Why the free BA Amex credit card is now the best cashback card in Britain (updated)
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Three weeks ago, I ran an article explaining why the free British Airways American Express card was now the best cashback card in Britain …..
…. assuming, of course, that you believe Nectar points are as good as cash. Whether you do believe this will depend on how much money you spend in Sainsbury’s, in Argos or on eBay.co.uk, the main outlets for Nectar points.
As we covered last Tuesday, American Express has just cut the cashback rate on its two American Express Platinum Cashback credit cards.
I wanted to take another look at how this impacts the value of the free BA Amex card – when treated as a pure cashback card – versus the two American Express Platinum Cashback competitors.
A reminder about how Avios and Nectar convert
Back in January, Avios and Nectar unveiled their new partnership.
In a huge surprise, the two companies introduced two-way points transfers. This page of ba.com explains how Nectar transfers work.
Not only that, but the transfers were at a very generous rate for both parties:
- 250 Avios gets you 400 Nectar points, which are worth £2 off your shopping at Sainsbury’s, Argos or eBay
- 400 Nectar points get you 250 Avios, which HfP tends to value at around £2-£2.50
Following the launch of the partnership ….
- the value of a Nectar point increased from 0.5p unless you have a very low valuation of an Avios point (and if you do have a low valuation of an Avios, you’re unlikely to be reading this)
- Avios suddenly had a ‘floor’ value of 0.8p, since this was what you got by moving them to Nectar and redeeming for shopping credit. You would be a mug to redeem Avios for any other redemption which got you less than 0.8p per point.
This led to a big disruption to the established order. For example:
- you’d be mad to redeem Avios for hotel bookings, car hire, seat selection fees or even, in almost all cases, ‘Part Pay With Avios’, since all of these get you less than 0.8p per point
- most American Express Membership Rewards redemptions became irrelevant, because almost all of them get you less than 0.8p per point. You should transfer to Avios and into Nectar instead, guaranteeing the 0.8p valuation.
The free British Airways American Express has now become the UK’s best cashback credit card
Yes, weird but true.
If you know someone looking for a free cashback credit card, tell them to get a British Airways American Express card.
The representative APR is 30.0% variable.
This is how the free BA Amex compares to the best cashback cards.
The UK’s best ‘pure’ free cashback credit card is American Express Platinum Cashback Everyday.
The representative APR is 30.0% variable.
Following the cuts unveiled last week, it pays you per calendar year:
- 0.5% cashback on spend up to £10,000 (but 0% if your annual spend is under £3,000)
- 1% cashback on spend above £10,000
The cashback comes as a lump sum at the year-end, added to your card balance.
Let’s compare this to the free British Airways American Express card. The free BA Amex pays:
- 1 Avios per £1 spent, with 1 Avios converting into 1.6 Nectar points
Compare the free BA Amex to the free Amex Platinum Cashback Everyday
This is what you would receive each year in cashback with different levels of spending. Remember that Cashback Everyday requires £3,000 of annual spending before it pays out.
- £1,000 – £0 Cashback Everyday vs £8 BA Amex
- £2,000 – £0 Cashback Everyday vs £16 BA Amex
- £3,000 – £15 Cashback Everyday vs £24 BA Amex
- £4,000 – £20 Cashback Everyday vs £32 BA Amex
- £5,000 – £25 Cashback Everyday vs £40 BA Amex
- £6,000 – £30 Cashback Everyday vs £48 BA Amex
- £7,000 – £35 Cashback Everyday vs £56 BA Amex
- £8,000 – £40 Cashback Everyday vs £64 BA Amex
- £9,000 – £45 Cashback Everyday vs £72 BA Amex
- £10,000 – £50 Cashback Everyday vs £80 BA Amex
- £11,000 – £60 Cashback Everyday vs £88 BA Amex
- £12,000 – £70 Cashback Everyday vs £96 BA Amex
- £13,000 – £80 Cashback Everyday vs £104 BA Amex
- £14,000 – £90 Cashback Everyday vs £112 BA Amex
- £15,000 – £100 Cashback Everyday vs £120 BA Amex
Irrespective of what you spend, the free American Express Platinum Cashback Everyday card gets you a lower return than the Nectar points you’d earn from the free British Airways American Express card.
This assumes, of course, that you treat Nectar points as equivalent to cash. If you shop in Sainsbury’s then they definitely are as good as cash.
If you would need to go out of your way to use them, either at Sainsbury’s, Argos, eBay.co.uk or another partner, then you need to factor that in.
I would never deny that cash beats the equivalent value in vouchers, although you will get the occasional Nectar promotion where you can get more than 0.5p per point.
Compare the free BA Amex to the £25 Amex Platinum Cashback card
American Express has a second cashback card, Platinum Cashback.
The representative APR is 36.0% variable, including the annual fee. The representative APR on purchases is 30.4% variable.
This carries a £25 annual fee but has a higher return:
- 0.75% cashback on spend up to £10,000
- 1.25% cashback on spend above £10,000
Amusingly, the free British Airways card is still more rewarding than the £25 Platinum Cashback card unless you are spending £17,000 per year.
Here is the return, adjusting for the £25 annual fee on Platium Cashback. This is based on the reduced rewards announced last week:
- £1,000 – £(17.50) Platinum Cashback vs £8 BA Amex
- £2,000 – £(10) Platinum Cashback vs £16 BA Amex
- £3,000 – £2.50 Platinum Cashback vs £24 BA Amex
- £4,000 – £5 Platinum Cashback vs £32 BA Amex
- £5,000 – £12.50 Platinum Cashback vs £40 BA Amex
- £6,000 – £20 Platinum Cashback vs £48 BA Amex
- £7,000 – £27.50 Platinum Cashback vs £56 BA Amex
- £8,000 – £35 Platinum Cashback vs £64 BA Amex
- £9,000 – £42.50 Platinum Cashback vs £72 BA Amex
- £10,000 – £50 Platinum Cashback vs £80 BA Amex
- £11,000 – £62.50 Platinum Cashback vs £88 BA Amex
- £12,000 – £75 Platinum Cashback vs £96 BA Amex
- £13,000 – £87.50 Platinum Cashback vs £104 BA Amex
- £14,000 – £100 Platinum Cashback vs £112 BA Amex
- £15,000 – £112.50 Platinum Cashback vs £120 BA Amex
You need to spend £17,000 – adjusting for the £25 fee – before the American Express Platinum Cashback card beats the free British Airways American Express.
How about the American Express Nectar credit card?
I know what you’re thinking:
“Surely the official Nectar American Express card earns you more from Nectar points than the free British Airways American Express card?”
Here’s the thing ….. it doesn’t. The Nectar American Express card has a £25 annual fee after the first year, which cuts into your return.
The representative APR from year 2 is 36.8% variable. The representative APR on purchases, and in the first year, is 30.0% variable.
The Nectar American Express card earns you:
- 2 Nectar points, worth 1p, for every £1 spent
This is how your returns stack up, adjusting for the £25 fee on Nectar American Express:
- £1,000 – £(15) Nectar Amex vs £8 BA Amex
- £2,000 – £(5) Nectar Amex vs £16 BA Amex
- £3,000 – £5 Nectar Amex vs £24 BA Amex
- £4,000 – £15 Nectar Amex vs £32 BA Amex
- £5,000 – £25 Nectar Amex vs £40 BA Amex
- £6,000 – £35 Nectar Amex vs £48 BA Amex
- £7,000 – £45 Nectar Amex vs £56 BA Amex
- £8,000 – £55 Nectar Amex vs £64 BA Amex
- £9,000 – £65 Nectar Amex vs £72 BA Amex
- £10,000 – £75 Nectar Amex vs £80 BA Amex
- £11,000 – £85 Nectar Amex vs £88 BA Amex
- £12,000 – £95 Nectar Amex vs £96 BA Amex
- £13,000 – £105 Nectar Amex vs £104 BA Amex
- £14,000 – £115 Nectar Amex vs £112 BA Amex
- £15,000 – £125 Nectar Amex vs £120 BA Amex
You need to spend £13,000 before, adjusting for the £25 fee, the Nectar American Express gets you more ‘pseudo’ cashback than the free British Airways American Express.
Conclusion
It’s a weird old world, but – as the numbers above show – the free British Airways American Express credit card is now the best cashback credit card in Britain for most people, unless you are a big spender.
To beat the return on the free BA Amex, assuming you transferred your Avios into Nectar points, you’d need to spend:
- £17,000 per year on Amex Platinum Cashback, or
- £13,000 per year on Nectar American Express
….. before it became a better deal.
You will never beat the free British Airways American Express with the free Amex Platinum Cashback Everyday card.
The cut in the return on the two Platinum Cashback cards has had a big impact here, putting them further behind the free BA Amex.
Is anyone non-flyer really going to apply for the free BA Amex purely to use it as a cashback card? Probably not, but they should.
PS. Before anyone mentions it …. I am aware that you can make the same case for the American Express Rewards Credit Card. This is free for life and earns 1 American Express Membership Rewards point per £1. These would convert 1:1 into Avios and then 1:1.6 into Nectar.
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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2025 update
If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.
In 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.
You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:
Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review
You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review
Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend 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 Platinum
50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review
Capital on Tap Pro Visa
10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review
Capital on Tap Visa
NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review
British Airways American Express Accelerating Business
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
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