Why is the Amex deal to award British Airways Club tier points still a secret?
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When details of the new British Airways Club were quietly slipped out on 30th December, one small upside was the promised opportunity to earn up to 2,500 tier points per year via the British Airways Premium Plus American Express card.
We were told that “More details of this offer will be announced closer to the launch date.”
With 10 days to go, BA is cutting it fine.
Why is the announcement delayed?
The word on the street is that British Airways expects to be paid by American Express whenever tier points are earned from the Premium Plus American Express card.
If this is true (and it may not be!) you can see why American Express may not be keen, at least under certain scenarios.
Taking a blank sheet of paper, you can imagine a structure that awarded 1 tier point for every £10 spent on the British Airways Premium Plus American Express card. You would need to spend £25,000 to earn the full 2,500 tier points.
However, you are ALREADY incentivised to spend £15,000 on your Premium Plus card to trigger the 2-4-1 companion voucher. Why should American Express pay for tier points to incentivise you further to spend the first £15,000?
If I was American Express, I would want to award 1 tier point for every £10 spent AFTER the companion voucher was triggered. This would require £40,000 of spend to trigger the full 2,500 tier points.
The issues here are clear though:
- many people cannot spend £40,000 per year on an American Express card
- those who can will often spend £15,000 on their Premium Plus card and then swap to other American Express products – and these are likely to be more profitable for Amex than the British Airways card
There is also a more fundamental issue.
Many BA Amex cardholders spend £14,999 on their card and put it in a drawer. It doesn’t make sense to trigger the companion voucher early because you start the two year clock on having to use it.
There is a very simple way of solving this problem which we outlined here. The voucher should be changed to be valid for two years FROM THE END OF YOUR MEMBERSHIP YEAR. This means that you don’t need to stop spending as the £15,000 target approaches.
Anyone who puts their card away when they hit £14,999 of spending will be in a dilemma if they want to earn tier points. Cardholders will need to choose between triggering their voucher early or not maximising their tier point earning.
There is a potential third way
What British Airways and American Express should have considered was allowing cardholders to choose between Avios and tier points.
This would be an elegant solution to a number of problems.
Let’s assume that American Express paid BA the same amount per £1 spent irrespective of whether you took Avios or tier points.
Some British Airways Club members are motivated by Avios. Others are motivated by status. Allowing people to choose which is most important to them – by selecting tier points or Avios – would allow each member to maximise the benefit they value most.
The companion voucher could still be awarded at £15,000 of spending irrespective of the option chosen.
With my accountant hat on, there would be a big upside for BA if it did this. Unused Avios sit on the IAG balance sheet as a liability. If a member chooses tier points instead of Avios, the money paid by Amex would be booked as revenue with no need for any corresponding liability.
Why are tier points being capped at 2,500 per year?
When American Airlines moved to its new model a couple of years ago, the number of status-earning points you could earn from card spend was uncapped.
You can earn American Airlines elite status purely from credit card spend.
If someone wants to put £250,000 per year through their Premium Plus American Express card to earn BA Gold status, why shouldn’t they? With HMRC now accepting Amex if you use an intermediary (article to follow, including a HfP sign-up offer) it is easier than ever to put substantial spend through your card.
‘Real’ Gold members may complain if this was allowed – but this would arguably be hypocritical given that, from 2026, 95% (a guess) of Gold members will have got it by spending their employer’s money, not their own.
BA should ignore the moans. Elite members who don’t fly much cost very little to service. They aren’t visiting many lounges. They aren’t getting many additional suitcases checked in for free. They aren’t saving much on seat selection fees, especially if they refused to pay in the first place. Flatter the ego of people who are willing to trade Avios for tier points despite not flying much and bank the American Express cash!
The oneworld alliance membership agreement sets restrictions on the number of tier points that an airline can award from non-flying activity.
However, my understanding is that this is based on the total number of tier points issued. It isn’t capped by member account, so there is no reason why some members cannot earn all of their tier points from non-flying activity – as long as everyone doesn’t do it!
Qatar Airways has followed American and allows unlimited tier point earning from its US credit cards. Finnair allows members to convert Avios to cover 50% of the tier points needed to earn or retain status.
What is intriguing is that, on the US version of the new British Airways Club website, there is no published cap on the number of tier points that can be earned from credit cards.
ba.com in the US says:
In 2025, Members who hold selected credit cards will have the opportunity to earn even more Tier Points by spending on their card. More details coming soon.
It is possible that BA will allow US members of British Airways Club to earn unlimited tier points from card spend, in order to compete with cards from American Airlines and Qatar Airways. Shouldn’t UK members be given the same deal?
Conclusion
With just 10 days to go, there is still no clarity on how you will be able to earn tier points from British Airways Premium Plus American Express cards.
Given that people have been booking flights on the assumption that they will be able to earn 2,500 tier points from American Express, it is unfair that this information has not been released.
Whatever the deal eventually looks like, it is likely to be sub-optimal compared to the structure we propose above.
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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)
As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous 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 Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review
There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review
British Airways American Express
5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review
You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review
Run your own business?
We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.
Capital on Tap Visa
NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review
Capital on Tap Pro Visa
10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review
There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:
British Airways American Express Accelerating Business
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.
American Express Business Platinum
50,000 points when you sign-up 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
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.
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