British Airways Credit Card from an Australian Bank

[trinbol]

I use my Credit Card extensively to get Qantas Frequent Flyer points. I am about to move to Europe (not the UK) and have seen that British Airways offer a credit card in various countries. As I will be coming back to Australia the BA Card doesn't charge foreign exchange fees nor any annual fees and their rewards points are better than Qantas.
Does anyone know if I can apply for one here before I go? The UK Canada USA India & South America have one.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

I use my Credit Card extensively to get Qantas Frequent Flyer points. I am about to move to Europe (not the UK) and have seen that British Airways offer a credit card in various countries. As I will be coming back to Australia the BA Card doesn't charge foreign exchange fees nor any annual fees and their rewards points are better than Qantas.
Does anyone know if I can apply for one here before I go? The UK Canada USA India & South America have one.

Considering aussies arent eligible to join baec... no

 

[aaflyer]

If you have an American Express card, and have had it for over 12 months, try here: https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/content/moving-abroad/moving-abroad.html

 

[yohy?!]

I use my Credit Card extensively to get Qantas Frequent Flyer points. I am about to move to Europe (not the UK) and have seen that British Airways offer a credit card in various countries. As I will be coming back to Australia the BA Card doesn't charge foreign exchange fees nor any annual fees and their rewards points are better than Qantas.
Does anyone know if I can apply for one here before I go? The UK Canada USA India & South America have one.

No probably not you'd need to be able to prove your residence and income in your new country first - it's always taken me a few months to get a local credit card after an international move to Asia, Europe etc

 

[Himeno]

BA doesn't accept residents of the South West Pacific to join BAEC. They direct such people to the QF or CX programs. So they aren't going to have a credit card partner for a region they don't have any members in.

 

[Isochronous]

What UK based BA card has no FX fees?

 

[andye]

What UK based BA card has no FX fees?

I understand the Lloyds & Lloyds Premier Avios Rewards cards don't charge FX. Amex earn is good but the Mastercard earn is poor. Generally considered not as good as the BA branded Amex but may be useful for the OP if can get approval. Raffles on headforpoints.co.uk is a good source on this

 

[burmans]

Considering aussies arent eligible to join baec... no

BA doesn't accept residents of the South West Pacific to join BAEC. They direct such people to the QF or CX programs. So they aren't going to have a credit card partner for a region they don't have any members in.

Sorry but are you guys directly ignoring the OP's comment that he is about to move residency? And to be strictly pedantic in Aussie_flyers case its not your nationality but your residency that is taken into account.

I second aaflyers suggestion, transfer of Amex would work if he has one, once you have a credit record in this other country you can probably start applying for other cards (i.e. if there are better offers). This is almost certainly likely to be easier to get credit this way than establishing a credit record from scratch.

 

[Himeno]

Sorry but are you guys directly ignoring the OP's comment that he is about to move residency?

No. As BA does not accept members from this part of the world, they have no reason to offer BA credit cards drawn on AUD accounts.
This topic is about "BA Credit Cards from Australian Banks".
There is no such thing.

 

[cove]

I chose Citibank US for a card that does AA points which get you BA and Qantas access (without foreign exchange fees so I can use it worldwide). You get more points as the US dollar is short against the British pound and Euro so it is points city going this way. I thought I needed a UK credit card but I was wrong as AA and BA have a strong sharing of points redemptions.

 

[JessicaTam]

[mod hat]
Posts not directly relating to the topic at hand have been deleted.
[/mod hat]

 

[burmans]

I chose Citibank US for a card that does AA points which get you BA and Qantas access (without foreign exchange fees so I can use it worldwide). You get more points as the US dollar is short against the British pound and Euro so it is points city going this way. I thought I needed a UK credit card but I was wrong as AA and BA have a strong sharing of points redemptions.

Sorry, this would appear not to be about the topic in hand and should be deleted. Now where is the emoticon for tongue in cheek?

 

[burmans]

No. As BA does not accept members from this part of the world, they have no reason to offer BA credit cards drawn on AUD accounts.

He's not going to be in this part of the world and he's not going to be drawing in AUD if he moves, now is he?

 

[Aussie_flyer]

He's not going to be in this part of the world and he's not going to be drawing in AUD if he moves, now is he?

No, however the question was whether any Australian banks offer a BAEC credit card, and they don't.

 

[cove]

Yes that is a NO for the thread creators question.

 

[burmans]

No, however the question was whether any Australian banks offer a BAEC credit card, and they don't.

We've been here before!

Yes, but he can effectively get what he wants if he transfers his Amex to UK (should he have one). And it appears you can do this before you actually arrive. While for the pedants it is indeed true that Amex is an American organisation. you can do it by ringing Amex here in Australia, so for most it would seem like you dealing with an Australian organisation (or more correctly an Australian subsidiary).

Hopefully this is helpful to the OP.

 

[andye]

I would agree that setting up an Amex account her then applying for a transfer is likely to be the best way to get a decent rewards card up and running quickly in the Uk.

I seem to remember hearing that your Membership Rewards balance is adjusted for exchange rate when you transfer a card between countries. Worth checking as this could effectively devalue any points for SQ/CX/AA/SPG by about 50% and BA from 0.625 (via SPG) to 0.5 on current exchange rates.

Could be worthwhile transferring out points before the card is moved (or keeping accounts in both countries if they will let you)

 

[greenfish]

I would agree that setting up an Amex account her then applying for a transfer is likely to be the best way to get a decent rewards card up and running quickly in the Uk.

I seem to remember hearing that your Membership Rewards balance is adjusted for exchange rate when you transfer a card between countries. Worth checking as this could effectively devalue any points for SQ/CX/AA/SPG by about 50% and BA from 0.625 (via SPG) to 0.5 on current exchange rates.

Could be worthwhile transferring out points before the card is moved (or keeping accounts in both countries if they will let you)

They certainly adjusted my UK points for exchange rates when I moved to NZ (quite a decent win ). So good advice to watch out for this when moving to the UK.

For what it's worth, I've moved amex cards NZ>UK>NZ>AU with absolutely no problems.

 

[cove]

Yes greenfish we have met 3 AFF members who are in London who have transferred their Amex cards to the UK. They have had no problems with the process.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Considering aussies arent eligible to join baec... no

Is that because we always beat them at cricket ?