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Get up to £50 American Express cashback with PayPal

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American Express has launched a cashback deal with PayPal. It is effectively free money if you are targeted for the offer.

There seem to be two versions, one for personal cards and one for business cards.

On my Marriott Bonvoy American Express, I am offered £15 cashback on a £70 PayPal payment.

On my Business Platinum card I am offered £50 cashback on a £250 PayPal payment.

Both offers expire on 4th March. Registrations are limited so register now via your online Amex statement or the app if you are targetted.

It seems that the cashback will trigger irrespective of whether you are sending money to a friend or making a purchase from a retailer. The wording implies that you must hit the spend target in a single transaction.

It isn’t necessary to have a PayPal account to buy something using the PayPal option online. This is a common misconception. You can simply click ‘pay with PayPal’ and enter your card details directly.

Remember that goods purchased via PayPal do not qualify for Section 75 cover if the retailer goes bust or the product is not as you expect.

This doesn’t make any difference compared to paying directly with American Express business cards or charge cards as Section 75 does not cover those anyway. You are giving up coverage if you use PayPal rather than an American Express credit card. PayPal does have its own redress scheme but it is voluntary.

Remember to register now, if targeted, on the American Express website and complete your transaction by 4th March.

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earns points from credit cards

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – June 2025 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 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

Get 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 15th July 2025, the sign-up bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card is TRIPLED to 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. This would convert into 25,000 Avios or into 40 other airline schemes. It would also get you at least £300 of Marriott hotel stays based on our 0.5p per point low-end valuation. Other T&C apply and remain unchanged. Click here for our full card review and click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th August 2025, the sign-up bonus on the Hilton Honors Plus debit card is TRIPLED to 30,000 Hilton Honors points. You will also receive Gold Elite status in Hilton Honors for as long as you hold the card. Click here for our full card review and click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card

30,000 Avios and the famous annual Companion Voucher voucher Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 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:

The American Express Business Platinum Card

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

The American Express Business Gold Card

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

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 0.8 Avios per £1 Read our full review

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Category

American Express Gold card, American Express Platinum card, Amex Rewards Credit Card, British Airways American Express, Marriott Bonvoy American Express

Comments (89)

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

  • HuThUn says:
    8 Jan8 January 15:39

    Any other ideas on how to use this apart from M&S e-cards and the dubious Paypal ‘pay-your-friend-but-then-get-shutdown’ approach?

    I’ve got this on 2 BA + 1 Plat + 1 Plat supp and although I’ll most likely be consuming £70 x 4 in M&S over 2021, it’s going to take a while and I’d rather not faff about with gift cards too much if possible…

    • J says:
      8 Jan8 January 16:20

      This is far too much effort and in no way worth doing compared to transferring straight to a friend. But given it’s a ebay £1 selling weekend, I’d imagine you could set a listing on a friend’s account, buy it on your account. From the £70 they’d pay £1 ebay fees and (I think) £0.30 + 3% in paypal fees. So you’d lose £3.40, but it would (stupidly) be less likely to raise a flag.

      • The real John says:
        8 Jan8 January 18:04

        Just buy a voucher or gift card on ebay

        You can even buy euros and US dollars (but there is definitely some dodgy stuff going on there).

    • Andrew says:
      8 Jan8 January 16:36

      Well considering it’s got almost 2 months to run this offer – just hold off for now and probably between now and then you might buy something online for £70, remembering that practically every retailer takes PayPal.

      • Doug M says:
        8 Jan8 January 18:12

        But that’s way too easy. I must do it immediately and construct a really convoluted method to not actually spend £70.

  • Jordan D says:
    8 Jan8 January 16:32

    Thankfully I have a few things to pay, which can be done via PayPal, so this is timely. Alas it is only on one card (one of my wife’s), but will take any freebie going …!

    • Doug M says:
      8 Jan8 January 18:20

      Check back in the next couple of days. Definitely appeared on a sup of mine today, it wasn’t there yesterday. But it was on the main card yesterday.

    • Aston100 says:
      8 Jan8 January 23:16

      How many wife’s do you have?

      • QFFlyer says:
        9 Jan9 January 12:56

        Just one I’m guessing, given the correct use of punctuation, wife’s indicating one belonging to the wife, and the plural of wife being wives.

  • Delbert says:
    8 Jan8 January 20:25

    Thanks for prompt to check my offers, Rob. Nothing on BA or Gold charge card or my wife’s BA or Gold charge card supplementaries, but did find £15 for £70 spend on my Nectar card.

  • Bob says:
    9 Jan9 January 00:36

    If anyone wonders, I’ve asked Amex, it should be minimum £250 spent in one transaction. Not cumulative.

  • bafan says:
    9 Jan9 January 18:55

    Got £15 off £70 on my free BA Amex. I’ve switched to other cards in recent months and I’ve noticed the offers getting better.

  • Jacob says:
    10 Jan10 January 01:05

    Not there for me on the old gold credit card 🙁

    Always miss out on the good offers. Even shop small did not appear for me. Usually it’s just car hire, which I rarely make use of.

  • bartas8891 says:
    17 Jan17 January 13:59

    My £15 stil hasn’t been credited to my Amex… Wonder how long will it take

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

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