Why some people are missing their 15,000 Avios BA Amex loyalty bonus

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I wrote earlier last week about the generous bonus of 15,000 Avios points which British Airways has awarded to anyone who has held a British Airways American Express card since it launched in 2001.

Well, not quite ‘anyone’.

I have had a few emails from people who have held the card since 2001 and have not received the bonus.

BA Premium Plus American Express card BAPP

Almost all of these people have one thing in common:

At some point between 2001 and today, they upgraded from the free BA Amex to the Premium Plus card.

So, the situation is:

If you have had the free card for 15 years, and are actively using it, you got 15,000 Avios

If you have had the Premium Plus card for 15 years, and are actively using it, you got 15,000 Avios

If you upgraded or downgraded from one card to the other during the past 15 year, you did NOT got a bonus

I genuinely do not believe that British Airways intended this to happen. They will have asked Amex for a list of everyone who has held a card continuously since 2001 and this will have excluded people who upgraded or downgraded during that time.

Plenty of Avios, Amex and BA employees will read this, so hopefully they can take another look and issue the bonus to those people who do deserve it but have been tripped up on a technicality.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus.

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee 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.

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits 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

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company 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 and no annual fee Read our full review

Category

British Airways American Express

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

NFH says:

21 Nov21 November 14:59

I have the Premium Plus card with no annual fee because I also have a Platinum Card. I started spending on the Premium Plus card in February 2001 and have used it every month since then. I didn’t receive the 15,000 Avios. Yesterday I phoned Amex, who knew about this but said I needed to speak to BA. When I phoned the Executive Club today, I got through to someone who knew nothing about this. She consulted senior colleague. She then asked if I had switched between card types (I hadn’t) and whether I had read about this on Head for Points! She said she would send a request to their back office to get the points credited.
Kevin says:

21 Nov21 November 16:32

I too haven’t received the 15,000 Avios bonus, despite having my card since Feb 2001. I spoke with Amex and BA, neither of whom seemed to know anything about the bonus! However, BA said it would investigate and get back to me within 7 to 10 days.
Canuck says:

21 Nov21 November 16:37

I’m not sure why companies offer these bonuses. There’s always a group of people who don’t get their share and then vent their “furious” reactions like this. Companies are going to be less inclined to give out freebies in future to avoid the hassle.
Jeff says:

21 Nov21 November 17:19

I have had the Premium Plus card since 2001 and it has always been very active, but I received no loyalty bonus. Called Amex who told me to call BA as it was their promotion (it was the second call the agent had received today on this subject!). BA Exec Club say they know nothing about it and to call Amex as they are the card issuer!!
- Rob says:
  
  21 Nov21 November 18:44
  
  All of the BA call centre agents have been briefed on this.
Kevin says:

21 Nov21 November 18:05

Rob – given that this seems to be a complete mess by BA and/or Amex, is there anything in writing that you are able to post that we can use to “prompt” BA/Amex if the 15,000 Avios fails to appear please?
- Rob says:
  
  21 Nov21 November 18:43
  
  No 🙂
Doug M says:

21 Nov21 November 23:04

OT. Does anyone know if you book a BA flight through Avios using the Lloyds upgrade voucher does that count as BA spend by Amex?
- Lev441 says:
  
  21 Nov21 November 23:28
  
  Nope as it is an avios booking and not a BA booking…
- Doug M says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 14:56
  
  Do experiences booked with BA work as spend for the offer with Amex?
Wyvern says:

21 Nov21 November 23:30

Have Premium Plus continuously since 2001 and no bonus. Only change was a change to the account number halfway thorough this period due to having to have a 9th replacement card in between the regular replacement ones.
- Chris Rasteiro says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 07:37
  
  That’s not a valid reason. I’ve had many replacement cards (ice scraping windscreens 🙂 ) and received the bonus.
Rich says:

22 Nov22 November 08:31

Rob I’m not sure this is 100% correct – I had the free card for c. 5 years and took out the premium plus card about 10 years ago and got the 15k points. And judging by some of the other comments it seems those who have so far missed out are victims of something quite random!
- Rob says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 12:10
  
  It is not the full story, but at least 2/3rd of people who have complained about not getting it are people who upgraded at some point.