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Bits: get two free US Uber rides, new American Express shopping offers

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News in brief:

Free Uber ride up to $65

If you are heading to the US between now and New Year, American Express and Uber are running a holiday season promotion giving you two free Uber rides up to $65 each from selected US airports.

Simply enter the code AMEXAIRPORT before ordering your Uber and select an American Express card for your payment.  The code is accepted OK on UK registered Uber accounts.

This offer is valid for Uber rides before 31st December 2016 from the following airports:

LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW)
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
Boston Logan International Airport (BOS)
McCarran International Airport (LAS)
George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)

Harrods

Decent Harrods / American Express promotion

Finally, Harrods has launched a new cashback promotion with American Express.

This may – or may not – be showing under the ‘Offers’ section for one or more of your Amex-issued Amex cards on the online statement page.  If it is there, you need to load it to your card.

You will receive £30 cashback when you spend £100 in one transaction before Christmas Eve.  The offer terms state that gift cards are excluded but I’m not sure if that would be correct in practice.  Airport stores are excluded.

Whilst you’re in Knightsbridge, many people will have an offer for £20 back on a £100 transaction at Harvey Nichols.  This offer also runs to Christmas Eve.  I believe that there is also a House of Fraser cashback deal out there.

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 Gold card, American Express Platinum card, British Airways American Express, Heathrow Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy American Express

Comments (111)

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

  • Michael_S says:
    20 Nov20 November 11:29

    Just woke up to get to newark from manhattan and first thing I saw is this e-mail basically telling me I’ll be getting there for free! Thanks!

  • Adam says:
    20 Nov20 November 11:45

    Hi,

    I’m relatively new to AMEX; is there any way to get the Harrods offer if it is not showing in ‘My Offers’ or do I have to rely on what they push through to my account?

    • N says:
      20 Nov20 November 12:05

      Harry (off of HfP comments) has a way in which he thinks he’s forced it to work but no confirmation. You’ll have to trawl through the last few days of articles comments to find a link to the explanation. Sorry can’t help more than that!

      • Brian says:
        20 Nov20 November 13:09

        It’s in the comments for this article – https://headforpoints.com/2016/11/18/eta-travel-to-canada-british-airways/

        I can’t get it to work myself, but maybe I’m just hopeless with these things.

      • the real harry says:
        20 Nov20 November 13:46

        nope I couldn’t see that it would work, tbh

        I’m not willing to jeopardise my position with Amex by trying it, either

        I did explore what the other poster wrote & let’s just say my experience was different, though that could be down to browser choice

        I think if you want offers that are not on your card, Amex agents have shown very willing to let you have them, up until the number of subscribers has reached its limit

        so the obvious answer with (say) Harrods would be to turn on the charm when you call up – Amex agents are the best in the business

        • Adam says:
          20 Nov20 November 15:27

          Thanks for the pointer – I did call Amexto request for the offer to be added and they told me that it was impossible to manually push an offer to a customer.

          Have you had success in reaching out to them direct to request an offer in the past?

          • Rashad says:
            20 Nov20 November 15:47

            Yes It did work for me with British Airways offer that wasn’t not initially in my offers. I guess it’s individual …

  • Justin says:
    20 Nov20 November 11:51

    Looking forward to a free Uber after the last cock up I had. Heading to Boston on Friday, and the estimated fare from Logan to the Intercontinental is $40… sounds like a no brainier to me!

    • David says:
      20 Nov20 November 12:43

      I’ve just returned from Boston, and uber is by far the easiest and cheapest way to/from the airport. I suspect you’ll be well below the $65 limit!

      • Brian says:
        20 Nov20 November 13:10

        Actually, there is a free bus in one direction – can’t remember which – unless they’ve changed it recently.

  • Jonathan Brown says:
    20 Nov20 November 12:41

    How long do Starwood points last for ?

    • Rob says:
      20 Nov20 November 15:14

      With the closure of SPG in Jan 18 and the launch of new SPG / Marriott scheme, it won’t be an issue.

  • John says:
    20 Nov20 November 13:28

    Totally unbelievable ad !

    There was NO queue at passport control !

  • doog1000 says:
    20 Nov20 November 13:39

    I have supplementary Amex cards for my family – does anyone know how to set up online accounts for supplementary cards as hopefully once doing so these offers such as Harrods will show on their accounts too?

    • Gavin says:
      20 Nov20 November 14:13

      I did it yesterday for my wife’s card just after activating it. Online was far easier than via the App

    • the real harry says:
      20 Nov20 November 14:18

      Amex customer services will talk/ walk you through it if you find it difficult – but I think it’s reasonably straightforward – just look online

      the only thing is: they will probably need to go through ID with your Supp

  • Clive says:
    20 Nov20 November 13:41

    Would Harrods let you split payment between two cards to trigger two bonuses (on £200+ item)?

    • the real harry says:
      20 Nov20 November 14:16

      sure if you hit the right agent

      on Shop Small I do 5x £10 @ my butcher to get the Xmas beef joint

    • Rob says:
      20 Nov20 November 15:13

      Should do or buy multiple gift cards first (till can handle 4 GC per transaction).

      • Clive says:
        20 Nov20 November 19:00

        Thanks

      • JR says:
        21 Nov21 November 06:35

        Concierge department (1st floor of Knightsbridge store) handled 20 GC without a blink. Split the payment over multiple cards, also without a blink. Amex confirmation of redemption received almost instantaneously. All good.

  • Lee says:
    20 Nov20 November 14:17

    Thanks for the heads up on the uber promo will come in great on our trip on boxing day

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