Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Astonishing 70,000 Avios sign-up bonus for the British Airways Premium Plus American Express!

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

UPDATE – APRIL 2025:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly directory of the top UK travel credit card offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Credit Cards’ menu above.  Thank you.

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.

Keep up to date with the latest UK credit card bonuses by signing up for our free daily or weekly newsletters.

I’ve never seen anything like it. British Airways has just launched an exclusive 70,000 Avios sign-up bonus for the British Airways Premium Plus American Express card.

This is, frankly, shocking. I’ve never seen anything like it in all these years.

Just as surprising is a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Avios on the free British Airways American Express card.

70,000 Avios British Airways Premium Plus American Express card

You can learn more about the cards in our British Airways Premium Plus American Express review here and our free British Airways American Express review here.

Here is the legally required interest rate information on the two cards:

British Airways American Express:

The representative APR is 30.0% variable.

British Airways Premium Plus American Express:

The representative APR is 137.8% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 30.0% variable.

Yesterday we wrote about a new ‘open to all’ bonus of 35,000 Avios for the British Airways Premium Plus card. There was no special bonus launched on the free card.

I need to stress that we were not told in advance about this (far) better ba.com exclusive deal. American Express had provided us with details of the 35,000 Avios offer but nothing else. There was even a formal press release circulated to the media on the 35,000 Avios deal on Tuesday evening. No-one bothered to mention that a much better offer was available.

Full details are on this page on the BA website. You must be logged in to see it.

Get a limited time 70,000 Avios sign-up bonus!

For British Airways Premium Plus, if you sign up by 21st February, you can earn a sign-up bonus of 70,000 Avios when you spend £3,000 in the first three months.

I cannot stress how crazy this offer is. If ANY member of your family qualifies for this bonus, I would persuade them to jump in.

What is even more impressive is that the spending requirement is unchanged. You only need to spend the usual £3,000.

20,000 avios free british airways american express credit card

What are 70,000 Avios worth?

This is our main article on what Avios points are worth. We generally say that you should expect at least 1p when used for premium cabin flights.

However, even in the worst possible scenario – that you convert to Nectar points and spend them in Sainsburys, at Argos or at eBay.co.uk – your 70,000 Avios are worth £467 of Nectar credit. Not bad for a sign-up bonus …..

Do you qualify for the 70,000 Avios bonus?

Remember that you are only eligible for the sign-up bonus on the Premium Plus card if you have NOT held a British Airways American Express (free or Premium Plus) card in the past 24 months.

You ARE eligible if you currently or have held The Platinum Card, Preferred Rewards Gold card, Green card, Nectar card, Platinum Cashback cards, Marriott Bonvoy card, American Express Rewards Credit Card, Business Platinum or Business Gold cards.

You ARE eligible if you are currently a supplementary cardholder on a British Airways American Express card held by someone else, but have not held a card in your own name in the past 24 months.

The bottom line is that if you haven’t had either of the British Airways American Express cards in the past 24 months, you will qualify for the 70,000 Avios.

What about the free British Airways American Express card?

Clearly 20,000 Avios on the free card – requiring a spend of £1,000 in three months – is also exceptional.

However, with a 70,000 Avios bonus on the table with the Premium Plus card, I don’t see why you would want to bother with the free card unless the £3,000 spend target is a problem.

Note that the rules for getting the bonus on the free card are tougher than on the British Airways Premium Plus American Express. The rule is that you cannot have had ANY personal American Express cards in the past 24 months.

The Premium Plus card has far looser rules – you only need to have gone 24 months without any British Airways American Express card.

Conclusion

I have no idea why British Airways has decided to offer such a ludicrously generous offer but only tell people about it via its own website.

The offer runs to 21st February. I strongly recommend you jump in if you can.

The application page is on the BA website here.

If you want to know more, we did an article on the core benefits of the British Airways Premium Plus American Express card here. If you don’t want to pay an annual fee, a similar article on the benefits of the free British Airways American Express card is here.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

earns points from credit cards

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 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 card

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

Category

British Airways American Express, British Airways and Avios

Comments (557)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • LindyLoo says:
    13 Jan13 January 06:48

    Just realised my hubby as additional card holder on my account is eligible for this card so he has applied and been accepted. Do you know when we can cancel it again for maximum refund on the fees as they are pro rata? We have a bill coming up that will hit his £3,000 target in a few weeks time. Do we need to keep it for the 3 months?

  • Cranzle says:
    13 Jan13 January 07:19

    I’ve received an email from BAEC stating that I can get up to 155,000 Avios if I sign up for the BA Amex Accelerating Business Card…..

  • captaindave says:
    13 Jan13 January 07:49

    I agree this 70k deal seems a no-brainer, and can swap them to nectar as last resort..
    I’m holding back at present as my nearest airport is Exeter and im concerned it would be a hassle using the Avios for actual travel ( prob ex Dublin is my easiest route ? ) Currently have ZERO avios but do have a membership no as i linked it to nectar to enter a competition IIRC.

    • David says:
      13 Jan13 January 13:06

      Hold back for when, when you get less points. Don’t hold back. Worst case you swap for nectar and you’d still be £££ up.

  • Reney says:
    13 Jan13 January 08:00

    Agree with @Gary’s comments, it really depends on your own circumstances, will give you some further things to consider:
    One card:
    – It will either take you 1+ years to earn two vouchers (one voucher per card year) or you will need to earn > cancel > reopen > earn.
    – You can book 4 people together on one booking reference (there is no way to link 2 separate bookings together afterwards if you have 2 vouchers in 2 names it needs 2 separate bookings) – if one of you has BA status, that should be the named person then the whole booking can benefit. Also BA should auto-sit you together (this seems more important to some families than others), in the event that a flight is cancelled and re-booked you will be put together – you need to think about how important that is to you.
    Two cards:
    – If you don’t always travel together, examples I have read in the forum include 1.if reward space has 2 seat out on Monday, and two on Tuesday and you are happy to split up and take one kid each then you don’t have to wait for 4 seats to open up. 2. if your OH needs to leave earlier/later or come back sooner/later for work reasons, 2 separate bookings would allow this. If you or your OH want to combine holiday as part of a work trip and one of your tickets is part paid by employer (in this scenario one of the kid’s booking is an issue i.e booked separately but at least you have the flexibility) 4. if only one of you are travelling for some specific reason and the voucher is not in their name they can’t use it.
    – both of you if qualified will get the 70k bonus (I presume useful as a family of 4 needs a lot of Avios to make use of the vouchers), and per my first point if you have enough spend earn 2 vouchers sooner with similar expiry dates.

    • Reney says:
      13 Jan13 January 08:01

      Something went wrong with the posting – this is in response to @Steven and @ Gary’s comment on whether each spouse should earn their own voucher or one spouse earn 2 vouchers.

  • Charlie says:
    13 Jan13 January 08:50

    Applied for this card at 70,000 avios on BA website. Received my card, but on the Amex portal it displays progress towards welcome bonuses and says “Spend £3,000 by 20 Apr 2023 to receive 35,000 bonus Avios” rather than 70,000…

    • Rob says:
      13 Jan13 January 09:48

      It always says that – Amex’s IT isn’t smart enough to adjust the message. Same happens if you are referred by a friend for a higher bonus.

      • LeeG says:
        13 Jan13 January 10:14

        Just got my card today and set it all up on the website, but in contrast to Charlie’s experience mine does refer to the correct bonus – ‘Spend £3,000 by 20 Apr 2023 to receive 70,000 bonus Avios.’

        • Anna says:
          13 Jan13 January 11:33

          Where do you see it? When I go to offers I have none displaying.

          • vlcnc says:
            13 Jan13 January 11:43

            Same for me. Nothing showing.

          • Anna says:
            13 Jan13 January 12:30

            Ok, I am on the chat via American express app. So they say I need to spend something for the offer to appear, even £1 would be ok. As I had personal amex in 2019 (gold in 2021, but apparently this does not matter with this offer), I should be eligible for the 70.000 bonus, as the chat person said that they can see offer attached to my card, but I will not see it until I spend something. So I will do that and see if this works. It might take up to 48 hours.

          • LeeG says:
            13 Jan13 January 13:01

            Pretty sure it appeared without spending anything Anna, though I have since set the card as my billable card for various bits and bobs like spotify and they have fired the standard £1 test authorisations through so I have some pending transactions now.
            Sounds like it’ll appear for you soon, but for me I see a ‘Track your progress’ option above the transaction list on the website and when I click into that I see both the bonus 70k and the companion voucher progress tracker.

          • Anna says:
            13 Jan13 January 13:53

            I know from experience in the past that no spending was ever needed, before you can see offers, but I will wait before going back to them 🙂 Thanks for your answer 🙂

          • vlcnc says:
            13 Jan13 January 15:11

            I talked to AMEX on the app chat too and they said same about needing to do a transaction first. They told me however they couldn’t confirm if I’d got the 70,000 welcome Avios though which was a tad worrying, apparently can advise once a transaction has been done.

  • ForestPark says:
    13 Jan13 January 09:34

    What’s the rules on cancellation post-receipt of this bonus? I know Amex UK cards do pro-rata returns usually.

    Say I hit the spend target in 3 months, can I cancel the card and get 9 months of annual fee returned?

  • ADMO says:
    13 Jan13 January 09:37

    Does AMEX create a BA exec club account for you if you answer that you don’t have one during the application?

    • Rob says:
      13 Jan13 January 09:47

      In theory, yes, but you’d be very silly to do this – the grief in trying to get the log-in and password details off them will be huge and you could open one yourself in 30 seconds.

      • ADMO says:
        13 Jan13 January 10:01

        Wish I’d asked the question before doing it then, oh well. Have a BA flight in 4 days and want to start accruing tier points, should I create one myself and then ask them to change it or let it play out?

  • vlcnc says:
    13 Jan13 January 10:27

    Very pleasantly surprised to have received both mine and supplementary card for my partner today in the post after only applying yesterday morning!

    • Grimz says:
      13 Jan13 January 12:23

      You should have added the supplementary card holder in once you received your own card. if you do that you get 3k avios for adding a supp card.

      • vlcnc says:
        13 Jan13 January 13:40

        I would have waited but AMEX tend to randomly offer that in my experience – can be straight away but sometimes that hasn’t been for months and I want my partner to be able to use it right away so they can help us reach the spend threshold. We probably won’t try to get the companion voucher as it would take us too long so it’s purely for the Avios for us and we’ll be cancelling as soon as we hit that.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Get 25,000 Avios with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

GET A SIGN-UP BONUS OF 18,000 VIRGIN POINTS!

Latest Forum Posts

Get 80,000 bonus points (worth 80,000 Avios) and £400 of dining credit with The Platinum Card (Offer ends 27th May)

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get up to 10,000 bonus Hilton Honors points

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? GET THE ONLY FREE SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT CARD WHICH CAN EARN AVIOS

Get points worth 30,000 Avios with 'first year free' American Express Gold (ends 27th May)

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!