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Got the £400 Amex Platinum Marriott offer? Berners Tavern restaurant triggers it (or does it?)

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Most American Express Platinum cardholders currently have a very generous offer of £400 cashback on £400 of spending at selected Marriott hotels.

In theory, the deal is probably meant to be used in conjunction with an overnight stay as it is only valid on bills settled at the hotel front desk. This is less useful for anyone who actually lives in London and who got the offer.

EDIT: You should read the comments to this article about the discussions that readers have had with the restaurant before booking

Two week ago we published a workaround for the JW Marriott Grosvenor House hotel restaurant. Recent reports suggest that the hotel is no longer willing to go through the shenanigans required to process payment through the hotel tills instead of the restaurant tills.

It seems there is another option though.

One of the hotels which qualifies for the £400 spend is the London EDITION. Unfortunately, the EDITION is closed with little sign of reopening. What IS open – at least until Wednesday night – is Berners Tavern, its acclaimed restaurant.

The problem with using this offer at restaurants is that it is usually processed by American Express under the name of the restaurant and not the hotel, and so does not trigger the cashback.

Berners Tavern spend seems to go through your Amex card as London EDITION. This means that it DOES trigger the cashback.

Here is a card statement from a HfP reader. Remember that the hotel is closed so this is, without a doubt, purely from restaurant spend:

London Edition bill

£400 cashback was received on a £475 bill at Berners Tavern.

Of course, how to spend £400 across your household may be a problem. You MUST hit £400 or you don’t receive any cashback. There is a 12.5% service charge, so £356 of food and drink spend is required. For a couple, this is likely to mean spending £150 – £200 on wine on top of the more expensive parts of the food menu.

Remember that up to six people can still attend a meal for business purposes, however, which is an option if you have an SME.

Clearly the restaurant could change how it processes credit cards at any point, but this is how it was processing them last week. You should make your own enquiries before booking a meal at the restaurant to use this offer. It runs until 19th December and so will be continuing beyond the November lockdown.


How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2025)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points for signing up and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.

We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points.

Comments (86)

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

  • Kris says:

    I was hoping to take the Mrs to Trump’s Turnberry (driving down the coast from Glasgow) after some bad news but if hotel stays are banned, I don’t see how I can use the credit. Bummer

    • TGLoyalty says:

      The rules are different in Scotland driving down the coast from Glasgow implies you may live there?

      If you were flying from England then probably not possible but won’t know the laws can advice until Wednesday.

      • BlueThroughCrimp says:

        Depends on the existing Tier level.
        I was planning a wee trip to the Fairmont St Andrews, next week but we’re now DEFCON 3, so can’t go.

      • Kris says:

        We’re not supposed to the city

  • Berneslai says:

    If the Amex deal is on my wife’s card but I want to use my Marriott account, what’s the best way of doing this? I can’t seem to add her card to my account and I don’t want my preferred card to be pre-charged for the stay.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      You can add her card number and expiry. there’s no name verification on Amex.

  • Mr(s) Entitled says:

    The offer was capped at 2,000. Genuine question, is there really less than 4,000 cards in the UK? That would surprise me.

    • Mr(s) Entitled says:

      Urgh, this was supposed to be a reply to Alan/Rob on pg1.

    • Amar says:

      2 separate phone calls to brighton confirmed it was actually 10,000 – although I’m sure it said 2,000 on the offer

      • Rob says:

        2,000.

        10,000 will cost Marriott £4m. Although, as I explained the other day, I think I know why this is happening and in reality neither Amex, Marriott or the hotels is losing money.

        • Mr(s) Entitled says:

          So there are less than 4,000 cards in the UK in your opinion? That it a very small market.

          • ChrisC says:

            No it is restricted to the first 2000 cards who registered for the offer.

            Not sure where you are getting that there are fewer than 4000 cards from

        • Harry T says:

          Can you reiterate that previous comment, Rob? I missed it.

          • HAM76 says:

            Marriott guarantees minimum revenue to some hotels. So they can either pay the hotel directly or give money away to people for spending at the hotel. It‘s basically a sunk cost to Marriott.

          • Mr(s) Entitled says:

            Because the article stipulates that “most” people got the offer which Rob stood by in a previous comment on pg1. Therefore there are 3,999 or less cardholders in the UK.

          • Rob says:

            Once 2,000 saved it, it was withdrawn and no longer shown. That’s how they work.

          • Mr(s) Entitled says:

            Ah, so most people got the offer, but only 2,000 were able to access it. Now I understand.

  • Martin Clarke says:

    I got the offer, booked through Emyr to stay this week at the EDITION. They accepted the booking but now aren’t reopening, so moved the booking to the Westbury, but will have to cancel/move it due to lockdown.

    • Andrew says:

      Yes, government already hinting that mid-December is a more likely end date for lockdown, in time for an easing over Christmas. So the window to use the offer is probably just a few days now.

  • meta says:

    I’ve rebooked Langley for two nights before the end of the offer. If there is still lockdown then, I’m not going to use the offer. I won’t cry over it as any decent rate costs more than £400 so it’s not free money after all. And by not using it due to national lockdown, I could potentially use it later as leverage to get a good retention offer.

  • Andrew says:

    Shocker – no Harrods offer showing. Loads of other new rubbish though.

    • David says:

      +1
      Nothing useful unless I were to live in London (I don’t) . Am prepared to give it till the morning to be proved wrong, but suspect the ‘promise’ of another free £100 spend is a result of lockdown cabin fever gossip.

  • Craig Murray says:

    Just spoken to Berners Tavern as had a reservation on Wednesday. This will not show as London Edition I have been advised as they are different businesses, Berners are now asking Amex to update their system to ensure it is not processed as the London Edition.

    Long story short I cancelled my reservation as Berners Management decided to take this forward, not sure why as sure I will not be the only one cancelling a £400 lunch, but if booked I would advise you check.

    • Rob says:

      Why would the restaurant want to do this?! All it is doing is turning down a few thousand pounds of business. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.

      However, it would take literally weeks for Amex to create a new merchant account for the restaurant.

      • James says:

        I’m heading there tomorrow. Going to order a coffee first on my friends Amex to test the water, if it shows as The London Edition then we’re in business. If not, we’ll reign it in.

      • Craig says:

        Agree and I asked the same but the girl I had spoken to originally mentioned I was not the first person to ask so she was waiting on an email from ‘management’. About 10 mins later I received a call back where she advised this were the stance they were taking and it would not show as London Edition on my bill.

        As we had an hour travel in to London and we were trying to cram this in during the day I decided to not risk it. Were there other examples from anyone where this shows as London Edition?

        • Brett says:

          I just phoned this morning and the lady told me that they have had so many calls about this voucher. The statement will read as Berners Tavern, not London Edition. She told me that she was advised by her revenue manager of the hotel that it will not work and it requires a hotel stay. She did however mention that it should work in the Lobby bar, if the Lobby bar is open.

          • James says:

            If this is the case, are we trusting the screenshot posted? Because it seems, even according to the hotel staff, that it always did bill as Berners Tavern.

          • Rob says:

            The screenshot is fine – I cropped it from a broader statement screenshot I was sent. It also wasn’t sent speculatively – I had to ask the reader for it after he posted that it had worked.

          • James says:

            Then my guess is the hotel aren’t fully telling the truth here. Will be going there tonight regardless so will report back either way.

          • Frankie says:

            I was at the Berners Tavern on Sunday 25th October and my amex statement says THE LONDON EDITION LONDON. I didn’t have this offer I just used my usual BA amex for payment

          • Rob says:

            Thanks Frankie.

            All those people who were told otherwise by the restaurant were being told porkies. Or, perhaps more politely, it comes up on their terminals as Berners Tavern but the underlying charge is London EDITION.

          • James says:

            Visited Berners Tavern this evening. The London Edition shows on my statement – case closed.

      • Gin and Tonic Please says:

        Glad to hear it. Hope you enjoyed the cote de boeuf!

    • Alex says:

      I always have a simple mind, never trust what the person or manager say, trust what’s on paper or do what James is going to do. Have a coffee there and see what it says on the statement. Asking them is just plain stupid in my opinion.

  • Gin and Tonic Please says:

    Yes and yes

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

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