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

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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.

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: reprsentative 28.1% APR variable

British Airways Premium Plus American Express: representative 107.7% APR variable including the annual fee based on a notional £1200 credit card, representative 28.1% APR variable on purchases

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? – March 2023 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Successfully apply for either of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards by 2nd April 2023 and you will be entered into a free draw to win ONE MILLION AVIOS! Full details are on the application forms here (free) and here (paid). This competition is exclusive to Head for Points readers. T&C apply.

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

25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher for spending £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher for spending £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

30,000 points and unbeatable travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 points bonus 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:

Until 30th March 2023, the sign up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to 120,000 Membership Rewards points – click here. The bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to 60,000 Membership Rewards points – click here. T&C apply, see the application forms for details.

American Express Business Platinum

Crazy 120,000 points bonus (to 30th March) and a £200 Amex Travel credit every year Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

60,000 points sign-up bonus (to 30th March) and free for a year Read our full review

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

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers 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 credit card

1% cashback (3% for 3 months if you apply by 31st March) and no annual fee Read our full review

Comments (567)

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

  • C says:

    Is there bonus points for adding the first supplementary cardholder?

    • Rob says:

      Yes, always is with Amex IF you do NOT do it at the time of application but do it later.

    • robato says:

      Added my wife after I activated my card. Got 3000 Avios instantly in my AMEX account.

  • Geoff says:

    My wife is a supplementary card holder on an American Express card we have had for some years but her application has been declined because of her low income.

  • Vale says:

    Applied (and got approved immediately) on 17 January, had an email saying the card was on its way on 18 January, and the card arrived fuss-free in a letter envelope on 19 January (didn’t need to be home to receive it).

    So far very pleased. When I log on via desktop I can see bonus trackers for both the 70,000 avios and the companion voucher.

  • Mutley says:

    I don’t know whether this has been asked.

    Currently referring a friend for the BAPP gets one 12000 Avios and the recipient 35000, if I refer today will the recipient get the current 70000 Avios on offer?

  • Jordy says:

    Mother in Law is prepared to help our avios levels and will apply. She has no BA account, so what the best way for her to share / gift the avios with / to us ? Make her BA member in house hold account (lives by herself) or family and friends ?

  • Corina says:

    Is this this live? This card seems to have a 35000 sign up points bonus now. I hope I haven’t missed it

    • Rob says:

      No it doesn’t! The link in the article takes you to the 70k offer. You can’t get it via the Amex website (without a special link).

  • Omar says:

    Ok so I am a complete rookie to this so bear with me.

    1. We will always travel as a family (2 adults and 3 kids). Can I still use the companion voucher for one other person in this scenario? Or does it have to be a booking of 2 people?
    2. If I apply for this card to get the 70k bonus, is it better for my wife to apply separately (i.e. get her own 70k points) or me to add her a supplementary card holder?
    3. Can we pool our Avios points
    4. Any other tips/tricks on maximising Avios points given I have no other credit cards apart from a crappy NatWest one that I never use. I have an Avios account with minimal points already.

    • Omar says:

      Sorry just to add. If I wanted to apply and get 70k points and my wife applied separately and got 70k points – can we pool via a household account. If so, do I need to set this up prior to applying or can we do it after?

  • STan says:

    If I am referred by my husband for the Premium Plus card and apply after he’s referred, will I get 70k Avios and he gets 9K Avios? If not, what bonus will I get?

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

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