Last chance to collect bonus Avios

Last few days to collect bonus Avios on British Airways American Express credit cards.

If you want to cut the cost of next year's holiday, then time is running out to take advantage of the bonus Avios on offer when you take out one of the British Airways credit cards from American Express.

Open the British Airways American Express Credit Card before September 30th and spend £1,000 within the first three months and you’ll have a bonus 9,000 points to spend on future flights. You earn one Avios for every £1 you spend on the card.

If you spend £20,000 or more on your card within a year, BA will give you another ticket for a companion in the same flight and cabin.

The British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card also has a bonus Avios offer, though this card is for more regular travellers. You get 25,000 bonus Avios if you open an account by 30th September and spend £3,000 in your first three months of card membership.  With this card you earn 1.5 Avios for every £1 you spend, which doubles to three Avios for every £1 spent with British Airways or BA Holidays.

Spend £10,000 before your ‘card anniversary’ and you can get a ticket for a companion: same flight, same cabin.

The key difference between this and its sister card is the hefty annual fee of £150. 

Spending your miles

Take a look at this list of some of the destinations that British Airways flies to and how many Avios it will cost you to get there (based on flights from London airports).

These don’t include taxes, fees and carrier charges. 

Other travel credit cards

The British Airways American Express cards are not the only travel credit cards that can help you cut the cost of your holidays.

Virgin Atlantic’s Black Credit Card and White Credit Card are a good alternative. Open the White card before 31st October and spend £1,000 within the first 90 days, and you’ll earn 7,000 bonus Flying Club Miles. That’s in addition to the 3,000 bonus miles you receive for making purchases on card in the same period, bringing your total to 10,000 miles. The Black Card boasts an even bigger bonus of 25,000 miles in total, though it does come with an annual fee of £140.

Each Virgin card actually consists of two separate credit cards: an American Express and a Visa. With the White Card, you earn one mile for every pound spent on American Express and one mile for every two pounds spent on Visa. Similarly, the Black Card gives you two miles for every pound spent on American Express and one mile for every pound spent on Visa.

Lloyds Bank and TSB have their own Avios cards too.

With the Lloyds Bank Avios Rewards Credit Card, you get an American Express and a MasterCard. You earn 1.25 Avios for every £1 spent on the Amex and every £5 spent on the MasterCard. 

You get double Avios for your spending on the Amex for the first six months, and a free upgrade voucher when you spend £7,000 in a year. 

There's also the Lloyds Bank Premier Avios Rewards Credit Card, where the rate jumps to 1.5 Avios for every £1 spent on the Amex or £5 on the MasterCard. You get the free upgrade voucher when you hit £5,000 of spending. But there's an annual fee of £140. 

TSB has two separate types of Avios card, each again consisting of both an American Express and a MasterCard. With the TSB Avios Credit Card you get one Avios for every £1 spent on the Amex and £5 on the MasterCard. With the Premier Avios Credit Card this jumps to 1.25 Avios, though there is an annual fee of £50 to consider.

For more read The best air mile credit cards.

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