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Got a British Airways American Express card? New spend bonus launched on Monday

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American Express has launched a new spend bonus for British Airways American Express Premium Plus and free British Airways American Express cardholders.

It is surprisingly generous, possibly more generous than it needs to be, which is odd but I’m not complaining – especially as I have a hotel bill to pay this week.

The following has appeared on my British Airways Premium Plus card – click to enlarge.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus spend bonus

It is limited to the first 60,000 people to register.

I get 10,000 bonus Avios for spending £5,000 by 30th November.

This is such a decent deal that it is worth paying the 3% foreign exchange commission to settle my hotel bill bill this week. As long as I cap the amount at £5,000, I will be paying £150 in fees to bank 17,500 Avios in total which is fine by me.

(Obviously it would make more sense to do the spending in the UK and not pay any FX fees. However, as per our other article today, I have a similar offer on my Business Platinum card that will keep me busy until mid November once I get home.)

Looking at reader comments, there do not seem to be alternative versions of this offer. It is either ‘10,000 Avios for spending £5,000’ or nothing if you have Premium Plus.

The free BA Amex offer does have different versions

On the free British Airways American Express there are reports of:

  • ‘1,500 Avios for spending £1,000’
  • ‘2,000 Avios for spending £2,000’

….. and that’s it. There are also quite a few reports of people getting nothing, so don’t get your hopes up.

Remember that you need to opt in to these offers via the ‘Offers’ tab on your BA Amex statement page in the app or Amex website. Spending does not count towards your target until you opt in.

For clarity, spending on supplementary cards does not count. Neither does PayPal spend recharged to your Amex.

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:

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 (183)

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

  • Derrick Ford says:
    23 Aug23 August 18:56

    2000 avios for £2000 on my free card. Haven’t checked the Mrs to see if it’s per card or per account.

  • TopGuy says:
    23 Aug23 August 19:20

    With boost on Amex platinum and now this, Rob now needs to run an article on ways to push money through amex card. I already did 250 with my energy supplier. Can we please have more tips to reach that threshold?

  • Jerry says:
    23 Aug23 August 19:51

    Data point. Upgraded to Premium last Thursday, immediate acceptance by phone. Offer £2000 spend for 2000 avios appeared today, so the wrong offer for the card.

  • Cheshire Pete says:
    23 Aug23 August 20:12

    I’m in a similar position to Rob, I’m due to pay the balance of a cruise in October for $9000 circa £6500. I was considering changing the final payment card to my Clarity to avoid exchange fees. But actually probably best leaving it! And obviously this will also generate my next 241.

  • gordon says:
    24 Aug24 August 06:03

    I Have the 10,000 bonus on my card, Thanks for the heads up rob, As I would have missed that, I don’t check my offers tab on the app

  • ThinkSquare says:
    24 Aug24 August 07:47

    2k for £2k. But also 20% off Wine Flyer. Those will stack nicely.

  • Dave says:
    24 Aug24 August 07:59

    Hmm, wonder if it’s worth me using billhop to pay towards my tax bill at HMRC to help hit this spend…I reckon I’ll be struggling to hit the £5k otherwise..

    • AJA says:
      24 Aug24 August 13:24

      I’m also interested to know if payments via Billhop work. I’m not sure that will work though as the T&Cs specifically state “Offer does not apply to spend on other Cards you might hold and is not valid for transactions made using third party Payment Aggregators”

      • Rob says:
        24 Aug24 August 13:31

        Billhop is not an aggregator. Amex just gets a charge from Billhop, same as any other merchant.

        • AJA says:
          24 Aug24 August 14:13

          Thanks Rob that is good to know. The bonus Avios outweighs the 3% Billhop fee. Very useful as I have a bill in excess of £6k to pay and the supplier doesn’t accept Amex directly so happy to use Billhop for this. Will also generate yet another 2-4-1.

  • SteveR says:
    24 Aug24 August 08:33

    Brilliant. Thanks for the tip off.

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