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500 Avios for adding a supplementary cardholder to your BA Amex account

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This was first mentioned in the Comments to another post a few days ago.  (This is why I recommend that email and RSS subscribers to Head for Points should also check out the site itself occasionally, and why people who read the site early in the morning should check back later in the day to read the comments!)

American Express is offering British Airways American Express cardholders 500 bonus Avios points when they add a supplementary cardholder to their account.

BA Premium Plus Amex

Here is the link to apply.

Supplementary cards are free.  There is no stated limit about how many you can give out – the terms and conditions of the card only say “We may limit the number of Supplementary Cardmembers allowed on your Account”.  Applicants must be over 18, however.

You obviously shouldn’t be giving out cards to all and sundry, but if your partner or over-18 children don’t have one, it may be worth filling in the form.  You don’t actually have to give them the card when it arrives!

(To see our complete list of all current credit card sign-up bonuses, click here to visit our ‘Credit Cards Update’ page or use the link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Category

British Airways American Express

Comments (13)

  • Sir Stamford says:
    14 Apr14 April 10:05

    Thank you – this is what I was looking for.

    Is this bonus applicable for the BA Amex Premium Plus card as well?

    If you click on the application form, you see references to “Earn 1 Avios for virtually every £1 spent on your Supplementary Card” as well as pictures of the basic/free British Airways AMEX card?

    Sir Stamford

    • Rob says:
      14 Apr14 April 10:53

      Honestly not sure, gut feeling says you’d be OK but you never know. No reason why they would only want to encourage basic BA Amex cardholders to get a supplementary!

  • DAN says:
    14 Apr14 April 10:28

    For 500 avios this has to be a dudd deal… not even worth filling out the e-form IMO

    • Sir Stamford says:
      14 Apr14 April 17:53

      Sure, it is not life changing but it is 500 Avios for a simple task of adding a supplementary cardholder to an existing account.

      Sir Stamford

  • Neil says:
    14 Apr14 April 15:55

    I have a question, and forgive me for posting it here but I thought a related recent post would be more likely to elicit a response than if I put it on an older thread. How do you generally keep CC companies ‘on side’ when churning cards? I already have 2 x Amex cards and I’ll be looking to cancel my Gold Charge in the next few months to apply for the BA PP. I’m also thinking of taking up the LLoyds and American Airlines cards before they expire.

    Now, LLoyds and MBNA are slightly different as I don’t see me applying for any of their cards again in the future but with Amex, don’t they notice if you apply for 2 or 3 of their cards a year and cancel for pr-rata refunds on fees after the first few months? How exactly do those conversations go?

    Also, I’ve heard on various internet boards about not applying for too many lines of credit in a short space of time but some of these seem overly cautious – one well known site recommends not applying for more than one product in a six month period. What are people’s take on this?

    Last question, when churning Amex cards, is it always best to have a minimum of one card open with them at any time so as to maintain a ‘relationship’ rather than being a new applicant?

    Sorry for all the questions but I’m sure there will be plenty of readers than have though of this too.

    • esoteric says:
      15 Apr15 April 03:15

      > Also, I’ve heard on various internet boards about not applying for too many lines of credit in a short space
      > of time but some of these seem overly cautious – one well known site recommends not applying for more
      > than one product in a six month period. What are people’s take on this?

      I’ve heard the same, general advice is to err on the side of caution. In fact, some make out that the credit report is some sort of holy scripture and inquiries are *bad*.

      I decided to ignore all this and applied for stuff as and when I needed to. In March, I applied for a Tesco clubcard, MBNA Amex More Rewards, BA Amex and a Preferred rewards card, all within two weeks of each other. Got them all with a total credit limit of 17k. Last year I did more or less the same, Barclaycard, MBNA card, Santander, Amex Platinum CB with a total credit limit of 15k.

      Whilst inquiries may be treated differently by some organization, its hardly as important as a clean payment history and _not_ paying the minimum each month.

      My advice is, don’t hold back on account of being worried about inquiries – the best time to apply is now, you can’t be certain you’ll get it in six months, so why wait 🙂

      Anyhow YMMV, I did get declined by Natwest last year (LOL, crazy bunch – there loss, not mine!)

    • Rob says:
      15 Apr15 April 07:13

      I always cancel cards by letter and apply online, so I have never actually had a conversation with Amex on the subject! I am more cautious than a lot of people, but not as cautious as your example.

      For example, I tend to churn the same card using my partner as well. One year I get it and cancel, next year she gets it, next year I get it. That puts 2 years between my applications for the same card. (I also had Amex cards since 1997 and a Plat since about 1999, which probably gives me some sort of ‘untouchable’ status when applying for new Amex cards.)

      As I write on ‘The Avios Habit’ page, this is a LONG TERM game for me. Next year is the 10th anniversary of when I joined FlyerTalk, and I had been playing the miles game for a few years before that. It has taken me from ‘just got first job and now have some money to travel’ to a father of two little kids. I apply for cards I can use based on future travel plans, and I will hold off on others until the right deals comes along.

      My partner has never had an LH card (and she is German!) but I probably will use the current 16,500 mile bonus to break that duck, as its the best I’ve ever seen. Same for me and the AA card.

      • Alan says:
        15 Apr15 April 08:24

        Glad to hear you’re going for the AA card, Raffles. I’m considering it too and it’ll be good to know that in future months it means you’ll be treating us to a post on the best way to make use of those AA miles 😀

      • Neil says:
        15 Apr15 April 19:14

        Thanks to both of yu for replying. I applied last night and was referred. Foolish of me really as it was during the hours when experian/equifax etc are doing the updates so it was never going to be an instant decision, should have left it till tonight!

  • David says:
    15 Apr15 April 13:01

    “…if you are approved.”

    Is your credit score a factor in your being assigned a supplementary card?

    • Rob says:
      15 Apr15 April 13:23

      No. For credit cards, no ID check of any sort is required as the main cardholder is liable for all debts. For Amex charge cards, a supplementary cardholder IS liable, jointly with the main cardholder, for debts, which is why Amex asks for more details. They seem to use the same policy for their credit cards, even though legally they do not have to.

      • tom says:
        15 Apr15 April 20:01

        I made 8 supplementary card applications. 4 for my card and 4 for my wife’s. 3 got approved on each. 3000 avios for 5 minutes filling out a form online!

  • thesaver79 says:
    23 Apr23 April 22:32

    I applied but the application was deferred?!

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