Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Should you leave American Express for 24 months until you can get a new sign-up bonus?

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We have spent a lot of time in the last few days discussing the new American Express sign-up bonus policy.  In most cases, you need to cancel all of your personal American Express cards and wait two years before you would qualify for any new sign-up bonuses.

As I pointed out on Thursday, for someone who does not have an American Express card and has not had one in the past 24 months, you can still earn 65,000 Avios relatively quickly.

This is the best strategy for maximising Avios under the new Avios rules:

For your first card: 

Get the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express (bonus of 30,000 Marriott Bonvoy points) or Nectar American Express (20,000 Nectar points) or Platinum Cashback or Platinum Cashback Everyday.  I would see the Starwood option as the most valuable.

Once you have got your first card, you are disqualified from bonuses on most of the other cards.  There are two exceptions however:

For your second card (or third card, order is not important):

Get The Platinum Card (bonus of 30,000 Membership Rewards points) because the only restriction on getting this is if you have held another Membership Rewards-earning card (Preferred Rewards Gold, American Express Rewards, Green, Gold Business, Platinum Business) in the previous 24 months

For your third card (or second card, order is not important):

Get the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card (bonus of 25,000 Avios) because the only restriction on getting this is if you have held either British Airways American Express card in the previous 24 months

The reason for the order here is that as soon as you get The Platinum Card or the British Airways Premium Plus card, you block yourself from all of the bonuses in the first list.

Under the new rules, if you had not previously had a personal American Express card, this strategy will earn you:

30,000 Marriott Bonvoy points from the Starwood American Express or 20,000 Nectar points

plus

30,000 Membership Rewards points from The Platinum Card 

plus

25,000 Avios from the British Airways Premium Plus card

If you converted the 30,000 Marriott Bonvoy points into 10,000 Avios and the 30,000 Membership Rewards points into 30,000 Avios, you would have earned 65,000 Avios fairly quickly from sign-up bonuses.

What are your options as an existing cardholder?

If you are currently an American Express personal cardholder, you have two options.

Option 1 is to carry on as you are, keeping one of the American Express cards in your wallet but knowing that in most cases you will never be eligible for another sign-up bonus

Option 2 is to cancel all of your personal American Express cards and start the 24 month clock on when you can pursue the strategy above

For a lot of people, I think Option 2 is pretty attractive.

Option 2 allows you, in two years time, to pick up 65,000 Avios relatively quickly via the application strategy I outline above.  Your partner can do the same.  Importantly, you can refer your partner for the cards using the ‘refer a friend’ programme.  Add in the referral bonuses and you can still earn over 150,000 Avios between two people once every two years.

What would you do for 24 months whilst you are waiting? 

Spend on a totally different card.

There are LOTS of non-American Express cards out there that you can use for the next 24 months and some are pretty attractive.  Here are the most valuable options:

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard – annual fee £0 – earns 0.75 miles per £1 – sign-up bonus of 5,000 Virgin Flying Club miles – our review / apply

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard – annual fee £160 – earns 1.5 miles per £1 – sign-up bonus of 15,000 Virgin Flying Club miles – our review / apply

Miles & More Global Traveller Diners Club and Mastercard – annual fee £79 – earns 1.25 miles per £1 – sign-up bonus of 5,000 Miles & More miles – our review / apply

IHG Rewards Club Mastercard – no annual fee – earns 1 point per £1 – sign-up bonus of 10,000 IHG Rewards Club points – our review / apply

IHG Rewards Club Premium Mastercard – annual fee £99 – earns 2 points per £1 – sign-up bonus of 20,000 IHG Rewards Club points – our review / apply

HSBC Premier Mastercard – no annual fee – earns 0.5 airline miles per £1 – no sign-up bonus – our review / apply

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard – annual fee of £195 – earns 1 airline mile per £1 – sign-up bonus of 40,000 airline miles – our review / apply

There are plenty of alternatives out there.  It is worth remembering that KLM and Air France will soon be redeemable with Virgin Flying Club miles, adding a lot of extra options.

You get some decent long-term incentives too.  The IHG Rewards Club Premium Mastercard offers you a free night voucher each year if you spend £10,000.  The Virgin Atlantic credit cards offer a 2-4-1 or upgrade voucher each year if you spend £10,000.

New American Express sign-up bonus rules

If you think you prefer Option 1 – carrying on as you are – remember how hard it would be to earn 65,000 Avios via normal spending

If you cancel all of your American Express cards, I showed you above how – in 24 months time – you can pick up 65,000 Avios fairly quickly via three applications.

If you choose to keep your existing cards, you will obviously continue to earn miles as you always did.  However, think about how much spending would be required over the next two years to earn 65,000 Avios:

£65,000 on the free BA Amex, Amex Gold or Amex Platinum

£43,333 on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus

£52,000 on the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express

Most people can’t hit these targets and are better off cancelling everything – you will earn more miles from Amex by cancelling and waiting 24 months.  This also ignores the huge number of points you’d earn by diverting your spend to one of the other cards above.

The ‘elephant in the room’ is the BA Amex 2-4-1 voucher

The key problem, if you cancel all of your American Express cards to restart the 24 month clock, is not earning a British Airways American Express Premium Plus 2-4-1 voucher.

You might be happy to skip the voucher for two years, especially if you have existing vouchers to use up.   If you are still earning a lot of Avios via other routes (like flying) you may well need to bite the bullet and keep your BA Amex open.

This doesn’t totally stop you getting other bonuses.  You would still be eligible to apply for The Platinum Card every 24 months and receive a 30,000 points sign-up bonus.

And you need an Amex to pay the taxes on your 2-4-1 tickets ….

Remember that you need to pay the taxes when you redeem a British Airways 2-4-1 voucher using an American Express card.  Despite what the rules say, it doesn’t need to be a BA Amex and it doesn’t need to be in your name (Amex does not check names as part of its card verification) but you WILL need access to an American Express.

And possibly a Platinum-coloured elephant too ….

For some people, The Platinum Card poses a similar dilemma.  What will you do for airport lounge access, travel insurance, hotel status etc during your 24 month hiatus?

Finally, do the Amex cashback offers have value to you?

Most of us have save £100+ per year via the cashback offers added to our Amex card statements.  You should factor the loss of those savings into your calculations.

New American Express sign-up bonus rules

Ignore this article entirely if you have a small business

Forget everything you just read if you have a small business.  The sign-up rules on Amex Gold Business and Amex Platinum Business have not changed and you can reapply for those and receive a new bonus after just a six month gap.

Conclusion

You need to decide if you are going to walk away from American Express entirely for the next 24 months.

For many HfP readers, this may be a sensible strategy.  Put your credit card spend on other products and then, in two years time, return to American Express and get three cards in quick succession – earning 65,000 Avios – using the strategy above.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

earns points from credit cards

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2025 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 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

Get 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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:

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up 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 Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Category

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

Comments (372)

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

  • Julian says:
    23 Mar23 March 10:00

    Rob,

    Something tells me that your current good relationship with American Express UK is unfortunately going to crash and burn if you are all in seriousness suggesting that their current customers give up all Amex spend for two years just so that they can earn more sign up bonuses only to then do the same thing all over again.

    Result is they won’t be doing very much spending on Amex at all in a five year window, which Amex is simply not going to like. So if I were them i would increase the bonus exclusion period for previous card holders to five years to stop this very thing from happening.

    You saw how harshly they acted against Curve when they didn’t like the high value of transactions coming in through that route so want makes you think they won’t act in the same tough manner towards your readers if they continue to abuse the intent of offering the signup bonuses by Amex and its business partners in the highly systematic manner that you are now proposing????

    • Shoestring says:
      23 Mar23 March 10:07

      They stopped Curve because a responsible bank or credit provider can’t allow credit cards to be paid off with different credit cards.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        23 Mar23 March 11:19

        Which you couldn’t do with your Amex balance.

      • Julian says:
        24 Mar24 March 18:08

        Shoestring surely you aren’t implying that the many banks who issue Visa credit and debit cards aren’t responsible?

        Although must say that I had been considering clearing part of my significant MBNA loan balance with my Lloyds Avios Mastercard via Curve.

        Visa and Mastercard issuers must know how Curve operates and yet they so far they are not blocking card balance repayment transactions………

        • Shoestring says:
          24 Mar24 March 18:19

          debit cards don’t come into it as that’s from your cash balance at bank

          but sure, on credit cards getting used to pay off other credit cards – that’s another PPI claim scandal in the making! though not on the same scale 🙂 – it’s *not* responsible banking, it’s not much better than a Ponzi scheme

    • Freddy says:
      23 Mar23 March 10:07

      I thought this website was about maximising points

    • Mikeact says:
      23 Mar23 March 10:09

      Good Morning Julian…I was waiting for you to pop up this morning after all the comments you received over the last couple of days !

    • Worzel says:
      23 Mar23 March 10:09

      It’s all best treated as a hobby Julian- as Rob pointed out at outset………. 🙂 .

    • rooka says:
      23 Mar23 March 10:23

      They just did this for 2 years, what your now suggesting is people don’t take advantage of it incase they get banned from taking up the offers, news flash 2 years is pretty much non existent in earning potential

    • Kelly says:
      23 Mar23 March 11:10

      Julian, remember this site doesn’t do articles on churning like the US sites, here it’s called ‘maximizing Avios’ because it’s a ‘hobby’ 😉

    • Rob says:
      23 Mar23 March 11:28

      I just got an email from a reader who spends £165k PER MONTH on cards and wanted advice.

      The average HFP deposit into the Virgin Money savings account is £45,000. We have the highest opening balance of any Nutmeg affiliate in the UK. Emyr is just about to hit £1m of luxury hotel bookings for our readers.

      Companies work with us because the – generally silent – bulk of our 30,000 daily readers are not poor. That will not change.

      Amex will be delighted if I keep sending them the £165k per month types.

      We have this discussion on a regular basis with companies. We had a complaint this week from someone whose product we had said was ‘better than the competition but not perfect’. They had wanted us to declare it the greatest thing ever, period, and formally complained.

      People read HFP because we are generally balanced on the pros and cons of your card / airline / hotel etc. Companies cannot have it both ways. We only have the audience these companies want to reach because of our editorial approach.

      • Kelly says:
        23 Mar23 March 12:11

        I would think most people who spend 165k a month on cards would probably manage to find their own way to Amex without being sent there by anyone. Maybe he/she emails people about how to dress himself/herself also though so who knows.

      • Freddy says:
        23 Mar23 March 12:37

        What on earth are they spending 165k a month on

        • Rob says:
          23 Mar23 March 14:32

          In my experience people spending those sums by card are buying Google or Facebook ads.

      • Optimus Prime says:
        23 Mar23 March 13:10

        Has Amex offered him a Centurion card yet?

      • Mark says:
        25 Mar25 March 08:34

        Wheres the LIKE button

    • Peter 64K says:
      23 Mar23 March 12:15

      Hi Julian. Good to hear your balanced views and insightful reasoning again 😉
      I’d love to read a blog written by you on points and miles 😂

      • Kelly says:
        23 Mar23 March 12:30

        He has a point though, just wait till the referral bonuses get pulled / reduced too due to abuse. When sites promote taking the p**s it’s only a matter of time before it goes away. Sure it’s in the T&Cs that you can do it, but I can walk out of McDonalds with 100 ketchups and an armful of napkins without paying for them but sooner or later they are going to catch on and put a stop to it.

        • Mikeact says:
          23 Mar23 March 13:01

          Totally different, that’s blatant stealing.

        • Kelly says:
          23 Mar23 March 13:23

          Stealing, how’s that then? They are complimentary. I mean if they wanted to restrict them, they would just put them behind the counter right?

        • Anna says:
          23 Mar23 March 14:11

          They already have at our local McD’s – sauces are in large bottles and distributed in thimble sized containers on request!

        • Lady London says:
          23 Mar23 March 18:15

          Yes but if you walked out Of somewhere like Harrods and a known good spender there they might take note but unless something else went wrong you’d be unlikely to be challenged

      • Evan says:
        23 Mar23 March 12:38

        Lol me too – come on Jules don’t let us down!! 🙂

        • Kelly says:
          23 Mar23 March 12:53

          Maybe he could do a site on ‘maximing’ Tesco point offers due to all the recent offers that can be exploited to acquire Avios, oh wait…. why did 99% of those Tesco offers disappear again?

  • krys_k says:
    23 Mar23 March 10:05

    That’s an interesting overlap. So to get the Business Plat bonus, 6 months will have needed to have elapsed from when I last owned a MR card eg Personal Plat. Got it.

    Is it one card per business or per company officer ?

    • Qwerty Bertie says:
      23 Mar23 March 10:12

      Double check the terms & conditions, but I think you have it right. No matter what anybody on the internet tells you, always perform your own personal due diligence, to ensure you don’t get stung courtesy of somebody else’s mistake.

      The business cards are still based on the individual, i.e. MR account in your name, application will show up on your personal credit files etc.

      • the_real_a says:
        23 Mar23 March 17:21

        I’m still smarting over losing £70 in Zeek 🙁

        • TGLoyalty says:
          23 Mar23 March 19:51

          lost £30 myself. Luckily I was smart enough to save my last gift card details as website is now dead

        • the_real_a says:
          23 Mar23 March 21:26

          Just an FYI to anyone else – the virtual gift-cards are actually clickable from the order email to via a third party site that provided the gift cards.

  • Alex D says:
    23 Mar23 March 10:07

    So if you were to keep the BAPP and have no other Amex card for 24 months. To clarify I could still receive the sign up for the Platnium card and the spg card also?

    • Waddle says:
      23 Mar23 March 10:20

      Yes but you have to get the SPG first. Have ANY amex blocks you from the SPG bonus but the the BAPP and Platinum are only blocked by the 24 month rule. So you can get the BAPP and Plat bonuses if even if you have another amex.

      • Waddle says:
        23 Mar23 March 10:27

        To clarify you can get the BAPP and Plat bonuses even if you have another Amex as long as that Amex is not one of the same family.

      • Alex D says:
        23 Mar23 March 10:34

        Okay, thank you! For us it makes sense to keep the BAPP, swallow the fee to be able to earn Avios all year round at a decent level. Then every 2 years, I get platinum and spg then refer my partner for all 3. Slower process but works just as well. Non-Amex spend on the virgin+ card.

        • Waddle says:
          23 Mar23 March 10:44

          Good plan. You will be able to get the Platinum bonus every two years but not the SPG unfortunately. However if your partner doesn’t have an Amex in their name then refer to SPG, then Plat/BAPP and they will be able to get all three bonuses. Good luck.

    • Rob says:
      23 Mar23 March 11:22

      No. You can get Plat but not SPG.

      • Alex D says:
        23 Mar23 March 12:26

        Good thing my partner has never held any AMEX cards – she will be sucked into this hobby now though!😂

  • Waddle says:
    23 Mar23 March 10:15

    I have the BAPP and just got Plat. In either rules scenario I would’ve got the bonus. Only now I’m blocked from getting the bonus on the SPG/Nectar. Oh well.
    My strategy now is to trigger the 241 on the BAPP, then either cancel it or downgrade it to the BA blue for a partial refund. Then move to Gold. I understand I won’t be getting a sign-up bonus but I never would have in the old world either but I can still focus on 10k MR @£15k spend.
    My question is is it worth it for me to cancel my BAPP instead of downgrading? I will them be eligible for another bonus in 24 months. Meanwhile I’ll have Plat and its benefits, be building up to a Gold bonus and I can also earn point on my HSBC WE. I should shouldn’t I?

    • sayling says:
      23 Mar23 March 11:44

      Is there any point in having the free BA and Gold, Waddle? I can’t see the benefit, as you’ll surely want to direct spend onto the Gold to achieve spend targets…

  • Ed says:
    23 Mar23 March 10:27

    Be interesting to see how BA reacts they must of been selling large quantities of avios to Amex, which is undoubtedly going to drop going forward. By how much isn’t anyone’s guess, but surely a significant amount.

    • Waddle says:
      23 Mar23 March 10:29

      Very interesting indeed. On the one hand it might be a loss because they generated some revenue through sale of Avios to Amex but on the other hand it could lead to less redemptions or redemptions on shorter flights and they might sell more cash tickets…

      • Ed says:
        23 Mar23 March 11:03

        Aside from the guaranteed redemption seats per flight they have complete control over what they add to the redemption inventory, so I don’t see it having much impact on how many seats they sell for cash per flight.

    • Rob says:
      23 Mar23 March 11:20

      That is irrelevant.

      What IS relevant is how BA, Nectar and Marriott feel about restrictions on who can get their cards.

      You can only assume Amex is walking away from these deals.

      • Alex D says:
        23 Mar23 March 12:38

        That would reduce amex’s offering by a large margin to a big group of people though… who would pick up the deal/partnerships?

        • Rob says:
          23 Mar23 March 14:31

          2 reasons why BA will walk:

          With Amex fees capped, it is just silly having a partner not accepted everywhere

          BA wants full wallet control. If you have a Virgin Mastercard alongside your BA Amex it isn’t helping BA at all.

      • Mikeact says:
        23 Mar23 March 13:08

        How about a global type ‘One World’ Visa/Mastercard card, issued locally, but also based on you current tier level.

      • the_real_a says:
        23 Mar23 March 13:31

        You would think that would logically lead to more MR redemption partners (who could turn down the free cash?) or fairer reward valuation into Marriott from MR when SPG is removed.

      • Roy says:
        23 Mar23 March 14:44

        I rather imagine Amex will complement this change with targeted offers to existing cardmembers. I’m sure they haven’t lost interest in upselling, and currently they have no clear strategy for upselling the Platinum card anyway, since the Gold credit card is not eligible for the upgrade offer.

        I’d be astonished if they don’t have some plan in the works… If it’s primarily targeted offers, though, then you can be pretty sure those offers won’t be coming the way of the heavy churners.

  • Alex D says:
    23 Mar23 March 10:36

    Yes he can get all 3(with good credit of course) as an additional card holder you are a nobody as such to Amex – they don’t have you as a customer in their database yet

  • Mark says:
    23 Mar23 March 10:41

    OK. So I have the BAPP and Virgin+. My Wife has a Virgin+ too.

    I’ve not had any other amex in the last few years and I have a business so what do you guys think my best plan of attack is?

    • Waddle says:
      23 Mar23 March 10:48

      Keep the Virgin+. You can get the personal Plat bonus NOW. If you cancel your BAPP you can get a bonus in 2 years. Or you could get Biz Plat and that’s chrunable every 6 months as long as you don’t get a personal Plat or Gold.

    • Rob says:
      23 Mar23 March 11:18

      Gold Business or Plat Business, and then personal Gold or Plat. Must be in that order.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        23 Mar23 March 12:30

        Why would you get a personal? Aren’t you blocked from having a sign up bonus for 24 months?

        Just churning the business you can have one every 6 months and get a bonus

      • Mark says:
        25 Mar25 March 08:36

        Can i refer myself for the business card from my BAPP

    • Only joking says:
      23 Mar23 March 23:58

      Keep the Virgin, lose the wife.

  • Munch says:
    23 Mar23 March 11:04

    Business Card Questions

    I assume you would still receive a referral bonus if you refer from a personal card to business card? Example 18000 points referring from a personal plat.
    Does the business card have opportunities for further referrals as the personal card – example 5 x 18000 points for 5 referrals?
    Can you use the card for normal spending or is the card less accepted as its a business card?

    • Qwerty Bertie says:
      23 Mar23 March 11:20

      Yes – I’ve seen it come up as an option for the new customer when I’ve been referred
      Believe so but can’t confirm as never held it
      Yes, exactly the same acceptance, and the card is based on the individual not the business

      • Munch says:
        23 Mar23 March 11:34

        Thanks Qwerty Bertie
        Does the business card have opportunities for further referrals as the personal card – example 5 x 18000 points for 5 referrals?

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