Question about referral bonuses between cards and 24 month periods

[taylesh]

I’m sure this will have been asked before, but I am getting conflicting answers when I ask Amex and can’t see it has been asked recently so hopefully someone can help/confirm

When applying for a new Gold or Platinum Amex, am I right that you can disregard any BA Amex cards held in the 24 month period for the purposes of qualifying for the sign up bonus? That is what the terms I can see on the Amex website suggest, but it isn’t what Amex are telling me when I ask them on chat.

Similarly, is it the same the other way round, so when applying for a new BA Amex card you can disregard any non-BA Amex cards currently held or held in the last 24 months? Again, this is what the Amex website suggests.

I don’t currently hold any Amex cards (other than as a supplementary cardholder on my wife’s gold car. The last cards I had were as follows:

Gold Amex – Cancelled June 2021
BA Premium – Cancelled January 2022

My wife currently holds a Gold card (and will hit her 2 year BA Amex gap in November 2023).

I was planning to do as follows and qualify for the referral/spend bonuses on each:

– My wife refers me Amex Platinum now
– November 2023 – I refer her BA Premium
– January 2024 – my wife refers me BA Premium.

Does that work…?!?!?

[SteveJ]

Rules are outlined here:
https://www.headforpoints.com/2023/01/03/maximise-american-express-signup-bonuses/

The key to this is that the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card and The Platinum Card have different bonus rules from the other cards. You are only blocked from a bonus if you have held another card in the same ‘reward family’ over the previous two years.

The rules you describe above only apply to Platinum (not Gold) and to the BAPP (not BA Free).

Your plan works but make sure you are very clear on exactly which date your accounts were closed. Get it wrong by even one day and you’ve messed the whole plan.

Don’t forget additional points for adding a supplementary, don’t add at application stage, add later from this link
https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/benefits/supplementary-cards/

[taylesh]

Thanks so much SteveJ!

Weirdly, when I look at the terms for the card just going through the website (without a referral link), in the “Eligibility” section it says:

I understand I will not be eligible for any Welcome Bonus award if I hold or have held any personal Membership Rewards-enrolled American Express Cards in the past 24 months.

So that’s as expected.

However, if I follow the referral link, in the same Eligibility section it says:

I understand that I will not be eligible for any welcome bonus offer if I hold or have held any personal American Express Cards in the past 24 months.

Am I right in reading the referral eligibility as being deliberately narrower and potentially covering BA cards as well?

Do you (or anyone else) know or have any experience as to whether I am reading this right?

[mark@ukedwards.co.uk]

Did you resolved this? I have the same question!
and also whether a friend with a platinum amex can refer me for one whilst I still have an active BA Amex card

[memesweeper]

mark@ukedwards.co.uk wrote:

Did you resolved this? I have the same question!
and also whether a friend with a platinum amex can refer me for one whilst I still have an active BA Amex card

Personal Platinum
New Cardmember offer:
This new Cardmember offer is only available if you have not held a personal Membership Rewards enrolled American Express® Card within the previous 24 months.

Personal Gold
New Cardmember offer:
This new Cardmember offer is only available if you have not held a personal American Express® Card within the previous 24 months.