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Free AppStore travel apps for UK Amex cardholders

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You have just two days left to download a number of decent iOS apps for free via Amex Handpicked.

Amex launched this a few weeks ago.  I actually downloaded a few of the apps with a view to writing about them after I’d tried them out.  Then I forgot …..   Luckily reader Stuart gave me a nudge this week.

The Amex Handpicked website is here.

iPhone

There are six apps available for free download:

Shazam Encore (the £4.99 premium version)

Spark Camera (usually 69p)

Barefoot World Atlas (aimed at children, usually £2.99)

FlightTrack 5 (usually £2.99)

iTranslate Voice 2 (usually £1.49)

Weather HD (usually £1.99)

FlightTrack offers real-time departure information for all of your flights, informing you of delays and gate numbers direct to your phone.  I have a couple of flights next week so I will see how this fares.

My daughter has enjoyed playing with Barefoot World Atlas.  It is a child-friendly atlas app, with the spinning globe interspersed with major global landmarks and offering more information on them if clicked.

You need to download the apps by 31 May, so don’t delay if you are interested.

(Remember that you can download the apps and immediately delete them.  Should you want to download any of them again in the future, Apple will not charge you a second time.)

You will need to give an American Express card number – MBNA and Lloyds Amex cards are OK – in order for the downloads to work.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – September 2022 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

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

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher for spending £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.

EDIT: Until 25th October 2022, there is an exceptionally generous sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card. You will receive 60,000 Membership Rewards points – double the usual amount – and £200 to spend at Amex Travel. You need to spend £6,000 within six months to earn the bonus.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable card perk – the 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 & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

60,000 points, £200 travel credit and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 points bonus 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

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

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

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

50,000 points bonus until 2nd October – the most generous Avios Visa for a limited company 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 credit card

1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review

Category

General

Comments (18)

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

  • Mark Pickering says:
    30 May30 May 06:07

    Nothing for android users?

    • Frenske says:
      30 May30 May 07:06

      Some are free on Android anyway (probably with adds).

    • Alan says:
      30 May30 May 07:51

      Nope although I received the credit on my account when I pointed this out to Amex!

      • grex9101 says:
        30 May30 May 11:29

        How did you manage that?

        • Alan says:
          30 May30 May 12:37

          I just complained to them via the webform re the iOS bias. I was more just wanting to make the point (the Android Amex app is also less functional than the iOS one), but they offered me the credit!

    • Paul Lakin says:
      30 May30 May 14:14

      I doubt they will offer this on android because google don’t accept amex as a payment method.

      • Sully says:
        31 May31 May 21:05

        Yes they do – although they only seem to take my MBNA Amex and not my Amex Amex

        • Paul says:
          1 Jun1 June 00:36

          How odd.
          Google say they only accept Amex in the US. I assumed this meant they only accept Amex for dollar transactions (because you can add a uk Amex to your account, it just doesnt work when you try to buy something).
          Perhaps what they have actually done is just blocked the uk card ranges, and have missed MBNA.

  • Gavin Cooper says:
    30 May30 May 08:05

    Thanks for the tip, I’ve been looking at purchasing FlightTrack 5, nice freebie. Does AMEX run this promotion a lot, as I have never seen it advertised on their website?

    • Rob says:
      30 May30 May 08:21

      This is the first time but it implies it will stay around with different apps

  • Roger says:
    30 May30 May 09:55

    This seems to be an Apple promotion accessed via Apple’s ITunes.

    Something similar is happening at the Telegraph whose possibly helpful destination apps are only available to Apple users.

    The market leader is Android whose users are excluded from these selective promotions ostensibly from AmEx and the Telegraph. Pity.

    • Oli says:
      30 May30 May 11:40

      Amongst Amex holders and Telegraph readers I would guess that the ‘market leader’ is not Android.

      • Roger says:
        30 May30 May 12:00

        That may or may not be true. Fact is, I am excluded from the AmEx and Telegraph promotions, which hardly seems wise if AmEx and the Telegraph want to promote their services to users/readers.

        I’m hardly going to buy an iPad just to get a ‘free’ app.

        OTOH BA and many others are happy to service Android and Apple users.

  • Danksy says:
    30 May30 May 10:19

    Don’t get me started on Apple … grrrr 😛

  • jonboy says:
    30 May30 May 13:17

    cheers raffles, also used a second amex card of mine to get them for a mate. he used his email and my credit card number, worked fine.

  • M says:
    30 May30 May 14:12

    No need to give Android users free apps. Most of them will grab them for free anyway…
    http://www.cultofandroid.com/27547/android-piracy-outnumbers-ios-piracy-by-141-driving-devs-to-freemium-only-model/

  • StealthMoose says:
    30 May30 May 22:34

    Hmmmm, downloaded all of these from the App Store (because they were free), only to find that you need to go through the Amex link above to register your card, in order for the redemption codes to be emailed / activated…

  • Joe says:
    31 May31 May 05:27

    You can you Credit card number generator

    http://www.getcreditcardnumbers.com

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