My thoughts on the new Amex / Foursquare deals for February

I must admit, I was a little surprised when – like many of you – I was emailed on Saturday with details of the new Amex / Foursquare promotions that will run in February.  Did they learn nothing when we cleaned out Harvey Nichols before Christmas?!

I wrote last week about the Shell deal (£15 off £50 spend) which runs until mid April.

On Saturday, the following deals were announced.  They all run from 1-28 February, and it seems that you will not be able to register until the 1st.

• Harrods – Spend £50, Get £25
• House of Fraser – Spend £50, Get £25
• GAP – Spend £50, Get £25
• Banana Republic – Spend £50, Get £25
• Carphone Warehouse – Spend £25, Get £10

The two other current offers continue:

• Starbucks – Spend £10, Get £5 (to 13 February)
• Pizza Hut – Spend £30, Get £15 (to 6 March)

To learn how to sign up for these deals, if you haven’t done this before, see this article from last year.

Remember that you don’t need a smartphone to do this.  I downloaded the Foursquare app to my (wi-fi) ipad and was able to ‘check in’ to relevant London stores from the comfort of my house!  If you are too far away to check-in, take your wi-fi ipad to a wi-fi enable coffee shop near Harrods etc and check in from there.

Remember that the key to exploiting these deals is to buy gift cards for exactly £50.  You can then combine them for a larger purchase, and you will have 12-18 months (depending on store) to use them.  Remember that you can even use gift cards in sales, so you may get an effective double discount!

Remember that you can register EVERY MBNA, Lloyds and Amex-issued Amex card you have.  Even supplementary cards count separately, as long as the account number is different to the main card.  You will need a new Foursquare account for each card, and don’t forget to register and sync each card with each store.

We have six qualifying Amex cards – 2 x BA Amex, 1 Lloyds Amex with a supplementary and 1 Platinum Amex with a supplementary card.  That means £150 of free stuff from Harrods and £150 of free stuff from House of Fraser.  (I’m not into GAP or Banana Republic, although I could buy some £50 gift cards to use as birthday gifts.)

The £25 credit goes back to your statement quickly – within a couple of days for an Amex-issued Amex and a bit longer for an MBNA or Lloyds card.

Since these deals run to the end of February – and since Amex has also promised that Debenhams and Fenwick / Bentalls will be launching deals later on – it may be worth getting some extra supplementary cards ordered.  It is also another good reason to get the SPG Amex before the 20,000 point bonus expires on 1st February.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – January 2025 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 Mastercard

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

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 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.

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

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 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:

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up 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 Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios 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 when you spend at least £2,000 per month.

Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card

Get 1% cashback when you spend at least £2,000 per month* Read our full review