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Got Amex Gold? Get 3,000 free Membership Rewards points by adding the Gold credit card

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Back in March, I wrote about the ‘private’ Platinum Credit Card from American Express.  Not to be confused with the Amex Platinum cashback cards, this card was ONLY available to Platinum charge card holders.

American Express has now launched something similar for American Express Preferred Rewards Gold cardholders.

Amex Gold credit card

Take a look here.  You can now apply for the Amex Gold credit card, to sit in your wallet alongside your Amex Gold charge card.

Why would you want this?  Well, there is one good reason – you receive 3,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up! As the Amex Gold credit card is free, you are getting points for literally nothing (except a ding on your credit report).

There isn’t much else to add:

You need to spend £500 in three months to receive the 3,000 Membership Rewards points

You will earn 1 Membership Rewards points for each £1 spent

There is no annual fee

You must cancel your Gold credit card if you cancel your Gold charge card.  The Gold credit card is not available as a stand-alone product.  (This is important, as otherwise it would be an easy way of keeping your Membership Rewards account active if you chose to cancel your charge card.)

Is there much point to having this card?  Fundamentally, Amex is encouraging you to run up debt that you cannot afford to instantly repay (otherwise you would use your charge card).  It will make your wallet thicker without adding any extra flexibility to how you spend, since it can’t be used anywhere where your Amex Gold isn’t accepted.

That said, 3,000 Membership Rewards points is worth having – that is 3,000 Avios or Virgin Flying Club miles.

It appears that you don’t need to have received the mailshot from Amex to apply for this – any Amex Gold holder can sign up. 

PS.  Ignore the reference on the website to ‘Platinum Credit Card’ – this is a typo from Amex!

PPS.  If you don’t already have an American Express Preferred Rewards Gold charge card, I suppose you could see this as an additional 3,000 points for getting one!  Remember that the card is free and you get 20,000 points for signing up, and you will then be able to pick up this card for the extra 3,000 points.  Find out more in my review here.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.

Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card

1% cashback uncapped* on all your business spending (T&C apply) Read our full review

Category

American Express Gold card, American Express Membership Rewards

Comments (52)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Tim says:
    12 Nov12 November 18:08

    Just had a somewhat comedic conversation with a phone rep where he knew nothing about this card and insisted it didn’t exist until he spoke to a colleague.

    They wouldn’t cancel my existing Gold charge card (which I was hoping to do) but the CSR suggested that I would be able to do this once my new card arrives. Has anyone successfully got them to do a straight-up switch?

  • Blackberryaddict says:
    12 Nov12 November 18:44

    Not entirely convinced about this one. Yes, I get 3000 MR which is nice. But I get 1.5 on my BA PP, and I average more than 2 MR per pound on my Gold (almost only use it for travel and foreign spend). And it is yet another piece of plastic in my wallet. I think by now I’ve got more plastic in my drawer than in my wallet.

    • Rob says:
      12 Nov12 November 22:01

      Get it, cancel it. Certainly no reason to keep it long term.

      • Alan says:
        12 Nov12 November 22:33

        Yep, that was precisely what I did with the equivalent Plat offer. Really couldn’t see the point in it but wasn’t going to turn down free points! They even managed to muck up the MR transfer out (as they created a separate MR account to my main one), so ended up giving me some more MR points in compensation!

    • BlackberryAddict says:
      13 Nov13 November 13:22

      Maybe I should indeed. And I worked out that with my Gold card I average around 3.3 MR points per pound if you include the 7.5k bonus.

  • gangles says:
    12 Nov12 November 21:33

    Hi
    please can I have the link to appy for this card.

    • at6077 says:
      12 Nov12 November 21:56

      The link is in the post highlighted in blue. Click on “take a look here”. it will take you straight through. Just signed up and accepted, here’s to an extra 3,000 points!

  • Rob says:
    12 Nov12 November 22:00

    No, because it is not publicly available

  • Mark L says:
    12 Nov12 November 23:18

    I applied for and was approved for the Amex Gold on 10th Oct and the Tesco Clubcard credit card on 25th. Am I asking for trouble with the “ding” on my credit report if I apply for this card too?

    I may also have another ding from EE a couple of weeks ago for an iPad SIM. 🙁

    Cheers,
    Mark

    • John says:
      13 Nov13 November 01:44

      If by “ding” you mean credit searches, they only stay on there for 6 months, and they are only a problem if you apply for mainstream bank cards, you can have 1 or 2 without affecting your chances.

      EE may only do an ID check not a full credit search

  • James67 says:
    13 Nov13 November 05:32

    Would this card likely count as, or be in addition to, the 2 credit and 2 charge cards reportedly allowed by amex?

    • Rob says:
      13 Nov13 November 08:39

      Absolutely no idea … they may make an exception on this but honestly no idea.

      • James67 says:
        13 Nov13 November 11:36

        Thanks, will give it a miss in favour of richer pickings.

        • pazza2000 says:
          13 Nov13 November 15:32

          Same here, if it was mearly an extension to the Gold card, akin to a supplementary card, then it is worth taking out for the 3k bonus. However if it is an application involving a credit check, then I’ll save it he hit for a greater sign up, -especially as already holding the SPG & BA cards.

  • Adam says:
    21 Nov21 November 11:18

    I have now got the gold card – good for when you need to spread the cost and still collect MR points.

    I now have two membership rewards accounts – one from my gold card and one from the credit card. Is this right? I would of thought as its a companion card it would all go into the same MR account

    • Rob says:
      21 Nov21 November 13:14

      Yes it should do. However, don’t tell them. You don’t qualify for the Gold bonus if you already have a MR account – so don’t tell them you already have one! Once the Gold bonus has posted, ring Amex and merge them.

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