Spend £50, get £25 back with Amex / London Restaurant Festival – and how to exploit it
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The London Restaurant Festival is back this year, running from 3rd to 21st October.
American Express is again sponsoring the festival, and is offering £25 cashback on your statement when you make 2 x £25 purchases at participating restaurants.
You need to register your card in advance at this site. It seems that only Amex-issued cards are accepted, not MBNA or Lloyds cards.
The list of ‘participating restaurants’ is unfortunately nowhere to be found at that link but we can live in hope that it appears before the 3rd. It may or not be the full list of all 400 restaurants participating in the festival.
I was a bit dismissive of this offer when it was first announced. You won’t get much for £25 at any of the participating sites, even if you eat alone, so it will be £25 back on a far larger spend than £50!
However, the more I thought about, the more I thought that you can ‘play a game’ here:
If you and your partner each have an Amex card, you should both register for the offer and split your bill as long as each payment is over £25.
If you were very aggressive, you could ask to pay the bill over three or four cards, even for just two people. (A cash tip may help here!). Keep each payment over £25.
You could even ask to split the bill and then pay both bills with the same card! That would trigger the £25 statement credit immediately. However, if you do this I would make two unequal payments. Amex may think it is an error if two identical charges are made on the same card within a minute of each other.
If you can find any participating restaurant that sells gift cards, this would also be an interesting option.
Any more ideas?
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 Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
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
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Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
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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
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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
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