Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Get bonus Avios on all BA Amex spend until 27th December

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

American Express is currently running a special offer for all British Airways American Express cardholders.

You may have been emailed about this last week, but if you have opted out of email marketing you won’t have seen it.  The offer is automatic (Amex has confirmed to me that all cardholders are eligible) and does not require registration.

You will earn 1 bonus Avios for every £4 you spend on your BA or BAPP (or indeed BAP if you’re an old timer) American Express card until 27th December.

The bonus is ‘per transaction’ and you receive one bonus Avios for every full £4 spent.  A £7.99 purchase would earn one bonus Avios, for example, whilst a £12 purchase would earn three.

The official terms and conditions for the deal are very badly written and imply that you get one bonus Avios per transaction of £4+.  I have spoken to Amex and they have confirmed that it is one bonus Avios per multiple of £4, as in my example above.

The offer is valid for both UK and overseas spend.

For British Airways Premium Plus cardholders, this bonus takes the effective rate – at least on larger transactions where the impact of rounding down is negligible – to 1.75 Avios per £1 spent.  This is highest earning rate on any UK travel rewards credit card, at least for the next 17 days.

If you applied for a card today it should arrive before Christmas, allowing you to get the bonus over the first couple of days of the sales.

The free British Airways American Express card comes with a sign-up bonus of 5,000 Avios (apply here, full BA Amex review here) whilst the Premium Plus card comes with a sign-up bonus of 25,000 Avios (apply here, full BA Premium Plus Amex review here).

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

earns points from credit cards

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2025 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 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

Get 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 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:

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up 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 Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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

Category

British Airways American Express, British Airways and Avios

Comments (126)

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

  • Barry says:
    10 Dec10 December 12:15

    O/T
    I downgraded my BAPP last May after receiving the 241 voucher. I’ve been using the free card since then and have a counter online saying “spend xxx by January 2020 to receive your Companion Voucher”. Is this right? Can I earn a second voucher in the same membership year but on different cards?

  • Waddle says:
    10 Dec10 December 13:18

    OT:
    Out of interest, what price are people willing to pay for MS opportunities on Amex cards? Before Curve fell out with Amex, 0.65% was offered – effectively 0.65p per MR point or 0.43p per Avois on the BAPP.

    • The Urbanite says:
      10 Dec10 December 16:59

      0.35% max for me but I favour cost neutral or profit generating MS routes.

      • Rob says:
        10 Dec10 December 17:08

        I think, if it requires any noticeable effort, anything before 0.5% is too much.

  • pauldb says:
    10 Dec10 December 13:40

    OT, may have got picked up yesterday:

    BA have upped Ljubljana to 4x per week for next summer. I believe the timings are a lot better too (previously back to LHR really late I think, no 8/9pm). Plenty of avios seats in the first flush.

    • Shoestring says:
      10 Dec10 December 13:41

      judging by my BA emails today there’s a fair bit of shuffling going on in Europe

    • pauldb says:
      10 Dec10 December 13:51

      It also seems to have been shifted to T3 (will please some). Palermo seems to have gone the other way to T5 with early May services withdrawn.

      Cash may trump avios: as little as £80 return in August.

  • Liz says:
    10 Dec10 December 13:52

    Just redeemed one of my supermarket offers at M&S. Got some jumpers which were already reduced, sparks card had a 20% off birthday bonus as it’s my birthday later in the week, and then a further £10 off! I do like a good deal! Up to 38 out of 70 small shops completed so far.

  • Andrew g says:
    10 Dec10 December 14:13

    Do flights booked via Amex Travel (Platinum) earn Avios/Miles/Tier Points?

    • Shoestring says:
      10 Dec10 December 14:22

      yes

      one to watch is the fare class they book you into, as some fare classes earn more than others and not all fare classes can be upgraded with Avios

      I can’t see much point vs going direct (except if there’s £200 off £600 etc) – they also work on T-330 vs T-365 for BA

      • Andrew g says:
        10 Dec10 December 14:33

        Thanks. Playing around with AA/BA flights to/from and within Texas, and at the moment Amex coming out a bit cheaper than both the airlines own sites plus BA site struggling with a two leg internal flight (ELP to SAT) though it will accept the journey being booked as two separate legs.

    • Rob says:
      10 Dec10 December 16:01

      Yes. Flights always earn irrespective of where booked. It is only hotels where you need to be careful.

  • Gringo says:
    10 Dec10 December 14:39

    If I’m Hilton Gold and book 2 rooms, does everyone in the booking get free breakfast?

    • Gringo says:
      10 Dec10 December 15:01

      (and lounge access?)

    • Algor says:
      10 Dec10 December 15:59

      No

      • Rob says:
        10 Dec10 December 16:00

        In theory. In practice, probably yes (says a man who usually books 2 rooms because of his kids).

        Technically if the rooms are connecting they are one room anyway! If the 2nd room is not occupied by your kids you may have a harder time.

        No lounge access for anyone as Hilton Gold!

        • Gringo says:
          10 Dec10 December 16:24

          I’m sure Hilton Gold used to include lounge access. I definitely used it in Joburg

          • Pangolin says:
            10 Dec10 December 17:57

            You get lounge access with Gold if you get upgraded to an Executive Room. It’s only automatic for Diamonds.

        • Gringo says:
          10 Dec10 December 16:34

          Thanks Rob. So at least my other half would be included I imagine? (she’ll be sharing a room with me for her sins)

  • Craig says:
    10 Dec10 December 15:52

    Also worked for £2.50 off flowers for my Mum’s birthday and when Mrs S ordered some coffee pods for me to take to work.

  • Shoestring says:
    10 Dec10 December 17:16

    O/T a day ago I went for the Amazon buy £50 of giftcards get £6 Amazon credit offer – big ad on my Amz homepage & I passed eligibility check – was somewhat sceptical I’d get it as you’re not supposed to have used it in the last 36 months & I definitely did!

    Well: I just got an email confirming my £6 credit, use by date end of March

    • Secret Squirrel says:
      11 Dec11 December 08:46

      Tip:
      If the Amazon credit does not materialise and it did not state your excluded from the promo, just contact CS & they will credit your account.

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Get 25,000 Avios with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

GET A SIGN-UP BONUS OF 18,000 VIRGIN POINTS!

Latest Forum Posts

Get 80,000 bonus points (worth 80,000 Avios) and £400 of dining credit with The Platinum Card (Offer ends 27th May)

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get up to 10,000 bonus Hilton Honors points

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? GET THE ONLY FREE SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT CARD WHICH CAN EARN AVIOS

Get points worth 30,000 Avios with 'first year free' American Express Gold (ends 27th May)

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!