When Is Amex Ending Pro-Rata Refunds On Their Cards?

If you remember back to last month we reported that Amex had suspended the scrapping of pro-rata refunds. Many of you might have breathed a sigh of relief optimistic about a potential change in the policy. Regrettably, we’ve now know that Amex remains intent on discontinuing pro-rata refunds for cards cancelled mid-membership year.

When Is Amex Ending Pro-Rata Refunds On Their Cards?

Under Amex’s latest plans pro-rata fee refunds will be available until 29th February 2024.

What Amex cards will no longer offer a pro-rata refund?

These changes affect ALL UK Amex CREDIT cards. If you hold a CHARGE card you are NOT affected by these changes and will still receive a pro-rata refund when you cancel. (though the only remaining personal charge card open to applicants is the Basic card with no annual fee.)

How does this affect the ‘points game’?

It instantly wipes up some ‘methods’ used to minimise your outgoing costs whilst maximising the benefits offered…

• You won’t be able to save money by spending £9,999 on the Free BA Amex before upgrading to the BA Premium Plus Amex to trigger the voucher and then downgrading to the Free BA Amex again. As you’ll be on the hook for the full annual fee when you upgrade with no pro-rata refund.
• You can’t take out the Platinum Card, rinse the benefits (e.g. sign-up bonus, £50 Harvey Nichols credit, £300 dining credit, hotel statuses), and cancel for a pro-rata refund. Previously if you were eligible for the sign-up bonus you would do rather well if you took the card out in November and kept it to early next year to get a sign-up bonus, 2 x £300 dining credit & 2 x £50 Harvey Nichols credit for as little as £162.50 if you kept the card for 3 months (bearing in mind the pro-rata refund.)
• If you are new to Amex cycling through the cards to get all the sign-up bonuses will be a lot more expensive as you can longer cancel a card to get a pro-rata refund from the end of February.

That being said we don’t think it changes a great deal for most people. If you are new to Amex the Gold card is still FREE for the first year. And ever since the move a few years back from 6-month bonuses to every 24 months most Platinum/BA cardholders hold the card longer term. With these changes, it will be interesting to see how the Barclaycard Avios Plus fares, it may well be a more attractive option for those collecting Avios due to its monthly fee (cancel the card and no more monthly payments.) The upgrade voucher isn’t strong as the 2-4-1 voucher however but could work well for some people…

Conclusion

There is only one thing certain in the ‘points game’: everything changes! Hopefully, with these changes, cardholders will see increased value as they aren’t ‘subsidising’ those who take out cards for a bonus and then cancel. On top of this, we’ve already seen some increased sign-up bonuses with American Express with an extra bonus after holding the card for 15 months to encourage ‘holding onto’ the card. What are your thoughts on Amex removing pro-rata refunds on annual fees?