Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Got a British Airways Amex? New spend bonus launched on Monday

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

American Express has launched a new spend bonus for British Airways American Express Premium Plus and free British Airways American Express cardholders.

It is surprisingly generous, possibly more generous than it needs to be, which is odd but I’m not complaining – especially as I have a hotel bill to pay this week.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus spend bonus

The following has appeared on my British Airways Premium Plus card – click to enlarge.

It is limited to the first 60,000 people to register.

As you can see, I get 10,000 bonus Avios for spending £5,000 by 30th November:

British Airways American Express bonus offer

This is such a decent deal that it is worth paying the 3% foreign exchange commission to settle my hotel bill bill this week. As long as I cap the amount at £5,000, I will be paying £150 in fees to bank 17,500 Avios in total which is fine by me.

(Obviously it would make more sense to do the spending in the UK and not pay any FX fees. However, as per our other article today, I have a similar offer on my Business Platinum card that will keep me busy until mid November once I get home.)

Looking at reader comments, there do not seem to be alternative versions of this offer. It is either ‘10,000 Avios for spending £5,000’ or nothing if you have Premium Plus.

The free BA Amex offer does have different versions

On the free British Airways American Express there are reports of:

  • ‘1,500 Avios for spending £1,000’
  • ‘2,000 Avios for spending £2,000’

….. and that’s it. There are also quite a few reports of people getting nothing, so don’t get your hopes up.

Remember that you need to opt in to these offers via the ‘Offers’ tab on your BA Amex statement page in the app or Amex website. Spending does not count towards your target until you opt in.

For clarity, spending on supplementary cards does not count. Neither does PayPal spend recharged to your Amex.


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

Comments (183)

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

  • AB says:

    No offer for me on my Premium BA Amex.

    I use it a lot so guess they can’t see the point in offering it me.

    So, penalising their regular users ……

    • Rhys says:

      Doubt it, I rarely use my BA Amex and I didn’t get anything either.

      • Barry says:

        Nope, I use my BAPP all the time for everyday purchases and I had to 10k for £5k offer.

  • Ian says:

    I downgraded to the free card as my modest spending would not justify the £250 fee for the Premium card. I have the 2,000 Avios for spending £2,000 anywhere by 30 November offer this morning.

    • RussellH says:

      I have the same offer, but at present I am inclined to give it a miss. I cannot see any chance of spending that much on Amex – I still have to spend more than £2K on my Hilton Visa to maintain Gold status.

      • Save East Coast Rewards says:

        Getting gold the proper way is easier on Hilton this year as the requirements have been halved. 20 nights or 10 stays are what’s needed. If you think you can reach that this year then it might be worth going for the Amex promo instead

  • Airman says:

    I didnt get the offer. I regularly spend that on the card so I wonder if its selective

    • WaynedP says:

      How regularly do you save/use offers ?

      I wonder if that carries any weight in Amex’s fabled algorithm.

    • VerdantBacon says:

      BAPP is my main card to spend on and I got it, just more Amex randomness maybe!

  • FFoxSake says:

    Only got the spend £2K get 2K bonus Avios on my BAPP but only upgraded from free BA on Saturday.
    All other BAPP status/spend targets appeared yesterday, so offers must be lagging a bit…

  • Mattb says:

    Nothing on mine as a supp, but wife apparently has on her main. Without being able to read the t&cs does it say anything on if supplementary spend counts?

    • mr_jetlag says:

      Believe these spend targets look at account spend (incl supps), so it should work.

      • mr_jetlag says:

        although reading through now T&Cs refer to card spend, so ignore me.

      • VerdantBacon says:

        I’d be careful of this, as offers are meant to be per card and not per account. Historical experience may not be reflective of what could be true this time.

        To be safe I’ll be spending it all on the main card where possible

      • WaynedP says:

        Discussed on pg1 of comments to this article

  • Christian Teasdel says:

    Damn it, I put thought £6k though on Friday of last week.

  • Susan says:

    Datapoint – Nothing on my free card.

  • CarpalTravel says:

    Glad I held back on applying for the Platinum, would struggle to meet that spend as well as this.

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