Last Updated: 15 May 2023
Qualifying Spend Period, To Earn Lucrative Points Bonuses, Extended By 3 Months.
American Express UK has announced that, due to the impact of COVID-19, its welcome offer bonus period is being extended from three months to six months, to allow cardholders more time to achieve their spend threshold. The extension applies to all eligible consumer and small business cards and follows a similar move by Amex in the US.
The extension applies to anyone who applied after 30 January 2020, which means that if you applied now, you would have until November to spend the qualifying amount.
The American Express Membership Rewards programme is one of the most popular amongst travel fans since Points transfers to Avios are possible once you have 1,000 Membership Rewards points and one Membership Rewards Point equals one Avios. So the bonuses available can rapidly increase your Avios budget for spending on reward flights.
The extension also applies to the British Airways American Express Cards, which award their bonuses directly in Avios points and the Marriott Bonvoy card. Marriott Bonvoy points can be converted to Avios at a 3:1 ratio.
The Welcome Bonuses By Rewards Card
Personal Cards
The Platinum Card (UK)
30,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend £4,000 in the first 6 months
Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card
20,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend £3,000 in the first 6 months.
Note that this bonus is available until 29th June and then reverts to 10,000 points.
British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card (Black)
25,000 Avios when you spend £3,000 in the first 6 months.
British Airways American Express Credit Card (Blue)
5,000 Avios when you spend £1,000 in the first 6 months.
The American Express Rewards Credit Card
5,000 Avios when you spend £2,000 in the first 6 months.
Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card
20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points when you spend £3,000 in the first 6 months.
Business Cards
The American Express Business Gold Card
20,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend £3,000 in the first 6 months.
The American Express Business Platinum Card
40,000 Membership Rewards Points when you spend £6,000 in the first 6 months.
British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card
2,200 BA On Business Points when you spend £3,000 in the first 6 months.
The qualifying period has also been extended on the Nectar Credit Card and relevant Amex cashback cards.
Important: You should review the interest rates, fees and terms & conditions associated with any of these cards before deciding if they are right for you. The latest information can be found on the American Express UK website.
Qualifying Criteria
Amex applies some qualifying criteria to all of these offers. The most important to note is that if you have already held any of the personal cards above, as the PRIMARY cardholder, in the last 24 months, then the only bonuses you might be able to get, for a new personal card, are for the The Platinum Card and British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card. You can apply for any of the other cards, but you won’t qualify for the welcome bonuses.
You could qualify for The Platinum Card bonus, if you haven’t held any other Amex Membership Rewards personal cards in the last 24 months, as the PRIMARY cardholder.
You could qualify for the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card bonus, if you haven’t held either of the BA Amex personal cards in the last 12 months, as the PRIMARY cardholder.
If you have only held one of the business cards, or were only a supplementary cardholder, on one of the personal cards listed, in the last 24 months, you should qualify.
Now onto the business card bonuses (still with us?), You can qualify for the welcome bonuses on The American Express Business Gold or Platinum Cards so long as you haven’t held any other Membership Rewards card- personal or business- in the last 6 months.
Finally, the good news, the British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card has NO restrictions on qualifying for the welcome bonus, providing your company meets the application criteria. Phew.
Once again, you can find all the interest rates, fees and terms & conditions on the AMEX UK website.
We think you deserve a bonus after all that! So if you do earn one with your new Amex card, don’t forget the best place to get availability and alerts for Avios reward flights is Rewardflightfinder.com.
The Reward Flight Finder website (formerly BA Redemption Finder) has been updated to make it the easiest way to find BA reward flights as well as redemptions for Virgin Flying Club.
Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that any product is right for your circumstances. You should seek separate specialist advice if unsure. Opinions are based primarily on the ability to earn Avios points. Reward Flight Finder discusses products offered by lenders but is not a lender itself.