, petrol and other expenses are put on the card, plus of course the holidays are all paid for by card. But you need to have enough Avios points for 1 person to then get the flight with points and that does take time. In the past the Avios rewards were great as both people got points, something like 10,000 points for nominating someone and then the other person got points for spending a specific amount of money within a time period. Like I said they didn't mind that people played the game of keeping the card for 6 months, then nominating their partner collecting the points and cancelling the card. We repeated this process for a few rounds, as it was also fine for me to have a card on Dave's account and vice versa so we always had our own card just the account holder changed every 6 months. Of course it was a pain that we got a new card and had to change online account details but I soon realised it was easier to pay as much though paypal online as possible as then I only had to change one set of details.

Anyway, that's probably way too much information. I'm not sure what the rewards are like at the moment since they changed the rules. I was half joking about nominating you, but if you decide to get a card and don't know anyone in real life who has an Amex then I'll happily nominate you or your DH or anyone else for that matter!
Sorry to jump on this 😊. Abby, I think I you should be our resident Amex/BA expert here on the dibb.

My DH got his first Amex card earlier this year. He’s finished his minimum spend for a companion voucher so, like you and Dave have been doing, he recommended me and we are now both using cards on my account. Are you saying he can now cancel his card, get a refund for the time left on it and still keep the companion voucher? Will they not take the voucher back if he cancels his card?

The current offer seems to be 9000 avois points for a successful recommendation (for the original cardholder), and 25000 Avios points for the new cardholder upon spending £3000. That’s what we got.

We also do surveys on Rewards for Thoughts to bump up our avios. The surveys are a bit of a pain to do but the extra points do add up. Look out for deals available from Amex as well. My DH gets avios for every accommodation booking through hotels.com for example. This isn’t available to me yet, I think you have to spend a certain amount on your card before the deal becomes available.

I’m also happy to provide recommendations for anyone who wants one 😁
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*Complete* A Tale of Two Cities - Washington D.C. & Boston - March 2023
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Old 15 Dec 19, 08:23 PM  
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Originally Posted by Fuellady View Post
Sorry to jump on this 😊. Abby, I think I you should be our resident Amex/BA expert here on the dibb.

My DH got his first Amex card earlier this year. He’s finished his minimum spend for a companion voucher so, like you and Dave have been doing, he recommended me and we are now both using cards on my account. Are you saying he can now cancel his card, get a refund for the time left on it and still keep the companion voucher? Will they not take the voucher back if he cancels his card?

The current offer seems to be 9000 avois points for a successful recommendation (for the original cardholder), and 25000 Avios points for the new cardholder upon spending £3000. That’s what we got.

We also do surveys on Rewards for Thoughts to bump up our avios. The surveys are a bit of a pain to do but the extra points do add up. Look out for deals available from Amex as well. My DH gets avios for every accommodation booking through hotels.com for example. This isn’t available to me yet, I think you have to spend a certain amount on your card before the deal becomes available.

I’m also happy to provide recommendations for anyone who wants one 😁
I am far from an expert, I learnt a lot from other dibb posts and the head for points website. Between us we have both earned 241 vouchers and used them for the DC trip. Actually I've already earned my 2nd so now we're spending on 2 cards for dave to earn another.

I'm going to try and answer the cancellation question so that your DH can get his part year refund for the £195. I've been thinking about it all afternoon as it was over a year ago that we bought the DC tickets so I'm trying to remember the chronology properly.

I had earned my 241 6 months earlier and nominated Dave. That part I am clear about. The crucial thing is whether i cancelled my Amex or downgraded to the other BA card which is the non paid for one. I think as I hadn't used my voucher that this is what I did. So I did get the refund back on the paid for card, but the account was still open in effect just not being used and I put the new Amex card in a drawer. As soon as Dave earned his voucher, in fact the same evening in November of last year we looked for flights which had enough availability in business for us both to use our vouchers. You have to pay for the tax in full at the time of buying the tickets and Amex had told me that the card which earned the tickets had to be used to pay for the tax. This part seems odd to me, but I'm pretty sure that this is what I would have done so Dave used his 241 to book him and Max tickets, paid for his tax with his card and then cancelled the card straight away. I used my 241 for me and Kate, paid with my card from the drawer and then upgraded again to the paid for BA Amex so that I could start spending towards another 241. The tickets were on my BA system within seconds of completing the booking and of course as they were fully paid for I didn't worry about the fact the cards used to earn the 241 were cancelled.

Unfortunately the cancelling part is a hassle as there is no way to do it online you have to phone them, but its a small price to pay.

I hope all that makes sense. At the airport we had Dave's new Amex but neither of the old ones, but of course they just look at your passport there is no need to bring the card with you at all.

And thanks so much for the tip to look at filling in surveys I'll take a look at that website as I've not heard of it.
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New pre trip report - Summer 2024

Link to all my completed trip reports
2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC.
2020: DLP.
2021: Jamaica. Rome.
2022: Orlando.
2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto.
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Old 15 Dec 19, 09:43 PM  
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Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
I am far from an expert, I learnt a lot from other dibb posts and the head for points website. Between us we have both earned 241 vouchers and used them for the DC trip. Actually I've already earned my 2nd so now we're spending on 2 cards for dave to earn another.

I'm going to try and answer the cancellation question so that your DH can get his part year refund for the £195. I've been thinking about it all afternoon as it was over a year ago that we bought the DC tickets so I'm trying to remember the chronology properly.

I had earned my 241 6 months earlier and nominated Dave. That part I am clear about. The crucial thing is whether i cancelled my Amex or downgraded to the other BA card which is the non paid for one. I think as I hadn't used my voucher that this is what I did. So I did get the refund back on the paid for card, but the account was still open in effect just not being used and I put the new Amex card in a drawer. As soon as Dave earned his voucher, in fact the same evening in November of last year we looked for flights which had enough availability in business for us both to use our vouchers. You have to pay for the tax in full at the time of buying the tickets and Amex had told me that the card which earned the tickets had to be used to pay for the tax. This part seems odd to me, but I'm pretty sure that this is what I would have done so Dave used his 241 to book him and Max tickets, paid for his tax with his card and then cancelled the card straight away. I used my 241 for me and Kate, paid with my card from the drawer and then upgraded again to the paid for BA Amex so that I could start spending towards another 241. The tickets were on my BA system within seconds of completing the booking and of course as they were fully paid for I didn't worry about the fact the cards used to earn the 241 were cancelled.

Unfortunately the cancelling part is a hassle as there is no way to do it online you have to phone them, but its a small price to pay.

I hope all that makes sense. At the airport we had Dave's new Amex but neither of the old ones, but of course they just look at your passport there is no need to bring the card with you at all.

And thanks so much for the tip to look at filling in surveys I'll take a look at that website as I've not heard of it.
Thank you so much Abby, that’s very helpful. I’ll get DH to phone about downgrading his card in a few days. He only completed his spend yesterday and it’s not showing as a completed transaction yet, just pending. Once he’s paid it off the companion voucher should come through, so he can phone then.
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*Complete* A Tale of Two Cities - Washington D.C. & Boston - March 2023
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Old 16 Dec 19, 08:14 PM  
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Originally Posted by Fuellady View Post
Thank you so much Abby, that’s very helpful. I’ll get DH to phone about downgrading his card in a few days. He only completed his spend yesterday and it’s not showing as a completed transaction yet, just pending. Once he’s paid it off the companion voucher should come through, so he can phone then.
Yes I think I waited until the voucher email came through, but it is handy to get a refund on a few months of the payment. I'm off to look up the survey websites you mentioned.
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New pre trip report - Summer 2024

Link to all my completed trip reports
2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC.
2020: DLP.
2021: Jamaica. Rome.
2022: Orlando.
2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto.
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Old 2 Jan 20, 12:13 PM  
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I’m looking forward to the rest of your TR and my kids and me would love to go business class!
I really don’t have a clue with the Avios points but really want to find out more so need to find an instructions for dummies as all I know is that me and my husband both have the frequent flyer miles and kids on family account. Is there a good post anywhere to explain Abby?
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Old 2 Jan 20, 09:15 PM  
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Originally Posted by jobelly View Post
I’m looking forward to the rest of your TR and my kids and me would love to go business class!
I really don’t have a clue with the Avios points but really want to find out more so need to find an instructions for dummies as all I know is that me and my husband both have the frequent flyer miles and kids on family account. Is there a good post anywhere to explain Abby?
My kids are pretty keen to fly business class again too as am I and DH

We have a family account too same as you. The points build up, but to get the buy one get one free deal you need an American Express card, specifically the BA Amex card. There a couple of options one which is a paid for card at £195 per year and you earn the 2-4-1 (buy one get one free) voucher when you spend £10,000 on the card. Or there is a free card with no annual fee but you have to spend £20,000 before you get the voucher.

I believe everything I have said is accurate. But please read up properly...

We have the paid for card, but one at a time. So, I get the card and then 'allow' DH a card on my account. As we pay for holidays and all shopping (online and in stores) using the Amex it doesn't take long to earn the voucher. As soon as we have spent £10k and get the voucher I downgrade my card to get a partial refund on the fee and then Dave applies for his and I have a card that is for the same account so all spending is to the one bill. This is how we have earned the 2-4-1 voucher twice as I had one and so did Dave. So, flying to DC Kate was free on my ticket and Max was free on Dave's.

I've already earned another voucher and they are valid for 24 months so at the moment we have an Amex in
Dave's name as he needs to earn a voucher for him and a 2nd person, but I don't spend on my account as I have a card for his Amex so that my spending is on his account. When he has spent £10k we will be sitting on 2 of the vouchers which I plan on using for a trip to Toronto. This will take about 80,000 avios points each and will wipe us out of avios as there are fewer bonus points for nominating a new Amex customer now. We got 25,000 each time we nominated each other every 6 months which was really handy.

It's very confusing to try and explain. Even reading through what I've written as a reply I've had to amend it a couple of times.

I am by no means an expert. I read a lot of helpful information on the Head for Points website. Plus there were a few posters on here who had threads at times which were handy. I'll try and find those threads and post a link.

There's no way we could afford the extravagance of business class without the vouchers or points and it was such a wonderful experience and to be able to share that as a family was fab. I hope I can find the info to help you.
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New pre trip report - Summer 2024

Link to all my completed trip reports
2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC.
2020: DLP.
2021: Jamaica. Rome.
2022: Orlando.
2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto.

Edited at 09:22 PM. Reason: It's very confusing and difficult to explain
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Old 2 Jan 20, 09:36 PM  
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Originally Posted by Goldia View Post
My kids are pretty keen to fly business class again too as am I and DH

We have a family account too same as you. The points build up, but to get the buy one get one free deal you need an American Express card, specifically the BA Amex card. There a couple of options one which is a paid for card at £195 per year and you earn the 2-4-1 (buy one get one free) voucher when you spend £10,000 on the card. Or there is a free card with no annual fee but you have to spend £20,000 before you get the voucher.

I believe everything I have said is accurate. But please read up properly...

We have the paid for card, but one at a time. So, I get the card and then 'allow' DH a card on my account. As we pay for holidays and all shopping (online and in stores) using the Amex it doesn't take long to earn the voucher. As soon as we have spent £10k and get the voucher I downgrade my card to get a partial refund on the fee and then Dave applies for his and I have a card that is for the same account so all spending is to the one bill. This is how we have earned the 2-4-1 voucher twice as I had one and so did Dave. So, flying to DC Kate was free on my ticket and Max was free on Dave's.

I've already earned another voucher and they are valid for 24 months so at the moment we have an Amex in
Dave's name as he needs to earn a voucher for him and a 2nd person, but I don't spend on my account as I have a card for his Amex so that my spending is on his account. When he has spent £10k we will be sitting on 2 of the vouchers which I plan on using for a trip to Toronto. This will take about 80,000 avios points each and will wipe us out of avios as there are fewer bonus points for nominating a new Amex customer now. We got 25,000 each time we nominated each other every 6 months which was really handy.

It's very confusing to try and explain. Even reading through what I've written as a reply I've had to amend it a couple of times.

I am by no means an expert. I read a lot of helpful information on the Head for Points website. Plus there were a few posters on here who had threads at times which were handy. I'll try and find those threads and post a link.

There's no way we could afford the extravagance of business class without the vouchers or points and it was such a wonderful experience and to be able to share that as a family was fab. I hope I can find the info to help you.
That’s great so helpful so thank you. I think I’d looked at the card you pay for but wrote it off due to the fee but it looks like it will be worth having. I’ll have a closer look at it but may be worth changing from my trusty M&S credit card!
I’ve had a lovely day reading your TR and am impressed with how far your kids walked without moaning! I fancied Washington this year and then a road trip down the carolinas but apparently the kids were hard done by last year with no Disney so we’re back to the DDP and the cocktails! 😊
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