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What bonus can you get for adding a free Amex supplementary card to your account?

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I wasn’t planning to do another American Express article this week, but something came up in the comments to the article on Monday (and comes up in my emails with worrying regularity) which made me think that we should take a proper look at American Express supplementary cards.  There seems to be some confusion about how they work.

Today I want to talk about the benefits of adding a supplementary cardholder to your Amex account and what bonus you will earn if you do.  A second article will explore the topic in more detail.

Why should you add a supplementary cardholder to your Amex account?

Reason 1 – it is easier to hit spending bonuses

The obvious first reason is that, by giving your partner a supplementary card on your American Express account, you can both focus your spending onto the same card.

This is especially useful if you are working towards a spend-based bonus, such as:

The 2-4-1 Avios redemption voucher on the British Airways American Express cards, which requires annual spending of £20,000 (free BA Amex) or £10,000 (the paid British Airways American Express Premium Plus)

The 10,000 bonus Membership Rewards points for spending £15,000 per year on American Express Preferred Rewards Gold 

It also makes it easier to trigger a sign-up bonus, such as the £3,000 in three months of spending required on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card to receive the 25,000 Avios bonus.

BA Premium Plus American Express card BAPP

Reason 2 – you can share card benefits with other people

If you have The Platinum Card from American Express, it is crazy not to use your one free Platinum supplementary card.  The person who gets it will receive:

a Priority Pass for airport lounge access

full travel insurance for themselves and their immediate family (now requires opt-in under new EU rules)

Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Gold, Melia Rewards Gold, Shangri-La Golden Circle Jade and Marriott Bonvoy Gold hotel status

Eurostar lounge access etc etc

Even if you are single, you might want to issue a supplementary Platinum to a trusted friend or relative purely for the benefits.  My Mum had a supplementary Platinum on my account many years ago – I didn’t renew it when she hit 70 as the insurance no longer covered her – and my wife has one now.

You can issue further supplementary Platinum cards for £170 each per year.  This could be very good value for the right person given the Priority Pass and hotel status card benefits.

Note that not all Amex cards give all of their benefits to supplementary cardholders, so check the small print.

Reason 3 – you can double-up on ‘statement credit’ cashback deals

Many people do not know that the holder of a supplementary card can register it as a stand-alone card on the American Express website.

If my wife logs in to her Amex online account, for example, she can see her own Gold and BA Premium Plus cards as well as the supplementary card she has on my Platinum account.

Importantly, the supplementary card receives its own batch of statement credit offers.  This means that, if an offer appears on both your main card and the supplementary, you can register for it twice and earn it twice.

Why should you add a supplementary card to your American Express account?

Reason 4 – you get bonus Membership Rewards or Avios for issuing a supplementary card

American Express now has a dedicated page on its website which you can use for issuing supplementary cards.  You can find it here.

The bonus is only paid on the FIRST supplementary card issued.  You will receive:

3,000 Membership Rewards points for issuing your first Preferred Rewards Gold supplementary card

5,000 Membership Rewards points for issuing your first Platinum supplementary card

3,000 Avios for issuing your first BA Premium Plus supplementary card

1,000 Avios for issuing your first free BA Amex supplementary card

There is NO bonus on the Costco, Harrods, Starwood or Nectar American Express cards.  There are bonuses on the two cashback cards.  The link for issuing supplementary cards is here.

Note that you WILL receive the bonus for issuing a supplementary card even if you did not qualify for a sign-up bonus when you originally applied for the card.

In Part 2 ….

Over the weekend we will look at the rules on getting American Express sign-up bonuses if you are already a supplementary cardholder.

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

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Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

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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

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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

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Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

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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, British Airways and Avios, Marriott Bonvoy American Express

Comments (112)

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

  • MDA says:
    2 May2 May 06:22

    OT: Heads up: amex does not let you earn bonus on the green card if you had any other personal card within the last 6 months

    • Rob says:
      2 May2 May 10:07

      As in you can’t upgrade to platinum?

      Can anyone confirm for me that presumably you have to enable MR on the account in order to be eligible for the upgrade to plat?

      • Matthew says:
        2 May2 May 10:37

        I’m keen to know if the Green to Plat upgrade for 20,000 pts is working despite having an MR card in the previous 24 months?

  • Andrew says:
    2 May2 May 06:28

    My understanding is that you can’t add supp cards to your own Amex online account but instead you have to create a different log-in for supps you hold on other people’s accounts. You can however add different cards you hold in your own right to your original online account.

    • James Robbins says:
      2 May2 May 07:32

      Sorry to say that this is incorrect. I have just added a supp Platinum Business Card to my Amex Account. I can see the individual spend on the card but I don’t see the balance outstanding on the card.

      My personal BA Amex and my Supp Bus Card are shown together in the App.

      • Rob says:
        2 May2 May 08:46

        And my wife, as per the article, has her Plat supp alongside her own cards.

    • MarkH says:
      2 May2 May 08:27

      I always register my supps in my normal online account without any problems so it just shows as an additional card along with any cards that are in my name.
      My wife does the same.

    • sayling says:
      2 May2 May 09:31

      It can be done, but can be problematic. I recently added a supp card from my wife’s new Gold Rewards account, but it took three* CSAs before one realised my email address was the bit missing from their details and that was what was stopping me from adding the supp card to my online account.

      * The first said she would email IT, and it would take a week or so. The second said I should try again in a month’s time 🤔😥

    • stevenhp1987 says:
      2 May2 May 17:51

      My wife has two sups. It only let her add one sup per account.

      So we had to create a second account for her second account.

  • Genghis says:
    2 May2 May 06:34

    To clarify, you only get the supp bonus once. Having applied for a supp at application does not preclude you from receiving a bonus if apply for another supp. Also, can also get 5k by adding a Gold from a Plat (if added a supp during application).

    • Shoestring says:
      2 May2 May 06:40

      Won’t adding that Gold supp (to the Plat) end up costing a big fat annual fee?

      • Genghis says:
        2 May2 May 07:04

        It’s free

      • Mike says:
        2 May2 May 07:34

        First Supp is free – It used to be part of my Plat 6 monthly churn routine to add 1 x supp as well as 5 referals to obtain in total 130 K. (Maths were = MR 35 K (refered sign up bonus) + 5 K (supp card) + 90 K (Refferal bonus 5 x 18) = 130 MR. In order to fund my annual First/CW holiday flight. With the 24 month churn rule and reduced referal bonus rate I shall be struggling to do an annual long haul First/CW and it will certainly not be based purely on Amex churing which was relativey straight forward.

  • Billy says:
    2 May2 May 06:42

    I currently have the BA free card with the Mrs as supp. Can I upgrade to the BAPP but ask Amex not to upgrade the Mrs as a supplement and then add her after being accepted to get the 3k sup points?

    • Crafty says:
      2 May2 May 06:47

      No, cancel the supp card first (before “upgrading”), then add a supp card later (after).

    • Billy says:
      2 May2 May 06:53

      Thanks. Thought it might come to that

      • Genghis says:
        2 May2 May 07:05

        But even if you cancel your wife’s BA blue supp then upgrade, I’d wager they still send you a BAPP supp due to IT error.

        • Mark2 says:
          2 May2 May 07:28

          why not refer her for a card of her own and you get 9.000 Avios then she gives you supplementary (unless she already has the card).

  • Nick_C says:
    2 May2 May 06:44

    You can add a supplementary card to your main account and view them all in the same place. The charming but useless staff in the Philippines will tell you it’s not possible. Keep calling back until you get through to Brighton where the staff know what they are doing.

  • Robert says:
    2 May2 May 06:44

    Why would you supp a Gold from Plat when you could supp a Plat from Plat (with the lounge access etc for the supp user?)

    • Shoestring says:
      2 May2 May 06:47

      5000 extra MR points just before you cancel the cards – pays that month’s fees and a bit more.

      • Shoestring says:
        2 May2 May 06:49

        The assumption being that you got the second Plat supp at time of application (for the PP & hotel benefits etc) – then the 2nd supp (Gold) is actually your first supp to get 5000 MR points

        • Robert says:
          2 May2 May 06:57

          Ah, I see. If you accidentally added the Plat Supp on sign-up, you can still get a Supp bonus on the Gold?

        • Shoestring says:
          2 May2 May 06:59

          That’s what Genghis said above

  • Javier says:
    2 May2 May 06:49

    If you have a Platinum, you can add for free one Platinum and up to 4 Gold cards, right? What are the benefits for the Gold Cards? Travel insurance the same way the supp Plat has it? Also insurance for car rental?

    • Genghis says:
      2 May2 May 07:08

      Yes if you read the terms.

    • reddot says:
      2 May2 May 07:31

      I’m always annoyed that the Platinum does not allow you to earn double points on travel, but the Gold does. I don’t suppose the supp Gold from Platinum will allow me to get around this?

  • Greg says:
    2 May2 May 07:01

    I’m originally from the USA and now live with my husband (UK citizen) in London. I’ve been wondering whether I should close my US based platinum Amex. I haven’t yet applied for any UK based points earning cards which I know is stupid but just haven’t been sure of the best approach to getting started. This article definitely makes me think I should get a supplementary card on his platinum Amex but I’m wondering – will I be able to link that to my current rewards points account or will I be starting from zero because of my location? I still can earn points via a US corporate Amex that I still use for work so that account wouldn’t go dormant, but just curious how Amex treats accumulation of points from one country to another. Thanks!

    • Genghis says:
      2 May2 May 07:07

      Supps have no points of their own. Their spend goes towards main card holder’s stash

    • Shoestring says:
      2 May2 May 07:28

      You can move all your USA MR points to your UK Amex a/c when you relocate if you like – details online if you google it

      Useful for those who have benefited from the generous USA points earning opps

    • Riccatti says:
      2 May2 May 09:09

      Best to ask AMEX US to transfer your account over to the UK.

      1. Helps if you don’t have any (or much) UK credit history — you might have to wait up to two years before you get a credit card from a prime provider.

      2. AMEX US will not refund annual fee (beyond 1 months into the new year), might just as well transfer account to UK and ask for its fee be waived here.

      • Charlieface says:
        2 May2 May 12:08

        Global Transfer doesn’t close your original US account, and it’s best to keep it as it’s got a better offer. You can transfer points once in 12 months between the accounts.
        If you want signup bonuses I’ve heard you can ask Global Transfer, they will tell you to apply online, for which you’ll prob get refused, then go back to them with the application number to approve.

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