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Get 15,000 Amex points for upgrading your Gold to Platinum – worth it?

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American Express has sent an offer to some Preferred Rewards Gold cardholders offering them 15,000 Membership Rewards points if they upgrade to American Express Platinum.

Even if you did not receive this offer, it still seems that you can still take part – you are directed to this generic Amex website which appears open to any Amex Gold customer.

Is this a good deal?

Ordinarily, I would say ‘No’.  If you are interested in the Platinum card and already have an Amex Gold, the most effective thing to do would be to cancel your Gold card, wait 6 months and then make a fresh application for Platinum.

Because of the 6 month gap, you will qualify for the full sign-up bonus, which is currently 30,000 Membership Rewards points. This is obviously better than just 15,000 points.

However …..

At the moment, there is a good reason to consider Amex’s 15,000 point offer.

As I wrote here, the Cathay Pacific Gold card will cease to be an Amex Platinum benefit from 15th February.  As this card gives you almost all of the benefits of a British Airways Executive Club Silver card, including British Airways lounge access, it is well worth having.

If you currently have an Amex Gold, cancelling and waiting 6 months to apply for Platinum will be too late – the Cathay deal will have disappeared.

If you are an Amex Gold cardholder and are interested getting a Cathay Pacific Gold, this is a pretty good offer.

Remember that, whilst Platinum has a £450 annual fee, it is refunded pro-rata when you cancel.  You only need to spend £1,000 to trigger the 15,000 bonus points for upgrading, and you can order your Cathay card as soon as your Amex Platinum arrives.

If you found that the Platinum benefits didn’t work for you after 2-3 months, you could cancel for a fee refund – you would only be £75 – £110 out of pocket.  You would still have the extra 15,000 Membership Rewards points and the Cathay Pacific Gold card would remain valid for the full year.

The upgrade link is here if you are interested.  The Comments below suggest that your existing Gold card is immediately upgraded, so you will not have a separate Gold and Platinum card going forward.

The general American Express Platinum website, with more details on the card, is 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

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Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

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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

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 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

Category

American Express Gold card, American Express Membership Rewards, American Express Platinum card

Comments (104)

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

  • Eastland says:
    19 Dec19 December 13:19

    Gahhh how frustrating. I just applied for the Hilton card having hit my BAPP £10k, my gold, and my SPG targets. Ran out of things to target so I figured why not get a free night…. and i really WANTED the platinum for its CX gold as I have no status with airlines.
    Hmmm.. when do we think this will end?

    • Rob says:
      19 Dec19 December 13:52

      I think this will be around for a while, certainly no harm in waiting a money …. Just give enough time to get it done before Cathay is pulled on 15/2.

  • Neil says:
    19 Dec19 December 13:28

    Hmm, this is a tricky one for me. My first year of Gold is due to end on 22 Feb and I’m just about to pass the £15,000 spend for the bonus 7,500 MR points on card renewal. My plan had been to bag this 7,500 points and then cancel for a refund of the annual fee, wait six months and then apply for platinum.

    If I were to go for this (and still get the Cathay card) I’d have to do it before my gold renewal date, thereby forefiting the 7,500 renewal bonus. That effectively cuts the bonus for upgrading to Platinum to only 7,500. Since I’ll have hit the £15,000 spend anyway, I wonder if I call and explain to Amex they’d give me the points early?

    • CV says:
      19 Dec19 December 13:49

      In pretty much the exact same position as you. I took the plunge and upgraded as I could use a lot of the benefits in Jan and Feb before cancelling in late March (which was my plan for the gold card). I upgraded, and the bonus points for the £15k spend is still showing, with spend to date still counted.

      Not sure if perhaps this will change later on or not, to me it seems wrong, but its still showing and my account in now Platinum.

      • Jac says:
        19 Dec19 December 14:33

        I also have spent already 15K on my amex gold with the renewal date next month. As such i was planning to hold on to te card until the bonus points would post before cancelliing. Upgrading to the Plat would be an attractive option to bag another 15 points while i wait for the 7500 points to post but not if i would lose the 7500 points.
        Plat benefits seems not that attractive as i m already BA gold but if i would keep the 7500 and could get another 15K points for a prorata cost of 450-125 then this would be a decent deal

  • Mike says:
    19 Dec19 December 14:34

    Seems there is also one for people going from Green to gold – http://www.americanexpress.com/uk/upgradetogold/ (just tired changing the URL).

    They are offering 5,000 MR points for 500 spend

    • Rob says:
      19 Dec19 December 17:06

      You’d be a mug to do that, unless they still waive the fee for Year 1. Better to cancel, wait 6 months and apply for the free year and 20k bonus.

      And if they do waive the fee, you’d be a mug not to, given that Green is £60!

  • Cheshire Pete says:
    19 Dec19 December 15:24

    Sorry to be a bit dumb! But the question about does the MP Gold Card get 12 months from the month your Platinum Card started or the month you apply to Cathay Pacific – what was the answer from customer services? It is pro-rata from the date of your Platinum card started or pro-rata from the date you apply to them? Is it rounded up to months end or the actual date? Or rounded down to the previous month the next year?

    I’m a bit confused about the answer at the moment!

    • Rob says:
      19 Dec19 December 16:23

      Marco Polo year runs from whenever you apply for the Cathay card. If you don’t need it, I would apply after 1st Feb but before 15th Feb to maximise your membership period.

      How Amex calculate fee refunds is something I have never got my head around, although most people seem to get back more than they expected. I have never, ever, had a complaint from someone who felt short changed.

  • AndyGWP says:
    19 Dec19 December 15:26

    re: Cathay Pacific card – can supplementary cardholders apply for it too? 🙂

    Thanks

    • Yizun says:
      19 Dec19 December 15:33

      Cathay Pacific only applies to main card holder. The hotel cards however can be applied by supplementary cardholders.

  • Chris says:
    19 Dec19 December 23:03

    Can anyone tell me how to get a priority passé with my Amex Plat? My welcome pack says you register automatically but off that’s the case how do I get my priority pass card?

  • Chris says:
    19 Dec19 December 23:04

    Can anyone tell me how I get my priority pass with my Amex Plat? Welcome pack suggests you are registered automatically but if that’s the case how do I get my priority pass card

    • Rob says:
      19 Dec19 December 23:16

      They come automatically. Cathay, Starwood, Carlson and Accor cards must be ordered from americanexpress.co.uk/platinum

      • Chris says:
        20 Dec20 December 10:00

        So it comes automatically, but seperate from welcome pack?

        I could figure out how to get access to all of the others priority pass just isn’t really mentioned

        • Cheshire Pete says:
          20 Dec20 December 11:23

          My priority pass came before Anything else! Just 2 days after approval. Then supplementary came after 5 days. then main card last after a week as its in special box!

          • chris says:
            20 Dec20 December 11:37

            ah fair enough, didn’t order a suplementary card so didn’t have that issue. the special box did arrive the other day nearly causing a coronary as it dropped through the letter box!

  • Rob says:
    20 Dec20 December 08:03

    Good spot, will do something next week on this.

    • Brian says:
      20 Dec20 December 08:56

      HfP readers might also be interested to know that Tesco are offering a £5 credit for spending £10 with an AMEX card – I’ve been able to register Gold, SPG and BA cards…

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

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