HUGE 60000 Avios Bonus With The BA Premium Plus Amex

Until the 10th of October, British Airways has launched an exclusive 60000 Avios sign-up bonus on the British Airways Premium Plus American Express Card. The 60000 Avios sign-up bonus is one of the biggest we’ve ever seen for the card (only trumped by the 70,000 offered at the start of the year.)

You need to spend £5,000 within 3 months days to get the 60000 Avios sign-up bonus. This equates to £1,666.67 a month worth of spending on the card.

To get the sign-up bonus you cannot of held or currently hold an Avios earning card in the last 24 months to be eligible for a sign-up bonus. You can hold another personal American Express card and still be eligible for the sign-up bonus.

This is my experience using the points system and is not a recommendation of any financial product. There are other credit cards that can earn you travel points including Avios earning Barclaycards, Tesco Credit Cards (by exchanging Clubcard points for Virgin points, hotel stays and more) & Virgin Atlantic credit card.

The interest rate on the card is 112.5% APR variable, based on a notional £1,200 credit limit and a £250 annual fee. The interest rate on purchases is 30.7% APR variable.

What are the 60000 Avios worth?

They can be redeemed for flights, 60000 Avios will give you enough points for a Business Class return (‘taxes & fees’ will be due also) to Zone 1,2, 3 locations including Milan, Paphos & Venice. You could also get an off-peak return premium economy ticket to zone 4 & 5 destinations including New York, Dubai or Boston. To view all the locations and options you have see here – https://pointsuncovered.com/avios/how-many-avios-does-a-flight-cost-in-2021/

Alternatively, they can be converted into Nectar points you’d get 80,000 Nectar points worth £400 (Sainsbury’s, eBay, Argos etc.)

How do I get the 60000 Avios?

You need to spend £5,000 in 3 months. That means you need to be able to put £1666.67 a month or approximately £417 a week on your card to meet the sign-up bonus.

Are there any other benefits?

In addition to earning 1.5 Avios (3 Avios on British Airways or BA Holidays spend) per £1 on all qualifying spend the BA Premium Plus Amex comes with (in our opinion) the most valuable credit card perk in the UK. If you spend £10,000 in a year you’ll receive a 2-4-1 voucher valid for two years. This allows you to get 2 tickets for the price of one in Avios, the cash element of ‘taxes and charges’ would still be due for both tickets. For example, if you were to book a peak business class return to New York from London the 2-4-1 voucher would save you 120,000 Avios on a return for 2 people. Based on our valuation of 1p per Avios this is worth £1,200! Obviously, there are more expensive and cheaper options you can also choose from.

If you haven’t had a BA Amex in the last 24 months you might have missed…

You no longer need to start your flights using 2-4-1 vouchers in the UK, this opens up the possibility of cheaper flights (lower ‘taxes & fees’) from other locations e.g. Dublin, Paris etc.

The voucher also has the benefit of potentially opening more business class seats for you by booking into I-class when seats are available. This isn’t available to users booking without a 2-4-1 voucher. To see how this works in practice we made some dummy searches with and without a voucher to show you the potential extra availability you might see – https://pointsuncovered.com/british-airways/is-the-new-ba-amex-2-4-1-voucher-any-good/

You can also now use the 2-4-1 voucher for Avios flights on Iberia & Aer Lingus. The main benefit of this is that the taxes and charges on Iberia redemptions are substantially lower than those on British Airways flights. Particularly if you are willing to fly ex eu (booking your ticket starting in Europe, and having a separate ticket to reach your starting point) to avoid UK air passenger duty. In addition, if Manchester is your local airport you now have the option to use your 2-4-1 voucher on Aer Lingus direct from Manchester to New York, Orlando and Barbados. Read more here – https://pointsuncovered.com/avios/huge-news-you-can-now-use-your-ba-amex-2-4-1-voucher-on-iberia-and-aer-lingus/

If you are a solo traveller the 2-4-1 voucher can now be used for a 50% discount on the Avios required for a flight. More details here – https://pointsuncovered.com/british-airways/new-ba-amex-2-4-1-voucher-improvements/

And finally, BA doubled the amount of Avios seats available on each flight AND for the first time released guaranteed premium economy availability for Avios seats. Read more here – https://pointsuncovered.com/british-airways/ba-doubles-the-amount-of-avios-seats-available-on-every-flight/

What about the annual fee?

There is an annual fee of £250 (which unfortunately is no longer pro-rata refunded from October when you cancel.)

If you are eligible for the sign-up bonus look at the numbers… 60,000 Avios what we value at 1p each, means £600 worth of value, take the annual fee of £250 leaves us with £450 profit in the first year. Or if you convert into Nectar you’d get 80,000 Nectar points worth £400 which means you’d be £150 in profit.

Will I be eligible to get the card?

As we covered recently American Express has brought back in minimum income requirements for their cards. You now need to earn at least 35k a year to be eligible for the card.

Can my partner, family member or friend get one too?

Of course! There are NO limits to how many people in your household can have a card. Whilst normally you can refer your family member/friend etc for extra Avios (normally 9,000 Avios) from the BA Premium Plus card.) as this offer is only available through the BA website they wouldn’t receive the increased 60000 Avios sign-up if they joined through your referral link.

If you and one other person you got the BA Premium Plus card and met the spending target (make sure you are both eligible) you’d have 120,000 Avios points when pooled together! That would get you two Business Class seats (with a 2-4-1 voucher earned at 10k spend) to places such as New York, Dubai & Boston (Zones 1 – 5.) Continue to save and fly further or perhaps even upgrade those Business Class seats to First Class!

To read more about the BA Premium Plus card and see the 60,000 Avios offer you need to login to the BA website, click Manage, then My Executive Club. If you scroll down you should see the offer on the left hand side (like the picture above.)

Are you tempted by the increased sign-up bonus to take out the BA Premium Plus Amex?