Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

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

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UPDATE – APRIL 2025:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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.

  • Akiva Levy says:
    15 Jan15 January 12:01

    Any idea why when I try and refer someone to the Premium Plus card it only shows a 36k sign up bonus, however if I just go straight onto American Express website without a referral link it offers me 70k sign up bonus.

  • Ian says:
    15 Jan15 January 12:02

    This may have been answered elsewhere, but what are the indicators that Amex use to decide who you are to confirm if you are or are not eligible?
    Name, Address, DOB
    If I last had a card less than 2 years ago, but I have now moved, would I now qualify for the bonus?
    Also, If I currently do not have an account with Amex, how can I find out when my last card was cancelled?

    • Rob says:
      15 Jan15 January 12:26

      Your credit file follows you around irrespective of house moves, name changes etc.

  • James says:
    15 Jan15 January 12:42

    Tried doing for my wife with zero income, but good household income, and homemaker and declined 🙁

    • David says:
      15 Jan15 January 18:12

      not surprised James. My sister in law declined and she had part time income with good household income.

      • Reney says:
        16 Jan16 January 07:39

        In the application, I think there is a personal income box, then other household income. Did you put the small personal income then a big household income? My retired P3 has no issues in this approach.

  • Todd says:
    15 Jan15 January 15:09

    I’ve been reading about how you make the minimum spend via VRBO and cancel for a full refund. The 70k points will still land in your Avios account after a month, but you’ll also be left with -70k in your Amex account soon after. Does anyone know how they do the reversal because it’s a bonus point award and I assume it would be a separate reversal to the £3k refund you get from VRBO?

    • Rob says:
      15 Jan15 January 16:32

      It’s the same as any other reversal – just goes through as -70k on your Amex ‘Avios to be transferred’ list.

    • David says:
      15 Jan15 January 18:10

      -buy with vrbo
      -refund vrbo after Avios are in your BA account.
      -BAPP account would be 70k MINUS, no worries here
      -keep spending throughout the year and £3,000 will slowly start diminishing when you get to having spent the £3,000 (for example month 11) and it will go back to positive balance

      • Rob says:
        15 Jan15 January 18:16

        The £3,000 will net off, yes, but your card will still have a net -70k Avios balance ….

        • Todd says:
          16 Jan16 January 11:23

          Do you have any tips on hitting the £3k for low spenders? Aside from gift cards. What about PayPal yourself and taking the £80 fee on the chin? I guess the fee is worth the Avios, even those with a lower award of 25k.

          • Rob says:
            16 Jan16 January 11:28

            There is no fee if you PayPal yourself – PayPal pays it. This is why your PayPal account will be shut down and the money put into a suspense account until they’ve decided what to do with you.

          • Geoff says:
            16 Jan16 January 23:27

            Rob is right but you could PayPal a family/friend and then get the money back. You’ll pay a cc fee on PayPal but is an option.

  • sloth says:
    15 Jan15 January 15:14

    For anyone bothered/interested, the bonus trackers have now both appeared online with correct 70k bonus, now that the first transaction has cleared. They were definitely not there prior to this…

    • Matt says:
      15 Jan15 January 15:37

      Ours hasnt 🙁

      • sloth says:
        15 Jan15 January 17:20

        And any transaction has cleared? Check the website, not just the app

        • Matt says:
          15 Jan15 January 22:34

          Am checking website and nothing, after the first transaction has posted. Its not tracking 70K, come to think of it its not even tracking 35K

      • cacolborn says:
        15 Jan15 January 21:37

        Me too – Amex now claiming I applied on the 10th before the 70k offer went live, hence why I’m seeing 35k only. My response (aside from this not being right), 35k wasn’t even an offer until the 11th….so how could I have got it on the 10th!?

        • Matt says:
          16 Jan16 January 01:05

          Its finally appear. AMEX chat said, clear cookies and cache, but maybe going over midnight helped more!

          • Charlie says:
            17 Jan17 January 09:23

            Amex still maintaining I signed up on 10th January and need 7-10 business days to look into it…how could I be seeing a tracker to 35k points when that deal wasn’t available on the 10th?! As Rob says I should be patient…

  • MarkJ says:
    15 Jan15 January 18:36

    My brother and I have never applied for, or had an AMEX card.

    What’s the best way of maximising the rewards on this offer? I have read comments where you can add people as a supplementary card holder? Thanks

    • Rob says:
      15 Jan15 January 19:00

      Little way of doing any more on this, except that you shouldn’t add a supplementary during the intial application, as you can get a further 3,000 Avios bonus by adding one later.

      • MarkJ says:
        15 Jan15 January 19:05

        Thanks Rob. And how would this offer interact with the ‘earn 186,875 Avios’ article you authored very recently?

        • Rob says:
          15 Jan15 January 19:29

          The only other card you could add would be Platinum.

          • Reney says:
            16 Jan16 January 07:35

            This offer doesn’t end until 21Feb, if can generate enough spend, Rob why should he not start with Nectar card then apply for the BAPP. Beside from amex might not approve 2 cards in one month?

          • Rob says:
            16 Jan16 January 08:48

            Fair point but not sure I like the odds of that gamble.

  • MarkJ says:
    15 Jan15 January 18:50

    Another question – does an app/website (which one?) show you if you will hit the £3,000 spending target, within 3 months of being accepted on the card? Thanks.

    • Rob says:
      15 Jan15 January 18:58

      Yes, there’s a countdown on both the app and website which updates daily.

  • rs132 says:
    15 Jan15 January 19:21

    About to get P2 (currently only card is supplementary on my Plat) to apply. Plan is to make the spend target then cancel – is the only downgrade route to the free BA card, or can she switch ‘card families’ to the Gold or free blue MR card?

    Thanks

    • Rob says:
      15 Jan15 January 19:29

      There is no benefit to any downgrade vs cancellation. You can get any other card you want afterwards (ignoring bonus issues) but Amex amy do fresh credit checks.

    • Reney says:
      16 Jan16 January 07:37

      I would not switch card families even if I could, your P2 have not had a MR card in the past so would qualify for the plat bonus if there is a good one in the future, don’t waste this potential!!!

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