American Express (Amex) offers & deals

Amex Platinum: 75,000 points & £90 cashback

Until 9 January 2024 you can get a huge 75,000 points if you spend £10,000 in six months on the Platinum card. There’s an extra £80 available if you apply for a cashback site, or if you are referrred by a friend an extra 5,000 points.

Amex Preferred Rewards Gold: 25,000 points & £80 cashback

Also until 9 January 2024 you can get an increased 25,000 points if you spend £3,000 in three months on the Preferred Rewards Gold card. There’s an extra £70 available if you apply for a cashback site.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus: 60,000 welcome Avios (ended)

This is a rare opportunity to more than double the normal welcome offer from the BA Amex Premium Plus.

Until 10 October new card holders can get 60,000 Avios when spending £5,000 in three months. Combined with the 7,500 points earned from the £5,000 spent, that could add up to £450 as Nectar points. However you will have to pay a £250 annual fee.

As long as you’ve not had either BA Amex in the last two years you’ll be eligible for the offer, even if you already have a different American Express card. However, the offer is also only available via the free British Airways Executive Club – not direct from Amex.

We’ve written a full analysis of the offer, and details of how to ensure you get this increased offer, in a separate article.

BA Amex: Boosted 12,000 points (ended)

This short-term offer gives you extra points on the free BA Amex.

As with the above deal, this offer is only via the British Airways Executive Club – but don’t worry it’s free to join.

You’ll need to spend £1,000 in the first three months to trigger the 12,000 Avios point bonus. This is worth £80 in Nectar points.

If you also spend £12,000 in total on the card you’ll get a BA Companion Voucher, effectively a 2-4-1 ticket in economy.

You cannot have had any Amex card in the last 24 months in your name to get the bonus.

Cashback site welcome bonus

An alternative to referral bonuses which can sometimes pay better is to go via Quidco or TopCashback. It’s worth checking both sites to see which one pays more, and then comparing the rate to the referral bonuses.

If you’re not with either cashback site then you can also nab an extra welcome bonus on those too!

Refer-a-friend offers

Most Amex cards will give an extra bonus for signing up via a referral link. From time to time these are boosted,

Obviously you can ask your friends and family if they have a link they can share with you, which you can use for any Amex you like – not just the one they have. They’ll also get a kickback for sharing their link.

To see all the different referral options click the “see all cards with a referral offer” button at the top of the page when it opens. You’ll get the rate shown for the card you select.

Upgrade Gold credit to Platinum: Increased 75,000 points

If you have the Preferred Rewards Golf card then you won’t qualify for the welcome bonus on the Platinum card, so this upgrade offer is worth a look.

You can get normally get 20,000 Amex Reward Points if you upgrade from the Preferred Rewards Gold credit card to the Platinum credit card. You’ll need to spend £4,000 in three months, so this is only for big spenders.

You’ll earn 1 point per £1 spent, so in total you’ll get 24,000 points if you achieve this. That’s worth £192 if converted to Avios, and then to Nectar points.

But until 9 January 2024 you’ll be able to get 75,000 points if you spend £10,000 in six months.

You’ll also get the £150 annual UK dining credit and twice yearly £50 Harvey Nicks credit.

Bear in mind you’ll need to pay £650 as an annual fee.

Upgrade Gold charge to Platinum: 20,000 points

If you have the older Preferred Rewards Gold charge card (this is slightly different from the credit card) you can get 20,000 Amex Reward Points if you upgrade to the Platinum credit card. You’ll need to spend £4,000 in three months, so this is only for big spenders.

You’ll earn 1 point per £1 spent, so in total you’ll get 24,000 points if you achieve this. That’s worth £192 if converted to Avios, and then to Nectar points.

You’ll also get the £150 annual UK dining credit and twice yearly £50 Harvey Nicks credit. So sign up now and use both offers before and after Jan 1, and that’s an extra £400.

Don’t forget that £650 annual fee that comes with the Platinum

Shop Small 2023: £5 credit with £15 spend

This is my favourite Amex offer, though it’s not as good as it used to be. In 2023 it’ll rub from 1 to 3 December. You’ll get £5 back with each £15 spent at participating retailers, up to three times per card. More details of how to maximise your returns are in my full Shop Small guide here.

Deliveroo: 2 x £5 credit each month with Amex Gold

If you hold the Preferred Rewards Gold Amex then every month you can get £5 back on up to two Deliveroo orders. Make sure you save the offer to your card. There’s also a £5 minimum spend per order.

Harvey Nichols: £100 free credit a year with Amex Platinum card

If you have the Platinum American Express card (which comes with a huge £575 annual fee) you can now get £50 back twice a year from spending at Harvey Nichols.

The spend can be cumulative and there’s no minimum spend. So buy something for a tenner and you’ll get £10 back to your card. The offer resets on 1 July each year and you can earn up to £50 again for the second part of the year.

It’s only for primary card holders and you need to activate the offer in your account before spending. It’s due to run until December 2024.

Dining: Up to £300 free credit a year with Amex Platinum card

This offer is for people with the full Platinum Amex, not the cashback versions. Each year until 31 December 2024 you’ll get £150 dining credit to use at some top restaurants. Most do seem to be in London but there are a few around the country (mainly the Ivy chain) so you should be able to redeem the offer.

There’s also the same amount available overseas, though the locations are very limited. So I’d treat this as an extra rather than a certainty.

As with most Amex offers, you’ll need to add it to your card. It’s limited to the main cardholder only so can’t be added to supplementary cards.

The card comes with a massive £575 annual fee so I wouldn’t apply just for this offer (indeed there’s no guarantee it’ll be available to newbies) – but if you do go for it, the fee will be prorated if you cancel.

Dining: 10% Restaurant cashback (expired)

There’s a new offer to activate that’ll give you 10% back when you dine out at participating restaurants if you have the following cards:

• Platinum Cashback
• Platinum Everyday Cashback
• Platinum
• Preferred Rewards Gold
• Centurion

It’s worth checking other cards though as I spotted it on my Amex Rewards card, but not my BA Amex or Vitality card.

The offer runs until 3 October 2023 and will work each time you eat out. There’s a full list of restaurants here. It includes chains like Honest Burger, Yo! and Gaucho, as well as one-offs like Lima and Paternoster Chop House.

If it operates like previous offers that list could change, so do check before you dine.