Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Astonishing 70,000 Avios sign-up bonus for the British Airways Premium Plus American Express!

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UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly directory of the top UK travel credit card offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Credit Cards’ menu above.  Thank you.

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.

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I’ve never seen anything like it. British Airways has just launched an exclusive 70,000 Avios sign-up bonus for the British Airways Premium Plus American Express card.

This is, frankly, shocking. I’ve never seen anything like it in all these years.

Just as surprising is a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Avios on the free British Airways American Express card.

You can learn more about the cards in our British Airways Premium Plus American Express review here and our free British Airways American Express review here.

70,000 Avios British Airways Premium Plus American Express card

Here is the legally required interest rate information on the two cards:

British Airways American Express:

The representative APR is 31.0% variable.

British Airways Premium Plus American Express:

The representative APR is 139.9% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 31.0% variable.

Yesterday we wrote about a new ‘open to all’ bonus of 35,000 Avios for the British Airways Premium Plus card. There was no special bonus launched on the free card.

I need to stress that we were not told in advance about this (far) better ba.com exclusive deal. American Express had provided us with details of the 35,000 Avios offer but nothing else. There was even a formal press release circulated to the media on the 35,000 Avios deal on Tuesday evening. No-one bothered to mention that a much better offer was available.

Full details are on this page on the BA website. You must be logged in to see it.

This is what the BA website shows when logged in. You can see this under ‘Avios credit cards’ on the home page:

Get a limited time 70,000 Avios sign-up bonus!

For British Airways Premium Plus, if you sign up by 21st February, you can earn a sign-up bonus of 70,000 Avios when you spend £3,000 in the first three months.

I cannot stress how crazy this offer is. If ANY member of your family qualifies for this bonus, I would persuade them to jump in.

What is even more impressive is that the spending requirement is unchanged. You only need to spend the usual £3,000.

What are 70,000 Avios worth?

This is our main article on what Avios points are worth. We generally say that you should expect at least 1p when used for premium cabin flights.

However, even in the worst possible scenario – that you convert to Nectar points and spend them in Sainsburys, at Argos or at eBay.co.uk – your 70,000 Avios are worth £467 of Nectar credit. Not bad for a sign-up bonus …..

20,000 avios free british airways american express credit card

Do you qualify for the 70,000 Avios bonus?

Remember that you are only eligible for the sign-up bonus on the Premium Plus card if you have NOT held a British Airways American Express (free or Premium Plus) card in the past 24 months.

You ARE eligible if you currently or have held The Platinum Card, Preferred Rewards Gold card, Green card, Nectar card, Platinum Cashback cards, Marriott Bonvoy card, American Express Rewards Credit Card, Business Platinum or Business Gold cards.

You ARE eligible if you are currently a supplementary cardholder on a British Airways American Express card held by someone else, but have not held a card in your own name in the past 24 months.

The bottom line is that if you haven’t had either of the British Airways American Express cards in the past 24 months, you will qualify for the 70,000 Avios.

What about the free British Airways American Express card?

Clearly 20,000 Avios on the free card – requiring a spend of £1,000 in three months – is also exceptional.

However, with a 70,000 Avios bonus on the table with the Premium Plus card, I don’t see why you would want to bother with the free card unless the £3,000 spend target is a problem.

Note that the rules for getting the bonus on the free card are tougher than on the British Airways Premium Plus American Express. The rule is that you cannot have had ANY personal American Express cards in the past 24 months.

The Premium Plus card has far looser rules – you only need to have gone 24 months without any British Airways American Express card.

Conclusion

I have no idea why British Airways has decided to offer such a ludicrously generous offer but only tell people about it via its own website.

The offer runs to 21st February. I strongly recommend you jump in if you can.

The application page is on the BA website here.

If you want to know, we did an article on the core benefits of the British Airways Premium Plus American Express card here. If you don’t want to pay an annual fee, a similar article on the benefits of the free British Airways American Express card is here.

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

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:

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, British Airways and Avios

Comments (567)

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

  • kmrhi says:
    12 Jan12 January 05:20

    I signed up with the 35K offer before I saw this, is there any chance that I can change to this one?

    • Rob says:
      12 Jan12 January 06:57

      Call Amex.

      • kmrhi says:
        12 Jan12 January 09:40

        Called Amex and they said I would only get the 35K bonus. My application is being manually reviewed so I still don’t have a decision. They also would not give me an answer if they would honour the 70K bonus if I cancel the application and apply again through BA.

  • BJ says:
    12 Jan12 January 05:55

    The 24 month fallow strategy never looked like a winner until this past year. Anybody taking one though 2020 and 2021 has hit the jackpot. For some though the platinum retention game will have sweetened the blow.

  • Martin says:
    12 Jan12 January 06:12

    Wow! This is just what I needed thank you. I think you’ve made it very clear, but just to confirm my wife is eligible if she’s had a preferred Rewards Gold card in last 2 years and is a supplementry card holder on my account? Just double checking before I grab one under her name.

  • Charles says:
    12 Jan12 January 06:17

    Is it likely that if I have an 18 year old on my BA household account and no credit history really that they would be turned down for the card because of no credit rating?

    • Matt says:
      12 Jan12 January 06:25

      Unfortunately yes, low income also likely to be an issue.

    • Tony says:
      12 Jan12 January 06:25

      You could try doing an eligibility check on Amex’s site to see the chances of approval without going through the full application process. It allows you to select the card type you are interested in.

    • BJ says:
      12 Jan12 January 06:48

      There have been reports of students abd ubwaged homemakers successfully applying for amex cards. However IIRC there was once a minimum
      £20,000pa income required for BAPP which might or not still apply. Based on comments here I’ve got the impression amex has tightened up on approvals over the past year which would reduce chances. Personally I’d sign your 18yo up as an additional cardholder on your account. Have them use it widely and regularly for at least 6 months, then have them apply for a future generous offer. In doing so be reasonable about their income and source, and be able to prove it (unlikely) if required so set up allowances and save statements in the meantime.

      • Rob says:
        12 Jan12 January 06:54

        No income requirement. It is all about affordability – 18 year old earning £15k living with parents for free is a better bet than someone on £40k with 2 kids and a remortgage looming.

        • lumma says:
          12 Jan12 January 07:05

          I got my first AMEX as a 24 year old student on a placement year the project (RED) AMEX, which I only applied for because it looked cool. Still have it today buts it’s rarely used, but it does sometimes get some exclusive offers that aren’t on any other of my cards (usually the AMEX travel ones).

          I’ve wondered since they’ve changed the sign-up bonus rules if I would need to get rid of it to qualify. It doesn’t earn any points/cash that I can use personally but it does pay 1p per £ to the global AIDS fund.

          I’ve wondered t

        • BJ says:
          12 Jan12 January 11:49

          Noted, good points, thanks.

    • The Streets says:
      12 Jan12 January 07:00

      I took out my first Amex card when I was 18… still have it over 20 years later!

    • Ben says:
      12 Jan12 January 08:39

      I applied for the card as a student and got a £1200 limit

    • lambshank13 says:
      12 Jan12 January 15:17

      I’m a student and have multiple Amex cards. Got the first one at 18. I know quite a few friends have done the same.

  • Thywillbedone says:
    12 Jan12 January 06:26

    With the 24 month hiatus requirement and referrals blocked for many, I wonder what the uptake on this will be like?

    • The Streets says:
      12 Jan12 January 06:38

      Aren’t referrals blocked full stop for this offer? Depends how much I like a person as to whether I tell them about this offer or to get 36,000 avios and i get 18,000 from my Platinum

    • The Streets says:
      12 Jan12 January 06:40

      Oh you mean people can’t refer in general

  • Linda P says:
    12 Jan12 January 06:27

    I was thinking of referring my OH for the BAPP card as I have reached the spending target for this year already.
    He unfortunately had a basic BA card over a year ago so cannot qualify for the spend bonus, but it has upped my referral bonus to 12,000.
    When does the 250 annual fee become payable is at the end of the first billing period? I have to factor this in as we are pensioners and all money is accounted for.Many thanks for any replies.

    • Rob says:
      12 Jan12 January 06:56

      Cannot refer on this. Fee added to first statement, refunded pro rata if cancelled.

  • Kes says:
    12 Jan12 January 06:28

    Too good too bee true, Amex isn’t offering it, sorry..

  • John says:
    12 Jan12 January 06:37

    The article states that applicants will be eligible if they hold a platinum card but section one of the terms states that applicants will not be eligible for the bonus if they have held any personal amex, it doesnt just exclude BA cardholders?

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