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Get bonus Avios on all BA Amex spend until 27th December

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American Express is currently running a special offer for all British Airways American Express cardholders.

You may have been emailed about this last week, but if you have opted out of email marketing you won’t have seen it.  The offer is automatic (Amex has confirmed to me that all cardholders are eligible) and does not require registration.

You will earn 1 bonus Avios for every £4 you spend on your BA or BAPP (or indeed BAP if you’re an old timer) American Express card until 27th December.

Bonus Avios on British Airways American Express spending this month

The bonus is ‘per transaction’ and you receive one bonus Avios for every full £4 spent.  A £7.99 purchase would earn one bonus Avios, for example, whilst a £12 purchase would earn three.

The official terms and conditions for the deal are very badly written and imply that you get one bonus Avios per transaction of £4+.  I have spoken to Amex and they have confirmed that it is one bonus Avios per multiple of £4, as in my example above.

The offer is valid for both UK and overseas spend.

For British Airways Premium Plus cardholders, this bonus takes the effective rate – at least on larger transactions where the impact of rounding down is negligible – to 1.75 Avios per £1 spent.  This is highest earning rate on any UK travel rewards credit card, at least for the next 17 days.

If you applied for a card today it should arrive before Christmas, allowing you to get the bonus over the first couple of days of the sales.  The free British Airways American Express card comes with a sign-up bonus of 5,000 Avios (apply here, full BA Amex review here) whilst the Premium Plus card comes with a sign-up bonus of 25,000 Avios (apply here, full BA Premium Plus Amex review here).

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

Nectar American Express

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

American Express Platinum card Amex

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

Amex Platinum Business American Express

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 card

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, British Airways and Avios

Comments (132)

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

  • Oli says:
    10 Dec10 December 10:18

    Just got an email with my 25k Avios from the Barclays offer through!

  • GRIMZ says:
    10 Dec10 December 11:20

    OT, Anyone know if Shop Small is only £50 per account or £50 per card yet?

    • bsuije says:
      10 Dec10 December 12:50

      The Amex Shop Small website talks about “Card” and T&Cs say “One £5 statement credit per UK Card per merchant will be given up to 10 times.”, so I would expect that it’s £50 per card.

      Any particular reason to think otherwise?

    • KP says:
      10 Dec10 December 12:51

      Per card

  • Barry says:
    10 Dec10 December 12:15

    O/T
    I downgraded my BAPP last May after receiving the 241 voucher. I’ve been using the free card since then and have a counter online saying “spend xxx by January 2020 to receive your Companion Voucher”. Is this right? Can I earn a second voucher in the same membership year but on different cards?

  • Waddle says:
    10 Dec10 December 13:18

    OT:
    Out of interest, what price are people willing to pay for MS opportunities on Amex cards? Before Curve fell out with Amex, 0.65% was offered – effectively 0.65p per MR point or 0.43p per Avois on the BAPP.

    • The Urbanite says:
      10 Dec10 December 16:59

      0.35% max for me but I favour cost neutral or profit generating MS routes.

      • Rob says:
        10 Dec10 December 17:08

        I think, if it requires any noticeable effort, anything before 0.5% is too much.

  • pauldb says:
    10 Dec10 December 13:40

    OT, may have got picked up yesterday:

    BA have upped Ljubljana to 4x per week for next summer. I believe the timings are a lot better too (previously back to LHR really late I think, no 8/9pm). Plenty of avios seats in the first flush.

    • Shoestring says:
      10 Dec10 December 13:41

      judging by my BA emails today there’s a fair bit of shuffling going on in Europe

    • pauldb says:
      10 Dec10 December 13:51

      It also seems to have been shifted to T3 (will please some). Palermo seems to have gone the other way to T5 with early May services withdrawn.

      Cash may trump avios: as little as £80 return in August.

  • Liz says:
    10 Dec10 December 13:52

    Just redeemed one of my supermarket offers at M&S. Got some jumpers which were already reduced, sparks card had a 20% off birthday bonus as it’s my birthday later in the week, and then a further £10 off! I do like a good deal! Up to 38 out of 70 small shops completed so far.

  • Andrew g says:
    10 Dec10 December 14:13

    Do flights booked via Amex Travel (Platinum) earn Avios/Miles/Tier Points?

    • Shoestring says:
      10 Dec10 December 14:22

      yes

      one to watch is the fare class they book you into, as some fare classes earn more than others and not all fare classes can be upgraded with Avios

      I can’t see much point vs going direct (except if there’s £200 off £600 etc) – they also work on T-330 vs T-365 for BA

      • Andrew g says:
        10 Dec10 December 14:33

        Thanks. Playing around with AA/BA flights to/from and within Texas, and at the moment Amex coming out a bit cheaper than both the airlines own sites plus BA site struggling with a two leg internal flight (ELP to SAT) though it will accept the journey being booked as two separate legs.

    • Rob says:
      10 Dec10 December 16:01

      Yes. Flights always earn irrespective of where booked. It is only hotels where you need to be careful.

  • Gringo says:
    10 Dec10 December 14:39

    If I’m Hilton Gold and book 2 rooms, does everyone in the booking get free breakfast?

    • Gringo says:
      10 Dec10 December 15:01

      (and lounge access?)

    • Algor says:
      10 Dec10 December 15:59

      No

      • Rob says:
        10 Dec10 December 16:00

        In theory. In practice, probably yes (says a man who usually books 2 rooms because of his kids).

        Technically if the rooms are connecting they are one room anyway! If the 2nd room is not occupied by your kids you may have a harder time.

        No lounge access for anyone as Hilton Gold!

        • Gringo says:
          10 Dec10 December 16:24

          I’m sure Hilton Gold used to include lounge access. I definitely used it in Joburg

          • Pangolin says:
            10 Dec10 December 17:57

            You get lounge access with Gold if you get upgraded to an Executive Room. It’s only automatic for Diamonds.

        • Gringo says:
          10 Dec10 December 16:34

          Thanks Rob. So at least my other half would be included I imagine? (she’ll be sharing a room with me for her sins)

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