[Scott]

That’s getting on for 6 months so I reckon you’ll be fine, I’ve done it after a similar interval.

[Scott]

Think you’re looking for the Daily Maul pal, system worked fine for me last week.

[Scott]

@Art Underlay, presumably 2023 is when your wife took out her Gold card? So why are you worried? Holding a Gold card doesn’t preclude one from getting a sign-up bonus on a BAPP.

[Scott]

Tom2 wrote:

For those mentioning Permit Rooms, all Dishooms (that i am aware of) sell gift vouchers (or coins) which can be used in any Dishoom or Permit Room. So that could be a route to look at.

Some brave soul would have to try this out for the team, as gift vouchers may be assigned to a different entity (particularly if bought online) so may not trigger the offer.

[Scott]

My wife, as the main cardholder, has been able to enrol.
I, as a supp, see it on the home screen of my app but it’s not listed under offers. When I click ‘Save to Card’, an Amex web page is opened within the app at the offers section with a message: ‘Sorry. There are no available offers for this card’ (even though all my other offers are then listed.)

So I suspect it’s for the main cardholder only.

[Scott]

truthbetold wrote:

Of course Plat gets you in unlimited once registered again

Yes, on a separate PP account (from the Gold one) so no idea if the new Gold ones would work.

[Scott]

Me too. I upgraded Gold to Plat a few months back, hadn’t used any of the 4 gold passes, and recently received in the post a new PP card apparently with 4 passes. It doesn’t even coincide with what would have been the Gold anniversary so I was puzzled.

[Scott]

I may be wrong but don’t think there’s a specific AWD with Avis to get loyalty benefits (unlike Hertz which does have an AWD for Amex Plat holders.) I’ve never been asked to enter one just to sign in to the app.

Try M896100, this is a current promo code for 20% discount.

[Scott]

Went to British Gas after BA, then moved on after half a dozen years, apparently to a private school chain.

[Scott]

I’m guessing you can’t sell it on the likes of eBay due to t&c’s?
If it is transferable and it’s going to go to waste you could consider offering it on here to someone who could make use of it.

[Scott]

Yes, the article mentions that not every lounge is participating, there’s a list on there – is yours in it? Someone recently asked the same question for a Glasgow lounge, fee was £16 and indeed it’s not listed as having a free bookable credit in the article.

[Scott]

JDB wrote:

Annie wrote:

If you want Buenos Aires, look at Iberia. You can still use your 241 and if you fly to Madrid on a different booking you’ll save a lot.

I think it’s worth noting that if you book a separate ticket to Madrid using a 241, BA may not allow you to fly back to London directly or via Madrid. That’s actually quite a lot of inconvenience plus connection risk. On one ticket, London to Buenos Aires via Madrid, with straight connections will cost you, off peak, 154,000 Avios business all flights and about £950 taxes for two which includes £506 of APD which isn’t payable if you break your journey for over 24 hours in Madrid outbound. That compares with BA direct (including the Rio stop) at 242,000 Avios off peak plus £1,340 for two.

If you do the 24hrs+ stopover and keep all flights on Iberia it’s no cheaper to do it on two tickets as London is an add on price rather than part of the mileage zones. That then removes the risk for the return.

You’ve mentioned the no APD if stopover > 24 hrs a couple of times recently. Any idea if this would be bookable as a 241 Avios ticket to include a UK regional connection, e.g. EDI-LHR-MAD(>24hr)-EZE return? I’ve previously used Easyjet direct to MAD but going via LHR may be more attractive if everything could be done on a single ticket.

[Scott]

Obviously I know little about your spending patterns, but as a family of four, and one which takes a couple of holidays a year, I can’t see how you would only spend £10k on your card in a year.
Surely groceries alone must be well over £5k per year. Petrol? Kids clothes? Do you currently put absolutely everything on credit cards? That’s the sort of mindset you need to take if you want to maximise points-earning opportunities.

That said, I’m not sure aiming for the BAPP voucher is necessarily the best approach for a family of four. For a couple who want to travel in business class it’s great, but becomes trickier to use when there are four of you.

[Scott]

Spike Spiegel wrote:

JonathanC wrote:

Rob mentioned yesterday on another post that Amex have stopped allowing up / down grades now, too many people were going from BA blue to BAPP right before hitting the required spend for the voucher.

I downgraded last month before my year reset as I honestly didn’t think I’d hit the spend threshold. My children’s school now accepts Amex and so I’ll easily hit the threshold however no upgrades have been available on the app, website or the chat/phone. Frustratingly I will be paying the whole fee but nothing was offered.

I’m not quite sure what to do – I asked the agent if I could submit an application on the website – is this possible and has anyone had any success as a current holder of the free BA card? If all else fails I’ll ask my wife (who is just a supplementary on my account at the moment) to apply – it’s not the end of the world as I’ve just used two 2-4-1’s and depleted my account to fly four of us to Singapore and back in Club however it’s frustrating. Any advice appreciated!

You can submit an application for the BAPP, no guarantee of acceptance of course, but if Amex like your stats you should be ok. (think you’ll have to cancel the free BA card first though, I don’t think you can hold both concurrently.)
You obviously won’t be eligible for a signup bonus, so if your wife does meet the criteria it may be more rewarding to do it in her name.

[Scott]

ChrisCatch22 wrote:

Anyone know or belive if the BA Amex upgrade page link being removed means a new offer is imminent? I’m waiting for a points bonus offer before recommitting to Premium for a CV..

I posted in an existing BA forum thread but to no avail:

https://hfp2026mar.kinsta.cloud/forums/topic/ba-amex-upgrade-from-free-to-premium/

The chance of Amex offering you a bonus to upgrade from free BA card to BAPP is pretty much nil.

[Scott]

@Harrier25 No need to be patronising my friend.

Clarity does not start charging interest from the “moment” the cash is withdrawn. The interest is calculated daily, so what many of the users of this card do is pay the balance before interest can accrue. I appreciate some people find this a faff, and so may prefer to use another card where this is not necessary, but the fact is that it is possible to have completely free cash withdrawals with Clarity.

[Scott]

Harrier25 wrote:

Scott wrote:

Harrier25 wrote:

…and absolutely no rewards or cashback. I have been trying to understand for years why anyone would use this card anymore with so many better options available these days.

How much would the better options provide? I meam roughly what %age return on a low few thousand £ foreign spend that I currently put through Clarity (mainly purchases, but also a small amount of 0% cash withdrawals on what is a fee-free card.)

Well for a start the Barclaycard Rewards credit card is a cheaper option for cash withdrawals abroad and pays you 0.25% on purchases, but there are better options for cashback in the pre-paid debit card arena. In the EU the Virgin Atlantic credit cards are better options for spending. You could also link a Curve card with a UK rewards card anywhere in the world and withdraw cash for free on it. So yes, why would anyone still use a Halifax Clarity card?!

Clarity is fee for cash withdrawals, so the Barclaycard you mention can’t be cheaper.
I hold Barclaycard Avios which I think would preclude me from applying for it anyway.
That aside, 0.25% is €2.50 on every €1000 spend, so probably wouldn’t get me much more than a tenner a year, it’s really not worth my while considering another card for such a small amount.
How much better are the better options you mention, cos at the moment I can’t see a good reason to stop using Clarity.

[Scott]

The problem with the one points/one cash approach is without knowing cash price there’s no way of knowing if it’s good value. And if the cash price was good value, why wouldn’t you buy both for cash and save the points for something else.

So I think you should focus on points redemption for both of you. Whether it’s best to use a more cash+fewer points option from your table above or to instead buy/boost the points you need for a less cash+more points just comes down to the cost difference between the two approaches.

And yes, with a voucher, 2 people travel for the Avios of 1 person but you still have to pay the cash element for 2 (so ideally you’d want to pick a high Avios+low cash option.)

[Scott]

Harrier25 wrote:

…and absolutely no rewards or cashback. I have been trying to understand for years why anyone would use this card anymore with so many better options available these days.

How much would the better options provide? I meam roughly what %age return on a low few thousand £ foreign spend that I currently put through Clarity (mainly purchases, but also a small amount of 0% cash withdrawals on what is a fee-free card.)

[Scott]

As it’s a separate ticket, no, I don’t believe there’s anything in the Oneworld lounge rules that would permit you access.

[Scott]

I’m seeing the same as the OP. If I try reserving other lounges no fee is shown and at bottom of page it tells me I have 7 reservations remaining.
But if I try Lomond Lounge the £16 charge remains, and no mention of the reservations provided by Platinum.

From Rob’s article on this benefit I believe this is working as intended, as the Lomond Lounge is not on the list of participating lounges.

[Scott]

But also note this: https://hfp2026mar.kinsta.cloud/forums/topic/4-hour-grace-period-amex-platinum-cdp/

[Scott]

Not sure if this explains it: https://hfp2026mar.kinsta.cloud/2025/12/08/how-to-book-spare-middle-comfort-seats/

[Scott]

I’m with Bettersafe, last renewal was about £40 for worldwide cover (this doesn’t include CDW options that you may want for USA, I posted on here about it at the time as was unsure of the difference between the two worldwide options.)

They cover cars, but not vans (and not Green Motion!), and IIRC the cover extends to half a dozen drivers that you may have on your rentals.

They get good reviews and I was happy with them last year when I had to make a claim (due to my own stupidity rather than an accident) and they paid out within a few days.

[Scott]

Have you ever woken up in the morning and thought “If only I had a Victorian father who could pontifically lecture me on the error of my ways, that would make me feel much better about myself” ? No, me neither.