BA Amex Premium Plus: The Status Change Bigger Than the Avios Cut

From 7 October 2026, the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card cuts its standard earn rate from 1.5 Avios per £1 down to 1.25 Avios per £1, with the boosted rate on BA and BA Holidays spend dropping from 3 Avios to 1.25 Avios per £1 as well. That much has already been widely discussed - but there is a second half to this announcement that has received far less attention, and it is arguably the more important shift: Amex is not simply taking Avios away. It is replacing part of the card's value proposition with something else entirely, and that something is status.

The earn rate cuts landing on 7 October are real and they sting, particularly for anyone who has been maximising the old 3 Avios rate on BA and BA Holidays bookings. On a £3,000 long-haul flight booked through BA, the difference between 3 Avios per £1 and 1.25 Avios per £1 is the difference between earning 9,000 Avios and 3,750 Avios on that single transaction. That is a meaningful reduction by any measure.

But the announcement also included changes on the status side of the card's benefit stack - and that is the part worth unpacking carefully. The card has historically been positioned as a points-earning tool first. The direction of travel from 7 October shifts it toward something closer to a status-support card. For some cardholders, that will actually be a better fit. For others, it will represent a genuine downgrade in value.

The simplest way to feel the impact is to run the numbers on a year of typical spending. If you put £20,000 through the card annually at the standard rate, you previously earned 30,000 Avios per year. From October, that same spending produces 25,000 Avios - a loss of 5,000 Avios. At a conservative valuation of 1p per Avios, that is £50 of points value gone annually on general spend alone.

The BA and BA Holidays category is where the maths gets more dramatic. Previously, spending £10,000 on BA flights and holidays in a year earned 30,000 Avios at the 3x rate. From 7 October, that same £10,000 generates just 12,500 Avios at 1.25x. That is a shortfall of 17,500 Avios - worth roughly £175 in conservative flight value on that one spending category. If you book expensive long-haul fares through BA, the annual hit could be considerably higher. You can use the Smart With Points Avios Value Calculator to work out what your own Avios are worth based on how you plan to redeem them.

The core argument being made - and it is a credible one - is that Amex and BA are recalibrating who this card is designed for. Heavy points collectors who maximise every category of spend were getting exceptional value from the old earn rates. The 3 Avios per £1 on BA bookings in particular was a standout rate that few comparable cards could touch.

By levelling that rate down and leaning into status-related benefits, the card becomes more interesting to frequent BA flyers who care about maintaining or building Executive Club tier status, and less compelling as a pure Avios accumulation vehicle. Whether that trade-off works for you depends entirely on your own flying pattern. If you are chasing BA Gold or Silver status, the card's remaining benefits around tier points and companion vouchers may still justify the £295 annual fee. If you were primarily holding it to stack Avios on BA purchases, the maths has shifted against you.

The timing of the earn rate change - taking effect the day after the enhanced welcome bonus closes on 6 October - is clearly deliberate. New cardholders who apply now and hit their spend target within the bonus window will experience the higher earn rates only briefly before they are cut. That context matters for anyone currently weighing up whether to apply.

The honest answer is that it depends on what you were using the card for. Here is a practical framework for thinking it through:

For BA status chasers, it is worth checking our BA Tier Point Calculator to model exactly how many tier points your planned flying generates and whether card benefits meaningfully close any gap.

The cardholders who lose most are those who were deliberately routing large BA and BA Holidays bookings through this card to capture 3 Avios per £1. That category of spend - booking long-haul flights directly with BA - was where the Premium Plus card was genuinely best-in-class. From 7 October, it earns the same 1.25 Avios per £1 as everything else, removing the specific use case that made the high annual fee easier to justify.

The cuts also arrive without any announced compensation in the form of new benefits. This is not a restructure that adds a travel credit or lounge access in exchange for fewer Avios. It is, at its core, a devaluation of the earn side - offset only by the framing that status support is now more central to the card's identity. Whether that framing translates into tangible new benefits remains to be seen.

The new earn rates of 1.25 Avios per £1 on all spend - including BA and BA Holidays bookings - take effect from 7 October 2026. The current rates of 1.5 Avios per £1 (general) and 3 Avios per £1 (BA spend) apply until 6 October inclusive.

It depends on how you use it. If your primary return comes from the 241 companion voucher or status-related benefits, the card may still justify its fee. If you were mainly holding it for the high Avios earn on BA bookings, the value case is significantly weaker from October.

No - the welcome bonus terms are separate. The enhanced welcome bonus of 60,000 Avios runs until 6 October 2026, and new applicants can still earn it. However, the lower earn rates will apply to all ongoing spend from 7 October, regardless of when you applied.

On £20,000 of general annual spend, you lose around 5,000 Avios per year (from 30,000 down to 25,000). On BA-category spend, the drop is far steeper - from 3 Avios to 1.25 Avios per £1 means losing 17,500 Avios on every £10,000 of BA bookings. Use the Avios Value Calculator to work out the £ impact for your own spending pattern.

The BA Amex Premium Plus earn rate cuts arriving on 7 October 2026 are a genuine reduction in value - particularly for anyone using the card to earn at the old 3 Avios per £1 rate on BA spend. The reframing toward status support is interesting in principle, but does not yet translate into concrete new benefits that offset the loss. If your renewal is coming up before or shortly after October, it is worth doing the maths on your own spending before automatically paying the £295 fee again.

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