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Last chance to get Amex Platinum with 50,000 Membership Rewards (= 50,000 Avios) bonus

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Key link:  American Express Platinum card home page

This is a ‘final boarding call’ for anyone thinking of applying for the American Express Platinum charge card.

The Amex website has been saying for a couple of weeks that the 50,000 Membership Rewards points offer will end on 3rd March.

My best guess – and I honestly don’t know – is that it will drop back to 40,000 points, which is what it was until last Autumn.

50,000 Membership Rewards points (good for 50,000 Avios or various other things) is a great deal.

Whilst the card does carry a £450 annual fee, you can cancel this for a pro-rata refund as soon as you have spend the £2,000 necessary to get the bonus points.  This pro-rata refund is in the terms and conditions of the card (paragraph 18.2 to be precise) so you will have no problem getting it.

So, if you meet the £40,000 household income requirement and have not had a Platinum, Gold or Green Amex in the last six months, you need to decide whether to go for it before the deadline.

Cancel within 3 months, and your net fee will only have been (3/12ths of £450) £112 – a fantastic deal for 50,000 Avios!

However, the Platinum card has some great benefits – Cathay Pacific Gold card (= BA Silver and gets you into BA lounges), Starwood Gold, Club Carlson Gold, Accor Platinum (EDIT – initially said Gold by mistake), 2 Priority Passes for lounge access when not flying BA etc – and you may decide that it is well worth keeping once you have got used to the benefits. I have had once since 1999.

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best travel rewards credit cards

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – March 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 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

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 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

80,000 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:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to 120,000 points. You receive 80,000 points when you spend £12,000 within three months and a further 40,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 60,000 points. You receive 40,000 points when you spend £6,000 within three months and a further 20,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.

American Express Business Platinum

Up to 120,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

Up to 60,000 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

Category

American Express Membership Rewards, American Express Platinum card

Comments (44)

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

  • David says:
    28 Feb28 February 22:00

    Thanks for the info.

    There is no mention of the Cathay card on the Amex website, although it is not something I need.

    • Rob says:
      28 Feb28 February 22:19

      Everyone asks this! No idea why they did this, unless it is to protect the BA relationship.

      It is sort of mentioned. They say you get access to 1,000 lounges. Priority Pass only has 650, the other 350 refer to the oneworld global network that Cathay gets you into.

      • David says:
        28 Feb28 February 22:22

        Thanks Raffles.

        Will sleep on the offer and may seek your referral if I decide to proceed. Have a BA PP Amex, but the Platinum card sounds good.

        I appreciate the blog!

  • John Trops says:
    1 Mar1 March 09:47

    Slightly off topic, I applied for the BA standard Amex for my wife last month (I already have the Premium Plus and have hit my £10k threshold) and now realise after reading Head for Points that I should have got her the Premium Plus too. So far we haven’t started spending on it much. Were she to upgrade now i.e before her 3 month spend critieria has been fulfilled and spent £3000 would she get the additional bonus i.e 25,000 points instead of the 9,000.
    Alternatively, should I just do another online application for the premium plus for her so she has a standard card and a premium plus? Any benefit in holding both cards or is this forbidden?

    • Rob says:
      1 Mar1 March 10:22

      You can’t hold both cards.

      I don’t know what would happen to your bonus if you upgraded now, you would need to speak to Amex and try to get something in writing if they say they can change the bonus. Your 9k is guaranteed if you don’t upgrade until after the bonus hits, but there is a risk you may end up with nothing ( or 25k).

      • John Trops says:
        1 Mar1 March 21:35

        Thanks. I might wait till the bonus 9k has hit in that case!

  • tom says:
    4 Mar4 March 12:12

    Hi. Raffles!

    Another question regarding the ba amex

    As a ba amex card holder with a very high credit limit, I just applied for the platinum and got declined.

    Do you think I can request them to decrease my BA AMEX credit limit in order to get the PLATINUM ? will that work with amex?

    Many thanks

    • Flashware says:
      4 Mar4 March 12:14

      You could do, however note that the Platinum bonus has now finished and is sitting on 0…

      • tom says:
        4 Mar4 March 12:24

        On 2000 actually…

        But I won’t get the bonus when applied for it when offer was still on ?

    • Rob says:
      4 Mar4 March 14:25

      As others have said, they have killed the Platinum bonus! However, I am sure it will come back in some form. I would definitely cut your BA Amex if it is too high. It will help you with all future card applications, not just Amex.

      • tom says:
        4 Mar4 March 14:37

        My question was if I can still get THIS application going threw by reducing the credit limit and getting approved on the same phone call. Any experience with this ?

        • Rob says:
          4 Mar4 March 15:34

          Good question. Best you can do is ring Amex and discuss it with them, but I doubt it can be done immediately – they could reduce your BA Amex limit on the spot but then may want some more time to reconsider your application. However, be sure to get in writing via email that this is a contination of your old application and not a new one. Ignore anything the agent says about it definitely going through with yesterdays date etc, because this won’t count for anything if the 50,000 does not post and you have to chase it up – you want it in writing.

  • Ben E says:
    11 Mar11 March 10:32

    So I referred my Dad within the deadline and we checked yesterday – they will still value the referral email and credit the 52k points for signing up. Good news.

    He’s come back to me with a question this morning though: supplementary cards on the Amex platinum are free or not? He thinks it looks like they’re £170. Can anyone confirm please?

    thanks
    B

    • Alan says:
      11 Mar11 March 10:33

      The first Plat is free, subsequent Gold cards are also free but subsequent Plat supp cards are chargeable after the first one.

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