NEW: Get 60,000 or 120,000 points with Amex Business Gold or Platinum – & no bonus rules

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

It is the culmination of five 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 8th April 2025, is the biggest we’ve ever seen. If you only sign up for one payment card mileage promotion all year, this should be it.

There is also a 60,000 points option on ‘free for a year’ American Express Business Gold.

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.

Remember, as we covered in more detail here last year, all restrictions on receiving a sign-up bonus have been removed as long as you hit the spending target.

If your application is successful and you spend the required sum, you qualify for the bonus. Full stop.

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 offers up to 120,000 Membership Rewards points. You receive 80,000 points when you spend £12,000 within three months and a further 40,000 points when you make a single transaction between Month 14 and Month 17.

American Express Business Gold – which is free for your first year – now offers up to 60,000 Membership Rewards points. You receive 40,000 points when you spend £6,000 within three months and a further 20,000 points when you make a single transaction between Month 14 and Month 17.

The offer is valid for applications received by 8th April 2025.

How do you receive the bonus?

American Express has gone back to the two part bonuses that it has occasionally offered over recent years.

• You get the first part (80,000 points for Business Platinum, 40,000 points for Business Gold) when you hit the spending target.

• You get the second part (40,000 points for Business Platinum, 20,000 points for Business Gold) when you keep the card for at least 14 months and make a single purchase between Month 14 and Month 17.

This is, obviously, designed to encourage you to keep the card for a second year. However, this is not compulsory and nothing stops you cancelling the card before this.

That said, Business Platinum cardholders receive a fresh £200 credit to spend at Amex Travel each year when they renew so it makes a lot of sense to hold this for at least the second year.

What can you do with the bonus points?

I ran this article a couple of weeks ago on how you can use Membership Rewards points.

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 or 120,000 Virgin Points if you convert the full 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 Etihad and Air France KLM
• 90,000 Emirates Skywards miles
• 8,000 Club Eurostar points

You should halve these numbers to see what the 60,000 points 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 card year to spend at Amex Travel.

The annual fee is, of course, tax deductible as a business expense.

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

There is no change to the fee refund policy on Amex charge cards. In any event, plans to stop fee refunds on Amex credit cards seem to have been dropped. 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 packages in detailed card reviews next week.

Who qualifies for the bonus?

Everyone who is accepted and who hits the spend target.

There are no longer any restrictions based on other American Express cards you have or recently had.

If you are accepted for the card and spend the required sum, you will receive the bonus.

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 (if you are not a sole trader) has a current UK Bank or Building Society account
• You are aged 18 or over
• You have a permanent UK home address

You, personally, must have an income of £20,000 for Business Gold or £35,000 for Business Platinum.

Full card reviews will follow next week

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

The changes to the sign-up bonus rules mean that:

• anyone with Business Gold could get a bonus if they applied for Business Platinum (and vice versa)

• anyone with a personal Gold or Platinum card is currently able to apply for Business Gold or Platinum and receive the bonus

Next week, we’ll publish full reviews of both the American Express Business Platinum and American Express Business Gold cards highlighting the card benefits.

How do I apply?

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

You can apply for American Express Business Gold, with up to 60,000 bonus points 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.