Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

NEW: Earn bonus points adding someone to your Marriott, Nectar or ARCC Amex card

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

Adding a supplementary cardholder to your American Express card has two key benefits:

  • you earn points, and trigger sign-up bonuses, more quickly when two people are carrying a card
  • you receive a second batch of cardholder cashback offers, as long as the supplementary card is registered online

On most of the American Express cards, you would also receive bonus points for adding a supplementary cardholder.

This is NOT usually a benefit for holders of the Marriott, Nectar, Amex Rewards Credit Card or Harrods American Express card. However, for a limited period, it is – see the Amex website here.

Until 31st July, you will receive:

This are valuable incentives, given that the supplementary card is free:

  • 3,000 Marriott Bonvoy points are worth £15 using HfP valuations
  • 3,000 Nectar points are worth 1,875 Avios, which are worth £18.75 using HfP valuations (or use them for £15 of Sainsbury’s shopping)
  • 2,000 Membership Rewards points are worth 2,000 Avios (£20 on our valuations) if you choose to use them for that
  • 1,000 Harrods Rewards points are worth £10

The points will post very quickly. You should see them within 3-4 days of applying for the supplementary card. There is no requirement to spend a particular amount on the supplementary card.

How to apply

American Express has a special website for adding supplementary cards which you can find here.

This page also contains the standard supplementary card offers for the core Amex cards.

You cannot apply for a supplementary American Express Rewards Credit Card via that page. You need to log into your online Amex account and follow the link on your statement page, which may be under the ‘Offers’ section.

These special offers for adding supplementary American Express cards will run until 31st July.

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

Amex Rewards Credit Card, Marriott Bonvoy American Express

Comments (66)

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

  • Louie says:
    23 Apr23 April 05:43

    Are you sure about the bonus for the AERCC? I can’t see any reference to that on the page you link to in the first part of the article and when I clicked on the link in the offers section of my account, it logged me out straight away and now the offer is no longer there.

  • Paul says:
    23 Apr23 April 06:23

    +1

  • Harrier25 says:
    23 Apr23 April 06:47

    I received 2,000 points 4 days ago for adding my wife to my Green card account. I was unaware of the offer at the time and didn’t follow the link on the front page but still received the bonus points.

  • Neil says:
    23 Apr23 April 07:06

    I can’t see a way to add an additional cardholder to my ARCC. I assume this means I have not been selected for this offer. Do you know whether that is right?

    • Sandgrounder says:
      23 Apr23 April 07:27

      You need to click on ‘add someone to my account’, I just used the mobile site and it was right above the offers section/below report lost/stolen card. I logged out and logged back in and I have received the 2k. I had no notification of the offer, so if I got the points hopefully it is open to all.

  • Steve says:
    23 Apr23 April 07:14

    Do the supps need to use the card to earn the bonus, or could you get the supp and put the card in a drawer?

    Also I notice that supp doesn’t have to be at the same address, so could add wider family members (i.e. parents), especially if bonus available on more than 1st supp? Don’t think this results in any credit file linking, but any other downsides to maxing out the supps in this way using the options provided by Amex?

    • Harrier25 says:
      23 Apr23 April 07:20

      My bonus points were awarded 2 days prior to the card arriving, so yes, the supp card can live on a drawer.

    • Andrew says:
      23 Apr23 April 07:27

      You need to put down the home address of the person who the card is for but that doesn’t need to be the same as the primary card holder but the cards are all sent to the primary card holder’s address. All of my Platinum supps are family members who live elsewhere.

  • Craig says:
    23 Apr23 April 07:24

    That’s a pain, added one a couple of weeks ago, at least I can have lots on the Nectar card.

  • Gavin says:
    23 Apr23 April 07:40

    Good timing as my AERCC was approved today. Will apply for a supp for my teddy bear in the next week or so.

  • Craig says:
    23 Apr23 April 08:06

    Amex online application unavailable?

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!