Don’t lose your points when you change cards
The American Express Platinum and Gold credit cards can be big earners in their first year. But after this it’s hard to justify their huge fees, so cancelling your card is often the best bet.
However, if you’ve amassed some Amex Reward points and they’re sitting in your account, you run the risk of losing all of them. The good news, it’s easy to keep the points alive.
Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.
What are Amex Reward points
Amex Reward points are earned as you spend on specific American Express cards, or as bonus points as a new cardholder.
They can be swapped for a cash value to pay off your credit card bill, though you’ll get a low 0.45p per point, which can be beaten.
The best equivalent to cash is to swap them 1:1 for Nectar, working out as 0.5p, or for the same value you can buy gift cards to use at Amazon, M&S and other retailers.
Alternatively you can transfer them to a number of different airline and hotel loyalty schemes, the value of which will vary on how you then redeem them.
Here’s our full guide to what Amex Reward points are worth.
The cards that earn Amex Reward points
Though a couple of Amex cards let you earn cashback, most will earn you points instead. There are a variety of these, depending on the card you have. However, there are three core cards that will earn you Amex’s own Reward points.
These are the American Express Platinum, American Express Preferred Rewards Gold and American Express Rewards.
How each Amex card makes you money as you spend:
| Card | How you earn money back |
| Amex Platinum | Amex Reward points |
| Amex Preferred Rewards Gold | Amex Reward points |
| Amex Rewards | Amex Reward points |
| Nectar Amex | Nectar points |
| British Airways Amex Premium Plus | Avios points |
| British Airways Amex | Avios points |
| Marriott Bonvoy Amex | Marriott Bonvoy points |
| Amex Cashback | Cashback |
| Amex Cashback Everyday | Cashback |
| Vitality Amex | Cashback |
How many Reward points you get with each card
All the Reward point earning cards will earn you one point per £1 spent, though the Gold card has a bonus structure that can increase your earnings.
The Amex Gold is a popular entry card as it’s free in the first year. In return you’ll get 20,000 Amex points for spending £3,000 in the first three months, increasing to between 35,000 to 40,000 if you sign up when there’s a boosted offer available.
In addition there’s £5 of Deliveroo credit twice every month and four airport lounge passes. Here’s the full Amex Gold review.
The Platinum is potentially the most lucrative, especially when the welcome offer is increased. Recently we saw 100,000 points available via refer-a-friend links (worth £500), along with a £250 travel credit on top. The card itself comes with annual worldwide travel insurance and £200 to spend each year at UK restaurants. However it comes with a £650 fee. Here’s our full Amex Platinum review.
The Amex Reward credit card doesn’t come with any extra perks. Though it does have a welcome bonus for first time Amex customers, it’s easily beaten by alternative Amex welcome offers and it shouldn’t really be a card anyone is applying for as their first American Express.
Why you’ll want to cancel Platinum and Gold cards
With the Gold card, in year 2 you’ll get hit with a £195 annual fee. In my opinion it’s way too high to justify the rewards on offer.
With the Platinum I think you can cover the £650 fee in that initial year thanks to an increased welcome offer. However, the second year, you won’t earn those points, and I think it’s hard to justify.
Since American Express is still giving pro-rata refunds on fees, you might even want to close the Platinum as soon as you’ve triggered the welcome points, potentially cutting what you pay considerably.
What happens when you close an Amex credit card
So, you don’t want to pay the annual fee any more? Good. But before you call up to cancel the card, you’ll want to check your points balance.
If there are any left which haven’t been used or exchanged then you’ll want to keep the card active for now, otherwise you’ll lose all your points!
Get the best of our money saving content every week, straight to your inbox
Plus, new Quidco customers get a high paying £18 welcome offer
How to avoid losing your Amex Reward points
Swap them now to gift cards or Nectar
You’ve got a few options. Most obvious, and easiest, is to use them. If you are redeeming them as Nectar points or gift cards then there are a few things to be careful of.
For Nectar exchanges, make sure you’ve got a spend lock on your Nectar account to prevent anyone fraudulently using the balance. You’ll need to turn this off when it comes to spending. Well worth if it we’re talking about a sizeable amount of points.
With with gift cards, remember that if you lose your the gift card then you’ll also lose the value – there’s no protection in place. The same goes for not using them before they expire, which is often 12 to 24 months. You should also be careful of swapping your points for really high value gift cards at single shops. If that retailer goes bust then the gift card becomes worthless. So spread them around and ideally only at places you plan to shop at very soon.
Swap them to airline or hotel schemes
However, it’s generally worth waiting to move Amex Rewards points into alternative loyalty schemes such as Avios, Eurostar and Virgin Atlantic until you are ready to use them.
That’s because the redemption rules and point value of these schemes can change frequently. So what might look like a good deal now, might be a poor deal in a year or two.
Open a new Amex Reward card
This final option will let you keep your Amex points balance alive and well, ready for you to exchange elsewhere when it suits you.
You’ll need to apply for a new Amex Reward credit card. This is a free card with no fee, so you can keep your points within Amex for as long as you like.
Once you have this card, check to see if your Reward points balance is combined, or separate. If it’s the latter, you’ll need to contact Amex and ask them to combine the two balances under the new Reward card before you cancel the Amex Gold or Platinum.
Featured switching deal
Customer rating
4/5
- Switch bonus£180
- Offer endsUnknown
- FSCS Protected? Yes
- Switch bonus requirements Switch using the Current Account Switch Service and close your old account within 60 days of starting the switch
- Deposit requirements Deposit £1,500 in the first 60 days from opening the account
- Direct debits transferred over Set up two Direct Debits before or after the switch from a selected list of household bills
- Existing customers? Can't have held any Santander current account on 1 January 2025
- Restrictions Can't have received a switching bonus from Santander already, offer limited to once per person
- Eligible accounts Open a new or hold an existing Everyday, Edge, Edge Up or Edge Explorer current account
The downsides of keeping points active
If you go down the latter route and swap to an Amex Reward card, there are a couple of ways you might be missing out.
First, the Amex Reward, like other Amex cards after a welcome bonus, aren’t the best paying cashback or reward cards. You can earn more from the PayPal+ and Trading 212 debit cards. Here’s our guide to the best cashback cards.
You’ll also be keeping a live American Express card without actually using it. If however you close all Amex cards, you’re starting the clock again on eligibility for another welcome offer. With the vast majority of Amex, this is 24 months with no card in your name, and it can be really lucrative.
The main exceptions to the two-year rule on new welcome offers are the BA Amex Premium Plus, which is only blocked by holding either of the BA Amex cards, or the Platinum, which is blocked by having the Reward, Gold, or Platinum in that time.
