Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

American Express sets 30th June deadline if you want six months to earn your sign-up bonus

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

American Express recently extended the qualifying period to earn a sign-up bonus on its cards to SIX MONTHS.

This was a sensible move.  Even people with good salaries may struggle to spend £3,000 to £4,000 within three months at the moment.  Increasing the spend period to six months solved this problem at a stroke.

If you apply for an American Express card today, you will have until late November to hit the spending target.

EDIT:  The ’30th June deadline’ message has now disappeared from the American Express website.  It may no longer be the closing date for the offer.  We will keep you updated.

American Express Amex Platinum card

We now know when this deal is ending

When this deal launched it was open ended.  American Express told me that it was running ‘from 1st May’ with no set end date.

However, the following wording has appeared on the application page for the Business cards.  The text makes clear that it applies to both personal and business cards:

Important Note on Welcome Bonus Offers

American Express is committed to supporting our Cardmembers and due to the impact of COVID-19, eligible Consumer and Small Business Cards will have their Welcome Bonus earn period extended. Eligible Cardmembers acquired between 29 January, 2020 through 30 June 2020, that have a Welcome Bonus, will have their earn period extended from three (3) months to six (6) months, to allow Cardmembers more time to achieve their spend threshold.

The cut off appears to be 30th June.  This is the last date to sign up for a card and have six months, instead of three months, to earn the bonus.

Six months makes it a lot easier to earn a sign-up bonus

A six month period to hit your bonus spend changes the game massively.  Almost anyone should now be able to hit the target, even in lockdown!

Taking the free British Airways American Express as an example, you now have 26 weeks to spend £1,000.  This is just £38.50 per week.

At the top end, with The Platinum Card, you now have 26 weeks to spend £4,000.  This is £154 per week.  It could be a squeeze for a single person, but manageable for a family.  In any event, if you assume you will be back at work or travelling before the six months is up, you should be able to ‘back end’ the £4,000.

What are the American Express sign-up bonuses?

For personal cards:

The Platinum Card: 30,000 Membership Rewards points (=30,000 Avios) when you spend £4,000 in six months

Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card: 20,000 bonus Membership Rewards points (=20,000 Avios) when you spend £3,000 in six months

British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card: 25,000 Avios when you spend £3,000 in six months

British Airways American Express Credit Card: 5,000 Avios when you spend £1,000 in six months

Nectar Credit Card: 20,000 Nectar points (= £100) when you spend £2,000 in six months 

Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card: 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points (= 6,666 Avios) when you spend £3,000 in six months

The American Express Rewards Credit Card: 5,000 Membership Rewards points (=5,000 Avios) when you spend £2,000 in six months

Platinum Cashback Everyday Credit Card: 5% cashback on your purchases for six months (up to £100) 

Platinum Cashback Credit Card: 5% cashback on your purchases for six months (up to £125) 

IMPORTANT:  interest rate and fee information is at the bottom of this article, along with links to our detailed reviews of each card.

Which bonuses can I still get?

Probably not many!

If you have had ANY card on the list in the last 24 months as a primary cardholder (not a supplementary) then the only bonuses you MIGHT be able to get are British Airways Premium Plus and The Platinum Card.  You are blocked from the bonus on all the others.

You could get British Airways Premium Plus if you’ve not had either of the British Airways cards in the last 24 months.

You could get The Platinum Card if you’ve not had any Membership Rewards cards (Gold, Platinum, Centurion, Green, Amex Rewards Credit Card) in the last 24 months.

If you’ve only had Business Gold or Business Platinum in the last 24 months, you are free to get the bonus on ANY of the cards above.

For clarity, you are free to apply for any card at any time.  You won’t receive a sign-up bonus if you don’t fit the criteria, but this doesn’t mean you won’t be accepted.

Does your partner qualify for a bonus, if you don’t?

Whilst you may be disqualified from a bonus, would your partner, adult children etc qualify?  It doesn’t matter if they have previously had supplementary cards on your account as long as they haven’t had cards of their own.

They can issue you a supplementary card, allowing you to do the bulk of the spending if required.

How about the Business cards?

This offer also applies to the Business cards:

The Gold Business Card: 20,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend £3,000 in six months

The Platinum Business Card: 40,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend £6,000 in six months

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card: 2,200 On Business Points when you spend £3,000 in six months

Again, links to our reviews of these cards and the important interest rate information are at the bottom of this article.

The bonus rules here are a lot more flexible.

You can have the Business Gold or Business Platinum bonus as long as you haven’t had a Membership Rewards card (personal or business) in the previous SIX (not 24) months.

There are NO RESTRICTIONS AT ALL on getting the bonus on the British Airways Accelerating Business card, as long as your business qualifies.

Conclusion

Giving you six months to earn your sign-up bonus is a generous offer from American Express.

Given that six months takes you to late November, when you should be back to something close to your normal spending as long as your job is secure, there are some good opportunities here.  It is very possible that people who have not previously applied for Amex cards due to concerns over hitting the bonus spending target can now jump in.

You have just over six weeks to apply before the bonus spend period is reduced to three months.

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

Comments (73)

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

  • Cwyfan says:
    20 May20 May 06:34

    Given the general move to lengthen qualifying periods because of the current reduced spending opportunities, it would be useful if BA extended the spend cycles for the 241 vouchers.

    Instead I found that some refunds of cancelled holidays being back credited from last year’s spend means that I now have to spend even more this year to catch up, making the 241 almost unachievable. What a waste of this years fee!

    • Steve says:
      20 May20 May 07:22

      Agree that something should be done about annual spend targets, though if the IT can handle it, I think the extension should be applied on request, online. Otherwise a universal extension will mean that those who will comfortably meet the spend target anyway, will then have a delayed start to their following 12 month cycle

  • Andrew says:
    20 May20 May 07:20

    Back at work and travelling within six months? Somewhat optimistic.

    • Roberto says:
      20 May20 May 07:32

      I dont think so.
      And whilst back to work means different things to different people business will resume, the cogs of ecomony will start and air travel will again be part of our lives.
      The fact that the govenment is paying 8million wage packets cant continue and the economic fallout will soon outweigh everything.

      Yes people will die but if we all sit on our sofas procrastinating what is there to live for? Hospitals need to open up, cancer treatments need to restart, people need operations ans someones gotta pay for that..

      Its time to earn some money , pay some tax and fly first class.

      • ankomonkey says:
        20 May20 May 07:46

        Completely agree!

      • Spursdebs says:
        20 May20 May 07:56

        I agree with you and I’m in the high risk group. I’m going out today first time since March 3rd.

      • Paul says:
        20 May20 May 08:00

        Parody right?

        55,000 dead at least so not some people!

        Perhaps if we published the scientific advice
        Perhaps if we had test and trace
        Perhaps if we had a competent government
        Perhaps if we had a PM and not a ghost

        I might feel differently

        • Spursdebs says:
          20 May20 May 08:07

          I can’t be arsed to get into another long rant about it all, you do what you are comfortable with and I’ll do what I’m comfortable with. If you want to hide in your house for rest of life only engaging with the world on Internet you crack on it won’t matter to me.
          Audere est Facere.

        • Doug M says:
          20 May20 May 08:37

          I agree with some of your points, the PM simply lack credibility. He’s not a leader, just a windbag who when things matter has been found really wanting. The response of the UK gov seems very poor. But at some point you have to resume some sort of normality or they’ll be no economy, and that’ll have a far greater health impact in the long term.

          • Harry T says:
            20 May20 May 09:55

            We are the laughing stock of the world, second only to the US. The government’s handling of the covid pandemic has been catastrophic. When you compare our response to South Korea or Hong Kong, we look like a developing country. I was amazed to see the steps HKG took to ensure no care home deaths, when the UK has five figure care home deaths. The PM and his cabinet of die hard buffoons has been found wanting, and I look forward to the public inquiry.

          • Rob says:
            20 May20 May 10:26

            I must admit, I was quite surprised to read that piece on HK care homes yesterday. Not blindingly difficult to realise that you should prioritise testing at these places.

          • Spursdebs says:
            20 May20 May 10:40

            My friends father in law was in hospital tested positive but no symptoms, his care home refused to accept him back so he went to a “ covid” home. There was no vetting of home or choosing it he’s going nothing you can do. The government ( tax payer) is paying this home £1500 a week until end of June I think.
            Relatives are taking their relations out of homes and employing home carers which has pushed the cost of carers up supply and demand etc my area was £19 an hour now £25 in last few weeks nearly £2k a week for a live in carer short term.

          • ankomonkey says:
            20 May20 May 14:12

            “He’s not a leader, just a windbag…”

            That made me laugh 🙂

          • Rob says:
            20 May20 May 16:30

            Obviously I could. I have more senior business experience and education than probably anyone in the cabinet.

      • Secret Squirrel says:
        20 May20 May 08:05

        Agree, life is already starting to resume. Tradesman are mostly back to work, shops potentially opening in a few weeks. Air travel has to start soon even slowly or massive economic results will follow.

        • Spursdebs says:
          20 May20 May 08:10

          My family never stopped working, two work for Tesco’s rest in building Trades all continued working.

          • Chrish says:
            20 May20 May 08:32

            Spursdebs@ mine as well furloughed & “Freelanced as well double wage they’d like it to continue

          • Spursdebs says:
            20 May20 May 10:24

            @ cherish on ….. I believe it’s called “ covid tax” Lol

          • TGLoyalty says:
            20 May20 May 11:05

            Same here. Everyone is either WFH or going out to work still (front line jobs)

            I agree with the above we have to restart life otherwise there’s nothing worth living for.

        • Secret Squirrel says:
          20 May20 May 08:41

          And some teachers we know, furloughed and being paid for private tuition on the side.

          • Kevin C says:
            20 May20 May 08:52

            I didn’t think that teachers had been furloughed. And they’ve always been able to do extra work on the side.

          • Chrish says:
            20 May20 May 09:00

            Kevin C @ Lecture’s have been furloughed & doing private tuition in their field i can confirm lol
            They call it “Freelancing”

          • TGLoyalty says:
            20 May20 May 11:06

            Those on furlough can work for someone else in fact it’s good that they do work as they earn more and things like fruit picking etc

        • ken says:
          20 May20 May 11:48

          Does anyone know the justification for banks shortening opening hours (10am – 1pm in some cases) ?

          It’s just led to large queues (including a fair proportion of elderly) at all the banks on my high street, and although some people will be put off waiting, just seems to condense the same number of customers into a short window.

          Seems ridiculous.

          • LB says:
            20 May20 May 12:00

            I would assume the banks have fewer staff reporting for work.

          • Crafty says:
            20 May20 May 22:34

            My local HSBC is also flat out refusing to deal with business accounts at all, which in a long winded way cost me half my day yesterday. I look forward to writing the request for compensation.

    • Secret Squirrel says:
      20 May20 May 08:02

      You’ll be back to work in the next few weeks if not already.

      • Secret Squirrel says:
        20 May20 May 08:42

        July is when employers are required to start contributing to furlough payments, bet you’ll see a push then!

        • ken says:
          20 May20 May 10:42

          It’s 1st August but yes once employers have to start putting in significant contributions then the soft option of shutting up shop goes.

          To be honest I’m fed up of people crying about the risks of going back. We are going to have to live with a level of risk & the idea of there being a vaccine with next 12 months is fanciful.

          There are huge groups of low paid care sector retail, warehouse, transport etc etc who haven’t stopped working – and are all exposed either to colleagues or general public.

          I hate having a go at teachers (and it doesn’t apply if they have health issues) but they only have to go back for 6 or 7 weeks and its the summer holidays (and yes I know plenty work during the summer, but they don’t have any pupil contact).

        • Secret Squirrel says:
          20 May20 May 15:10

          Push to go back to work!
          Bet yes, you are right in some situations as there will be redundancies.

    • Rob says:
      20 May20 May 08:39

      Eh? Most people ARE working, if not AT work. The number on furlough is a minority of the working population. Also worth noting that physically going to work was never banned – when I popped into our building two weeks ago to pick up some mail there were numerous people there. Most companies have a die hard group who insist on going in, partly because working from home isn’t suitable.

      • Secret Squirrel says:
        20 May20 May 09:11

        7.5m UK workers are still furloughed according to stats!

        • Secret Squirrel says:
          20 May20 May 09:52

          Eh! 1 x million extra signed on in the last few weeks!

        • Rob says:
          20 May20 May 10:29

          …. which is 25% of the UK working population of 31m.

          For every furloughed person there are three people working as usual, and probably better off than usual given the savings on commuting, work clothes, beauty treatments and hair cuts!

          • Secret Squirrel says:
            20 May20 May 13:26

            25% of the working population off work in most people eyes is not most are at work, unless your a politician of course with the loose term around most! 😉

        • Charlieface says:
          20 May20 May 15:43

          Most of them are also working freelance, for another company, or paid cash

          • Rob says:
            20 May20 May 16:27

            I know someone on furlough who has taken work elsewhere. Most of the people Tesco recruited when they were desperate for staff 6 weeks ago were furloughed from elsewhere and the Government is actively asking furloughed workers to take up fruit picking jobs. I imagine most of the 21,000 ‘contact tracers’ just hired were also furloughed.

          • Ken says:
            20 May20 May 18:14

            “Most of them” is clearly utter anecdotal nonsense.
            Where did these 7.5 million jobs come from in what’s going to be the biggest recession in 300 years ?

      • Roy says:
        20 May20 May 10:32

        Indeed. What most people (media included) seem to miss about Boris’s announcement on 10 May is that he didn’t really change the rules about going to work. Unless you work in a garden centre there have been no changes at all to the rules about going to work since the start of the lockdown!

        You’ve always been allowed to go to work if your work can’t be done from home. Even though some people confused this with the ‘key worker’ criteria for sending your kids to school, in England at least it’s never been the case that only key workers were allowed to go to work.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          20 May20 May 11:08

          No change in rules but the message to the public was different he actively encouraged sectors which chose to stop to open up which means that employees were now told to go back if they could.

          • Roy says:
            20 May20 May 20:56

            Of course I’m not suggesting that businesses were closing just for the hell of it. They will have closed due to lack of business, or due to problems maintain social distancing for staff and/or customers.

            But the level of confusion around the rules did seem to be rather large.

        • Travel Strong says:
          20 May20 May 11:11

          Exactly!!! God knows why this has been so difficult to understand. I’ve been in work every day, and it was very easy to understand by just reading the actual government guidance.

          • Rob says:
            20 May20 May 16:32

            I’d say the Five Guys near me is doing nearer 300 per day. Time you moved to civilisation!

          • Roy says:
            20 May20 May 20:57

            I think you’ll find that few people are inclined to do things such as actually read the government guidance.

  • Domipascal says:
    20 May20 May 07:24

    Regarding bonus points. If you have held a Marriott/Starwood card within the last 2 years I understood you will get the bonus Amex points with the Rewards Gold Card. Is that correct? Thanks

    • Rob says:
      20 May20 May 08:35

      Not correct.

      You WILL get the bonus on Platinum, but not Gold.

      The only 2 bonuses you can get are Platinum or BA Premium Plus.

  • KP says:
    20 May20 May 08:08

    The point is the cut off is 30 June… did we need such a lonngggggg article to drive that point home. It says it all in the title

    • RWJ says:
      20 May20 May 08:47

      I think Rob needs to put all the info in for legal reasons – when talking about credit cards he’s technically acting as a credit broker, which (I think!) means he has to put in all the card info.

  • Harry T says:
    20 May20 May 08:14

    Does the spend bonus period for the upgrade to platinum route also get extended from three months to six months?

  • Doug M says:
    20 May20 May 08:43

    My strategy was going to be stick with the Bonvoy card, but the changes a couple of months ago meant no good, so I cancelled it. Then I cancelled, well downgraded to green, the Platinum when it was clear there was little use for the benefits, and eventually also cancelled the Gold as I’d just got the bonus and saw little point in paying for it. Not any any occasion did anyone make any effort to retain me, I wasn’t even offered double points for 3 months or something like that. I don’t think Amex do a good job of retaining people, they’re too slow, the Plat offer is an example of that.

    • Harry T says:
      20 May20 May 09:10

      I agree. I cancelled my Platinum a week or so before they started offering retention incentives and was not encouraged to retain. At the time, Americans were being offered massive incentives to keep their Amex cards. I feel amex is complacent due to their lack of serious competition in the UK.

      • Doug M says:
        20 May20 May 12:06

        Maybe we’re just crap customers, and they were glad to see me go. I suspect they just not good at it though.

  • Ben says:
    20 May20 May 08:54

    If I have a negative balance on my BAPP card (due to refunds) and im now in a new year. If i downgrade the card does the balance reset or do I need to cancelled the card and reapply in a few months?

    • Anna says:
      20 May20 May 09:57

      It remains the same account so I assume the negative balance would transfer over.

  • AndyC says:
    20 May20 May 08:54

    Has anyone else had their BAAmEx card compromised recently ? AmEx has written x3 and new card on its way theyve said today. And ive never used easyjet btw.
    Is there another hack thats gone on within another business?

    • Chrish says:
      20 May20 May 09:21

      AndyC My Amex BA Card was 3 very small payments (i check online everyday) was able to inform fraud team same day as showing pending New Card came 2 days later.
      This was 3/4 Months ago
      Fraud Team left it on my statement for about a week presume to attempt catch them out
      of cause they never tell you of any result

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!