Reader TTS

Last Spring, American Express had a staggering welcome offer promising new customers with 60,000 Avios points, roughly £600, when they applied for the British Airways American Express

Premium Plus card. The only requirements were to apply via a specific link and spend £3,000 on the card within the first three months. But as the year wore on, some more conscious customers

were quick to notice the bonus was never applied. While those that haven’t double-checked may not even know that they never got their dues. Disgruntled with these circumstances, some Amex

customers began contacting money expert Amelia Murray from Be Clever With Your Cash for advice. She highlighted how to check if you were affected and what to do if you have missed out on

“hundreds of pounds in points”. She shared, “I believe there are more customers who have been short-changed by Amex. Here are my three tips on what to do if you think this could be you.

First, double-check how you found the offer so you are confident you are eligible for the 60,000 bonus points. “If you think this situation applies to you, contact Amex straightaway and

explain what’s happened. If you don’t get anywhere with Amex, don’t give up. Contact the Ombudsman with your complaint and also request compensation for the time, effort and frustration of

dealing with this issue.” Amelia noted that ideally customers should take screenshots of where they found the deal as proof. Additionally, for those taking their case to the Ombudsman they

may be able to reference a recent case that saw a customer getting compensation as well as additional points. Amex customer Mark met all the requirements for the deal but was never given the

60,000 points, instead getting the standard 25,000 Avios points sign-up bonus. He raised the issue to the customer service team and, not being satisfied with their response, made a formal

complaint to the company. Mark was told he wasn’t eligible as the bonus was only applicable to customers who applied through a specific link. The customer argued that this hadn’t been

mentioned before and told the Financial Ombudsman Service he had followed every instruction available online to receive the £600 equivalent bonus. In November, Mark was told his case against

Amex was successful and the Ombudsman assured the credit card company would be honouring the 35,000 Avios points he missed out on initially and would pay him £100 compensation. All other

cases reported to Be Clever With Your Cash were successfully dealt with by Amex directly without needing to escalate it to the Ombudsman. An Amex spokesperson told Reach: “As with any other

account query, Cardmembers should call the number printed on the back of their Amex Card to speak to one of our Customer Care Professionals should they have any questions or issues.”