Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

FINAL WEEK: Get 10,000 or 25,000 Avios sign-up bonus with the British Airways Amex cards

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Back in April, to celebrate the new £195 Premium Plus fee, American Express increased the sign-up bonus on the two British Airways American Express cards.

The Premium Plus version, now with a £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.

This special offer ends in a week on Wednesday 15th June.

British Airways Premium Plus American Express

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 the higher bonuses.

As usual, I am obliged to remind you that 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.


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:

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

Comments (37)

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

  • Brian says:

    Does the use of the basic BA AMEX Card, keep your Executive Club account live so that there is no need to pay an annual fee if you don’t fly in the year – as does the Virgin Atlantic Amex scheme?

  • Talay says:

    No fee but something about Avios / BAEC needing some transaction every so often (12 months ? 3 years ?) to keep it active, so yes it would / does.

    • Genghis says:

      Every 3 years

    • harry says:

      I think that’s it, ie you need to earn a point in that year to avail yourself of the reduced RFS fee on redemptions – yes the MR points from Amex would count. Otherwise fees & taxes ex-UK are higher than £17.50 EW.

      • Nick says:

        Morning Harry, I’m not sure if you see my comment last night asking you about the 25,500 easy Virgin Miles available ? Is that for the ISA?

        • harry says:

          Morning – yep 2x
          12,000 ISA
          500 newsletter
          250 miles finder toolbar

          Newsletter hasn’t posted yet but the other 2 posted within 48hrs, we still haven’t paid a sausage for the ISA, is that normal for others (nearly 1 month)?

          • Genghis says:

            It depends when you set your DD for. Our first payments went out on 1st

          • Simmo says:

            They paid my Miles before they took the DD, but all working as expected now…
            Once I provided my NIN for the 2nd time.

          • Nick says:

            Thanks Harry.

  • Aliks says:

    I cancelled my last BA AMEX Card on 21st December last year – this offer ends at midnight on 15th June. One of the conditions for the bonus is that you havent held an Amex card in the last six months.
    If I get my application in on the 15th it normally takes a week for Amex to decide, so do I have a chance to get the increased welcome bonus?

    • Rob says:

      The condition is that you haven’t had a BA Amex – another card is OK.

      Up to you whether you are prepared to risk getting nothing instead of 25k, or leaving it a fortnight and getting a guaranteed 18,000 ….

  • Gavin says:

    I can apply from the 14th June…

    • Rob says:

      You’re fine then – but you need to assume you are accepted immediately this time.

      • Gavin says:

        That’s good to know. Tend to get approved on the day so fingers crossed this time too.

  • DaveT says:

    Can you hold an AMEX SPG as well as the BA at same time?

    • Genghis says:

      Yes. I believe the general rule is 2 x charge cards and 2 x credit cards at once.

      • Dan says:

        Just in that point – I currently hold a BAPP, Starwood and Gold Credit card at once.

        So perhaps they’re now relaxing this rule?

        • Andrew* says:

          Gold credit or do you mean gold charge?

          • Genghis says:

            There’s a gold charge and a gold credit (but need to have the charge then apply for the credit).

          • Dan says:

            Sorry – should have been clear. I have the gold charge and fold credit (so x3 credit in total)

          • Genghis says:

            I understood. Perhaps as you have the charge they let you have the credit. Who knows…

          • Andrew* says:

            Didn’t know that! Thanks

  • James says:

    OT – I purchased some BA flights on the standard BA AMEX card, then upgraded to the Premium version of the card and had to make changes to my booking which resulted in a partial refund. The refund came in on the premium card and debited 3 avios per pound whereas the original payment only credited 1 avios per pound. Anyone experienced this before?

    About to fire off a mail to AMEX but wanted to check if this is in their T&Cs. Something to be wary of.

    • Rob says:

      It is correct – you can’t expect Amex IT to pick this up. As a goodwill gesture you might get the Avios back though.

  • barnaby100 says:

    Natwest have put a £2000 a day limit on payments to amex cards (debit card payments to pay off the balance) . Makes using amex more challenging as I use it for expenses and pay it off in chunks when they are then paid to me.. Been unable to pay my bill tonight- advised to wait up until midnight and pop another £2k through then! Apparently not just amex but other ‘ credit cards as well.

    • Matthew says:

      Just pay by sending a payment from your online banking account rather than using a debit card. The faster payment usual credits within a few hours max. Think the limit is 10k per day on my account.

      • barnaby100 says:

        need a card reader which isn’t that practical when travelling – another piece of junk to have to carry around- that is my issue today- away all week.

  • Edward says:

    Does anyone know how long the approval process takes? I applied 1.5 weeks ago, was called last Thursday for an identity check and a check whether I was working where I stated that I was working, but have not heard since. Will they communicate the decision by email or by letter?

    • Genghis says:

      They usually respond much sooner than that. By letter. I’d probably chase them to ensure you get the higher sign up bonus.

    • Rob says:

      Annoyingly the first you hear is either the card or a rejection letter hitting the doormat.

    • Simmo says:

      Applied for the Gold card via referral 5 days ago, had the card in my hand yesterday.

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

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