Celebrating the 25-year tie-up with British Airways
Amex and BA have been bedfellows for twenty-five years. That’s a long time, predating, I guess, most Avios-earners. In fact, it pre-dates Avios itself. Things haven’t been so great recently if you’re a points collector using Amex, but there are some minor rewards on offer.
Amex Bonus Avios based on spend
There’s an opt-in bonus available to the first 200,000 card members. If you own a BA-branded credit card, you should have got that in your inbox.
If you spend £2,000 (Free card) or £4,000 (Premium Plus) by the 8th April 2026 then you’ll get 25% extra Avios.
- For the free BA card that means you’ll earn 1.25 points per £ you spend if you hit the £2,000
- For the BA premium card you’ll earn the equivalent of 1.875 points per £.
It’s a good, low-effort offer, with the Aivos worth £5 or £15 if you value them at 1p per point. The points will be awarded within 30 days of the final transaction that takes you over the £2k/£4 spend. That will be given to you as a single block of points.
Transactions that take you to that £2k/£4k must have cleared by the 8th April. If you use the card for overseas transactions, the fees related to that won’t count towards the £2k/£4k. It’s also worth bearing in mind that transactions may take a few days to clear, and may end up being dated after the 8th April even if they took place before.
Amex Tier Points
Amex have also announced that you can continue to earn British Airways tier points based on spend. No further information is available beyond “…from April 2026 you’ll also have another opportunity to earn tier points on your everyday spend”. The assumption is that the scheme follows the same one that’s currently active.
Earning tier points is useful, but you can’t get any BA status with Amex tier points alone. You’d have to earn additional points through another method, such as cash flights, or through the SAF initiative.
I wrote a longer article last year on how you earn tier points through your Amex card.
Is that everything?
No. Amex have said that we need to “look out for more surprises to be revealed throughout the year”. They have alluded to exclusive prizes and experiences, which interest me less. Certainly the Amex Experiences tend to be London-focused.
It’s been a poor year for points earners. Amex has removed the highly valuable monthly and quarterly bonuses on its business cards. That’s on top of BA devaluing Avios points last December. The goalposts have been moved, and the ability to get there has been made harder.
There are still opportunities to earn a chunk of one-off points when you open a card, and these bonuses remain generous. They are, however, a one-off boost, and the idea of repeatedly closing and opening cards has never sat well with me.
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