Jan 1, 2014, 5:45 am
Last edit by: EsherFlyer
Current sign-up, referral, spend promotions and retention offers
New member sign ups
British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card:
Collect 25,000 bonus Avios when you spend Ł3,000 within the first three months of card membership.
British Airways American Express Credit Card:
Collect 9,000 bonus Avios when you spend Ł1,000 within the first three months of card membership.
Referrals
If you are already a BA American Express card holder (either BA card) and introduce a friend to the BA American Express card, you'll receive a 4,000 Avios bonus once your friend's application is approved.
If you are already a BA American Express card holder (either BA card) and introduce a friend to the Premium Plus card, you'll receive a 9,000 Avios bonus once your friend's application is approved.
If your friend achieves the spend required for the welcome offer on either card they'll receive an additional 1,000 Avios. I.e. 26,000 or 10,000 total bonus Avios for the Premium Plus and Credit Card respectively.
Promotions
Retention offers
Voucher eligible spend
Pretty much everything counts towards the Ł10,000 (or Ł20,000) required to earn a 2-4-1 Companion Voucher, including the following which might be unexpected:
A few things that don't:
The online total to the right of the card summary is pretty up to date, and far more useful for tracking spend than what the statements show.
Insurance
Both standard and Premium Plus cards include insurance benefits for goods and services purchased on the card. Full details here and here respectively. Summary of Premium Plus benefit are shown here, with standard card offering same cover unless alternate figure is shown in parentheses:
New member sign ups
British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card:
Collect 25,000 bonus Avios when you spend Ł3,000 within the first three months of card membership.
British Airways American Express Credit Card:
Collect 9,000 bonus Avios when you spend Ł1,000 within the first three months of card membership.
Referrals
If you are already a BA American Express card holder (either BA card) and introduce a friend to the BA American Express card, you'll receive a 4,000 Avios bonus once your friend's application is approved.
If you are already a BA American Express card holder (either BA card) and introduce a friend to the Premium Plus card, you'll receive a 9,000 Avios bonus once your friend's application is approved.
If your friend achieves the spend required for the welcome offer on either card they'll receive an additional 1,000 Avios. I.e. 26,000 or 10,000 total bonus Avios for the Premium Plus and Credit Card respectively.
Small print:
You must refer your friend via the referral link provided above to be eligible for this offer.
You may recommend as many friends or family members as you wish but you can only receive a maximum of 45,000 Avios per calendar year for those approved for a Card.
You will receive 4,000 bonus Avios if your friend applies and is approved for the British Airways American Express Credit Card. Your friend will receive 4,000 bonus Avios after they have been approved and spent a minimum of Ł1,000 on goods and services purchased and charged to their Account within three months of Account opening.
You will receive 9,000 bonus Avios if your friend applies and is approved for the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card. Your friend will receive 19,000 bonus Avios after they have been approved and spent a minimum of Ł3,000 on goods and services purchased and charged to their Account within three months of Account opening.
When completing the referral form, you must
(i) select the Card you hold from the list at Step 1 and
(ii) select a card to recommend from those listed at Step 2. If you do not follow this process, you and your friend will not be eligible for the bonus.
If your friend has already applied for any of the British Airways American Express Credit Cards without using this referral, you and your friend will not be eligible for the bonus Avios.
All introductory offers are subject to change, can be withdrawn at any time and are not available if your friend currently holds or has held any other British Airways American Express Credit Cards in the past six months.
You must refer your friend via the referral link provided above to be eligible for this offer.
You may recommend as many friends or family members as you wish but you can only receive a maximum of 45,000 Avios per calendar year for those approved for a Card.
You will receive 4,000 bonus Avios if your friend applies and is approved for the British Airways American Express Credit Card. Your friend will receive 4,000 bonus Avios after they have been approved and spent a minimum of Ł1,000 on goods and services purchased and charged to their Account within three months of Account opening.
You will receive 9,000 bonus Avios if your friend applies and is approved for the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card. Your friend will receive 19,000 bonus Avios after they have been approved and spent a minimum of Ł3,000 on goods and services purchased and charged to their Account within three months of Account opening.
When completing the referral form, you must
(i) select the Card you hold from the list at Step 1 and
(ii) select a card to recommend from those listed at Step 2. If you do not follow this process, you and your friend will not be eligible for the bonus.
If your friend has already applied for any of the British Airways American Express Credit Cards without using this referral, you and your friend will not be eligible for the bonus Avios.
All introductory offers are subject to change, can be withdrawn at any time and are not available if your friend currently holds or has held any other British Airways American Express Credit Cards in the past six months.
Promotions
Retention offers
Voucher eligible spend
Pretty much everything counts towards the Ł10,000 (or Ł20,000) required to earn a 2-4-1 Companion Voucher, including the following which might be unexpected:
- Foreign transaction fees
A few things that don't:
- Annual membership fee
- Interest payments
- Transactions under Ł1 (although you can earn the single Avios
)
The online total to the right of the card summary is pretty up to date, and far more useful for tracking spend than what the statements show.
Insurance
Both standard and Premium Plus cards include insurance benefits for goods and services purchased on the card. Full details here and here respectively. Summary of Premium Plus benefit are shown here, with standard card offering same cover unless alternate figure is shown in parentheses:
- Purchase protection: Ł2,500
- Refund protection: Ł300 (Ł200) per item
- Flight delay / cancellation / overbooking / missed: Ł200 (Ł0)
- Baggage delay (6+ hours): Ł750 (Ł0)
- Baggage delay (48+ hours): Ł1,000 (Ł0), additional to 6 hours benefit
- Accident: Ł250,000 (Ł75,000)
- Hijack (24+ hours): Ł1,500
- Hijack (72+ hours): Ł3,000, additional to the 24h benefit
BA American Express credit card
Dec 1, 2015, 11:08 am
#811
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Singapore - the hot, little red dot
Programs: BA, SQ
Posts: 861
I was at first very annoyed having booked a couple of SH flights only at the weekend, but then when I looked at the prices now these had gone up by over Ł50 more. So thankfully this offer is wasted on me.
Dec 1, 2015, 2:24 pm
#814
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: West Sussex, UK
Programs: BAEC Bronze, HH Gold, Etihad Silver
Posts: 102
Dec 3, 2015, 3:55 am
#815
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: All good weekends in the UK begin at Heathrow :)
Programs: Amex MR, A3, BAEC
Posts: 195
The Amex code didn't work. Maybe IST isn't classed as shorthaul.
Dec 4, 2015, 7:06 am
#816
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 4,647
Currys/PC World Amex Weirdness
On October 13th I attempted to pay online at Currys.co.uk using my BA Amex PP. After it was rejected three times I called Amex and they said that there were no records of any attempted/rejected transactions, so I went back online and tried a couple of more times with the same result, then changed to my Amex Plat and it worked 
.
Back to today and the same result; this time both mine and my wife's BA Amex were rejected and once again the Plat was accepted
.
Any ideas why one Amex should be accepted and other not? So far it's cost me 155 Avios
.
.Back to today and the same result; this time both mine and my wife's BA Amex were rejected and once again the Plat was accepted
.Any ideas why one Amex should be accepted and other not? So far it's cost me 155 Avios
.
Dec 4, 2015, 7:33 am
#817
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: North of Carlisle
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 1,536
On October 13th I attempted to pay online at Currys.co.uk using my BA Amex PP. After it was rejected three times I called Amex and they said that there were no records of any attempted/rejected transactions, so I went back online and tried a couple of more times with the same result, then changed to my Amex Plat and it worked .
Back to today and the same result; this time both mine and my wife's BA Amex were rejected and once again the Plat was accepted .
Any ideas why one Amex should be accepted and other not? So far it's cost me 155 Avios .
.Back to today and the same result; this time both mine and my wife's BA Amex were rejected and once again the Plat was accepted
.Any ideas why one Amex should be accepted and other not? So far it's cost me 155 Avios
.Possibly identified as out with your normal pattern of spending. Barclaycard were the first to use the software and it's used by all the major card companies to protect fraudulent activity, albeit December / January spending patterns can fluctuate due to Xmas spending.
Declined transaction response ;
Whenever a cardholder uses a credit or debit card to purchase a service or product, that Credit Card's Number is either entered into a website for an online Transaction or swiped at a Point-of-Sale terminal for an in-person Transaction. The credit card information is then sent to the bank of the merchant, or the Acquiring Bank, to the Issuing Bank, or the bank that initially gave the card to the cardholder. Using an Authorization Code, that Issuing Bank will check to see if the cardholder holds sufficient funds for the Transaction, as well as ensure that the card is not stolen or fraudulent. If the cardholder’s account does not hold sufficient funds (or if the card is stolen or fraudulent), the Issuing Bank will send a Declined Response back through the Acquiring Bank, and to the website or Point-of-Sale terminal; this message will alert the merchant to decline the transaction.
It would appear there is an automatic "declined response" being generated for your (attempted) purchases. Several attempts at the same merchant may also alert the software to potential fraudulent activity.
Lastly, your wife has maxed out the card on your Xmas presents. ��
Suggest you get back onto Amex.
Dec 4, 2015, 9:21 am
#818
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 4,647
Definitely not. In the 7 years I've held the card I have averaged 3-4 pages of transactions per month and this has happened just twice, both in the last two months and both at Currys. And they weren't even particularly high value transactions.
Again, this can't be the reason; both failed on the first use of the day at Currys (the first in months or years actually in the October case since I hardly ever buy from them.
At the time Amex said that there were no declined transactions on the card so it must be a Currys problem. Guess what Currys said .
Hopefully not since her card is on my account too and the limit is Ł25K or so. Should be a nice Xmas present though 
.
I'll call Amex tomorrow and see if they have any ideas.
At the time Amex said that there were no declined transactions on the card so it must be a Currys problem
. Guess what Currys said .Hopefully not since her card is on my account too and the limit is Ł25K or so
. Should be a nice Xmas present though .I'll call Amex tomorrow and see if they have any ideas.
Dec 4, 2015, 9:34 am
#819
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Here today, gone tomorrow
Programs: Nothing shiny :-(
Posts: 2,493
I too had issues with PCWorld/Currys declining my Platinum card last month. Didn't think to try any other cards but Amex confirmed they had not been asked for authorisation. I ended up ringing PCWorld and doing it over the phone which was rather odd as I gave them the number and then got an authorisation code in an email from Amex which the PCWorld chap asked for. I hesitated but gave it to him but they took ages to process the charge so that it disappeared from the pending charges screen and I had the laptop I bought before the card had been charged, although then only after a call from PCWorld to check the purchase was not fraudulent. So I suspect the problem is at Curry's end.
Dec 4, 2015, 10:16 am
#820
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 4,647
Yeah, they offered me the chance to pay over the phone too, but then I'd have lost the Gate365 Avios too 
. They also said to leave it 24 hours for the lock to clear, which I did. And it didn't .
I agree that it must be at Currys/PCWorld's end. Strange that mine was a BA PP and yours was a Plat when my Plat worked though.
. They also said to leave it 24 hours for the lock to clear, which I did. And it didn't .I agree that it must be at Currys/PCWorld's end. Strange that mine was a BA PP and yours was a Plat when my Plat worked though
.
Dec 7, 2015, 3:50 am
#821
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: BA Blue, IHG Spire, Marriott Gold
Posts: 396
I know that if you downgrade your Amex card from the fee one to the free one, your companion voucher validity dates change. But does anyone know what happens to the voucher if Amex cancel your card account?
My friend's BA Amex card stopped working last week so he thought he'd his limit, he phoned up this morning and it turns out that Amex have cancelled his BA card and his SPG card as he hadn't paid the Ł75 membership fee for the SPG card. (that he forgot he had). He hadn't received any warning of this (although they say they have written which they probably had and it just didn't get through to him).
Anyway, he's got a companion voucher in his account already, will that disappear? How long does it take BA to remove that? Apparently the reinstatement team are going to write to him within 7-10 working days on their decision whether to reinstate his cards or not so he's a bit concerned he's going to lose it...
My friend's BA Amex card stopped working last week so he thought he'd his limit, he phoned up this morning and it turns out that Amex have cancelled his BA card and his SPG card as he hadn't paid the Ł75 membership fee for the SPG card. (that he forgot he had). He hadn't received any warning of this (although they say they have written which they probably had and it just didn't get through to him).
Anyway, he's got a companion voucher in his account already, will that disappear? How long does it take BA to remove that? Apparently the reinstatement team are going to write to him within 7-10 working days on their decision whether to reinstate his cards or not so he's a bit concerned he's going to lose it...
Dec 7, 2015, 3:59 am
#822
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: London, UK
Programs: BAEC Silver, ITA Club Executive, Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 3,598
As far as I know, this is incorrect. Once the voucher has been issued, it maintains its original validity even if you have downgraded to the free card.
Dec 7, 2015, 6:47 am
#823
Join Date: Jan 2012
Programs: BA Blue, IHG Spire, Marriott Gold
Posts: 396
Dec 7, 2015, 7:54 am
#825
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Anywhere I need to be.
Programs: OW Emerald, *A Gold, NEXUS, GE, ABTC/APEC, South Korea SES, eIACS, PP, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 16,046
Frustrating I know but can be due to a number of reasons;
Possibly identified as out with your normal pattern of spending. Barclaycard were the first to use the software and it's used by all the major card companies to protect fraudulent activity, albeit December / January spending patterns can fluctuate due to Xmas spending.
Declined transaction response ;
Whenever a cardholder uses a credit or debit card to purchase a service or product, that Credit Card's Number is either entered into a website for an online Transaction or swiped at a Point-of-Sale terminal for an in-person Transaction. The credit card information is then sent to the bank of the merchant, or the Acquiring Bank, to the Issuing Bank, or the bank that initially gave the card to the cardholder. Using an Authorization Code, that Issuing Bank will check to see if the cardholder holds sufficient funds for the Transaction, as well as ensure that the card is not stolen or fraudulent. If the cardholder’s account does not hold sufficient funds (or if the card is stolen or fraudulent), the Issuing Bank will send a Declined Response back through the Acquiring Bank, and to the website or Point-of-Sale terminal; this message will alert the merchant to decline the transaction.
It would appear there is an automatic "declined response" being generated for your (attempted) purchases. Several attempts at the same merchant may also alert the software to potential fraudulent activity.
Lastly, your wife has maxed out the card on your Xmas presents. ��
Suggest you get back onto Amex.
Possibly identified as out with your normal pattern of spending. Barclaycard were the first to use the software and it's used by all the major card companies to protect fraudulent activity, albeit December / January spending patterns can fluctuate due to Xmas spending.
Declined transaction response ;
Whenever a cardholder uses a credit or debit card to purchase a service or product, that Credit Card's Number is either entered into a website for an online Transaction or swiped at a Point-of-Sale terminal for an in-person Transaction. The credit card information is then sent to the bank of the merchant, or the Acquiring Bank, to the Issuing Bank, or the bank that initially gave the card to the cardholder. Using an Authorization Code, that Issuing Bank will check to see if the cardholder holds sufficient funds for the Transaction, as well as ensure that the card is not stolen or fraudulent. If the cardholder’s account does not hold sufficient funds (or if the card is stolen or fraudulent), the Issuing Bank will send a Declined Response back through the Acquiring Bank, and to the website or Point-of-Sale terminal; this message will alert the merchant to decline the transaction.
It would appear there is an automatic "declined response" being generated for your (attempted) purchases. Several attempts at the same merchant may also alert the software to potential fraudulent activity.
Lastly, your wife has maxed out the card on your Xmas presents. ��
Suggest you get back onto Amex.
I could manufacture (international!) spend of >USD 15k on one of these Barclays (VS) cards and there were absolutely no problems.