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Why some people are missing their 15,000 Avios BA Amex loyalty bonus

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I wrote earlier last week about the generous bonus of 15,000 Avios points which British Airways has awarded to anyone who has held a British Airways American Express card since it launched in 2001.

Well, not quite ‘anyone’.

I have had a few emails from people who have held the card since 2001 and have not received the bonus.

BA Premium Plus American Express card BAPP

Almost all of these people have one thing in common:

At some point between 2001 and today, they upgraded from the free BA Amex to the Premium Plus card.

So, the situation is:

If you have had the free card for 15 years, and are actively using it, you got 15,000 Avios

If you have had the Premium Plus card for 15 years, and are actively using it, you got 15,000 Avios

If you upgraded or downgraded from one card to the other during the past 15 year, you did NOT got a bonus

I genuinely do not believe that British Airways intended this to happen.  They will have asked Amex for a list of everyone who has held a card continuously since 2001 and this will have excluded people who upgraded or downgraded during that time.

Plenty of Avios, Amex and BA employees will read this, so hopefully they can take another look and issue the bonus to those people who do deserve it but have been tripped up on a technicality.

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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 (75)

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

  • Will P says:
    21 Nov21 November 08:09

    Very disappointing to be ‘missed’ after upgrading to the premium version 2 years ago after 15 years loyal use

  • peter19 says:
    21 Nov21 November 08:23

    when you up or downgrade you keep the same account – it says the member since in your profile so this should not have made any difference.

  • Boi says:
    21 Nov21 November 08:51

    OT: does Amex platinum insurance cover missed flights? Missed my flight from Dublin

    • Rob says:
      21 Nov21 November 09:19

      The full document is on the Amex website (the general one) on the Platinum card application page under ‘Important Information’.

  • David says:
    21 Nov21 November 08:56

    On reflection, I initially had the middle card (Premium?), when the Amex/BA partnership was launched in 2001 and upgraded to the Premium Plus card a couple years later, I think. I have had the PP card for a very long time.

    Having paid the annual fee since 2001, which will be clear to Amex, although my usage has varied, I think I should qualify for this bonus.

  • Charlie says:
    21 Nov21 November 09:06

    I am in the exact position mentioned by you – i.e. I have held a BA Amex Account since 2001 but sometime over the past 15 years, I think 9 years ago, I upgraded to the Premium Plus Card. A call to AMEX was met firmly by stating that the matter requires to be referred to BA. I will se if I can get any response from BA today.

    • Billyk says:
      21 Nov21 November 09:42

      Same here had the BA Diners to start off with was moved over to the free AMEX at launch and then sometime later upgraded to BAPP .
      Good luck when you phone BA let us know how you get on.

  • Don says:
    21 Nov21 November 09:25

    On the topic of missing Avios, I am still missing 4500 miles for the Sunday Times Travel Mag offer. I called them and they weren’t allowed to say what was going on. Apparently, there is a disagreement between the magazine and Avios.

    • marco says:
      21 Nov21 November 09:37

      Similar boat here until this morning when I got an email saying my” membership number has been allocated to this subscription and the surname has been updated” The points will be addedto your account shortly!

      marco

    • Mark says:
      21 Nov21 November 09:54

      I’m in the same boat Don, four phone calls now – no joy

    • Mark says:
      21 Nov21 November 12:17

      I’ve been fobbed off several times (including being asked to resend my name and BAEC number) and got an automated e-mail on Friday saying they are experiencing some delays processing the Avios and that they are working hard with their partners to resolve the issue…Promised and update ‘very soon’ but I’m not holding my breath.

    • Pid says:
      21 Nov21 November 12:40

      I reieved the following email at midday today so it would seem that they are aware of the problem and are working through it. Just might take a little time:

      Dear Subscriber,

      Thank you for subscribing to the Sunday Times Travel Magazine

      We are writing to advise you that we are experiencing some delays in processing the Avios points that were included on our promotional offer.

      We are working hard with our partners and will update you very soon. Please accept our apologies for this delay

      Kind regards,

      The Sunday Times Travel magazine

  • RussellH says:
    21 Nov21 November 09:55

    My partner has had BA Amex cards since 2001, so just qualified. She thought the e-mail from BA was a scam at first, but I did not think so. The Avios wre in her account a day later. She changed once to the paid-for Amex as they changed the rules for 2 4 1 voucher so that there was no way we would get one on the free card. She went back to the free card once we got back from Tobago using the 2 4 1.

  • jamie says:
    21 Nov21 November 10:10

    hi raffles,

    urgent question!!!

    has the bapp amex sign up bonus been removed altogether?

    no longer appearing on the amex website, that will be a real blow to us churners. please tell me it is a amex website error?

    cheers

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