On Wednesday, American Express unveiled substantial changes to the two British Airways American Express credit cards – click here.

In this article, I want to look at what holders of the free British Airways American Express card should do.

From 1st November 2024, you will need to spend £15,000 per year to receive a 2-4-1 companion voucher. As a reminder, this voucher is valid for one year (the Premium Plus card voucher is valid for two years) and only for Economy flights (the Premium Plus voucher is valid in all cabins).

You can read our free British Airways American Express review here.

A similar analysis for the Premium Plus card will follow tomorrow.

Should the average HfP reader still hold the free British Airways American Express card?

To be honest, probably not. This isn’t new advice – we’ve never recommended it to HfP readers because, whatever your reason, other cards serve you better.

Whether or not the American Express companion voucher on the free BA Amex card is worth having is, I admit, personal preference. For me, I think if you are spending £15,000 on your free British Airways American Express card, you would be better off with the ‘two year, all classes’ voucher issued with the Premium Plus version. The only reason not to do this would be if you didn’t earn enough Avios each year to use the voucher in a premium cabin.

However, from 1st November 2024, if you’re not spending £15,000 per year on the free BA Amex card, you’re not triggering the 2-4-1 companion voucher.

In this scenario, why are you holding the card? There are two better options open to you:

Get the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard – you earn the same rate (1 Avios per £1) and, as a Mastercard, it is accepted in more places than American Express. You are reducing the cards in your wallet or purse, because everyone needs a back-up Visa or Mastercard for their Amex anyway. You may also be able to hit £20,000 to trigger the annual upgrade voucher when you factor in your non-Amex spending.

Get the free American Express Rewards Credit Card – you earn the same rate (1 Avios per £1, if you choose to convert the Membership Rewards points into Avios) but you can also convert your points into many other airline or hotel loyalty programmes

Option 1: Should you swap to the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard?

If you can’t spend £15,000 on the free British Airways American Express card, there are a LOT of good reasons to switch to the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard. For example:

ALL Amex cardholders need a back-up Visa or Mastercard, and if you have a British Airways American Express then the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard has ALWAYS been your obvious companion

If you can’t spend £15,000 on the free British Airways American Express card, why not go all-in with Barclaycard? Thin out your wallet or purse ….

…. and, ahem, after two years away you’d be able to apply for American Express cards again and start picking up fresh sign-up bonuses

Whilst you may not be able to spend £15,000 to earn the voucher on the free BA American Express card, perhaps you COULD spend £20,000 on the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard if you put all your spend there? A lot of local authories accept Visa or Mastercard for paying Council Tax for example – that’s £2,000 to £3,000 of annual card spend.

The upgrade voucher on the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard has two advantages over the free British Airways American Express voucher – it is valid for two years, and you can also use it to travel in Business or Premium Economy, albeit not First Class (this is how the Barclaycard upgrade voucher works)

If you’ve not applied for a Barclaycard Avios Mastercard before, you would qualify for a 5,000 Avios sign-up bonus on the free card ….

…. although it makes more sense to apply for the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard with its 25,000 Avios bonus (£20 per month fee) and downgrade later

Option 2: Should you swap to the free American Express Rewards Credit Card?

You may want to remain within the American Express ecosystem. Perhaps you like the referral bonuses or the cashback offers?

Instead of keeping your free British Airways American Express card, why not swap to American Express Rewards? It’s free for life and earns 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent.

What you get with the American Express Rewards Credit Card is flexibility.

Yes, you can use your points for Avios. You can send them over to BA via the Amex website and they will arrive within 24 hours.

However, you have other options. Membership Rewards points can also be sent to Virgin Atlantic, Flying Blue, Emirates, Etihad or Delta among other airline partners. You can also send them to Hilton Honors (1:2), Marriott Bonvoy (2:3) and Radisson Rewards (1:3). You can convert them to Club Eurostar (15:1). You can even use them for shopping vouchers. You can see the airline partners here.

The American Express Rewards Credit Card gives you more choice. You can still take Avios if you want, and at the same 1 Avios per £1 earning rate. If you suddenly decide that you want hotel points, or that Virgin Points make more sense, or even that you want to abandon Avios altogether, you can. Simply move your Amex points somewhere else instead.

With the free BA Amex card, your points are sitting in Avios from Day 1 and you can’t do anything else with them. If Avios devalues its rewards, if BA stops flying your preferred route, if reward availability suddenly gets a lot harder to find, if Reward Flight Saver fees jump up, if new surcharges get added ….. you’re stuck. Your only way out is via a transfer to Nectar points.

There is literally no area where the free British Airways card outperforms the American Express Rewards Credit Card if you are not triggering the 2-4-1 voucher. You don’t even get bonus Avios when paying with the free BA Amex at ba.com – this is a benefit that only comes with the British Airways Premium Plus card.

And, of course, after two years without a British Airways American Express card you’d be able to re-apply for Premium Plus and pick up a hefty sign-up bonus.

Conclusion

Increasing the spend required for the companion voucher on the free British Airways American Express credit card to £15,000 makes this a good time to take stock and decide if the card still works for you.

Whether you get the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard:

usable everywhere

upgrade voucher if you can spend £20,000 (which may be possible on a Mastercard even if you can’t spend £15,000 on an Amex)

opens the door to returning to Amex in 24 months to get a fresh sign-up bonus

thins out your wallet or purse, since you need a Visa or Mastercard anyway as a fall back

….. or the free Amex Rewards Credit Card:

free for life like your free British Airways American Express

earns Avios at the same rate (1 per £1 spent)

opens the door to returning to British Airways Premium Plus in 24 months to get a fresh sign-up bonus

gives you FAR more flexibility in using your points, as you can also move them to many other airline schemes, plus various hotel programmes, Club Eurostar and for shopping vouchers

…. either is a better choice than the free British Airways American Express card if you spend under £15,000 per year and will no longer receive a 2-4-1 companion voucher.

Our full review of the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard is here and you can apply here.

Our full review of the American Express Rewards Credit Card is here and you can apply here.

Interest rate information and key links

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Bonus: 5,000 Avios

Read our full review

Other information:

Receive an Avios upgrade voucher when you spend £20,000 in a card year
Upgrade a return BA flight for one person or two one-way flights for a couple
Annual fee: Free

Representative 29.9% APR variable

Apply here

See if you qualify for the 5,000 Avios sign-up bonus +

You will receive 5,000 Avios as a sign-up bonus on the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard credit card if you spend £1,000 within 90 days of signing up.

To qualify for the bonus, you must NOT, currently or in the previous six months, have held any other Barclaycard credit card.

You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s Barclaycard account.

You are OK if, currently or in the previous six months, you have had a British Airways American Express credit card.

For clarity, you can still apply for the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard even if you do not qualify for the bonus. You would still benefit from the upgrade voucher and the other card benefits.

Learn more about the card benefits +

When you spend £20,000 on the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard, you receive a voucher entitling you to:

book a return Avios flight for one person, paying the Avios of the next lowest cabin (ie book Club World but only pay the World Traveller Plus Avios requirement)
book a one-way Avios flight, or one leg of a return flight, for two people, paying the Avios of the next lowest cabin

The voucher is valid for two years. Full taxes and charges need to be paid on both tickets, based on the cabin you fly.

The voucher can be used for anyone, as long as the booking is made from the Avios account of the cardholder.

The voucher cannot be used to fly in First Class.

You receive your voucher within five days of reaching the spending target.

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Bonus: 25,000 Avios

Read our full review

Other information:

Receive an Avios upgrade voucher when you spend £10,000 in a card year
Upgrade a return BA flight for one person or two one-way flights for a couple
Annual fee: £240, charged at £20 per month

Representative 80.1% APR variable based on an assumed £1,200 credit limit and £20 monthly fee. Interest rate on purchases 29.9% APR variable.

Apply here

See if you qualify for the 25,000 Avios sign-up bonus +

You will receive 25,000 Avios as a sign-up bonus on the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard credit card if you spend £3,000 within 90 days of signing up.

To qualify for the bonus, you must NOT, currently or in the previous six months, have held any other Barclaycard credit card.

You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s Barclaycard account.

You are OK if, currently or in the previous six months, you have had a British Airways American Express credit card.

For clarity, you can still apply for the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard even if you do not qualify for the bonus. You would still benefit from the upgrade voucher and the other card benefits.

Learn more about the card benefits +

When you spend £10,000 on the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard, you receive a voucher entitling you to:

book a return Avios flight for one person, paying the Avios of the next lowest cabin (ie book Club World but only pay the World Traveller Plus Avios requirement)
book a one-way Avios flight, or one leg of a return flight, for two people, paying the Avios of the next lowest cabin

The voucher is valid for two years. Full taxes and charges need to be paid on both tickets, based on the cabin you fly.

The voucher cannot be used to fly in First Class.

The voucher can be used for anyone, as long as the booking is made from the Avios account of the cardholder.

You receive your voucher within five days of reaching the spending target.

British Airways American Express

Bonus: 5,000 Avios

Read our full review

Other information:

Receive a companion voucher, letting you book two flights for the Avios of one, when you spend £15,000 in a card year
This sum is reduced to £12,000 until 1st November 2024
The companion voucher is only valid on Economy flights
It can be used on British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus
Annual fee: Free

Representative 31.0% APR variable

Apply here

See if you qualify for the 5,000 Avios sign-up bonus +

You will receive 5,000 Avios as a sign-up bonus on the free British Airways American Express card if you spend £1,000 within 90 days of signing up.

To qualify for the bonus, you must NOT, currently or in the previous 24 months, have held any other personal American Express card.

You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s British Airways American Express account.

You are OK if, currently or in the previous 24 months, you have held a Business American Express card.

For clarity, you can still apply for the British Airways American Express card even if you do not qualify for the bonus. You would still benefit from the companion voucher and the other card benefits.

Learn more about the card benefits +

When you spend £15,000 on the British Airways American Express card, you receive a companion voucher entitling you to book two Avios redemption flights for the miles of one. This voucher is valid for one year. (Full taxes and charges need to be paid on both tickets.)

This sum is reduced to £12,000 if you can achieve it by 1st November 2024.

The voucher on the free British Airways American Express card can only be used on Economy flights.

The voucher can be used for Avios bookings on British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus.

You receive your voucher within a few days of reaching the spending target. You need to fly the outbound leg of your 2-4-1 flight before the expiry date of the voucher.

If you want more flexibility, the voucher issued with the British Airways Premium Plus American Express card is valid for two years, requires the same £15,000 of annual card spend and is valid in ALL cabins including Business and First. The Premium Plus card also has a higher earning rate of 1.5 Avios per £1 on general spend and 3 Avios per £1 on spend with British Airways and BA Holidays.

You need a minimum personal income of £20,000 to apply for the card.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

Bonus: 25,000 Avios

Read our full review

Sign-up bonus and earn rate:

Get 25,000 Avios when you spend £3,000 within 90 days
Earn 1.5 Avios per £1 spent
Earn 3 Avios per £1 spent with British Airways and BA Holidays

Other information:

Receive a companion voucher, letting you book two flights for the Avios of one, when you spend £15,000 in a card year
This is reduced to £10,000 until 1st November 2024
A solo traveller can use it for a 50% discount on the Avios for one ticket
The voucher is valid in any cabin
It can be used on British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus
Annual fee: £300

Representative 139.9% APR variable based on an assumed £1,200 credit limit and £300 annual fee. Interest rate on purchases 31.0% APR variable.

Apply here

See if you qualify for the 25,000 Avios sign-up bonus +

You will receive 25,000 Avios as a sign-up bonus on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card if you spend £3,000 within 90 days of signing up.

To qualify for the bonus, you must not have held the British Airways Premium Plus or the free British Airways American Express cards in the previous 24 months.

You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s British Airways American Express account.

You are OK if, currently or in the previous 24 months, you have held any other American Express card.

For clarity, you can still apply for the British Airways Premium Plus card even if you do not qualify for the bonus. You would still benefit from the companion voucher and all of the other card benefits.

Learn more about the card benefits +

When you spend £15,000 on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card, you receive a companion voucher entitling you to book two Avios redemption flights for the miles of one.

Alternatively, a solo traveller can use the voucher for a 50% reduction on the Avios required for one ticket.

This sum is reduced to £10,000 until 1st November 2024.

This voucher is valid for two years. Full taxes and charges need to be paid on both tickets.

This voucher is the most valuable perk available in the UK airline and hotel credit card sector in my view. It could save you 150,000 or more Avios when used for a long-haul redemption in a premium cabin.

The voucher with the Premium Plus card is far more powerful than the voucher given with the free British Airways American Express card. You need to spend the same £15,000 to receive it. More importantly, the Premium Plus voucher is valid for two years and is valid in ALL cabins. The voucher on the free British Airways American Express card is only valid for one year and can only be used for Economy flights.

You receive your voucher within a few days of reaching the spending target. You need to fly the outbound leg of your 2-4-1 flight before the expiry date of the voucher.

The voucher can be used for flights on British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus.

You need a minimum personal income of £35,000 to apply for the card.

American Express Rewards

Bonus: 10,000 points

Read our full review

Sign-up bonus and earn rate:

Get 10,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend £2,000 within 90 days
Earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent
Points transfer at 1:1 into Avios, Virgin Points and other airline and hotel schemes

Other information:

Your best choice if you want a ‘free for life’ card which earns Membership Rewards points
A good choice if you want to close a Gold or Platinum card but keep your points intact
Annual fee: Free

Representative 31.0% APR variable

Apply here

See if you qualify for the 10,000 points sign-up bonus +

You will receive 10,000 American Express Membership Rewards points as a sign-up bonus on the American Express Rewards card if you spend £2,000 within 90 days of signing up.

Membership Rewards points are hugely flexible. You can transfer them into Avios, Virgin Flying Club or other airlines (at 1:1) or into various hotels schemes, into Club Eurostar or use them for shopping vouchers.

To qualify for the bonus, you must NOT, currently or in the previous 24 months, have held any other personal American Express card.

You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s American Express account.

You are OK if, currently or in the previous 24 months, you have held a Business American Express card.

For clarity, you can still apply for the American Express Rewards card even if you do not qualify for the bonus. You may want to do this if you are thinking of swapping your Preferred Rewards Gold or Platinum card for a free alternative, and would prefer to keep your existing Membership Rewards points balance alive.

Learn more about the card benefits +

American Express Rewards is the only ‘free for life’ American Express card which lets you collect Membership Rewards points.

We do NOT recommend this card if you would also qualify for the sign-up bonus on American Express Preferred Rewards Gold. The Gold card is free for the first year, comes with four free airport lounge passes and £120 of Deliveroo credit and has a higher sign-up bonus of 20,000 points.

The best reason to get American Express Rewards is if you are coming to the end of your free first year with American Express Preferred Rewards Gold, or no longer want to pay the fee on The Platinum Card, but want to keep your Membership Rewards points intact.

You need a minimum personal income of £20,000 to apply for the card.