New American Express cashback deals launched – and Shop Small changes?

American Express has launched a new batch of cashback deals, with a couple of new hotel deals among them.

As usual, you may see all, some or none of these offers on your American Express account. You need to look at the ‘Offers’ section on your online statement pages or the Amex app for every card you hold.

Some offers will also be available for supplementary cardholders, as long as the card is registered with Amex. Other offers will only be for the primary cardholder.

This is what we seem to have that are new and relevant to HfP readers:

Gett

The taxi app is offering 15% cashback on all rides until 30th June.

Financial Times

Instead of the old offer which offered a fixed £25 discount, the FT is now offering 25% cashback on a transaction of any size. This is valid on transactions taken out by 20th June.

If you already pay for the FT, you may want to see if there is a way of adjusting your subscription (can you get a pro-rata refund on an annual sub and then take out a new one?) so that a payment is made during this period.

Red Carnation Hotels

You may not have heard of Red Carnation, but it owns a number of smart boutique hotels in expensive parts of London. It also owns Ashford Castle in Ireland which you may have seen on the recent BBC2 series with Giles Coren, but this is NOT taking part in the offer.

You receive £75 cashback on a £350+ spend by 30th September.

Red Carnation Hotels is no longer a Virgin Atlantic points earning partner.

You can take a look at their full portfolio here.

Hand Picked Hotels

I have no experience of this UK chain, but you can get £50 cashback on a £400 stay by 30th June.

There are a lot of other offers out there too. My wife has 58 on her Preferred Rewards Gold card, which is more than double what I have on my Platinum card. Not bad going given that the shops are shut ….

Meanwhile …. is Shop Small changing?

A reader posted an interesting titbit from Amex Australia in our comments section yesterday.

In Australia, Amex Shop Small is changing into a ‘year round’ event. Instead of getting A$5 cashback on each qualifying A$10 purchase for a short period, cardholders will receive an extra 3 points per A$1 spent for the next year. There is a cap of 40,000 bonus points between now and the end of March 2022.

There is no guarantee that we will see the same in the UK, but this is how the wind is blowing.

If I owned a small shop, I might find this new offer more attractive. Instead of getting ‘once a year’ visits during the Shop Small promo period, a shop may attract new regular customers who know they will get additional rewards on every purchase, every day.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 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 Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

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 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 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:

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up 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 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 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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