The best referral offers, welcome deals and extra savings.
There are loads of ways you can get more from an American Express credit card other than the ongoing cashback rewards. And they start when you first apply.
First is either a referral bonus or cashback site bonus. These generally are worth between £10 and £25, depending on the card and where you get the link.
Next is the welcome bonus for those who haven’t had an Amex in 24 months. These come with cashback, reward and points based cards. These can easily be worth £100 or more, depending on the card.
Finally there are extra offers available every month on the card, with the Shop Small promotion among my favourites.
Here are some of the special deals running right now.
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Standard welcome offers
If you’ve not had an American Express card in your name in 24 months you’ll be eligible for a welcome bonus when you sign up and meet specific spending thresholds.
You might be eligible for a bonus from the Platinum card and British Airways cards as an existing cardholder – it depends on which card or cards you have. I’ve explained more in this article.
The highest paying standard welcome promotions are:
| Card | Bonus | Value | Fee |
| American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card | 20,000 Amex Membership points + 3,000 points for spending | £153 in Nectar points | £0 (£195 in year two) |
| American Express Platinum Cashback credit card | 5% on first £2,500 spent | Up to £125 | £25 |
| Nectar American Express credit card | 20,000 Nectar points + 2,000 points for spending | £110 in Nectar points | £0 (£30 in year two) |
Boosted welcome offers
These offers are sometimes boosted and it’s often worth waiting for these deals to come along. Once to look out for include:
- Up to 25,000 rather than 20,000 for the Amex Preferred Reward Gold (usually spring and winter each year. Last ran Oct 2023 to Jan 2024)
- 75,000 rather than 30,000 for the Amex Platinum (usually spring and winter each year. Last ran Oct 2023 to Jan 2024)
- 50,000 rather than 25,000 for the BA Amex Premium Plus (usually late winter and early autumn each year. Running January 2024)
When these and other deals are running we’ll share the basics below, with links to more detailed articles explaining the offer in full.
This is a rare boosted welcome deal on the free Amex cashback card. The usual offer is 5% back on the first £2,000 you spend in the first three months.
Until 9 April 2024 that’s been increased to the first £2,500. You’ll also have longer to spend as the 5% will cover the first five months (up to the £125 limit).
| Card | Reward type | Normal bonus | Boosted bonus | Offer ends |
| American Express Platinum Cashback Everyday credit card | Cashback | 5% on first £2,000 = up to £100 | 5% on first £2,500 = up to £125 | 9 April 2024 |
This matches the standard welcome offer on the Amex Platinum Cashback card, though that card comes with a £25 annual fee and you’ve only got three months of spending at the higher rate.
Bear in mind the Everyday card requires you to spend at least £3,000 in a year to get any cashback, so you’ll need to spend another £500 at least over the year. The rate on this will be 0.5%, so the extra £500 will earn you another £2.50.
All cashback earned, including the bonus on initial spending, will be paid to your account as credit after a year.
You cannot get this offer if you’ve held any Amex card in your name in the last two years.
British Airways American Express Premium Plus: 50,000 welcome Avios (expired)
This is a rare opportunity to more than double the normal welcome offer from the BA Amex Premium Plus.
| Card | Reward type | Normal bonus | Boosted bonus | Offer ends |
| British Airways American Express Premium Plus credit card | Avios points | 25,000 | 50,000 | 20 February 2024 |
Until 20 February 2024 new card holders can get 50,000 Avios when spending £3,000 in three months. Combined with the 4,500 points earned from the £3,000 spent, that could add up to £363 as Nectar points. However you will have to pay a £250 annual fee.
As long as you’ve not had either BA Amex in the last two years you’ll be eligible for the offer, even if you already have a different American Express card.
However, the offer is also only available via the free British Airways Executive Club – not direct from Amex.
We’ve written a full analysis of the offer, and details of how to ensure you get this increased offer, in a separate article.
BA Amex: Boosted 12,000 points (expired)
This short-term offer gives you extra points on the free BA Amex.
| Card | Reward type | Normal bonus | Boosted bonus | Offer ends |
| British Airways American Express credit card | Avios points | 6,000 | 12,000 | 20 February 2023 |
As with the above deal, this offer is only via the British Airways Executive Club – but don’t worry it’s free to join.
You’ll need to spend £1,000 in the first three months to trigger the 12,000 Avios point bonus. This is worth £80 in Nectar points.
If you also spend £12,000 in total on the card you’ll get a BA Companion Voucher, effectively a 2-4-1 ticket in economy.
You cannot have had any Amex card in the last 24 months in your name to get the bonus.
Amex Platinum: 75,000 points & £80 cashback (ended)
Until 9 January 2024 you can get a huge 75,000 points if you spend £10,000 in six months on the Platinum card. There’s an extra £80 available if you apply for a cashback site, or if you are referred by a friend an extra 5,000 points.
Amex Preferred Rewards Gold: 25,000 points & £70 cashback (ended)
Also until 9 January 2024 you can get an increased 25,000 points if you spend £3,000 in three months on the Preferred Rewards Gold card. There’s an extra £70 available if you apply for a cashback site.
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Whether you’re eligible for a welcome bonus or not you should always apply for an Amex via a refer-a-friend link or cashback site. These can be worth anything from a fiver to more than £100, depending on the card.
It’s impossible to say which is best as the rates change per card and can sometimes be increased. So I’d check both options and go for the one that pays the most.
Cashback site welcome bonuses
An alternative to referral bonuses which can sometimes pay better is to go via Quidco or TopCashback. It’s worth checking both sites to see which one pays more, and then comparing the rate to the referral bonuses.
If you’re not with either cashback site then you can also nab an extra welcome bonus on those too!
Refer-a-friend offers
Most Amex cards will give an extra bonus for signing up via a referral link. From time to time these are boosted,
Obviously you can ask your friends and family if they have a link they can share with you, which you can use for any Amex you like – not just the one they have. They’ll also get a kickback for sharing their link.
To see all the different referral options click the “see all cards with a referral offer” button at the top of the page when it opens. You’ll get the rate shown for the card you select.
Upgrade offers
Very rarely there are promotions to get you to upgrade your card. The bonus won’t be as good as the welcome deals for newbies, but it’s worth taking a look.
Upgrade Gold credit to Platinum: boosted 40,000 points
If you have the Preferred Rewards Golf card then you won’t qualify for the welcome bonus on the Platinum card, so this upgrade offer is worth a look.
You can get normally get 20,000 Amex Reward Points if you upgrade from the Preferred Rewards Gold credit card to the Platinum credit card. You’ll need to spend £4,000 in three months, so this is only for big spenders.
You’ll earn 1 point per £1 spent, so in total you’ll get 24,000 points if you achieve this. That’s worth £192 if converted to Avios, and then to Nectar points.
But right now you’ll be able to get double. So thats 40,000 points but you spend £6,000 in three months.
You’ll also get the £150 annual UK dining credit and twice yearly £50 Harvey Nicks credit.
Bear in mind you’ll need to pay £650 as an annual fee.
Upgrade Gold charge to Platinum: 20,000 points
If you have the older Preferred Rewards Gold charge card (this is slightly different from the credit card) you can get 20,000 Amex Reward Points if you upgrade to the Platinum credit card. You’ll need to spend £4,000 in three months, so this is only for big spenders.
You’ll earn 1 point per £1 spent, so in total you’ll get 24,000 points if you achieve this. That’s worth £192 if converted to Avios, and then to Nectar points.
You’ll also get the £150 annual UK dining credit and twice yearly £50 Harvey Nicks credit. So sign up now and use both offers before and after Jan 1, and that’s an extra £400.
Don’t forget that £650 annual fee that comes with the Platinum
Boost Amex and Avios points
Andy’s top tip
Nectar: Swap Amex and Avios points
It’s possible to swap Amex Reward points for a number of different options, including gift cards. But the most valuable option is going to be swapping them for Avios points and then swapping these points for Nectar points.
You’ll get the equivalent of 0.67p per point, so roughly 0.67% cashback. And you can do the same if your Amex card earns Avios points directly. Here’s more on how to convert your points.
Shop Small: £5 credit with £15 spend
This is my favourite Amex offer, though it’s not as good as it used to be. In 2023 it ran from 1 to 3 December, so I’d expect a similar offer in winter 2024.
You get £5 back with each £15 spent at participating retailers, up to three times per card. More details of how to maximise your returns are in my full Shop Small guide here.
Deliveroo: 2 x £5 credit each month with Amex Gold
If you hold the Preferred Rewards Gold Amex then every month you can get £5 back on up to two Deliveroo orders. Make sure you save the offer to your card. There’s also a £5 minimum spend per order.
Harvey Nichols: £100 free credit a year with Amex Platinum card
If you have the Platinum American Express card (which comes with a huge £575 annual fee) you can now get £50 back twice a year from spending at Harvey Nichols.
The spend can be cumulative and there’s no minimum spend. So buy something for a tenner and you’ll get £10 back to your card. The offer resets on 1 July each year and you can earn up to £50 again for the second part of the year.
It’s only for primary card holders and you need to activate the offer in your account before spending. It’s due to run until December 2024.
Dining: Up to £300 free credit a year with Amex Platinum card
This offer is for people with the full Platinum Amex, not the cashback versions. Each year until 31 December 2024 you’ll get £150 dining credit to use at some top restaurants. Most do seem to be in London but there are a few around the country (mainly the Ivy chain) so you should be able to redeem the offer.
There’s also the same amount available overseas, though the locations are very limited. So I’d treat this as an extra rather than a certainty.
As with most Amex offers, you’ll need to add it to your card. It’s limited to the main cardholder only so can’t be added to supplementary cards.
The card comes with a massive £575 annual fee so I wouldn’t apply just for this offer (indeed there’s no guarantee it’ll be available to newbies) – but if you do go for it, the fee will be prorated if you cancel.
Dining: 10% Restaurant cashback
There’s a new offer to activate that’ll give you 10% back when you dine out at participating restaurants if you have the following cards:
- Platinum Cashback
- Platinum Everyday Cashback
- Platinum
- Preferred Rewards Gold
- Centurion
It’s worth checking other cards though as I spotted it on my Amex Rewards card, but not my BA Amex or Vitality card.
The offer runs from time to time so keep checking to see if it returns.
It’ll work each time you eat out. There’s a full list of restaurants here. It includes chains like Honest Burger, Yo! and Gaucho, as well as one-offs like Lima and Paternoster Chop House.
If it operates like previous offers that list could change, so do check before you dine.
