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An interesting quirk in the new American Express sign-up rules we missed, and other updates

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There has been a lot to digest about the new American Express sign-up bonus rules in the last few days.  Apart from everything we have discussed so far – see here and here – there was something I missed.

For one group of people, getting a new American Express sign-up bonus just got easier.

These are people who currently have Amex Gold Business or Amex Platinum Business.

American Express Business Gold card

Why is life easier for Amex Business cardholders?

Under the old rules, all of the cards which offered Membership Rewards points (Green, Gold, Platinum, Gold Business, Platinum Business, Amex Rewards) were lumped together.  If you had one of these cards, you couldn’t get a bonus on another one until you had cancelled it and waited six months.

Under the new rules, this family has been broken up.  Instead, two new families have been created between the personal American Express cards and the small business American Express cards.

Let me explain what this means.  Under the old rules, if you had a Gold Business or Platinum Business Amex card, you were blocked from getting the sign-up bonus on a personal Gold, Green, Platinum or Amex Rewards card.

This is no longer the case:

The rule for personal Gold, personal Green and Amex Rewards now says “I understand I will not be eligible for the Welcome Bonus award if I hold or have held any personal American Express Card in the past 24 months”.  There is no mention of small business cards.

Similarly, the rule for personal Platinum now says “I understand I will not be eligible for any Welcome Bonus award if I hold or have held any personal Membership Rewards-enrolled American Express Cards in the past 24 months”.  There is no mention of small business cards.

Which means in plain English …..

This means that if you have Amex Gold Business or Amex Platinum Business, you can now apply for Preferred Rewards Gold, The (personal) Platinum Card or the Amex Rewards Credit Card.  The only caveat is whatever other personal Amex cards you have had in the last 24 months.

If you are an Amex Gold Business or Amex Platinum Business cardholder who has not held any personal Amex cards in the last 24 months, you can literally apply for any personal Amex card you want – immediately, with no need to close your Business card – and get the sign-up bonus.  None of the bonus rules on personal cards make any reference to Small Business cards.

Note that this method does not work in reverse.  The rules for applying for the Amex Business cards remain unchanged:

if you have had a personal Green, Gold, Platinum or Amex Rewards card, or a Gold Business or Platinum business card, in the previous six months then you CANNOT get a sign-up bonus on Gold Business or Platinum Business

if you have NOT had a personal Green, Gold, Platinum or Amex Rewards card, or a Gold Business or Platinum business card, in the previous six months then you CAN get a sign-up bonus on Gold Business or Platinum Business

You can learn more about Amex Gold Business in this HfP article.  You can learn more about Amex Platinum Business in this article.

You obviously need to meet the American Express definitions of having a qualifying small business before you can apply, but these are relatively generous.

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

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

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 Membership Rewards, American Express Platinum card

Comments (164)

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

  • Garyn says:
    24 Mar24 March 16:44

    Appreciate the advice Rob, card now cancelled

  • Munch says:
    24 Mar24 March 17:20

    Is the supplementary bonus for adding an extra card on platinum always applied or do you have to wait for the offer to appear?

  • Shoestring says:
    24 Mar24 March 18:29

    A naked man has reportedly been arrested in Moscow after trying to board a plane while shouting about how clothes made him less agile and aerodynamic.
    Eyewitnesses said the would-be passenger passed through checks at Domodedovo Airport before suddenly taking off all his clothes and running on to the jet bridge, which connects airport terminals to planes.
    “He shouted that he was naked because clothing impairs the aerodynamics of the body. He flies with more agility when undressed,” a witness told Russian channel REN TV.
    Airport staff prevented the man from boarding his flight to Crimea and he was later detained by police officers.
    Fellow passengers told Ren TV the man did not appear drunk.

    • Alan says:
      24 Mar24 March 18:36

      If this you seeking inspiration for the next flight back from your place in the sun, Harry? 😀

    • BJ says:
      24 Mar24 March 20:32

      On the contrary, I would have thought his projectile would likely increase drag!

  • sprout7 says:
    24 Mar24 March 18:33

    Sorry O/T – I have a lloyds upgrade voucher but I think my avios account has now been closed. Is it possible to see the voucher on my ba exec account or any other way of checking it’s expiry date?
    thx

    • Alan says:
      24 Mar24 March 18:37

      You can’t see it on your BAEC a/c. I can still see mine on my Avios.com account (which has stayed open due to Aer Club). Actually spent it today, agent transferred points from my BAEC account whilst on the call – then the bloody Lloyds Avios card blocked the taxes transaction so she kindly held whilst I went through Lloyds security to lift the block!

      • Mark2 says:
        24 Mar24 March 20:18

        Lloyds security are very twitchy today. They blocked my transaction for £5 because I had not used it recently.

        • Alan says:
          24 Mar24 March 21:58

          Yeah, I find they’re the twitchiest by far of any of my cards. Used to be good and just send a text you could reply to confirming the transaction though (and then reattempt), this time had to go through the whole rigmarole. When I bought a laptop recently they texted me a code, verified fine and order completed, only to get a text 10 min later asking me to confirm transaction and saying I wouldn’t be charged and would have to make it again! Thankfully ignored it and all went through fine.

          They also said I should have a new card – I pointed out they hadn’t sent them out yet!

  • Reeferman says:
    24 Mar24 March 19:01

    Are the fees pro-rata refundable if you cancel during the course of the 12 months – with the Gold and Platinum Business Amex cards?

    • BJ says:
      24 Mar24 March 20:37

      I’d imagine so, Rob said pro rata refunds are global practice for amex.

    • RIccatti says:
      24 Mar24 March 23:09

      No pro-rata fee refunds for AMEX USA.

      You have one month (statement cycle?) after renewal to decide to cancel card or not. After that AMEX USA does not refund the fee.

      • Reeferman says:
        24 Mar24 March 23:34

        Thanks, but am looking at Amex Business cards in UK – can’t find anything on-line one way or the other.

  • Mitch says:
    24 Mar24 March 20:38

    One thing worth considering for some people is that the only Credit Card accepted at CostCo is AmEx. Otherwise you’ve got to use debit cards.

    • A-Mahdi says:
      24 Mar24 March 22:06

      Not for long time, Amex lost their contract with Costco 2 years ago in the USA and the new contract was awarded to Visa , the contract in the UK is I think for another 2 years so after that Costco may move to Visa in the UK as well

      • William Squires says:
        25 Mar25 March 08:17

        Are you certain that’s the case? They are still pushing the Amex pretty hard in store.

        The cynic in me wonders who else is going to give them a better deal over here. The prospects of moving to a NewDay or Creation backed card are pretty grim, but I guess Amex are unlikely to prop up a card which loses at least 0.7% up to 2.7% either.

        Brilliant product while it lasts though.

  • jimA says:
    25 Mar25 March 00:30

    the crazy thing is/was the AMEX referral bonus which is based on the card you are referring FROM

  • Alex says:
    25 Mar25 March 10:21

    I have been trying to get my head round this, as I have a LTD company I am going to try and churn the gold card. Does the BA amex counts as a rewards card when I apply for my business gold in six times. The question is do I need to be clean of all my other amex cards, if I want to get a business gold card? Couldn’t work it out. Thank you for the help.

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

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