Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

American Express Platinum card giving DOUBLE points on all spending until 20th July

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

The Platinum Card from American Express is offering double Membership Rewards points – 2 per £1 – on ALL spending until 20th July!

These means that, if you have Amex Platinum, it is now THE most valuable card in your wallet.

I had expected this offer to appear, because it has been offered to Platinum cardholders in other countries.  For some reason no-one has yet been emailed by American Express about it.

It DOES work though, and applies to all transactions from 21st April.

Amex Platinum giving DOUBLE points on ALL spending until 20th July!

Does this apply to all Membership Rewards cards?

No.

It only applies to personal American Express Platinum cards.  If you have the International Dollar / Euro Platinum Card, it also applies to that.  Centurion cardholders can also take part.

It does NOT apply to Business Platinum or the personal versions of Preferred Rewards Gold, Green or the American Express Rewards Credit Card.

How many miles and points will I now earn?

Two Membership Rewards points per £1 means you are earning:

2 Avios per £1

2 Virgin Flying Club miles per £1

4 Hilton Honors points per £1

6 Radisson Rewards points per £1

3 Marriott Bonvoy points per £1

….. and much more.

The full list of Membership Rewards airline partners is here and the full list of hotel partners is here.

Or get 1.8% cashback instead

Alternatively, you can take 1.8% cashback instead.

As we wrote the other day, Amex Platinum cardholders now receive 0.9p per Membership Rewards points when they redeem for statement credit.

This means that, as you are now earning 2 Membership Rewards points per £1, you could immediately redeem these for 1.8% off your bill.

Is it worth getting American Express Platinum to take advantage of this deal?

I will do a separate article on this topic over the weekend.  The issue is that, whilst the rewards are clearly excellent now, you won’t be able to benefit from most of the travel benefits which come with the card.

My full review of the American Express Platinum card is here if you want to find out more now.  Our ‘quick read’ ‘Top 10 Reasons for getting American Express Platinum’ is here.

You can apply for The Platinum Card here.

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 Platinum card

Comments (107)

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

  • BuyEMLocalBonds says:
    23 Apr23 April 17:05

    Does the email say anything about new platinum card holders? or just existing cardmembers?

    • n_g says:
      23 Apr23 April 17:48

      It doesn’t explicitly state so I’d imagine it’s for all cardholders, new and old. The changes don’t strike me as anyway near good enough a deal to warrant signing up for this card at the moment though.

      • BuyEMLocalBonds says:
        23 Apr23 April 19:39

        im thinking to upgrade just to make use of the £9 redemption of MR points – have over 200k

  • Nick Morrison says:
    23 Apr23 April 19:45

    These are all attempts to by AMEX to gloss over the fact they haven’t been in touch with any Platinum personal card holders about their membership fee and that none of us have been able to use any of the benefits for a couple of months and the foreseable future. Lots of other much smaller organisations are responding to try and retain their customers with refunds or extensions yet AMEX are just burying their head in the sand thinking we won’t notice. C’mon AMEX, I’m close to cancelling.

    • No lockdown for moi says:
      23 Apr23 April 20:06

      Just cancel or downgrade, stop whining.

      Many of us already got there ahead of you.

      • Nick Morrison says:
        23 Apr23 April 20:09

        Bang your saucepans, have a drink, chill out and be grateful.

    • Chrisasaurus says:
      23 Apr23 April 21:39

      Close to cancelling means the least possible cost to Amex in benefits for you while maintaining your fee.

      So they have struck it perfectly no?

  • Tim says:
    23 Apr23 April 21:13

    Silly me. I misread the article, believing I could exchange my stash of MR points for double airline miles.

  • Ben says:
    24 Apr24 April 05:07

    Can confirm this stacks with the 1 extra point / £ retention offer dating before the crisis.

  • Jamesay says:
    24 Apr24 April 06:30

    Got emailed 2 days ago.
    Stay safe everyone

  • K1w1G1rl says:
    24 Apr24 April 08:01

    I was emailed on Thursday (2pm) re this:
    Earn double points too
    For the next three months you’ll also earn double Membership Reward points across all of your spend. From essential groceries, to shopping online or a delivery of fresh flowers, for every pound spent, you’ll receive double the points, up until 20 July 2020.

    With no expiry and no cap on the amount of points you can earn each year, your points will be ready and waiting for you to use, whenever you like.
    And the double value offer
    Enjoy double the value
    Up until 20 July 2020, your points are worth double their usual value when you Use Points Towards Purchases – giving you the freedom to pay with your points for almost any item on your Card statement. Sometimes it’s the little everyday things that can bring us joy during difficult times. Simply choose an item on the American Express® App or your online statement and opt to pay with points.

  • JAMES says:
    24 Apr24 April 08:56

    When it comes to the travel insurance offered with the Platinum card, have they changed the terms to exclude Covid-19 ?

    My concern about cancelling and later reapplying once I am back travelling (at least 12 months I’d say) is whether Amex (or AXA) will exclude covid-19 for all new applicants & policies but not for existing card holders/policy holders.

    Is this something I should be concerned about or if they are going to do it would they just do it across the board regardless of existing or new cardholder ?

    This is what is holding me back from cancelling.

    • Tom says:
      24 Apr24 April 09:04

      Great question!

    • Rum says:
      24 Apr24 April 09:15

      Agree with Tom that this is a very important point and could be a deal breaker for many.

      So far it looks like the insurance from Plat does cover it for Covid but it’s anyone’s guess how long this might be for.

      I’ve had really impressive service from Amex/AXA in 2019 for a claim.

  • Tom says:
    24 Apr24 April 09:03

    Not sure if this is that good.

    General Spend. Unless I can spend 10k or 20k (2 cards) in addition to the spend until July I will not get my companion vouchers which renders the BAPP cards an expensive option.

    So one needs to take account of the lost benefit from a BAPP voucher before just looking at the double points.

    If you will still spend enough for the companion vouchers do this, if not then I would question it.

    • Rum says:
      24 Apr24 April 09:12

      You make a valid point and I hope Rob covers this in his weekend article on the latest perks for Platinum.

      I have already banked my BAPP 241 this year and can start earning for a second from September. However I may not be using my current one in 2020 so earning a second by the end of 2020 would be pointless (I usually hit the 10K spend in 4-5 months on average).

      Still trying to weigh up whether I should move all my spend to HSBC altogether to aim for the 12K spend bonus.

      The Gold that I have downgraded to is tactically useless having the HSBC card for double spend abroad and better acceptance being a MasterCard.

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

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? SPECIAL OFFER TO 12TH MAY EARN POINTS WORTH 30,000 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express Gold

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!