[kpinc]

kpinc wrote:

Same situation for me.

They said that they couldn’t check eligibility. Then I applied anyway, and they said that they need to check a few more things before they make a decision.

No emails. Just the confirmation page, which I screenshotted.

I already have a Premier account with them. I previously had an Avios Plus card with them a few years ago. It has also definitely been more than two years since I closed that credit card account.

I’ll give them the entire week before I contact them in writing / raise a complaint in writing.

I finally have the card. Although it wasn’t an easy ride.

After one month of waiting and three separate communications and promises that I would hear back within “5 business days” each time, nothing happened. I decided to send an official complaint by recorded letter to Barclaycard Customer Relations. After a week of them receiving the letter, I still hadn’t heard back. Their support also couldn’t see my complaint on their end.

I hate doing this, but I emailed the CEO address: The application was approved within 1 hour of that email. And the complaint registered within 2 hours. They still haven’t responded to my complaint, but now I have the card, which was delivered four business days later.

What a journey it’s been…

[kpinc]

Same situation for me.

They said that they couldn’t check eligibility. Then I applied anyway, and they said that they need to check a few more things before they make a decision.

No emails. Just the confirmation page, which I screenshotted.

I already have a Premier account with them. I previously had an Avios Plus card with them a few years ago. It has also definitely been more than two years since I closed that credit card account.

I’ll give them the entire week before I contact them in writing / raise a complaint in writing.

[kpinc]

I started using their Debit card, and the PayPal checkout, as I had a couple of large purchases that wouldn’t benefit from Section 75. Even though, it feels like the Gold requirment is too high, unless putting all annual spend in their Debit card, which I feel is a no go as Section 75 is more valuable to me for most purchases.

I wonder if their Credit card (when it launches officially) will award more points that their Debit card…

[kpinc]

Surely, it is not purely venue-based. But Aegean is currently and has been a regional airline. They were planning to add two aircrafts with longer range (starting long haul flights to India), but that’s not ready yet.

The point is that the requirement of miles and flights is now way too high for a regional carrier, and it feels more revenue-based, even if it isn’t by the book revenue-based.

[kpinc]

Thank you Rob,

After logging in, there is a button with the label “Show travel credits” which I hadn’t noticed before. When I click it, it shows the £400 voucher and its expiration date.
Also appreciate the tip for using it in one go for a flight or hotel.

Many thanks 🙂

[kpinc]

People are guaranteed to take advantage of this, pre-booking slots that there’s every chance they don’t turn up to. Therefore you need some bespoke mechanism to disincentivise this behaviour.

They could charge for no show, unless a flight has changed / cancelled on short notice. Changes can already be made up to 48 hours in advance should plans change in advance.

[kpinc]

Will be interesting to see at the end of the year how many have used up their entire allocation. 4 (x 2) over a 6 month period seems like a good starting point.

This is not a good metric and it is commonly used in the industry to justify removing or reducing the value of benefits/product features.
There will always be some users that are not happy because the product becomes insufficient for their needs. As AMEX Platinum is a premium product, they shouldn’t aim for such practices. Instead they should ensure the maximum allowance is offered, ideally unlimited, as lounges are starting to charge extra for a guaranteed spot. This will closely match what was offered before lounge access became popular for every card provider and will give AMEX a differentiator.

[kpinc]

can2 wrote:

It is understandable why Amex cuts off benefits from the US Plat. Its fee is like 1% of average annual income in the US, before tax.

Can you say the same about the UK Plat?

£360 worth of additional benefits sounds tad unrealistic to me.

(accidentally pressed the report button there)
But Pret is not even that good. Their sandwiches are somewhat okay, but their coffee is a big no for me.

[kpinc]

I think they may be taking into account total spending over a X amount of months for the eligibility as I haven’t been eligible to upgrade from Gold to Platinum since the beginning (which was summer 2022). This is because I split my spending between cards due to traveling abroad and I’d rather spend on a card that has no FX fees.

Does anyone know if they can upgrade if I ask them over the phone or chat?

[kpinc]

kpinc wrote:

I’ve managed to hit the £5000 threshold and I can see in the membership earnings tracking that I have been awarded the 60000 Avios welcome bonus to be credited to my BA account in the next monthly credit! Hooray 🙂

I received a refund relating to a product return, which is going to take me slightly under the original £5000 requirement. I am expecting the Avios related to that product to be subtracted as soon as the refund is reflected. Of course I am willing to continue spending on the card, as I am looking forward to hitting the companion voucher threshold and I generally enjoy the Avios per £1 ratio.

Will they also remove the 60000 welcome bonus? If they do that, will they re-add it when I hit the £5000 threshold again?

Since nobody responded I’ll answer the question myself for anyone else that has the same question.

The 60000 Avios were removed from the tracking shortly after I received the refund.
After making an additional purchase that was posted, the 60000 Avios were added again in the tracking.

All good in the end 🙂

[kpinc]

I’ve managed to hit the £5000 threshold and I can see in the membership earnings tracking that I have been awarded the 60000 Avios welcome bonus to be credited to my BA account in the next monthly credit! Hooray 🙂

I received a refund relating to a product return, which is going to take me slightly under the original £5000 requirement. I am expecting the Avios related to that product to be subtracted as soon as the refund is reflected. Of course I am willing to continue spending on the card, as I am looking forward to hitting the companion voucher threshold and I generally enjoy the Avios per £1 ratio.

Will they also remove the 60000 welcome bonus? If they do that, will they re-add it when I hit the £5000 threshold again?

[kpinc]

CyberMan wrote:

For reference when I upgraded early this year it was about a month after I had paid the Gold annual fee (i.e start of year 2), so it may be the case that you need to hold it for a year at least. The gold fee also got deducted from the platinum fee when I upgraded so the plat fee for my first year only ended up being around £400 odd.

Also worth noting I did put a considerable spend through the gold card in that first year so that may have had something to do with it as well.

Thanks for sharing your experience. That is reassuring then, if they remove the Gold fee from the Platinum.

[kpinc]

I’m also kind of the same boat…
The Gold Credit card annual fee is about to post and I can still get a pro-rata refund. I’m interested in the Platinum as I have international travel coming up soon and it would be nice to use the benefits, especially the travel insurance, instead of buying separately (turns out travel insurance for US and Canada are quite expensive).

But I also don’t want to me any offers that may be coming up soon.
I tried the upgrade link to Platinum but it says I am not eligible. Maybe I need to have the Gold fee posted and paid first?

[kpinc]

I received 10K poinst via chat after asking for my options because I didn’t see the value with the annual fee approaching soon. Now I am wondering… will they bump up the Platinum upgrade offer from 20K? I am thinking of upgrading shortly after the fee posts in my PRG card.