Get 25,000 Avios with British Airways Premium Plus Amex

The British Airways American Express Premium Plus credit card offers you a very attractive sign-up bonus of 25,000 Avios.

The card also comes with a hugely valuable long term benefit.  You receive a companion voucher each year when you spend £10,000 on the card.  This allows you to book two British Airways seats for the Avios of one.  (Full taxes and charges are required for both seats.)

Day to day, the card also offers great value.  You earn 1.5 Avios per £1 spent.

Key legal information:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

Bonus: 25,000 Avios

Read our full review

Sign-up bonus and earnings rate:

• Get 25,000 Avios when you spend £3,000 within 90 days
• Earn 1.5 Avios per £1 spent
• Earn 3 Avios per £1 spent with British Airways and BA Holidays

Other information:

• Receive a companion voucher, letting you book two flights for the Avios of one, when you spend £10,000 in a card year
• The voucher is valid for flights in any cabin
• Annual fee: £250

Representative 101.1% APR variable based on an assumed £1,200 credit limit and £250 annual fee. Interest rate on purchases 24.5% APR variable.

Apply here

See if you qualify for the 25,000 Avios sign-up bonus +

You will receive 25,000 Avios as a sign-up bonus on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card if you spend £3,000 within 90 days of signing up.

To qualify for the bonus, you must not have held the British Airways Premium Plus or the free British Airways American Express cards in the previous 24 months.

You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s British Airways American Express account.

You are OK if, currently or in the previous 24 months, you have held any other American Express card.

For clarity, you can still apply for the British Airways Premium Plus card even if you do not qualify for the bonus.  You would still benefit from the companion voucher and all of the other card benefits.

Learn more about the card benefits +

When you spend £10,000 on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card, you receive a companion voucher entitling you to book two Avios redemption flights for the miles of one.  This voucher is valid for two years.  (Full taxes and charges need to be paid on both tickets.)

This voucher is the most valuable perk available in the UK airline and hotel credit card sector in my view. It could save you 150,000 or more Avios when used for a long-haul redemption in a premium cabin.

The voucher with the Premium Plus card is far more powerful than the voucher given with the free British Airways American Express card.  You only need to spend £10,000, instead of £20,000, in a card year to receive it.  More importantly, the Premium Plus voucher is valid for two years and is valid in ALL cabins.  The voucher on the free British Airways American Express card is only valid for one year and can only be used for Economy flights.

You receive your voucher within a few days of reaching the spending target.  You need to fly the outbound leg of your 2-4-1 flight before the expiry date of the voucher.

This article was updated on 1st December 2021, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

What is the BA Premium Plus sign-up bonus?

You receive 25,000 Avios when you spend £3,000 within three months.

To qualify for the bonus, you must not have held a British Airways or British Airways American Express Premium Plus card in the previous 24 months.

You WILL definitely receive the bonus if you are only a supplementary cardholder on someone else’s American Express card. As far as Amex is concerned, that card belongs to the primarily cardholder and does not make you an ‘existing cardholder’.

If you do not qualify for the bonus, you can still apply.  You still receive the other card benefits including the 2-4-1 voucher.

And you can earn a companion voucher …..

When you spend £10,000 in a card year, you receive a companion voucher entitling you to book two Avios redemption flights for the miles of one. This voucher is valid for two years.

This voucher is the most valuable perk available in the UK airline and hotel credit card sector in my view. It could save you 150,000 or more Avios when used for a long-haul redemption in a premium cabin.

From 1st September 2021, British Airways Premium Plus American Express companion vouchers get access to additional long-haul Business Class (Club World) seats. You will be able to book seats which are not available to standard Avios collectors and it will make it far easier to get seats on the dates you want. Click here for more details.

I attempted to calculate the value of the British Airways American Express companion voucher in this article.

What do I earn per £1 spent on the card?

You receive 1.5 Avios per £1 spent on the card.  This is a very strong earning rate – there is no credit card in the UK which earns more than 1.5 airline miles per £1.

You receive double Avios (3 per £1) when booking flights or holidays directly with British Airways.

What happens to the annual fee if I cancel or downgrade?

If you have the Premium Plus card, you can downgrade to the free version at any time and get a pro-rata refund. You may want to do this if you have triggered your 2-4-1 voucher but not yet redeemed it, and do not want to continue paying the annual fee.

You will also get a pro-rata refund of you fee if you cancel at any point.  You won’t lose any of the Avios you have earned.

American Express no longer has a minimum income requirement for any of its cards.

Conclusion

The special sign-up bonus of 25,000 Avios on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card is an exceptional offer.   Remember that the card fee is refundable pro-rata if you choose to cancel during the year.

The higher sign-up bonus – plus the 50% higher earning rate on your spending – makes the Premium Plus card better than the free card. You also need to remember that the 2-4-1 voucher on the free BA Amex can only be used on Economy flights. If you want to redeem in a premium cabin, you must have the Premium Plus credit card.

In terms of on-going earning, 1.5 Avios points and the 2-4-1 voucher when you spend £10,000 make the most valuable package on the market for your long-term spending as long as you are confident of hitting the £10,000 target. If you won’t spend £10,000 on the card each year then the value of the Avios earned will not cover the annual fee.

You can apply for the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card, or find out more information, here.

Disclaimer: Head for Points is a journalistic website. Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that any product is right for your circumstances. Recommendations are based primarily on the ability to earn miles and points and do not consider interest rates, service levels or any impact on your credit history.  By recommending credit cards on this site, I am – technically – acting as a credit broker.  Robert Burgess, trading as Head for Points, is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a credit broker.