A positive change to the British Airways American Express 2-4-1 companion voucher rules

Without giving cardholders any notification (I think), American Express has made a positive change to the small print of the British Airways American Express 2-4-1 companion voucher.

(Presumably the reason for the lack of notification is that the change is positive!)

The rules can be found on this page of ba.com.

Finally …. one of the most common question in my inbox can be put to bed.

Let’s go to Clause 17.

It used to say:

17. The Cardmember is responsible for paying any Taxes, Fees and Charges relating to their Companion Voucher booking. Taxes, Fees and Charges apply per person. All Taxes, Fees and Charges must be paid for using the British Airways American Express Card.

and it now says

17. The Cardmember is responsible for paying any Taxes, Fees and Charges relating to their Companion Voucher booking. Taxes, Fees and Charges apply per person. All Taxes, Fees and Charges must be paid for using an American Express Card.

It is important to note that nothing, in practice, changed.

It was ALWAYS the case that:

• you could use any type of American Express card to pay the taxes and charges on your 2-4-1 companion voucher redemption, as ba.com could not discriminate between different types of personal American Express cards, and

• you could use an American Express in any name (Amex does not do name verification as part of its security checks, so this was never an issue – payments go through if you say you are the cardholder, even if you are not)

However, it was very common – when redeeming a 2-4-1 companion voucher by telephone – for the call centre to insist that you had to pay the taxes with your British Airways American Express card. This was true according to the T&C but was not true in reality and was not imposed for online bookings. Some people did come to verbal blows with the call centre about it.

Anyway …. this is no longer an issue.

It also means that there is no longer any requirement to still hold your British Airways American Express card when you redeem your voucher. This was never a stated rule in the first place (unless you interpret clause 32 to mean this) but was of course implied by the rule saying that you needed to pay with your BA Amex.

It’s not clear if this change is just American Express / British Airways being nice, or if there was some regulatory pushback (you were being forced to keep a financial product to utilise a benefit you had already earned) or if this is linked to the ending of pro-rata refunds on cancelled American Express credit cards from 2nd October.

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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

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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