Amex Corporate Charge Card to earn Avios points
Discussion
It seems I am very late to the party realising the advantages of switching regular company payments onto an Amex Corporate charge card. I thought I would post up my experiences in case anyone else can use the information.
Like all companies, we have a lot of regular payments like advertising costs together with adhoc purchases.
I've now realised I can move many of these invoices from either bank transfer or mastercard payments onto an Amex corporate charge card.
The advantage in terms of Avios points is quite large - lets say I move circa £70k of monthly spend onto the card, it gives around 100,000 points per month.
Plus if you get a personal BA Amex premium card and spend £10,000 personally, you get a companion voucher which gives you another ticket in whatever class of seat you had booked (subject to availability).
The Amex corporate chap was explaining many people have a BA Amex card for husband and wife in order to get 2 companion vouchers per year. The Avios accounts can be connected together as a family, and so they can be used to double up on the corporate card points earned.
Sorry if this has been covered before, but I was slightly surprised this was all possible; I've only now just made the switch over.
On the downside, seat availability is somewhat limited and so tickets need to be booked well in advance. And you still need to pay the carrier charges and APD taxes which on a long haul can be a few hundred points. Plus there are annual fees for the cards.
However, taking all this together it still seems a very good deal.
Like all companies, we have a lot of regular payments like advertising costs together with adhoc purchases.
I've now realised I can move many of these invoices from either bank transfer or mastercard payments onto an Amex corporate charge card.
The advantage in terms of Avios points is quite large - lets say I move circa £70k of monthly spend onto the card, it gives around 100,000 points per month.
Plus if you get a personal BA Amex premium card and spend £10,000 personally, you get a companion voucher which gives you another ticket in whatever class of seat you had booked (subject to availability).
The Amex corporate chap was explaining many people have a BA Amex card for husband and wife in order to get 2 companion vouchers per year. The Avios accounts can be connected together as a family, and so they can be used to double up on the corporate card points earned.
Sorry if this has been covered before, but I was slightly surprised this was all possible; I've only now just made the switch over.
On the downside, seat availability is somewhat limited and so tickets need to be booked well in advance. And you still need to pay the carrier charges and APD taxes which on a long haul can be a few hundred points. Plus there are annual fees for the cards.
However, taking all this together it still seems a very good deal.
I do this but all on a personal card but not for the monthly money you've mentioned. I have a Virgin Amex/Visa and put work bills on them. Hardly any of my suppliers take Amex which is a shame, but I do get to use the Visa with them. I earn enough points for a flight for me, the Mrs and our daughter to go to the US every year which is great. I've been thinking about changing to the Avios card as I assume it covers flight to Europe and a lot of places Virgins card doesn't cover but we do like the US so I may leave it.
With regards to booking flights, booking far in advance does help but should you miss it, it is worth checking back periodically as things do change and seats do become available.
I have the black cards with Virgin (for an annual fee). That gives me double points, the companion flight and also two upgrades to Premium Economy but I'm yet to use the companion flight and upgrades as flights above economy are rare during the school hols and I think you have to cash buy a ticket to get the companion ticket. In a few years time when we can get away without our daughter and go during term time I'll make better use.
100k miles a month is amazing, I don't think you'd ever be able to spend them would you? Nice problem to have anyway.
With regards to booking flights, booking far in advance does help but should you miss it, it is worth checking back periodically as things do change and seats do become available.
I have the black cards with Virgin (for an annual fee). That gives me double points, the companion flight and also two upgrades to Premium Economy but I'm yet to use the companion flight and upgrades as flights above economy are rare during the school hols and I think you have to cash buy a ticket to get the companion ticket. In a few years time when we can get away without our daughter and go during term time I'll make better use.
100k miles a month is amazing, I don't think you'd ever be able to spend them would you? Nice problem to have anyway.
silobass said:
I do this but all on a personal card but not for the monthly money you've mentioned. I have a Virgin Amex/Visa and put work bills on them. Hardly any of my suppliers take Amex which is a shame, but I do get to use the Visa with them. I earn enough points for a flight for me, the Mrs and our daughter to go to the US every year which is great. I've been thinking about changing to the Avios card as I assume it covers flight to Europe and a lot of places Virgins card doesn't cover but we do like the US so I may leave it.
With regards to booking flights, booking far in advance does help but should you miss it, it is worth checking back periodically as things do change and seats do become available.
I have the black cards with Virgin (for an annual fee). That gives me double points, the companion flight and also two upgrades to Premium Economy but I'm yet to use the companion flight and upgrades as flights above economy are rare during the school hols and I think you have to cash buy a ticket to get the companion ticket. In a few years time when we can get away without our daughter and go during term time I'll make better use.
100k miles a month is amazing, I don't think you'd ever be able to spend them would you? Nice problem to have anyway.
You're right Avios covers Europe, and it is where BA's network is pretty good. Whether there will be availability for 2 adults 2 children (my family size) for date I want to travel is another question.With regards to booking flights, booking far in advance does help but should you miss it, it is worth checking back periodically as things do change and seats do become available.
I have the black cards with Virgin (for an annual fee). That gives me double points, the companion flight and also two upgrades to Premium Economy but I'm yet to use the companion flight and upgrades as flights above economy are rare during the school hols and I think you have to cash buy a ticket to get the companion ticket. In a few years time when we can get away without our daughter and go during term time I'll make better use.
100k miles a month is amazing, I don't think you'd ever be able to spend them would you? Nice problem to have anyway.
The main factor in the corporate charge card spend is that I've switched our adwords costs for bing/google onto amex, rather than paying via bank transfer.
I thought there would be a fuss moving from paying via bank transfer to amex, but they were fine about it.
I'm not sure I will be able to redeem them point either, but if not, I've been assured they don't expire provided I keep some form of amex card, so will just save them up.
There are many, many ways to get the most out of your miles. Starting your international segments abroad - Scandanavia, Ireland etc to reduce APD, using other OneWorld partners etc.
This site is a great resource for everything to do with Avios and loyalty points - http://www.headforpoints.com/
With that many monthly points you'll be able to a lot of first class international jet-setting for very little cost! I've travelled all over using mine - just requires a bit of planning...
This site is a great resource for everything to do with Avios and loyalty points - http://www.headforpoints.com/
With that many monthly points you'll be able to a lot of first class international jet-setting for very little cost! I've travelled all over using mine - just requires a bit of planning...
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