British Airways Amex Premium Plus: What I Liked and Hated

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The British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card is one of the most talked about travel cards in the UK. It promises generous Avios, a powerful Companion Voucher and priority access to British Airways reward seats, all wrapped in a chunky annual fee. After running the numbers on real itineraries, digging into the latest changes and talking to frequent flyers who actually use it, I have very clear feelings about what I liked and what I really did not. This is not a theoretical review but a practical look at how the card plays out when you try to turn everyday spending into long haul flights.

The Big Picture: Who This Card Really Suits

The British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card is designed for people who fly British Airways regularly and are willing to plan their trips around Avios availability. Its headline features are a Companion Voucher when you spend £15,000 in a membership year and the ability to use that voucher in any cabin, including Club World and First. In return, you pay a sizeable annual fee, which has risen in recent years and currently sits in the high hundreds of pounds depending on when you took out the card and what offers were available.

In practice, the card tends to work best for couples or families in the South East of England who are happy to start and end their trips at London Heathrow or Gatwick. If you live in Manchester, Edinburgh or Belfast and prefer non stop flights with other airlines, you may find it much harder to extract full value. The more you are willing to route your travels via London and the more flexible you can be with dates, the stronger the proposition becomes.

If you are the sort of traveller who books flights only a few weeks in advance, avoids school holiday crowds and mostly flies economy, there are probably simpler and cheaper cards that will serve you better. On the other hand, if you dream of flat beds to New York or Tokyo and are ready to put a lot of your everyday spending through one card, the Premium Plus can unlock trips that would otherwise feel out of reach.

After looking at multiple example trips and the latest changes to Companion Vouchers, I came away convinced that the card is not universally great or terrible. It is sharply polarising: fantastic for a specific segment of travellers and deeply frustrating for everyone else.

What I Liked: The Companion Voucher When It Works

The biggest reason people keep this card year after year is the Companion Voucher. Hit £15,000 of eligible spending in your membership year and you receive a voucher that can either bring a second passenger on the same British Airways reward flight for no additional Avios, or give you a 50 percent Avios discount when travelling solo. For Premium Plus cardholders, that voucher is valid for two years and works in any cabin, from economy up to First, which is a key distinction from the free British Airways American Express card.

Consider a concrete example. A typical off peak Club World return from London to New York on Avios might cost in the region of 160,000 Avios plus around £900 in taxes and charges for one person. With a Premium Plus Companion Voucher, you could take a partner on the same flights for the same 160,000 Avios, paying only the extra taxes and charges for the second seat. If you value Avios conservatively at around 1p each, you are effectively saving well over a thousand pounds in points value on a single trip compared with paying cash for two Club World tickets in a sale.

The solo traveller option can be just as compelling. Suppose you want to fly London to Tokyo in Club World, where a return reward might cost roughly 200,000 Avios plus substantial surcharges. Using the Companion Voucher as a single traveller halves the Avios needed to around 100,000, which many frequent flyers on British Airways forums describe as their favourite way to use the perk. You still pay the full taxes and fees, but slicing the Avios bill in half makes a long haul premium cabin redemption far more realistic for someone putting their everyday grocery, fuel and online shopping spend through the card.

I also liked that vouchers earned since late 2021 can be used for flights originating outside the UK. That means you could, for example, position yourself to Madrid or Rome on a separate ticket and then use the voucher for a long haul British Airways or partner redemption back to London and onwards. It opens up more creative routings and makes the voucher more flexible for travellers who spend part of the year abroad.

New Ways To Use The Voucher With British Airways Holidays

One of the genuinely positive recent changes is the ability to use the Companion Voucher on British Airways Holidays packages that you pay for in Avios. As of May 2026, cardholders who book a holiday package of flights plus hotel or car hire and pay with Avios, either in full or part, can redeem their voucher to get 25 percent of those Avios back on eligible bookings. There is a cap of up to 200,000 Avios returned per booking for Premium Plus cardmembers, which is generous enough to make a serious dent in a big family trip.

To see how this plays out in real life, imagine booking a week in Barbados in January through British Airways Holidays, combining Club World flights from Heathrow with a mid range beachfront hotel. It would not be unusual for such a package to cost several hundred thousand Avios if you chose to pay mainly in points. With the new benefit, you might receive back tens of thousands of Avios, effectively giving you a rebate that could cover a future European weekend break in Club Europe or help top up your balance for another long haul redemption.

Another useful detail is that when you use a voucher with British Airways Holidays, you are not limited by standard reward seat availability in the same way you are with flight only redemptions. As long as the flights you want are part of the package, you can apply your voucher to the booking, subject to the offer rules. For cardholders who struggle to find reward seats but are happy to book hotel and flights together, this makes the voucher easier to use before it expires.

For families, the combination of a holiday package and a Companion Voucher can be particularly powerful. Since packages can include up to nine travellers on the same booking, mum and dad might use the voucher to generate a large Avios rebate on a big school holiday trip, then use the refunded Avios for short haul flights in the autumn half term. It is one of the few aspects of the card that clearly improved in 2026, and it nudges the product a little closer to being a flexible holiday tool rather than a niche frequent flyer instrument.

The Avios Earning Rate: Solid But Not Game Changing

On everyday spending, the Premium Plus card earns a higher rate of Avios than the free British Airways American Express. The broad pattern has been around 1.5 Avios per £1 spent on general purchases, with a boosted rate on direct British Airways spending such as flight tickets and ancillaries. New cardmember welcome bonuses have also been competitive, with enhanced offers at times that push the initial haul into the tens of thousands of Avios when you meet a spending target in the first three months.

In real terms, if you spend about £2,000 a month on card eligible purchases, you might generate roughly 36,000 Avios in a year from day to day use, ignoring any sign up bonus or special promotions. Add in a couple of British Airways flight purchases and the total could comfortably hit 40,000 or more. That by itself might not get you two people to the Maldives in business class, but it is sizeable enough to fund several short haul trips in Club Europe or a return in economy to destinations like New York or Dubai when combined with occasional Avios sales or transfers from other programmes.

What I liked here is that the earning feels steady and predictable. You do not have to chase complicated bonus categories, quarterly promotions or rotating merchant lists. You put as much of your spending as possible through the card, pay it off in full to avoid interest, and watch the balance build. If you time a big purchase such as a kitchen renovation, annual insurance bills or a wedding around a sign up bonus window, you can quickly generate the Avios required for a meaningful redemption.

That said, the earning rate on foreign currency spending is compromised by the card’s foreign transaction fees, which I will come back to later. When you factor in those charges, it rarely makes sense to use the card heavily while abroad unless you are desperate to hit the £15,000 voucher spending threshold and have no other option. In many cases, a fee free international card earning cashback will leave you better off in cash terms, even if it yields fewer points.

What I Hated: High Fees and Eye Watering Surcharges

The single biggest downside of the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card is the combination of a steep annual fee and high carrier imposed surcharges on reward tickets. The exact annual fee has changed over time and may depend on when you applied, but for new applicants in 2025 and 2026 it has been around the £300 mark. That is a serious commitment for a household that is also juggling rising mortgage costs, energy bills and everyday living expenses.

Paying a hefty fee might still be acceptable if your reward flights felt close to free, but the British Airways model loads a significant portion of the ticket cost into taxes, fees and surcharges. For a pair of Club World returns to New York booked with a Companion Voucher, it is common to see total cash charges for two passengers push well beyond £1,000, and on longer routes to destinations such as Los Angeles, Cape Town or Singapore the bill can run several hundred pounds higher. You are saving a huge amount off the cash fare, but you are not walking away with a near zero bill in the way some travellers imagine.

The other expense that bothered me is the foreign transaction fee. Like most UK American Express cards, the Premium Plus levies a percentage fee on purchases made in a non sterling currency. That can easily add tens of pounds to a week in Europe if you are using the card for hotels and restaurant spend, and far more on a long trip to Asia or North America. In an era where several UK banks and fintechs offer cards with no foreign transaction fees, it feels old fashioned and discourages you from using your flagship travel card on actual travel purchases abroad.

There is a workaround that some experienced travellers use: they put all their UK spending on the Premium Plus to earn Avios and hit the voucher threshold, and carry a separate debit or credit card with 0 percent foreign transaction fees for use overseas. While this combination makes financial sense, it also highlights a structural weakness. A top tier travel rewards card should be the one you instinctively reach for at a café in Lisbon or a taxi in New York, not the one you keep buried in your wallet until you are back at home.

Availability Headaches and the Planning Burden

Another thing I disliked is how much forward planning the card demands. The Premium Plus Companion Voucher does unlock extra reward seat availability in Club World compared with a standard redemption, which is genuinely helpful on popular routes. British Airways typically releases at least a pair of Club World seats per flight for Avios bookings, and Premium Plus vouchers can see additional seats made available on certain services. However, if you are trying to travel at peak times, such as the first weekend of the school holidays or over Easter, those seats can disappear within hours of schedules opening.

A common real world scenario is a family in London hoping to use a voucher for two Club World seats to Orlando in August. British Airways usually loads reward seats roughly a year in advance, and savvy cardholders set alarms to log in the moment flights appear. Even then, it is not unusual to find that the exact Friday or Saturday you want is already gone, forcing you to shift your dates, accept a less convenient routing or skip the redemption entirely. If your work or school schedules are fixed, the frustration level can be high.

Changes and cancellations with Companion Voucher bookings can also feel intimidating for new users. While you can alter dates or even switch destinations for a fee, you must still find alternate reward space and sometimes pay additional Avios or surcharges if you move to a peak date. Hanging on the phone to British Airways to rearrange an itinerary when new seats suddenly appear is not everyone’s idea of a relaxing afternoon, and it adds another layer of admin to trips that are supposed to feel like a reward.

For spontaneous travellers, this planning burden is perhaps the most significant downside. The card rewards those willing to think 10 to 12 months ahead, who can pounce on availability and are happy to build their holiday around where the reward seats are. If you prefer to browse for a city break in April and fly in May, you will likely find that your Companion Voucher sits unused while the annual fee quietly renews.

Other Frustrations: Complexity, Restrictions and Edge Cases

Reading through the small print and user experiences, I was struck by how complicated the rules around Companion Vouchers can feel. Vouchers earned before September 2021 behave differently to those earned after, and there are distinct sets of rules for vouchers from the free card versus the Premium Plus. You cannot combine different vouchers on one booking, there are restrictions about who must travel, and you have to navigate details such as whether an open jaw itinerary is permitted or how to handle children on the booking. It is entirely possible for a casual cardholder to earn a voucher and then discover, too late, that their preferred use case is not allowed.

Then there is the issue of where you can fly and on which airlines. While Premium Plus vouchers can be used on British Airways and certain partner carriers such as Iberia and Aer Lingus, they do not unlock the full Oneworld network. If your dream trip is a complex multi segment itinerary around Asia using partners like Japan Airlines or Cathay Pacific, you may find the voucher more restrictive than you expected. In some cases, it can be better value to pay cash for a low cost long haul ticket on another airline or to use a more flexible bank points currency that converts into multiple programmes.

A final annoyance is the lack of synergy between the Companion Voucher and some of British Airways’ newer promotions, such as tier point earning offers that reward multiple short haul segments in premium cabins. You might find yourself optimising one aspect of your travel strategy for status and another for voucher use, only to realise that they do not line up neatly in terms of destinations or travel patterns. It can feel as if you are playing several overlapping loyalty games at once, which will appeal to hobbyists but not to busy families who just want straightforward value.

All of these factors create a sense that the card is best suited to people who are willing to treat Avios collecting as a hobby. If you enjoy reading frequent flyer blogs, checking award space tools in the evening and planning trips around sweet spots, you will probably thrive. If you want a simple card that turns spending into mostly automatic discounts on travel, the Premium Plus will feel fiddly and opaque.

The Takeaway

After weighing up the benefits and drawbacks, I came to see the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card as a powerful but highly specialised tool. What I liked was very good: the ability to turn a year of everyday spending into a pair of flat beds to New York or a solo Club World adventure to Tokyo, the improved flexibility of using vouchers on British Airways Holidays packages for substantial Avios rebates, and the steady earning rate that quietly builds your balance in the background.

What I hated was equally clear. The annual fee is high, the carrier surcharges on reward tickets are startling for first time users, and the foreign transaction fees mean you need a second card for overseas spending. On top of that, making the most of the Companion Voucher requires forward planning, flexibility and a willingness to learn the rules in detail. Without those ingredients, the shiny promise of two for one flights can easily dissolve into frustration and unused vouchers.

If you and a regular travel companion can commit to at least one long haul British Airways trip in a premium cabin every year or two, and you are comfortable organising your holidays far in advance, the Premium Plus card can still be excellent value even at a substantial annual fee level. A single well chosen redemption can wipe out several years of fees compared with buying the same flights outright. Conversely, if your travel is mainly short notice, economy focused or spread across multiple airlines, a more flexible points card or a simple cashback product will likely leave you happier.

Ultimately, the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card is not a magic wand but a lever. Pull it in the right way with the right travel patterns and it will move your trips up a cabin, stretch your Avios further and open doors to destinations that once felt aspirational. Use it casually without a plan and it risks becoming just another expensive piece of plastic in your wallet.

FAQ

Q1. Is the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card worth the annual fee?
The card can be worth the fee if you reliably take at least one long haul British Airways trip in a premium cabin every year or two and can use the Companion Voucher strategically. If your travel is irregular, mainly short haul economy or not focused on British Airways, it is much harder to justify the cost.

Q2. How hard is it to earn the Companion Voucher each year?
You need to put £15,000 of eligible spending on the card within your membership year, which is realistic for some households but a stretch for others. Many cardholders include all major bills, groceries, fuel and online shopping on the card to hit the threshold, but you should only do this if you are sure you can repay in full each month.

Q3. Do I always have to travel with someone else to use the Companion Voucher?
No. For vouchers earned in recent years, Premium Plus cardholders can choose to travel solo and use the voucher for a 50 percent Avios discount instead of bringing a companion. This option is popular with single travellers and those whose partners cannot always travel on the same dates.

Q4. Can I use the Companion Voucher on airlines other than British Airways?
Yes, but only to a point. You can generally use Premium Plus vouchers on selected partner airlines such as Iberia and Aer Lingus, but not across the entire Oneworld network. If you are hoping to string together a complex multi airline trip, you should check the current rules carefully before relying on the voucher.

Q5. Are reward flights booked with a Companion Voucher really free?
No. While you can save a huge amount of Avios, you still pay taxes, fees and carrier surcharges, which can be several hundred pounds per person on long haul flights. Many first time users are surprised by how high the cash component is, especially in premium cabins.

Q6. What happens if I cancel the card after earning a Companion Voucher?
Current practice is that once the voucher has been issued to your British Airways Executive Club account it normally remains there until expiry, even if you later cancel the card. However, rules can change, and you may lose future card related benefits, so it is always safer to confirm the latest terms before cancelling.

Q7. Is this a good card to use when I am travelling abroad?
Not usually for day to day overseas spending, because foreign transaction fees apply to non sterling purchases. Many travellers carry a separate 0 percent foreign fee card for use abroad and reserve the Premium Plus mainly for spending in the UK and for buying British Airways tickets.

Q8. How far in advance should I book to get good value from the Companion Voucher?
For popular routes and school holiday dates, you often need to be ready to book 11 to 12 months before travel, as soon as reward seats are released. If you have flexibility outside peak times, you may still find seats a few months in advance, but planning ahead gives you a far better chance of securing the cabins and dates you want.

Q9. Can I upgrade a cash ticket using my Companion Voucher?
The voucher is mainly intended for reward bookings made with Avios rather than for upgrading paid tickets. While there are upgrade options within the British Airways scheme, they typically involve using Avios on eligible cash fares rather than combining them directly with a Companion Voucher.

Q10. What kind of traveller gets the most from this card?
The card works best for UK based travellers who fly British Airways regularly from London, aim for business or First class on long haul routes, and are comfortable planning holidays 10 to 12 months ahead. If that sounds like you and you enjoy maximising loyalty programmes, the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card can be a very powerful tool.