What are the benefits of the British Airways American Express Premium Plus credit card?
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Why should you get the British Airways American Express Premium Plus credit card?
Today, I want to look at the top 10 card benefits you get if you apply for a British Airways American Express Premium Plus credit card.
You can apply for the card here.
Here is the legal information we need to tell you:
Sign-up bonus and earn rate:
- Get 25,000 Avios when you spend £3,000 within 90 days
- Earn 1.5 Avios per £1 spent
- Earn 3 Avios per £1 spent with British Airways and BA Holidays
Other information:
- Receive a companion voucher, letting you book two flights for the Avios of one, when you spend £15,000 in a card year
- This is reduced to £10,000 until 1st November 2024
- A solo traveller can use it for a 50% discount on the Avios for one ticket
- The voucher is valid in any cabin
- It can be used on British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus
- Annual fee: £300
Representative 139.9% APR variable based on an assumed £1,200 credit limit and £300 annual fee. Interest rate on purchases 31.0% APR variable.
You will receive 25,000 Avios as a sign-up bonus on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card if you spend £3,000 within 90 days of signing up.
To qualify for the bonus, you must not have held the British Airways Premium Plus or the free British Airways American Express cards in the previous 24 months.
You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s British Airways American Express account.
You are OK if, currently or in the previous 24 months, you have held any other American Express card.
For clarity, you can still apply for the British Airways Premium Plus card even if you do not qualify for the bonus. You would still benefit from the companion voucher and all of the other card benefits.
When you spend £15,000 on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card, you receive a companion voucher entitling you to book two Avios redemption flights for the miles of one.
Alternatively, a solo traveller can use the voucher for a 50% reduction on the Avios required for one ticket.
This sum is reduced to £10,000 until 1st November 2024.
This voucher is valid for two years. Full taxes and charges need to be paid on both tickets.
This voucher is the most valuable perk available in the UK airline and hotel credit card sector in my view. It could save you 150,000 or more Avios when used for a long-haul redemption in a premium cabin.
The voucher with the Premium Plus card is far more powerful than the voucher given with the free British Airways American Express card. You need to spend the same £15,000 to receive it. More importantly, the Premium Plus voucher is valid for two years and is valid in ALL cabins. The voucher on the free British Airways American Express card is only valid for one year and can only be used for Economy flights.
You receive your voucher within a few days of reaching the spending target. You need to fly the outbound leg of your 2-4-1 flight before the expiry date of the voucher.
The voucher can be used for flights on British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus.
You need a minimum personal income of £35,000 to apply for the card.
The top 10 benefits of the British Airways Premium Plus American Express card:
1. You receive 25,000 Avios points for signing up
The British Airways American Express Premium Plus credit card comes with a very generous sign-up bonus worth 25,000 Avios.
(If the information box above shows a higher bonus, you will receive this. The box is automatically updated with the best deal available on the date you are reading this.)
You qualify for the bonus as long as you haven’t had either of the British Airways American Express cards in your name (supplementary cards do not count) in the previous 24 months.
You need to spend £3,000 within three months to receive the bonus.
2. You receive 1.5 Avios for every £1 you spend on the card
There are a few exceptions (cash withdrawals do not earn points) but in reality virtually every £1 you spend will earn 1.5 Avios points. This is 50% more Avios than on the free British Airways American Express card.
3. You earn double points (3 Avios per £1) on your spending with British Airways
This includes BA Holidays. You must book via ba.com to receive double Avios.
4. You receive a 2-4-1 voucher for Avios redemptions when you spend £10,000 in a card year
Within 5 days of spending £10,000 in your current card year, a voucher will be deposited in your British Airways Executive Club account allowing you to book two Avios flights for the points of one.
You must pay full taxes and charges on both tickets. Your 2-4-1 flights must be on British Airways, Iberia or Aer Lingus.
You must book AND FLY THE OUTBOUND LEG of your 2-4-1 flight within two years of receiving the voucher.
5. A solo traveller can now use the voucher to travel at a 50% Avios discount
Following recent changes, the annual voucher now has real value for solo travellers as well as couples and families.
Someone travelling on their own can use their 2-4-1 companion voucher to book a flight for one person for a 50% discount on the usual number of Avios. Full taxes and charges must still be paid.
6. You will be offered Avios seats which are not available to other collectors
If you choose to redeem in Business Class, either short haul or long haul, you will be offered a wider range of seats than are offered for standard Avios redemptions.
The technical details are complex, but in simple terms, on days when Business Class seats are being sold cheaply, these seats will also show for Avios redemptions when you search.
This is a unique benefit of 2-4-1 vouchers on the Premium Plus card.
7. There is a low minimum income requirement
You can apply for the card with a minimum personal income of just £35,000. This is low for a premium credit card.
8. You can give your partner a free supplementary card
American Express will let you issue a free supplementary card to someone else, allowing their spending to earn Avios for you and count towards your 2-4-1 voucher.
Obviously you are responsible for paying the charges on the supplementary card, which are added to your monthly statement.
On a regular basis, American Express will offer you 500 bonus Avios for issuing someone with a free supplementary card.
It makes sense NOT to order a supplementary card during your initial application. Wait until Amex offers you an incentive to request one.
9. American Express runs regular generous cashback offers
Once your account is up and running, you will receive generous cashback deals from American Express. These are typically on the lines of ‘Get a £10 statement credit when you spend £50 at Tesco’.
It is relatively easy to save over £100 per year with these offers.
10. Good support – American Express has excellent customer service including a UK call centre, and a well-designed app
You can monitor you balance and make a payment via debit card at any time. The core business of American Express is credit cards, and they know how to run them properly.
Conclusion
The British Airways American Express Premium Plus card is an excellent product, mainly because of the 2-4-1 voucher. You only need to spend £10,000 in a year to trigger the voucher and you have two years to use it.
Throw in the excellent sign-up bonus of 25,000 Avios (worth £250 if used wisely) and the earning rate of 1.5 Avios per £1 spent is good and you have a great package which given an excellent return on your spending.
You can sign up for the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card, or find out more information, on the official website here.
Sign-up bonus and earn rate:
- Get 25,000 Avios when you spend £3,000 within 90 days
- Earn 1.5 Avios per £1 spent
- Earn 3 Avios per £1 spent with British Airways and BA Holidays
Other information:
- Receive a companion voucher, letting you book two flights for the Avios of one, when you spend £15,000 in a card year
- This is reduced to £10,000 until 1st November 2024
- A solo traveller can use it for a 50% discount on the Avios for one ticket
- The voucher is valid in any cabin
- It can be used on British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus
- Annual fee: £300
Representative 139.9% APR variable based on an assumed £1,200 credit limit and £300 annual fee. Interest rate on purchases 31.0% APR variable.
You will receive 25,000 Avios as a sign-up bonus on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card if you spend £3,000 within 90 days of signing up.
To qualify for the bonus, you must not have held the British Airways Premium Plus or the free British Airways American Express cards in the previous 24 months.
You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s British Airways American Express account.
You are OK if, currently or in the previous 24 months, you have held any other American Express card.
For clarity, you can still apply for the British Airways Premium Plus card even if you do not qualify for the bonus. You would still benefit from the companion voucher and all of the other card benefits.
When you spend £15,000 on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card, you receive a companion voucher entitling you to book two Avios redemption flights for the miles of one.
Alternatively, a solo traveller can use the voucher for a 50% reduction on the Avios required for one ticket.
This sum is reduced to £10,000 until 1st November 2024.
This voucher is valid for two years. Full taxes and charges need to be paid on both tickets.
This voucher is the most valuable perk available in the UK airline and hotel credit card sector in my view. It could save you 150,000 or more Avios when used for a long-haul redemption in a premium cabin.
The voucher with the Premium Plus card is far more powerful than the voucher given with the free British Airways American Express card. You need to spend the same £15,000 to receive it. More importantly, the Premium Plus voucher is valid for two years and is valid in ALL cabins. The voucher on the free British Airways American Express card is only valid for one year and can only be used for Economy flights.
You receive your voucher within a few days of reaching the spending target. You need to fly the outbound leg of your 2-4-1 flight before the expiry date of the voucher.
The voucher can be used for flights on British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus.
You need a minimum personal income of £35,000 to apply for the card.
Disclaimer: Head for Points is a journalistic website. Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that any product is right for your circumstances. Recommendations are based primarily on the ability to earn miles and points. The site discusses products offered by lenders but is not a lender itself. Robert Burgess, trading as Head for Points, is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as an independent credit broker.
