BA Amex Premium Plus: 60,000 Avios Sign-Up Bonus Ends 6 October

The British Airways American Express Premium Plus card is currently offering a sign-up bonus of 60,000 Avios when you spend £6,000 in your first three months - and the offer closes Tuesday 6th October 2026, leaving under two weeks to apply. What makes this particularly notable is that it is the first time in over three years that a special bonus of this size has been openly promoted on either of the British Airways American Express cards - recent elevated offers were quietly available only through ba.com and avios.com, not to the general public.

The bonus applies to the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card only. To trigger it, you must spend £6,000 within the first three months of card membership. The deadline to apply and be eligible for the elevated bonus is 6th October 2026.

It is also worth noting that the Premium Plus card is changing on 7th October - the day after the bonus deadline. From that date, the earn rate drops from 1.5 Avios per £1 to 1.25 Avios per £1, and the double-Avios bonus on British Airways spend is removed. The Companion Voucher benefit (earned at £15,000 spend per year) remains, and from April 2027, cardholders will also earn tier points at a rate of 1 per £10 spent, capped at 3,000 per membership year.

The short answer: somewhere between £300 and £600+, depending on how you use them. You can work through the numbers for your own situation using the Smart With Points Avios Value Calculator, but here is a simple breakdown:

To put the maths another way: if you apply in late September, spend £6,000 by late December, bank the 60,000 Avios and then cancel, you could walk away with a significant Avios haul at a net annual fee cost of just a few months' worth of the £300 charge - potentially under £100 after the pro-rata refund.

The eligibility rules for the Premium Plus card are more lenient than most people expect. The core rule is straightforward: you must not have held either the free British Airways American Express Credit Card or the BA Amex Premium Plus card in the past 24 months.

If you are unsure whether you qualify, the Amex Welcome Bonus Eligibility Tool can help you check before you apply.

Crucially, holding other Amex cards does NOT disqualify you. The following cards have no impact on your eligibility for the Premium Plus bonus:

You are also eligible if you are currently a supplementary cardholder on someone else's BA Amex account, provided you have not held a BA Amex card in your own name in the past 24 months. You will need a personal income of at least £35,000 to be accepted for the Premium Plus card.

If you do not qualify yourself because you have held a BA Amex in the past 24 months, it is worth thinking creatively. If another member of your household qualifies and you are in the same British Airways Household Account, they could apply for the Premium Plus card and add you as a supplementary cardholder. All spending - including yours - would count towards the £6,000 spend target, and the 60,000 Avios would land in your shared Household Account.

For those who do qualify, the recommended approach is:

Even if you have no interest in keeping the Premium Plus card long term, applying now, earning the bonus and then downgrading is a perfectly rational move. The free BA Amex carries no annual fee, so you would not be paying anything once you switch down.

A few genuine limitations worth being clear-eyed about:

The elevated sign-up bonus closes on 6th October 2026. You must submit your application before that date to be eligible - spending can continue beyond it, but you need to be an approved applicant by the deadline.

Yes. Holding the Amex Gold (or Platinum, Nectar, Cashback, or most other Amex cards) does not affect your eligibility for the BA Amex Premium Plus bonus. The only cards that count against you are the two British Airways Amex cards themselves.

It depends on your spending habits. The Companion Voucher - which lets you book two Avios flights in any cabin for the points of one - is genuinely valuable if you will hit £15,000 in card spend per year and have enough Avios to use it in a premium cabin. If not, it makes more sense to downgrade to the free BA Amex after earning the bonus.

Avios requirements vary by route and distance. The BA Avios Flight Calculator lets you look up the exact Avios cost for any BA route before you commit to keeping the card long term.

The BA Amex Premium Plus 60,000 Avios bonus is one of the strongest publicly available Amex sign-up offers in recent memory - and the first time a deal of this size has been openly promoted on either British Airways Amex card in over three years. At a minimum floor value of £300 in Nectar credit and up to £600+ on premium cabin flights, the bonus comfortably outweighs the £300 annual fee even if you cancel straight after. The deadline is Tuesday 6th October 2026 - just 11 days away. If you qualify and can hit the £6,000 spend target, there is a strong case for applying before the window closes.

These are the top credit card welcome bonuses we're tracking. Offers change frequently - see all cards.

1. HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard: Receive 70,000 reward points when you spend £2,000 on your card in the first 90 ... (£2.9/yr)

2. Platinum Card: 50,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£6.5/yr)

3. Gold Card: 20,000 points after spending £3,000 in 3 months (£1.95/yr (waived first year))

Looking to redeem your points? Here's what's available right now (via Award Travel Finder):

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• Flying Blue Status Match - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue (New Markets) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue UK (BA Status Holders) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

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