[silkenthreads]

My BA Amex card is used only for travel, usually air fares and accommodation. Most places that I consider going with a companion (N. America, Far East, Antipodes) are currently out of bounds to a UK passport holder so it might be a year or more and an extra cost of £195 annual fee to use a BA companion voucher in addition to the taxes. If I cancel the credit card I will lose the voucher and of course might be rejected if I reapply for the credit card someday.So are there any advantages to holding on to a BA credit card

[ASK1945]

silkenthreads

My current Companion Voucher was originally due to expire in October 2021 but has been extended by BA (not Amex) to April 2022, so I still have 19 months to use it. Who knows whether another extension will be necessary? And, by December I expect to have gathered another voucher from the Amex, from the spending I do with my Amex card, by then.

I can’t see any reason why not continuing with your Amex card will lose you your voucher, which is issued by BA. I also don’t see why not continuing to pay Amex the £195 fee, thereby reverting to a free Amex card account, would affect the voucher also.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Polly, mkcol74

[mkcol74]

If you have already earned your 2-4-1 voucher you won’t lose it by cancelling the card – I just can’t quite tell if you mean you’ll lose the one you have or the potential to earn one if you decide to cancel your card.

Remember – it’s valid for 2 years from date of earning, so there’s a lot potential ahead still.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Polly

[silkenthreads]

thanks for your replies. When I called Amex I was told that if you cancel the card you automatically lose the voucher which I had not previously realised. When you book your BA flights + companion you have to pay the taxes with an Amex card. My current voucher is valid into 2022 but if I use it the trip will cost another £195

[esselle]

[postquote quote=1010013][/postquote]

But if you use it you will be getting the second ticket at much less than if you had to purchase it. Assuming you use it to get a J or F longhaul ticket, you will be quids in.

[mkcol74]

[postquote quote=1010013][/postquote]

AMEX lied to you, as simple as that.

BA issue the voucher not AMEX, so once it’s issued that’s it, AMEX can’t do anything about it.
Yes you do need to pay the taxes & fees using an AMEX card, however it can be any AMEX card.

If you’re thinking about ditching the premium BA AMEX & don’t have an alternative then just downgrade it to the free BA AMEX, if you don’t want to apply for one of their other cards which issues AMEX Rewards points.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Polly

[FrequentTraveller]

[postquote quote=1010017][/postquote]

mkcol74’s comments are correct. If you read the terms and conditions then what AMEX explained on the phone would appear to be correct that you would lose the existing voucher. But there is another well known forum web site for credit card and mile earning discussions where this question comes up regularly. Nobody has ever reported an existing voucher being withdrawn. As mkcol has stated it doesn’t happen because once the voucher is issued it’s in the BA system. You will keep the existing voucher.

When redeeming the voucher you do need to pay the taxes & fees using an AMEX card. It can be any AMEX card. It could be the AMEX card belonging to somebody else and they don’t even need to be one of the passengers listed on the the ticket.

If you are worried about cancelling the card and not being accepted on a future application then you could call AMEX to downgrade to the BA free AMEX card. You can do this at any point in the year. The annual fee will be refunded on a pro rota monthly basis. Then in the future upgrade again to the paid card.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Polly

[silkenthreads]

mkcol74 thank you for patiently working through this. Yes, I have read another site where some changes to Amex cards were reported, including the withdrawal of the option of cancelling the card, getting one again after six months and also earning a new tranche of Avios.
At the moment I am looking at paying the next year’s fee with no discernible benefit to me. There might be a way round this as the proposed ‘companion’ does not have this credit card so could take one out a short while before the flights are possible and pay the taxes for the two of us.

[ASK1945]

[quote quote=1010024]AMEX lied to you, as simple as that.

BA issue the voucher not AMEX, so once it’s issued that’s it, AMEX can’t do anything about it.
Yes you do need to pay the taxes & fees using an AMEX card, however it can be any AMEX card.

If you’re thinking about ditching the premium BA AMEX & don’t have an alternative then just downgrade it to the free BA AMEX, if you don’t want to apply for one of their other cards which issues AMEX Rewards points.[/quote]

silkenthreads: all the above advice is correct.

I have had a Companion voucher issued every single year since 2003 (BA told me that I was the first to be issued one after they were announced). I have used it to travel to every continent except Antartica, several times – always in Club World. For most long distance flights you do need to book 350 days in advance.

Yes, the (so called) “taxes” are a bind. Often these come to as much as the Economy fare to the destination. Nevertheless, it is still worth it – and don’t worry about having to pay these costs by Amex card: there are plenty of ways around this, as described above.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Polly

[fatbear]

[postquote quote=1010041][/postquote]

The availability varies by destination. I have usually been able to book flights to Singapore or Antigua in Club or First 4-6 months in advance, but no chance of getting anything to Sydney at anytime………

My companion voucher was also extended for a year, and a couple of weeks ago I was able to book a flight to Antigua for late October. It just remains to be seen if we will actually be allowed to travel then, fingers crossed that the UK infection rates stop increasing so we are not banned !

[ASK1945]

fatbear wrote: [quote quote=1010057]The availability varies by destination.[/quote]

Also flexibility. We wanted to fly to Santiago (in Chile) in the first week of January this year, for a cruise departing from San Antonio. For a 14 hours (or so) flight – BA’s longest non-stop – only Club World would do (there was no F).I started trying in January 2019, but despite going online at midnight each night to be first to get a released flight, failed. But December 31st 2019 was consistently available, so we took that. We passed midnight somewhere over Portugal.

We had a brilliant few days there – and ultimately were very pleased that we went earlier than planned.

[tonywells1961]

My understanding is that if you cancel your BA Amex card, you will lose any vouchers or flight bookings that are in place ?

[mkcol74]

@tonywells1961 Your understanding is incorrect, as discussed in earlier comments.

[Polly]

Not true. Amex will tell you that to stop you cancelling the card. The Op is better downgrading To the free card, then upgrading just before the 10k spend to gain a 2 year 241 voucher. And they can use any Amex to pay the taxes and BA fees.

[Polly]

Silkenthreads,
Curious to know why you only put travel and accomcharges on your BA Amex. Why not use it for everyday spend and really accumulate your avios stash. In between why not refer your OH for a free gold Amex and convert those to avios also? Anyway worth studying the other sites to learn an effective collecting strategy…

[Author]

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