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

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• Zed says:

  12 Jan12 January 12:21

  oops, sorry posted in wrong article

• EdForPoints says:

  12 Jan12 January 12:46

  Bit of a rookie question, but if I were to spend e.g. £1k on supermarket gift cards, would that count towards the spend target for this? Or is there some way it can be treated as a cash-like transaction and therefore not eligible?

  I was planning a relatively frugal few months, and back in the good old days of churning I used to qualify for bonuses largely by buying my annual rail season ticket, the requirement for which has fallen away since hybrid working.

  • Rob says:

    12 Jan12 January 13:26

    Counts ok.

    • EdForPoints says:

      12 Jan12 January 14:15

      Thanks

• GB says:

  12 Jan12 January 13:15

  Is anyone able to confirm whether sending someone a referral link via the app means they only get 36k Avios rather than 72k?

  • Rob says:

    12 Jan12 January 13:26

    36k

    • GB says:

      12 Jan12 January 21:41

      Thank you

• david says:

  12 Jan12 January 13:20

  for low spenders, you can still hit the bonus way after 3 months in a slightly cheeky way, you do your normal spending or try to hit as close to the 3k within 3 months. The remainer you have you can use VRBO booking site, completely free cancellations on properties around the world. After the 3 months you would have your 70k bonus. Then refund the hotel/property on VRBO. Now your bonus would be at minus but gives you leeway to keep spending now til you hit the 3k figure, 10 months later per se.

  • Save East Coast Rewards says:

    12 Jan12 January 13:48

    I think the better approach is just buy a big gift card for the supermarket you use most regularly then you don’t have to refund anything and just run down the gift card value in time

    • No longer Entitled says:

      12 Jan12 January 15:02

      Better to make some payments to your utility provider or if you are able, Council Tax via paypoint. Rather than manufacturing spend you can simply bring it forward.

  • Ryan says:

    12 Jan12 January 18:52

    There was an article on that recently. They’ll take your Avios back.

    • Tommy Mac says:

      13 Jan13 January 23:33

      Do you have a link to this article? I assumed you’d just be negative 3k points in your amex. Didn’t think AMEX can access your avios once they are in your BA account.

      • Rob says:

        14 Jan14 January 08:19

        They can’t, but your Amex account will be minus 70k and you need to decide what to do with that. Cancelling is unlikely to endear you when you next apply.

        • Joe says:

          14 Jan14 January 18:27

          I’ve done something similar in my previous country. They had a 100k FF promotion for spending $3k. I booked a $3k hotel, got the points into my FF account and then cancelled the booking. No issues and my AMEX account was only -3k points, not -100k. I guess you’re saying in the UK they’ll pull the lot?

        • Rob says:

          14 Jan14 January 19:32

          Yes

• Michael C says:

  12 Jan12 January 13:50

  Any need to cancel OH’s supp on my BAPP before he applies for this?

  • Rob says:

    12 Jan12 January 14:30

    No

    • Michael C says:

      12 Jan12 January 16:37

      Cheers, Rob.

• James says:

  12 Jan12 January 14:04

  Many thanks Rob for this one

  Just downgraded my premium after many years to personal and back focus on resurrected platinum!

  May have missed in comments when searching through but:

  Can wife with know personal income qualify against household income (my wife had one many years ago like this)?

  Many Thanks

  • Rob says:

    12 Jan12 January 14:30

    Yes

    • Ian S says:

      13 Jan13 January 01:28

      I’m currently not working so applied as homemaker but was turned down despite high personal credit rating and six figure household income. I spoke to AmEx and asked why unsuccessful and was told it was due to no/low personal income. I have a high five figure bank balance, an offset mortgage which is currently in credit and the option to be drawing a personal pension (but choose not to as it’ll be worth more by deferring and we don’t need the income right now).
      My circumstances haven’t changed in last five years and I successfully applied for a BAPP four years ago which I kept for 18 months (cancelled after receiving second 2for1 voucher). My wife has had BAPP for 6 years and I’m a supplementary card holder. We push close to £20k through the card per year.
      Is there any way to challenge the decision further?

• robato says:

  12 Jan12 January 14:09

  Going with the recent Barclays Avios promotion, this would easily bag me 200,000+ Avios in under half a year. I suppose the promotional 70k is worth it now, rather than going the regular bonus route with Gold > BAPP (as I’m still waiting for my 2 years to end on my ex-Rewards card, but I am eligible for BAPP now). Also, triggering the 241 this year is a bit early for me but I suppose if I needed another 241 in the next 2 years, I could just get the BAPP again without the joining bonus. In essence, could view the 70k as paying off 2 cycles of AMEX bonuses (typically 20-35k), unless this will be the new normal for Avios bonuses. Only downside is I still have the Barclaycard Avios Plus and together that’s £40/month for the next couple of months, until I’m ready to downgrade/cancel, so may hold off on applying for the BAPP for a few more weeks. Just a risk the promotion is pulled early.

• Rich says:

  12 Jan12 January 14:38

  So my partner was just on Live Chat with Amex because he couldn’t remember whether he had cancelled his last BA Prem plus card more than two years ago. Turns out he only closed the account in June 2021 ***BUT*** the adviser VERY clearly said that he will still be eligible for the 70,000 sign-up bonus!!

  This goes against everything the T&Cs indicate, and all the advice HfP have always given, but they have just told me that they calculate the 24 months since you last “held” an account as being based on 24 months since you last opened an account?!?!?!

  I’ve requested an email of the transcript from the chat, but also kept a copy/paste… not very clear but I will paste the relevant parts below. I’ve subsequently just applied and been approved for a new card, so will check when it arrives to confirm it shows the £3k spend target and 70,000 bonus and update this thread. (Rob, if you want a copy of the transcript let me know… I’m not sure if this advisor misunderstodd something, but they were very clear!)

  • Rich says:

    12 Jan12 January 14:43

    Me: Hello, I know I don’t have any active cards on my account at present, but saw that there are good sign-up bonuses again for both BA Premium Plus card, and the Amex Gold card. I was wondering whether you could check if I would be eligible for a bonus if I sign up again for either card?
    AX: Please allow me few moments here
    Me: I think I have to wait at least two years from the date I last closed either of these accounts, and I can’t remember if enough time has passed yet
    AX: Yes, you’re right! The eligibility for the BA Premium Plus card:

    “I understand I will not be eligible for any Welcome Bonus award if I hold or have held any personal British Airways American Express Card product in the past 24 months”

    And for the Gold card

    “I understand I will not be eligible for any Welcome Bonus award if I hold or have held any personal American Express Card in the past 24 months”
    Me:👍
    AX: Upon checking, you will be able to apply for a new BA Premium Plus card under your name as the basic account holder and receive the welcome bonus
    Me: Just for my reference, can you see the date I closed my last BA Prem Plus account?
    AX: The card was closed last June 6, 2021.
    Me: So doesn’t that mean I need to wait until at least June 6 2023 before I would be eligible again for a sign-up bonus?
    AX: No. The 24 months applies not on the cancellation date but on the open date which was July, 2018. You can now apply for the new card and you’ll be eligible for the welcome offer.
    Me: Just one question to clarify that… so if I have held a card for more than 2 years, I can close it and immediately apply for a new one and again be eligible for a bonus? I’m not really asking for myself, but mu mum has held her card for at least 5 years and she could really do with a boost of Avios!
    AX: Thanks for letting me know. Yes, that’s right! Below are the eligible for the BA Premium Plus card:

    I am aged 18 or over
    I have a current UK bank or building society account
    I have a permanent UK home address
    I have no history of bad debt
    I understand I will not be eligible for any Welcome Bonus award if I hold or have held any personal British Airways American Express Card product in the past 24 months.
    AX: If those above were met, then your mom will receive the bonus.

    WILL CONTINUE IN NEXT REPLY…

    • Rich says:

      12 Jan12 January 14:44

      AX: If those above were met, then your mom will receive the bonus.
      Me: “if I hold or have held any personal British Airways American Express Card product in the past 24 months”… doesn’t that mean if anyone has closed an account less than 2 years ago, they would not be eligible? As they would have been “holding” the account at that time?
      AX: The eligibility is not based either the account is cancelled or active. As long as the 24 months have been pass, then they will receive the offer.
      Me: Thank you very much for clarifying this. Have a great day 🙂

      THOUGHTS?!?!?!

      • Rob says:

        12 Jan12 January 15:17

        If you trust what the Amex call centre reps say, about anything, then you get what’s coming to you 🙂

        • Aston100 says:

          12 Jan12 January 15:41

          But you are almost certain to get some MR / Avios / something for your troubles after you raise a complaint when the 70k Avios inevitably doesn’t land.

        • Rich says:

          19 Jan19 January 16:27

          So just to update on this… everything the call centre rep told me on the live chat I posted was indeed INCORRECT, and I received the card without the 70,000 Avios promo showing. I chatted again and the second rep told me he could see the info I had been given was wrong, and so I opened a formal complaint. I’ve just had a call and follow up email confirming that my complaint is fully upheld, and that 70,000 Avios is being added to the account today, with no need to hit the £3k spend target. So a bit of a faff, but all’s well that ends well 🙂

      • JDB says:

        12 Jan12 January 15:46

        And, further to @Aston100 comments, if the SUB Avios don’t land which is the probable scenario, you need to cancel the account and ensure that they set the clock back to June 2021 as otherwise, you not only don’t get the points but will also have lost c.18 months of fallow period.

      • Rabbit says:

        13 Jan13 January 00:16

        I had the opposite issue last year when I applied for the Mariott card thinking it has been two years.since I last had one. Opened it, bonus never came through, asked Amex about eligibility and turns out I had applied 1 day too early – they said I had cancelled 1 yr 364 days ago – so It was from the cancelling date not opening date otherwise I’d have been eligible. Beware!!!

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