LAST CALL: Get 60,000 or 120,000 points with Amex Business Gold or Platinum

UPDATE – SEPTEMBER 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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 26th September 2024, sign up for FREE Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and you will receive a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Avios. This is double the usual bonus! You only need to spend £1,000 within 90 days. Our full review is here. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

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American Express has brought back the biggest sign-up bonus ever seen in the UK for a payment card.

It is the culmination of four years of hugely generous offers on its small business cards. Before they started this in 2021, the highest bonus I had ever seen in the previous 20 years was a short-lived 50,000 points offer on Platinum. In 2022 it offered a crazy 100,000 points on Business Platinum.

This 120,000 Membership Rewards points deal, which closes on Tuesday 9th April, is the biggest we’ve ever seen. If you only sign up for one payment card mileage promotion all year, this should be it.

The number of points involved is huge. If you’re not a business owner / don’t have self-employed income so don’t qualify to apply yourself, you should think seriously about any family members who have their own business and could sign up – or do your business-owning friends a favour and tell them about it.

The bonuses are on the two American Express Business cards:

• American Express Business Platinum card (apply here)
• American Express Business Gold card (apply here)

American Express Business Platinum now has a sign-up bonus of 120,000 Membership Rewards points. This is paid in two parts.

American Express Business Gold – which is free for a year – now has a sign-up bonus of 60,000 Membership Rewards points. This is also paid in two parts.

These are, clearly, huge sums.

The offer is valid for applications received by Tuesday 9th April 2024.

What do I need to know?

It is important to know that American Express has raised the qualifying spend at the same time as raising the bonus.

• You need to spend £12,000 in three months to receive the initial 80,000 points on Business Platinum, and retain the card for 14 months to receive an additional 40,000 points (total bonus of 120,000 points)

• You need to spend £6,000 in three months to receive the initial 40,000 points on Business Gold, and retain the card for 14 months to receive an additional 20,000 points (total bonus of 60,000 points)

The offer is only available until 9th April 2024. At that point, the usual offers with lower spend thresholds – 20,000 points on Business Gold for spending £3,000 in three months, and 40,000 points on Business Platinum for spending £6,000 in three months – will presumably return.

(The exact rule is that you must make a single transaction, however small, between month 14 and month 17 to trigger the second part of the bonus.)

What can I do with the bonus points?

I ran this article on how you can use Membership Rewards points and we published this article specifically on how Membership Rewards can be used on business travel.

For HfP readers, the key thing to note is that they convert at 1:1 into Avios and Virgin Points.

You can pick up 120,000 Avios if you convert the sign-up bonus on Business Platinum.

120,000 Membership Rewards points would also get you:

• 360,000 Radisson Rewards points
• 240,000 Hilton Honors points
• 180,000 Marriott Bonvoy points
• 120,000 airline miles in various other schemes including Emirates, Etihad and Air France KLM
• 8,000 Club Eurostar points

You should halve these numbers to see what the 60,000 points bonus on Business Gold would get you.

What are the annual fees?

American Express Business Platinum has an annual fee of £650. This is refundable pro-rata if you cancel. Remember that the card benefits include £200 per year to spend at Amex Travel.

Business Gold has an annual fee of £195, but the first year is free.

IMPORTANT:

There is no change to the fee refund policy on Amex charge cards, despite potential upcoming changes to the rule for credit cards. You can cancel your Business Platinum or Business Gold card at any point for a pro-rata refund of the annual fee. Remember that Business Gold is free for the first year anyway.

How are the cards structured?

Both Business Platinum and Business Gold are charge cards, not credit cards.

You MUST pay your entire balance at the end of each month. There is no option to pay interest and roll over the amount you owe.

We will cover the full benefits package in detailed card reviews later this week.

Who qualifies for the bonus?

You qualify for the bonus as long as you have not had an American Express card earning Membership Rewards points, personal or Business, in the last thirteen months.

Note that the rule on the Business Cards is 13 months and NOT the 24 months that applies to the personal Cards.

For clarity …. the ‘no Membership Rewards cards’ rule applies across personal and Business Cards. If you have had a personal Gold, Platinum etc card in the past 13 months then you will NOT receive the bonus on Business Gold or Business Platinum.

On the upside, getting Business Gold or Business Platinum has no impact on your ability to get a future bonus on a personal Amex Card. Confusingly, the bonus rules on the personal cards ignore any Business cards you may hold. The Business cards, on the other hand, look across your Business and personal card portfolio.

For absolute clarity ….. the following cards have no impact on your ability to get the bonus on Business Gold or Business Platinum:

• British Airways American Express
• British Airways Accelerating Business
• Nectar American Express
• Marriott Bonvoy American Express
• Harrods American Express
• Platinum Cashback

…… because none of these cards are ‘Membership Rewards’ Cards. They offer something different (Avios, Nectar points, Marriott Bonvoy points etc) as a reward.

If the only American Express card you have had in the past 13 months is one on the list above, you definitely qualify for the 120,000 points bonus on Business Platinum and the 60,000 points bonus on Business Gold.

What are the rules for being accepted for Business Gold or Business Platinum?

You can be a sole trader, partnership or Limited Company. You must meet the following criteria, which are cut and pasted from the Amex website:

• The business has a current UK Bank or Building Society account
• You are aged 18 or over
• You have a permanent UK home address

Learn more about the cards

Our full review of American Express Business Platinum is here.

Our full review of American Express Business Gold (free for the first year) is here.

How do I apply?

This is obviously a very exciting offer if you meet the qualification criteria.

Even if you use your Membership Rewards points in one of the less lucrative ways – converting them to gift cards – you would get 0.5p per Amex point.

This means that the Business Platinum bonus is worth a guaranteed minimum of £600 to spend with a Nectar partner and the Business Gold bonus is worth a guaranteed minimum of £300. However, as a HfP reader I’d expect you to do far better than this by using them for flight or hotel rewards.

You can apply for American Express Business Platinum, with the 120,000 points bonus, here.

You can apply for American Express Business Gold, with the 60,000 points bonus and no fee for the first year, here.

Disclaimer: Head for Points is a journalistic website. Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that any product is right for your circumstances. Recommendations are based primarily on the ability to earn miles and points. The site discusses products offered by lenders but is not a lender itself. Robert Burgess, trading as Head for Points, is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as an independent credit broker.