AMEX MR - BA 50% Bonus

[LAXtraveler]

Since this 50% was just posted on the main site today I thought I might ask around for people's thoughts on transferring my MR Points to BA instead of CO.

I was originally going to transfer them to CO at the end of the week and then cancel out my Platinum. However, now with this bonus is it more worthwhile to transfer to BA?

Pros
50% bonus - huge!
Can still get to Israel on BA
Multiple stop-overs
Offers OW RTW trips which I think are pretty nice

Cons
More expensive redemptions
Miles expire
Fuel surcharges

One more piece of information - no immediate plans for mileage usage in the next 6-12 months.

Thanks for any and all advice!

[Cholentfresser]

how long does it take for BA miles to expire?

[LAXtraveler]

how long does it take for BA miles to expire?

I believe its 3 years, IIRC.

[Cholentfresser]

that is 3 years with no activity, right?

[LAXtraveler]

that is 3 years with no activity, right?

Seems like it: Your BA Miles will expire and will be removed if your account is inactive for 36 months.
Source: http://www.britishairways.com/travel/ecmilesexpire/public/en_us

[karen]

that is 3 years with no activity, right?

According to BA web site:
"If a Member has not earned or redeemed Mileage for 36 consecutive months, all Mileage that has accrued to that date will expire"

[dans fan]

nervous that a transfer might flag account and then ba will shut down account

[karen]

nervous that a transfer might flag account and then ba will shut down account

Why? Did that ever happen to someone before?

[aryeh1]

What is the fuel surcharge for israel?

[dans fan]

Why? Did that ever happen to someone before?

i know a couple of ppl that had ba acc. closed the only common factor was they all did mile transfer from amex. if there is no other suspicious activity on your acc. i woulnt be worried (evan if audit you they will prob return it). a friend who is upset at ba bc they closed his acc and took away his pnts 'they have a gr8 business they charge amex for the points that you   transfer and then they take it all away so they offer you 50% to scam you into tranfering' he is obviously exaggerating but for those that have suspicious activity take caution

[LAXtraveler]

Why would a transfer from Amex be considered a suspicious transaction?

[dans fan]

a transfer is not. but he believes if you transfer they watch your acc. for suspicious activity (purchasing tickets in other ppl name ect...) then shut you down. but if your ba acc. is clean you wont have problems imho

[LAXtraveler]

a transfer is not. but he believes if you transfer they watch your acc. for suspicious activity (purchasing tickets in other ppl name ect...) then shut you down. but if your ba acc. is clean you wont have problems imho

Got it.

No one has really responded to my original question... does anyone have any thoughts on doing this transfer over a CO transfer?

[dans fan]

Got it.

No one has really responded to my original question... does anyone have any thoughts on doing this transfer over a CO transfer?

not much of a response. i will ad 'much less award availability'.  why would you worry about 3 years

[LAXtraveler]

not much of a response. i will ad 'much less award availability'.  why would you worry about 3 years

Much less award availability on BA... in general I am looking for redemptions in 1st only... which BA is generally pretty good at as compared to many airlines.

[Dan]

Much less award availability on BA... in general I am looking for redemptions in 1st only... which BA is generally pretty good at as compared to many airlines.

BA is the best for 1st availability.  But those fuel surcharges make it much less attractive.

[LAXtraveler]

BA is the best for 1st availability.  But those fuel surcharges make it much less attractive.

True... but I can also use them for Cathay if I wanted a trip to Asia instead.

Also, the way I think about it is for 2 tickets I am paying about $1,000 plus mileage (which was totally free!) for a ticket that would normally be upwards of $17,000. Still worth it. Especially if availability is so good, no?

[karen]

Got it.

No one has really responded to my original question... does anyone have any thoughts on doing this transfer over a CO transfer?

@LAXtravler:

I copied and pasted a more details pro and co of BA miles that may help you to decide whether you should do the transfer.

In my case, I have 530K BA miles and 220K AMEX points. I plan to transfer AMEX points to BA because 50% bonus is huge and I can use BA miles to fly to Hawaii and Asia in the not near future

1) Don’t redeem awards on British Airways flights (high fees, $500-$1,300 per ticket)
2) Don’t redeem award trips to Europe (high fees, think $400+ per ticket, even on Oneworld partners)
3) The cheapest awards are domestic American Airlines awards, which come with $2.50 in fees per leg and only 25,000 roundtrip for coach, 50,000 for business and 75,000 for first. Also cheap are South American awards, which are usually $60ish per roundtrip- even business class.
4) BA allows unlimited stopovers on awards, so add in multiple stops to maximize the value of your award
5) BA has four separate award charts and when you mix more than one carrier on an award, expect to pay exponentially more. Keep itineraries to one carrier! British Airways Flights, BA + 1 partner, One Oneworld partner and  multiple Oneworld partners.
6) BA Cash and Miles redemptions can be an amazing value- especially on coach awards
7) BA allows one-way awards, even on Oneworld partners
8 ) You can use BA miles for awards on not only BA, but American, Cathay, Qantas, FinnAir, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Lan, Malev, Mexicana, Royal Jordanian, S7, Alaska, Aer Lingus and Kingfisher.
9) BA.com is quirky and will automatically try to route you through London, so use Qantas.com, AA.com or Expertflyer.com to search for partner award availability.
10) Some of the best redemptions are 40,000 mile coach awards to South America, including Buenos Aires/ Brazil. That means only 27,000 Amex points will get you a roundtrip coach ticket and you can include multiple stopovers! You can even use less points if you use cash and miles option. The same trip is 80,000 miles or 58,000 Amex points. Another one of my favorite redemptions is 100,000 mile (67,000 Amex points) to Asia in Cathay Pacific business class.

[LAXtraveler]

Thanks for your additional input, karen.

I am starting to think maybe I should just keep with my original plan and put them into CO.

Problem is, as has been noted before, 1st class is just not as easy to come by *A carriers (especially from LAX, or anyway out west really).

[AsherO]

@ Karen, your best post ever!!!