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British Airways American Express sign-up bonuses increased to 9,000 & 25,000 Avios

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American Express has – yet again – increased the sign-up bonuses on the two British Airways American Express cards.

The Premium Plus version, with the £195 annual fee, now offers 25,000 Avios instead of 18,000 Avios. You must spend £3,000 within three months to receive the bonus.

The basic, free, card now offers 9,000 Avios instead of 3,000 Avios. You must spend £1,000 within three months to receive the bonus.

British Airways Premium Plus American Express

The representative APR on the Premium Plus card is 76.0% variable including the fee based on a £1200 credit limit. The representative APR on the free card is 22.9% variable.

My full review of the benefits of the Premium Plus card is here. Amex’s own home page is here.

My full review of the free card is here. This is actually the most improved deal jumping from 3,000 to 9,000 Avios. Amex’s own home page is here. Both reviews reflect these new bonuses and also include details of the higher ‘refer a friend’ bonus which is also available.

This increased bonus runs until 7th February 2017.  We are potentially heading into DFS sale territory here!  I am a little surprised that this deal was slipped out in the middle of August with little warning – it is possible that application volumes have fallen since the £195 fee was introduced.

Based on previous BA Amex promotions, there is a good chance that Virgin Atlantic will match this on its two credit cards in the next few days.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.

Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card

1% cashback uncapped* on all your business spending (T&C apply) Read our full review

Category

British Airways American Express

Comments (87)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Kipto says:
    19 Aug19 August 04:09

    What if you have the basic free card and want to upgrade to the premium card ? Any bonus on offer ?

    • David says:
      19 Aug19 August 06:38

      I upgraded last week and got 6000 points with first purchase. Not mentioned when I upgraded though.

      • Scott says:
        19 Aug19 August 10:59

        Did they tell you this on the phone or it a surprise? Thinking of doing the same.

        • David says:
          19 Aug19 August 14:25

          I was not told about it when I upgraded but I had seen a few people commenting about it on hfp before so was hoping.

  • Ian says:
    19 Aug19 August 05:45

    Ordered just too early.

    Guess you can’t hold both at the same time.

    • Genghis says:
      19 Aug19 August 06:04

      Only one at any one time. Raffles commented yesterday that it might be worth dropping Amex a secure message ‘begging’ for the sign up bonus

  • NickS says:
    19 Aug19 August 06:03

    I just applied last night funnily enough with the increased bonus and its actually 26000 miles!

  • Alex says:
    19 Aug19 August 07:47

    Just received my card yesterday with 18k miles deal.

    • Alex says:
      19 Aug19 August 10:35

      Called Amex, they said it’s definitely not possible to have 25k. Potentially it’s possible to cancel this card within 30 days of received given there are no transactions and no avios and reapply for the new one, but they cannot guarantee that new application will be approved. Also it’s not clear what will happen with 9k avios received for referral.

      • Red says:
        19 Aug19 August 10:39

        Alex, thanks for finding that out. I just got the card last week so rather annoyed I’ve missed out on this deal. But doesn’t seem worth the risk of cancelling.

        • Alex says:
          19 Aug19 August 10:54

          It’s actually my wife’s card, and as I understand my 9k avios for referring her will stay with me in any case. So we will cancel her card today and I will apply for BA Premium, as now have the free card only.

          • Travel Yoda says:
            19 Aug19 August 13:18

            Only received my BAPP last week. Email Amex this morning and received reply saying they have approval for additional 7,000 and to reply to the message when I spent the £3,000 to get it..

          • Alex says:
            19 Aug19 August 13:53

            What email address did you write them? And what did you ask exactly?

          • Travel Yoda says:
            19 Aug19 August 18:06

            Used the secure message in the website. Just said was disappointed to see increased sign up offer having only applied last week any chance of getting it applied to my account.

        • Toby says:
          20 Aug20 August 13:12

          I also used secure message service to request the additional points and have been offered 2000 “as a gesture of goodwill”. Received my card about 3 weeks ago so not sure if they have reduced the number of points based on time between receipt of card until new promotion announced. Happy with the extra 2000 but would prefer 7000 lol

          • Red says:
            21 Aug21 August 18:26

            Just got an email back from them, got the same reply as Travel Yoda saying they will apply the 7000 Avios once I hit the spend target. Got the card a week before the offer changed.

          • Toby says:
            26 Aug26 August 11:47

            update: after the initial goodwill offer of 2000 points I replied to amex thanking them whist requesting again if I could be considered for the full 7000 in line with other peoples offers. I received an email back the following day saying they have credited the full 7000 to my account. I guess If you don’t ask you don’t get and if at first you don’t succeed try, try again. Result.

  • Dermot says:
    19 Aug19 August 08:16

    Small query can anyone help me with – I have a BA premium plus card and want to refer a friend – but for the basic free card (he’s not interested in the premium fee).

    However the link form within my account is to refer a friend for a premium card.

    Is there a way round this?

    Thanks.

  • Keri says:
    19 Aug19 August 09:02

    Morning – I had the offer when it was on in March, and my husband is a joint card holder. Am I correct in thinking that now he has held the card for 6 months, he can apply for a card in his own name to receive this new bonus of 9,000 ? If so, am I able to refer him for an added bonus ? and, how do I do it, please ?

    Thanks

    • harry says:
      19 Aug19 August 09:10

      6 months bit is irrelevant

      yes he can apply in his own right as main c/h

      method – see answer above

      • Keri says:
        19 Aug19 August 09:14

        Thank you … I have looked to see if I can refer him for an added 1,000, but I cannot as I only have the basic blue card.

        Rob, could I ask you if you would refer him please for the added bonus ?

        Thank you

        • Genghis says:
          19 Aug19 August 10:04

          You can refer him for BAPP and you’ll get the 9k and he’ll get the 1k bonus.
          Although I’m sure Rob would take the referral too…

  • Umberto says:
    19 Aug19 August 09:04

    Hi Rob, I have just applied (you referred me) and received the card a couple of days ago. Is it worth contacting Amex to see if they’ll give me the new bonus?

  • RW says:
    19 Aug19 August 09:07

    Damn it, my dad was going to cancel his card a couple of weeks ago so that I could refer him again. This deal isn’t on for quite long enough.

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