A positive suggestion for improving the British Airways American Express cards

Over the last 18 months, British Airways and American Express have done a lot of fiddling with the two British Airways American Express credit cards.

You can see the current features in our British Airways Premium Plus American Express review here and our free British Airways American Express review here.

On the whole, this has been positive – in particular the ability to open up additional reward availability in Club World for British Airways redemptions when using a companion voucher. Adding Aer Lingus and Iberia to the 241 was handy for some, as is letting solo travellers fly for half Avios.

There is one change that I still feel is overdue, however.

Both my wife and I have our own Premium Plus cards, meaning we generate 2 x 241 companion vouchers each year. Because we have two children, this works well as it covers a family holiday.

Whilst the renewal dates on the two cards differ by three months, we try to time our spend so that we trigger the vouchers at roughly the same time.

This year we have got a little carried away. Whilst the membership year on my own card only started a few weeks ago, due to some spending on our home I am almost at the £10,000 cap to trigger my voucher.

Due to a trip to Scotland over New Year, amongst other things, my wife is also nearly at her £10,000 cap after three months.

But we don’t want to trigger our vouchers now ….

Here’s the snag. I have no interest in triggering our vouchers now.

We already have two unused vouchers, probably for October 2023 half term use.

We only really have two opportunities in the year for long haul holidays, which are over Easter and over October half term. With GCSEs looming next year, I don’t see us doing much next Easter so my next set of vouchers is likely to be used in October 2024. It could be even later, given that I have a lot of Lufthansa miles and Virgin Points to use too.

What this means is …. our two British Airways American Express Premium Plus cards are now going to go into a drawer. I will probably dig them out in November and put through the last few hundred pounds on each to trigger our next vouchers, which will allow us to use them as late as half term in October 2025 if necessary.

Where is the value in this for British Airways and American Express? I will now be moving our family spending to other cards, even though I would be perfectly happy to keep picking up 1.5 Avios per £1 on my Premium Plus card.

There seems to be a very simple answer to this problem

Your 2-4-1 Premium Plus companion voucher should be valid for the rest of your current Amex membership year plus two years.

At the moment it is valid for two years from the date of issue. I believe it should be for the rest of your current card year PLUS TWO YEARS. The expiry date should not be impacted by when you trigger the voucher.

If this rule was currently in place, I would happily keep spending on my Premium Plus card. Because it isn’t, I won’t.

I don’t see who loses under my proposed scenario. Cardholders don’t have to mess around juggling their spend to ensure they trigger their voucher to maximise its life. American Express and British Airways profit from additional card spend. Let’s get it done!

---

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:

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.

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.

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.