ENDS TUESDAY: Get 40,000 points (40,000 Avios) + £400 travel credit with Amex Platinum

UPDATE – OCTOBER 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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 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 is currently running a bumper sign-up offer for The Platinum Card.

You have until tonight – Tuesday 27th August – to apply.

The standard bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points for spending £6,000, which converts to 40,000 Avios, was already good.

Until tonight, however, you will also receive £400 to spend at American Express Travel.

You’re now looking at a sign up bonus worth around £800 on my calculations.

You can apply for The Platinum Card here.

The card comes with some great travel benefits. It also comes with a chunky fee of £650 per year.

One upside is that you can get a pro-rata fee refund if you cancel so the cost of trying it out for a few months is low.  In fact, you’d make a decent profit as long as you managed to spend £6,000 in three months and trigger the bonus.

Pro-rata fee refunds will end in ‘late 2024’ but American Express has not yet confirmed the date. You need to make your own decision on what ‘late 2024’ means in terms of date.

The representative APR is 701.4% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 30.7% variable.

What are the benefits of American Express Platinum?

Here are the key benefits of The Platinum Card as I see them. However, for clarity, there is no ‘right’ answer about whether The Platinum Card represents good value.

It is SOLELY down to how you travel and which of the card benefits you can use.  This varies from person to person.  Most people value the Priority Pass airport lounge access cards the most, for example, but I don’t because we usually fly Business Class and my wife and I both have British Airways status anyway.

On the other hand, as non car-owning Londoners, we do disproportionately value the car hire insurance and the Fine Hotels & Resorts luxury hotel benefits. The 4pm guaranteed late check-out is a real boon if you are only away for a long weekend. Who wants to be kicked out of their hotel at 11am on a Sunday?

I run through this in more detail below.  It is why, of all the cards we cover on Head for Points, American Express Platinum is the one that people often find the hardest to get their head around.

What is the sign up bonus on The Platinum Card?

Even in normal times, American Express Platinum offers the biggest sign-up bonus of any UK personal travel card.

Until tonight, Tuesday 27th August, The Platinum Card blows every other personal card out of the water with the usual 40,000 Membership Rewards points sign-up bonus AND a £400 credit to spend with Amex Travel.

You need to spend £6,000 within three months to trigger the two parts of the bonus.

Once you’ve spent £6,000, you receive 40,000 American Express Membership Rewards points which convert into:

• 40,000 Avios
• 40,000 Virgin Points
• 40,000 Etihad, Flying Blue, Asia Miles, Delta, Finnair, Qantas or SAS miles
• 30,000 Emirates miles
• 26,666 Singapore Airlines miles
• 80,000 Hilton Honors points
• 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points
• 120,000 Radisson Rewards points
• 2,666 Club Eurostar points

….. and many other non-travel rewards.  I wrote this article on the most valuable Membership Rewards redemptions.

And a £400 travel credit ….

Once you’ve spent £6,000 – and not before – you will receive a £400 statement credit to spend with American Express Travel.

You can book flights or pre-paid hotels via the Amex Travel website or call centre and the first £400 of your spending will be refunded in the form of a statement credit.

To be clear, this is only a benefit for new cardholders who sign up before 27th August and it is only available once you have hit your ‘£6,000 spend within three months’ target.

The credit must be spent in a single pre-paid transaction and you must spend at least the value of the credit. The credit is for 12 months.

What is the annual fee on The Platinum Card?

The card has an annual fee of £650.

You can, for now, cancel the card at any point for a pro-rata fee refund.  This reduces the risk considerably if you don’t find it is right for you. Pro-rata fee refunds are due to end at some point in ‘late 2024’ but American Express will not be more specific.

I have had one since 1999, so clearly there is real value to be had.

Here are the American Express Platinum core benefits (for me)

Here are the key card benefits to me.  As you read on, you will probably say to yourself that you would value some of these at nothing.  That’s fine.  You may value some of the benefits that I never use.  As I said, there is no right or wrong decision about whether Platinum works for you.

Full travel insurance:

You receive travel insurance for yourself and your family as long as you are under 70.  You can insure one other family group by giving one member of that family a supplementary card on your account.  Some benefits require you to pay for your trip with an American Express card (any UK personal Amex card, not necessarily Platinum) but the core medical benefit is automatic.  My family relies on this as our core family travel policy and do not pay for any other cover.  Amex has increased the number of pre-existing conditions and sporting activities which are covered.

Car hire insurance:

You receive full car hire insurance.  As we live in London and don’t own a car, this is very useful for us as we hire 3-4 times per year.

Airport lounge access via Priority Pass:

You and your main supplementary cardholder will each receive a Priority Pass card.  This gets the cardholder plus a guest into 1,600 airport lounges across the world for free, including the Aspire lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5 reviewed here.  No1 Lounges, present at Gatwick, Luton, Birmingham and Heathrow Terminal 3, is also in Priority Pass.

As you get two Priority Pass cards, each of which allows a free guest, you can get a family of four into a lounge.

Platinum cardholders can also access the Plaza Premium lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5 by showing their Platinum card. This allows you two guests instead of the one guest you would get by using your Priority Pass. This also covers the Plaza Premium lounge in Gatwick’s North Terminal, which is the old Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, and the excellent new lounge in Edinburgh.

You can also get into Amex’s own network of high quality ‘Centurion’ airport lounges for free.  These are primarily in the US but are rolling out globally – new ones opened in Hong Kong and Melbourne recently.  The first UK Centurion lounge, at Heathrow Terminal 3, is open and we like it.

Obviously if you do not have airline status then this benefit has substantial value.

Hotel status:

You will also receive permanent – for as long as you hold your Platinum card – status in various hotel schemes:

• Gold in Hilton Honors
• Gold in Marriott Bonvoy
• Premium in Radisson Rewards
• Gold in MeliaRewards

I value these cards highly and usually plan my stays around hotels which will give me additional status benefits.

Eurostar and Delta lounge access:

Other benefits include Eurostar lounge access in London, Brussels and Paris whatever your class of travel.  You also receive lounge access when flying with Delta although any guests must pay $29.

I do value the Eurostar benefit because I tend to travel Standard Premier which gets the business class seat but without lounge access.  No guests are allowed although your partner can come in if they have a supplementary Platinum card on your account.  At quiet times they will unofficially allow children in.

Exclusive events:

American Express offers an exclusive events programme.  This is a mix of free events and special paid events with top restaurants or shows.  Now that I have a couple of kids my ability to nip off to every free party I get invited to is much reduced, but I have attended a few good evenings over the years I have held my Platinum card.

The value here obviously varies massively.  Would you be interested, for example, in joining a private meal hosted personally by a high-profile chef in their flagship restaurant even if the cost was higher than a standard meal in the same venue?  Would you be interested in the best seats in the house for a high profile concert, with a private drinks reception beforehand for Platinum guests, if the cost was higher than a standard top-priced ticket (which sold out months ago)?  Some would be keen, some wouldn’t.

The Platinum events programme can be booked via a dedicated app.

Exclusive benefits at luxury hotels:

There is an exclusive hotel booking scheme called ‘Fine Hotels & Resorts’ which offers valuable additional benefits on your stays.  If you are a regular visitor at five star hotels then you can recoup your entire membership fee via FHR bookings.

I wrote more about Fine Hotels & Resorts here – for me, the guaranteed 4pm check-out on every stay is invaluable, especially for weekend breaks.  We use this benefit whenever I must have a 4pm check-out, which can make a real difference on a short break.

£100 per year of Harvey Nichols credit:

You receive £50 credit to spend at Harvey Nichols, either instore or online, between January and June and a further £50 for July to December.

There is no minimum spend. If you buy exactly £50 of items, or spend exactly £50 in the restaurants, it is genuinely free.

It is not known if this benefit will continue for 2025. You can definitely claim £50 for the July 2024 to December 2024 period but there is no certainty beyond this.

£150 per year of UK dining credit:

You receive £150 credit per year to spend in 150+ restaurants across the UK. The benefit resets on 1st January each year.

There is no minimum spend and you can earn the credit across multiple meals at different restaurants if you wish.

£150 per year of international dining credit:

You will receive £150 credit per year to spend in 1,200+ restaurants outside the UK. The benefit resets on 1st January each year.

It is not known if the dining benefits will continue for 2025 although I am hopeful. You can definitely claim £300 for 2024 but there is no certainty beyond this.

You can find full details of the two Amex Platinum dining benefits here.

What do you earn per £1 spent on the card?

You receive 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on the card.  1 Membership Rewards point is equivalent to 1 Avios or other airline mile per £1 if you choose to transfer them.  Spending with American Express Travel, booked and paid for online, earns 2 points per £1.

To be honest, many people who have the card focus their spending elsewhere – in order, for example, to trigger the 2-4-1 voucher on the British Airways American Express card.

Can I get the sign-up bonus if I have a British Airways American Express card?

Yes.  The rule is that you will not receive a sign-up bonus if you have held a Platinum, Gold or Green American Express card, or the Amex Rewards credit card, in the 24 months before you apply.

You WILL receive the sign-up bonus if you have a Corporate or Business American Express Green, Gold or Platinum card via your job and you receive Membership Rewards points from it.  Only PERSONAL cards impact on whether you qualify.

For clarity, you will definitely receive the sign-up bonus on The Platinum Card if you already have a BA Amex, Nectar Amex, Marriott Bonvoy Amex or Platinum Cashback Amex.

You will also definitely receive the bonus if you are currently a supplementary cardholder on someone else’s Amex Gold or Platinum card.  As far as Amex is concerned, that card belongs to the primary cardholder and does not make you an ‘existing cardholder’.

What is the target spend to receive the bonus?

You need to spend £6,000 within three months to receive a bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points and, until tonight (27th August), £400 of credit to spend at American Express Travel.

The spend target does not include the annual fee.

Conclusion

This is as good as it gets with American Express Platinum, I think:

• you get 40,000 Membership Rewards points

• you get £400 to spend at Amex Travel

• you have £300 of annual dining credit (£150 UK, £150 international) to use by 31st December 2024

• you should, if the benefit continues, receive another £300 of annual dining credit (£150 UK, £150 international) on 1st January 2025

• you receive £50 of Harvey Nichols credit to use by 31st December 2024, with the possibility that the benefit will roll over into 2025

For what it’s worth, I am fairly confident that the dining benefit will continue into 2025 but far less confident about the Harvey Nichols benefit.

Even if you ignore all of the other card benefits (travel insurance, Priority Pass, Fine Hotels & Resorts, Hilton / Marriott / Melia / Radisson hotel status, Eurostar lounge access etc), you are getting a great deal here

• 40,000 Membership Rewards points (worth £400 in our view if converted to airline miles, and in the worst case scenario worth £200 of Nectar points to spend in Sainsburys, on eBay.co.uk or at Argos)

• £50 of Harvey Nichols credit (and potentially more if the offer is renewed)

• £400 of Amex Travel credit

• £300 of dining credit to use in 2024

• £300 of dining credit to use in 2025 (if the offer is renewed)

Even if you don’t qualify, perhaps your partner or another family member would qualify. You could get a supplementary card issued in your name which would allow you to earn the hotel status and Priority Pass benefits, as well as letting you run up the target spend. You could then use the Membership Rewards points in a way which benefitted yourself, although they can only be transferred to accounts in the name of the main cardholder.

Long term, whether or not the fee on The Platinum Card represents value for money long-term depends on how many of the card benefits you will use.

Let’s not look long term, however. Focus on the short term and whether you could spend £6,000 in three months to unlock a bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points and £400 of Amex Travel credit.

Remember that pro-rata fee refunds on cancellation are available until ‘late 2024’, although we don’t know that Amex means by that.

The application form for Amex Platinum can be found here.

The offer ends TONIGHT, Tuesday 27th August.

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.