American Express have just increased the Platinum Card New Cardmember Offer for a limited time, expiring on 13 June 2023. In this article I’ll explain all the benefits of this new offer and show how you could get over £1,000 of value out of it. The Platinum Card is Amex’s flagship card, with an annual fee of £575. But even with this fee you should still be able to make a generous profit. You can sign up directly on their website, either by using my Amex Platinum referral code to get 65K points, or just signing up without to get 60K:
- REFERRAL LINK: https://americanexpress.com/en-gb/referral/fREDEGgRA5?XLINK=MYCP
- NO REFERRAL LINK: https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/credit-cards/platinum-card/
The Platinum Card
I personally have an Amex Platinum Card for any big purchases and then the free British Airways Amex Card for secondary spending and to earn some extra Avios. I get much more value out of the Platinum Card though. And especially appreciate being able to redeem points on almost any airline rather than just British Airways and their partners.
It’s also worth confirming since I’ve seen people confused by this. Although the representative APR is listed as a ridiculous 462.4%, this includes the annual fee of £575 on an assumed borrowing of £1,200. In reality you’ll only pay 29.4% interest on any balances carried forward each month. Though I would also strongly advice paying your balance in full each month otherwise it defeats the point of a rewards card. You don’t want to end up paying more in interest than you earn in rewards.
The Welcome Offer & Best Perks
The first and most lucrative perk is that you’ll earn 60,000 Membership Rewards points (65,000 using my Amex Platinum referral link) if you spend £6k in 6 months. According to The Points Guys UK most recent valuation, each Amex MR point is worth 1.4p. So in theory from using this offer you’ll get 65,000 points plus another 6,000 from spending £6k which is a whopping £994 in value. For reference a return business class flight with British Airways within Europe would cost 30,000 MR (you’d have to convert them to Avios).
You could even be able to get more value than this if you use the points well. I’ve personally been able to get 1.5p per Membership Rewards point booking a British Airways Business Class flight. And I’ve also seen deals with the likes of Virgin Atlantic where you could earn as much as 2.7p per MR Point. Of course you’re mileage may vary with this and it depends hugely on how you redeem the points. Buying an Amazon gift card for example only works out at 0.5p per MR which is a bit of a waste.
To meet the £6,000 threshold may seem like a lot but should be pretty doable if you have high-ish spending. And I would really only recommend this card to people spending over £1,000 a month anyway. You could easily meet the threshold by just booking one family holiday for instance, or buying a car.
If you meet the £6k spending goal you’ll also get a £200 travel credit on any spending at Amex Travel Online. This means any amount you spend on Amex Travel Online will be discounted by £200. The credit will appear on your statement, reducing the balance. Now, I’m generally not a huge fan of Amex Travel since it’s clunky and hard to find a great deal. But £200 for free is still a nice offer.
Other Great Perks
For me one of the best perks is the £300 dining credit. This is split into two £150 statement credit, one for dining at a UK restaurant and one at a non-UK restaurant. For the full list of eligible restaurants check out the list here. This is great if you like dining out like me, especially for special occasions like an anniversary or birthday. Most recently I had an amazing dinner for two at Fallow Restaurant, and it was completely free!
If you’re a frequent traveller then the free Priority Pass lounge access and Travel Insurance perks will provide great value too. I end up going abroad about 8 times a year through both holidays and work. And with Priority Pass I’m able to visit airport lounges with one guest at most large airports in the world, even when flying economy.
I haven’t had much experience with their travel insurance but I was successfully able to claim additional travel expenses after a delayed flight. So no complaints there either.
You’re also entitled to a £100 Harvey Nichols credit, in the form of one £50 credit which resets every 6 months. It may not seem too useful unless you frequently shop at Harvey Nichols. However, it’s free money. I mostly use it to buy gift baskets for people.
Lastly, one of my favourite features (though it provides no value) is that the card is made out of metal. It’s kind of a pointless vanity feature but I do love the way it feels compared to other plastic cards.
Below is a (almost) full list of the perks you’ll get with Amex Platinum:
Conclusion
Overall I think this is a very good deal and very lucrative if you make the most of all the benefits. Below is a breakdown of how much this offer could be worth at different Membership Rewards Points value. At the very lowest rate you’ll be able to redeem an Amazon Giftcard for 0.5p per point you’ll just get £380 of value. But if you plan to use on flights (especially business class) you’ll get much more. The absolute highest redemption rate I’ve been able to find was looking at a Virgin Atlantic Upper Class flight from London to Los Angeles. Though it is quite hard to find such a good deal as that. I’ve had no issues however being able to achieve a redemption rate of 1.4p per MR point so I would say that’s a good benchmark to use.
Use my Amex Platinum Referral code!
If you use my Amex Platinum referral code you’ll earn 65,000 rather than the standard 60,000. I would also receive 18,000 so it would be hugely appreciated! Click the link below to Signup!
https://americanexpress.com/en-gb/referral/fREDEGgRA5?XLINK=MYCP