Just worth noting that the VS Mastercard now has the same sort of deal. You'd have to be silver to use it penalty-free in UC, but Silver is quite easy to achieve, especially with Tier Points on reward flights.

And whilst we're comparing the cards, it's also worth pointing out that the BA Amex is £90 more expensive.

Finally, on some routes, (eg, LHR-MIA CW/UC return), BA would require an additional 30,000 Avios/miles/points. NYC is only an additional 5,000 Avios.