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BA Amex voucher spend rises to £15,000 in three weeks – what can you do?

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Back in April, American Express announced some unwelcome changes to the two British Airways American Express credit cards.

The first change, increasing the fee for the Premium Plus card to £300, is already in place. You will be charged £300 at your next renewal.

The second part kicks in from 1st November. The annual spend required to receive a 2-4-1 companion voucher will increase to £15,000. This applies to both cards.

BA Amex fee AND voucher qualifying spend to rise sharply

Let’s be clear about something

Based on my inbox, some people are not clear about whether the increase applies to them straight away.

It does.

EVERYONE will see their voucher target spend increase to £15,000 on 1st November.

It doesn’t matter if you are only part way through your card year. If you don’t hit your existing target of £10,000 (Premium Plus) or £12,000 (free card) by 31st October, you will need to spend £15,000 instead.

Here’s an example. Let’s assume that you have the Premium Plus card and that your card year runs to 1st February. You will need to either:

  • spend £10,000 by 31 October 2024, or
  • spend £15,000 by 31 January 2025

…. to earn your next voucher. From 1st February 2025, when your card year renews, you will need to spend £15,000.

As a reminder, this is how the companion vouchers currently work:

  • the free British Airways American Express card awards a 2-4-1 companion voucher when you spend £12,000 in your membership year. The voucher is valid for one year for an Economy flight redemption on British Airways, Aer Lingus or Iberia.

Whilst we refer to them as ‘2-4-1’ vouchers for Avios redemptions, a solo traveller can use a voucher for a 50% Avios discount on one ticket.

BA Amex fee AND voucher qualifying spend to rise sharply

What should you do if you can’t spend £15,000 per year?

We’ll look at this again in separate articles over the weekend.

Fundamentally:

  • there is absolutely no value in having the Premium Plus card (beyond the first year and the big sign-up bonus) if you can’t spend £15,000 to earn the voucher. This isn’t up for discussion.

How can you bring forward spend by 31st October?

There are a number of things you can do to increase your spending over the next three weeks if you are close to your target. Here are a few ideas:

  • you can stockpile gift cards for your regular supermarket or garage, or build up some credit in your Amazon or Uber accounts. I wouldn’t usually suggest this, but if you are doing it with a retailer where you are 100% certain you will work through the credit quickly it can work.
  • you can use PayPoint in most Co-Op stores to pay your council tax or utility bills. Co-Op is the only national retailer which usually accepts American Express for PayPoint payments, although it will depend on which Co-Op grouping runs the stores in your area. It is usually fine to pre-pay the rest of your council tax for the current financial year to 31st March 2025.
  • remember that, if shopping at an online retailer that accepts PayPal but not American Express, it is often possible to use Amex via PayPal instead

What you shouldn’t do, of course, is buy something that you are not totally certain you need just to ensure you hit your spend target. The tail shouldn’t wag the dog.

If you want to know more about the cards, 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.

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Category

British Airways American Express, British Airways and Avios

Comments (149)

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

  • James says:
    11 Oct11 October 11:06

    Probably a daft question – is the voucher issued very shortly after you hit the spend target? I’m about £1000 shy but wanted to hit the target, get the voucher AND cancel the card whilst pro-rata are still a thing.

    • Rob says:
      11 Oct11 October 11:27

      Voucher will arrive within 24-72 hours of hitting the target. The email confirmation may take 1-2 weeks but the voucher should be showing quickly.

    • Lumma says:
      11 Oct11 October 12:00

      My first voucher took a long time to be issued, I had to chase it up several times with Amex and BA. Subsequent vouchers arrived very quickly

  • Liz says:
    11 Oct11 October 11:32

    So I am very lucky that my spend period ends 30 October but I am trying to make sure my voucher works for Oct half term in 2025. Is it risky to spend the last £10 to trigger on 30 Oct itself, what window is safe? TIA

    • janed9388 says:
      11 Oct11 October 12:15

      I made a payment Wednesday, voucher in today

    • ALISON says:
      11 Oct11 October 13:19

      Liz, you only need the validity period of your 241 voucher to cover the outward bound date of your avios booking, not the whole trip.

  • rk says:
    11 Oct11 October 11:50

    Hi Liz, personally I would allow 1 week before 30th Oct, usually the spend hits within 2-3 days, but do you want to miss a 2-4-1 voucher because you are trying to time to perfection?

    • Liz says:
      11 Oct11 October 12:56

      Thanks for the tip! I have to catch half term otherwise the voucher is useless for me. However to be prudent I will aim for 27th. Thanks all!

  • will says:
    11 Oct11 October 14:34

    I got my voucher and booked flights next year to asia with it. I paid the fees on the BA amex. Any issues of cancelling card now for pro rataed refund ?

  • Erico1875 says:
    11 Oct11 October 15:10

    Ironically, I might spend £5K on Etihad flights to get the voucher B4 1st Nov.
    Annoyingly I have “get 15K MR Points for £800 spend on my Gold card

    • ALISON says:
      11 Oct11 October 16:18

      looking on the bright side… at least this ‘deadline’ is falling now rather than in February after all the usual post-festive bills have arrived.

  • Alex G says:
    11 Oct11 October 17:35

    My account year ends at the end of February, and I accidentally triggered the voucher a couple of months ago. I normally put my BAPP in a drawer when I know I’m reaching the £10k threshold.

    I’ve been toying with the idea of getting rid of my BAPP card, as the voucher is getting difficult to use. I hadn’t thought about upgrading my Barclaycard, but from reading comments upthread it might be the way forward. If I spend £15k on my BAPP, I get 22,500 Avios, and a voucher which I may never get to use (I’ve already got two sitting in my account). If I upgrade my Barclaycard, I can get 29,500 Avios, no voucher, and save £60. I could use that £60 to buy another 6000 Avios, so an extra 13000 Avios to spend with Finnair.

    My reluctance to give up my BAPP is

    (1) I am retired, and although my personal income is >£35k, I am concerned that I might not be offered the BAPP in future.

    (2) I’ve been refused the Gold Card the last couple of times I’ve applied for it. (I’ve got a long term balance of £4.5k on an interest free balance transfer card with NatWest. I’ve also had the Gold Card three times in the past and cancelled after a year.)

    • Polly says:
      11 Oct11 October 18:48

      Same reason we are keeping my BAPP, as retirement income could vary. And might not be given it again, if l cancel. For now keeping it, oh keeping the bonvoy.. l have the biz gold too, so juggling spend atm.. BAPP in drawer til spring. Year ends in June.

  • Alex G says:
    11 Oct11 October 17:39

    Another timing issue. I will be booking hotels soon for March/April. I often cancel and rebook nearer the time when prices drop. If I use my BAPP, and cancel and rebook after February (when my year ends), it will make it harder to spend £15k next year, as the savings from cancelling and rebooking would effectively be added to my £15k target. Think I will use my ARCC for any hotel bookings, and cancel and rebook with my BAPP if I still hold it next year. Presumably, Amex would be happy to move the credit balance from ARCC to BAPP.

  • Steve R says:
    11 Oct11 October 17:39

    Might of already been mentioned I got my BAPP in May knowing full well I would hit the 10k

    Did that in August, got the voucher, not happily sitting in my BAEC a/c. plus 75k in Avios (60 as the sign up bonus & 15 for the 10k spend)

    Cancelled BAPP for free one & got £208 back – simples

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

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