Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Forums Frequent flyer programs British Airways Executive Club How frequently do introductory bonus points come around?

  • nick777vvv 3 posts

    Hi. I’m new to the forum (and to this website).

    I’ve collected Avios/Air Miles for years but never really paid much attention to proactive earning. I want to change that.

    I see that BA, Amex and Virgin all have their pros and cons but the introductory bonus is what’s enticing. My question (for those diehards that have followed these things for years) is how often do they come around?

    Should I be jumping at the first intro offer I see or should I expect offers to be wheeled out two or three times a year? And do all three companies make various offers most years? And do they typically appear at certain times of the year?

    My thanks for any advice.

    Rob
    HfP Staff
    2,703 posts

    Hi Nick

    Amex tends to run 2 bonuses per year on Gold, Platinum and the two BA cards, plus the Gold / Platinum Business cards.

    The Marriott card gets one per year, Nectar Amex never.

    Barclays – Barclaycard has stopped running additional promos on the Plus card. There was a 10k offer on the free card last year which came out of nowhere.

    Virgin – usually 1-2 offers per year on the paid card, rarer to see anything on the free card

    aq.1988 613 posts

    Nick, you’re probably aware but the Gold and Platinum currently have an enhanced bonus until 14th Jan. I think these offers are the highest they’ve ever been, it’s possible to get 95/100k on Platinum.

    The BAPP has had 2-3 bonuses per year the last couple years, and they’ve been as high as 60-70k. IIRC, there’s been offers in Jan/Feb the last 2 years, which have been not too long after the Gold/Platinum bonuses ended.

    nick777vvv 3 posts

    I’ve jumped in with the Gold Amex for starters. HfP indicated 30k intro points but Amex offered up 38k which was a nice extra bonus.

    One other newbie question if I may:

    Is the common practice to cancel cards once you’ve fulfilled the minimum spend and bagged the bonus? And then wait two years to become eligible for another bonus whilst then doing the same thing with a different card?

    I feel a little spreadsheet coming on so that I can keep track of all this!

    Many thanks.

    runnerbean 121 posts

    @nick777vvv I collected and used Avios for years but only started my spreadsheet maybe a couple of years ago. It’s great for tracking the cost and value of Avios, trigger dates for cards and vouchers, plus storing and sorting HfP links for future reference. I wouldn’t be without it.
    Oh, and it fulfils my teensy OCD tendencies.

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