Love cookies? Get an exclusive 30,000 points Amex Gold sign-up bonus if you do

UPDATE – MARCH 2025:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly directory of the top UK travel credit card offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Credit Cards’ menu above.  Thank you.

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.

Keep up to date with the latest UK credit card bonuses by signing up for our free daily or weekly newsletters.

Here’s an interesting one. American Express is offering a targetted bonus of 30,000 Membership Rewards points on the Preferred Rewards Gold credit card.

You will only be in with a chance of seeing this offer if you agree to accept tracking cookies when you visit the American Express website.

There is also a special offer for the Platinum Cashback cards. No other cards are impacted – whilst The Platinum Card and the Marriott Bonvoy American Express are also showing higher bonuses, these deals are open to all.

You can learn more about the benefits of the American Express Preferred Rewards credit card in this article.

Let me show you what I’m talking about.

Visit the American Express website page for American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (click here) and ensure that you accept cookies when the notice pops up.

The representative APR is 87.8% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases, and in the first year which has no fee, is 30.4% variable.

This is what you will see:

If you bring up the small print, this is what you see:

“The 30,000 Membership Rewards bonus points will be awarded onto your Account once you have applied and been approved before 6 July 2022 and you have spent and charged £3,000 within the first three months of Cardmembership. Cardmembership begins from Card approval. All introductory offers are subject to change and can be withdrawn at any time. Please note that bonus points will appear in two instalments of 20,000 and 10,000 and can take up to one month to be awarded to your Account.

When you visit our website from any device we collect information about your use of this site, such as information about the device or browser you use to access the site, the way you interact with this site, your general location and your device’s IP address. You may not be able to initiate or complete some activities within our secure online services unless these Cookies and Similar Technologies are present.

By collecting this information we have been able to give you a unique offer. This offer is unique to you, and is based on your acceptance of cookies. Therefore, please note that this extra offer is correct at the time of viewing, but may change or become unavailable if you return to this page at a later date or use a different device. Whilst your personalised offer may disappear if you don’t apply now, taking out credit should be considered carefully. Please do not rush your decision.”

For comparison, this is what you see if you DON’T accept cookies:

What is the point of this?

I have no idea. Amex doesn’t tell you in advance that you will get an improved ‘private offer’ by agreeing to accept cookies so it won’t help their opt-in rates.

What is interesting about the American Express website is that the ‘Accept’ and ‘Decline’ buttons for cookies are the same size and in the same colour. I would expect that more people than average do click ‘Decline’ because they make it easy to do so.

If you compare this to the Barclaycard website, your options are ‘Accept’ (in a stand-out font) and ‘Preferences’ (in a lighter font). There is no ‘Decline’ option and you need to have a lot of time on your hands to understand how the ‘Preferences’ sub-menu works. I would expect the ‘Accept’ rate to be exceptionally high for Barclaycard.

Whatever the reason, some people, perhaps everyone, can get a higher 30,000 Membership Rewards points bonus on American Express Preferred Rewards Gold by using this link and accepting cookies.

(The bonus is, of course, still subject to the standard Amex Gold rules – you must have gone 24 months without holding a personal American Express card and you need to spend £3,000 within your first three months.)

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – March 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 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 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:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to 120,000 points. You receive 80,000 points when you spend £12,000 within three months and a further 40,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 60,000 points. You receive 40,000 points when you spend £6,000 within three months and a further 20,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.

American Express Business Platinum

Up to 120,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

Up to 60,000 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