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Amazon cuts the cashback earning rate on its Platinum Mastercard credit card

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If you need any further proof of the tough environment out there for credit card rewards, Amazon has just announced big changes to its UK Platinum Mastercard.

I tend to use the Amazon card as one of my default ‘best (almost-)cashback’ cards.  After this change, the best mainstream card is probably the John Lewis / Waitrose one which has no annual fee and still offers 0.5% back, doubled to 1% at John Lewis and Waitrose.

Amazon Mastercard reduces its cashback earning rate

From 29th April, the cashback rate – paid in Amazon vouchers – on the Amazon Platinum Mastercard will drop from 0.5% to just 0.25%.

The earning rate when spending at Amazon remains unchanged.  You will get 1.5% back as a Prime member and 0.75% back otherwise.

Details of the credit card, which do not reflect the upcoming changes, are on this page of the Amazon site. 

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – January 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our January 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus. 

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here.

British Airways American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and a companion voucher for spending £20,000 Read our full review

BA Premium Plus American Express card BAPP

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

Nectar American Express

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

American Express Platinum card Amex

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Virgin Rewards Plus credit card

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 points bonus and the most generous non-Amex for day to day spending 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:

American Express Business Gold card

American Express Business Gold

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

Amex Platinum Business American Express

American Express Business Platinum

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

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express card

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

Earn both Avios and BA On Business points with your business spending Read our full review

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

Disclaimer: Head for Points is a journalistic website. Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that any product is right for your circumstances. Recommendations are based primarily on the ability to earn miles and points and do not consider interest rates, service levels or any impact on your credit history.  By recommending credit cards on this site, I am – technically – acting as a credit broker.  Robert Burgess, trading as Head for Points, is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a credit broker.

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General

Comments (154)

  • Jtz says:
    28 Mar28 March 15:35

    Has anyone else got an email from iberia 7000 seats for €7.99 plus tax?

  • BJ says:
    28 Mar28 March 17:03

    It’s already been confirmed time and time again.

    • Jonny says:
      28 Mar28 March 23:23

      Thanks.. The reason I asked is that as I said, the language was slightly different this time, and last time I saw this raised some people had assumed it would work as usual but hadn’t got the cash back yet.

      • Alan says:
        28 Mar28 March 23:36

        Although for those saying they haven’t received it so far I’m not yet clear (a) if the hotel they booked at was on the list and (b) how long since the charge fully posted to their Amex account given how slow the Amex Offers seem to be to post just how.

  • Jo says:
    28 Mar28 March 17:22

    OT: I hv foolishly kept the blue ba card and realised I hv alr spent £18k on it. Is there any worth in upgrading to black card now? Can I get any points for referring myself and how many vouchers will I get if I spend £2k more? (I have not had any vouchers yet)

    • Rob says:
      28 Mar28 March 17:24

      If you spend £2k more you’ll get the standard 1-year voucher.

      If you upgrade to BAPP (and feel free to downgrade again soon afterwards for a pro-rata fee refund) you will immediately get a 2-year voucher as you are over £10000.

      • Matt says:
        28 Mar28 March 17:39

        Are you sure about that? I think I’ve read somewhere (here or Flyertalk) that if you’ve already spent £10k then you might get the 1 year voucher if you upgrade. If you’ve spent £9900, upgrade and then spend another £100 then you’re definitely OK.

        • Graham says:
          28 Mar28 March 21:48

          I did this recently, initially they gave me the one year voucher and I had to call Amex to get the two year voucher – was an easy fix. You get the voucher because you are premium, so you get the premium voucher.
          I also got a bonus 6k points for upgrading.

          Do you need a 24 month voucher, rather than a 12 month voucher? Basically you would be spending £195 for the longer voucher and maybe 6k avois – that might suit you better if you don’t have the Avios available to book something good in the next 12 months, also there might not be the availability within 12 months if you want a popular route.

      • BJ says:
        28 Mar28 March 17:46

        And maybe also get a 6k bonus according to some previous comments, but don’t count on it.

        • Octopus says:
          28 Mar28 March 21:53

          First time when I upgraded by telephone I received the 6k bonus points. In other years when I upgraded online, I did not get any bonus points. Not sure whether calling to upgrade makes a difference?

    • Nick M says:
      28 Mar28 March 17:27

      If you upgrade, you’ll have to pay the fee but the voucher will be valid for 2 years…

      If you don’t, you need to spend another £2k to trigger the voucher which will only be valid for 1 year, however there won’t be a fee to pay

    • Anna says:
      28 Mar28 March 18:58

      You don’t get referral points when you’re going between BAPP and blue on the same account.

  • Matt says:
    28 Mar28 March 17:41

    For the Tesco SIM card deal is it definitely OK to get 2 separate SIM cards on the same clubcard number/account?
    Waiting for the points from the 1st SIM I got, have another SIM waiting to be activated, just wondering whether it’s safe to go for it.

    • BJ says:
      28 Mar28 March 17:49

      Yes, several people have now reported 4k for 2x sim on 1x c.f. account. Reports also suggest points are crediting 9 days after activation.

      • Matt says:
        28 Mar28 March 17:53

        Great, thanks. 9 days is up for me tomorrow I think, so haven’t been expecting the first lot just yet.

    • Craig says:
      28 Mar28 March 18:57

      Just tried to order a sim card and nothing happens!

  • Munch says:
    28 Mar28 March 20:25

    OT I’ve booked a standard redemption for the Ritz Carlton NY. Is it possible to pay for executive lounge access? Apparently they serve caviar on the Saturday so wouldn’t mind paying for just the one day.

    • John says:
      28 Mar28 March 20:31

      Wouldn’t it be cheaper just to buy the caviar yourself? I can’t imagine that a hotel would be losing money on serving caviar.

      • Bagoly says:
        29 Mar29 March 11:32

        I can see how the hotel would lose at the margin, which is what is relevant here.
        They provide the caviar with the experience that say 20% of residents with executive lounge access will eat an average of say 30g.
        (Some will not get out of bed in time, some prefer breakfast in their room, some are vegan, some are not aware of it, some do not like caviar, some are too timid to ask for a second helping etc)
        And if the increase in room level to get lounge access is the same all week, they might even be effectively spreading the cost over the whole week.

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