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Two new bonus promotions from American Express Foreign Exchange

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Back in November, American Express was offering 5,000 bonus Membership Rewards points to anyone who signed up for its foreign currency transfer service and made one payment.

Two new versions of this promotion have now been launched:

This link is for Platinum cardholders and offers 2,500 Membership Rewards points

This link is for Gold and Green cardholders and offers 1,000 Membership Rewards points

Unfortunately, this promotion is nowhere near as lucrative as the one last year.  Amex is now insisting on a minimum £1,000 transaction for Platinum and £500 for Gold / Green.  Last year it was only £100.

However – for American Express Platinum cardholders – if you have an overseas bank account (or have a friend or family member who is willing to accept a payment from you) then this is an OK deal.  There is a £10 fee and you will take a small foreign currency loss to cover Amex’s spread, but this is still a good deal for 3,500 Membership Rewards points.  (You get the 2,500 bonus points plus 1,000 base points for moving £1,000.)

To be honest, the Gold and Green deal is not worth it.  The £10 fee wipes out the value of the 1,500 points before considering the foreign exchange spread.  (You would earn 1,000 bonus points plus 500 base points for moving the minimum £500.)

You will need your passport or driving licence plus your Amex card number to register.  Ironically, you cannot fund your transfer from your Amex card.  You need to use a debit or Visa / MasterCard credit card, or do a bank transfer to Amex.  It is not clear if the transaction, on a credit card, counts as a purchase or cash advance.

You don’t even need to send money abroad

MBNA credit cards (bmi, American Airlines, United etc) accept payment by IBAN – ie, by a payment to their International Bank Account Number.  If you search the FAQ on the MBNA credit card site it will give you the account details.

Last time this promotion ran, I did a £105 payment in Euro to my bmi credit card account, which MBNA automatically converted into Sterling.  I received the 5,000 bonus points without any trouble.  Amex clearly treated it as a foreign payment even though it was going to a UK bank account.

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 Membership Rewards, American Express Platinum card

Comments (24)

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

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
    8 Jun8 June 06:41

    Also nb that the standard earning rate is now increased from 1MR/£10 to 1MR/£1 (which was included in the calculations, to be fair)

  • Tom says:
    8 Jun8 June 06:44

    Presume I can use to spend against my AA spend via the Visa, but pay directly to MBNA. A £1k transfer nets me the 3500 MR points and gets me £1K closer to the AA sign up bonus. All for £10 + any spread..?

    • Rob says:
      8 Jun8 June 09:21

      Yes, oddly, you can charge your MBNA AA Visa card by sending the money directly to MBNA to settle the bill! The costs wouldn’t normally make it work, but if it gets you nearer your £5k target it might make sense.

      • Simon says:
        8 Jun8 June 11:37

        Sounds like a good idea, just wondering if MBNA would classify this as a cash advance and so it wouldn’t be count towards the 5K?

        • Rob says:
          8 Jun8 June 16:43

          Not sure. It is possible you would get charged a cash advance fee.

  • Paul says:
    8 Jun8 June 07:28

    Does this offer extend to all or just new sign up to FX?

  • M says:
    8 Jun8 June 08:37

    The deal sounds better if you think about the 5k spend on AA card.

    • Rob says:
      8 Jun8 June 09:19

      Fair point, as you can use the MasterCard to pay – although you may get hit with a cash advance fee

  • John says:
    8 Jun8 June 08:52

    Can you transfer to an overseas account in ££ in your own name? (HSBC premier – so I can send it back to myself instantly for no fee)

  • 21h21j says:
    8 Jun8 June 10:31

    Don’t forget to factor in the credit card fee
    “Credit Card Payment Fee:
    If you are paying for the transfer using a Visa or Mastercard credit card, American Express FX International Payments charges an administration fee of 1.2%; additionally your credit card company, may charge you a cash handling fee. Please refer to your card Terms and Conditions or contact your credit card issuer for more details. Using a debit card costs you nothing. ”

    And the 1MR/£1 is a limited time offer
    “Register today and for virtually every full £1 you transfer before 31 July 2013, we’ll give you one Membership Rewards point”

  • Polly says:
    8 Jun8 June 13:57

    Slightly off message here, but is it possible to use the 2 for 1 BAPP voucher, when booking a BA flight through the AA website? Or is this too optimistic? Thanks for any info here.

    • Rob says:
      8 Jun8 June 14:22

      No, it can only be redeemed via ba.com or the BA call centre

  • Dev says:
    8 Jun8 June 15:30

    Sorry for being thick but I am a little confused. Does the £1000 funds come out of the plat card or do I have to link it another credit card or debit card. Can I also assume that if I use a credit card, there will be cash advance fees? Or is this simply to easy as my Santander accounts show the IBAN number on the statements. It seems that I can link a debit card, out £1000 into my santander and end up with 3500MR points for a small hit. In theory I could just churn my way through numerous sign up bonuses if I got down the credit card option?

    • Rob says:
      8 Jun8 June 16:41

      Ironically, you can’t use an Amex. You must use a Visa or MasterCard.

      You cannot send £ to get the bonus, it must be a foreign currency.

      As I wrote in my old post: “I sent £105 (in Euros) via the American Express foreign exchange website to my MBNA bmi credit card account. I used the IBAN number on their website. A few days later, a credit of £102.15 has appeared on my MBNA online credit card statement. My total cost has therefore been £12.85 – ie the £2.85 FX loss taken by MBNA plus the £10 Amex fee.”

      I am pretty sure, from the last promo, that you don’t get hit with a cash advance fee – but I can’t be 100% certain, and its possible different card issuers may treat it differently.

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