Last chance to get Amex Platinum with 50,000 Membership Rewards (= 50,000 Avios) bonus

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Key link: American Express Platinum card home page

This is a ‘final boarding call’ for anyone thinking of applying for the American Express Platinum charge card.

The Amex website has been saying for a couple of weeks that the 50,000 Membership Rewards points offer will end on 3rd March.

My best guess – and I honestly don’t know – is that it will drop back to 40,000 points, which is what it was until last Autumn.

50,000 Membership Rewards points (good for 50,000 Avios or various other things) is a great deal.

Whilst the card does carry a £450 annual fee, you can cancel this for a pro-rata refund as soon as you have spend the £2,000 necessary to get the bonus points. This pro-rata refund is in the terms and conditions of the card (paragraph 18.2 to be precise) so you will have no problem getting it.

So, if you meet the £40,000 household income requirement and have not had a Platinum, Gold or Green Amex in the last six months, you need to decide whether to go for it before the deadline.

Cancel within 3 months, and your net fee will only have been (3/12ths of £450) £112 – a fantastic deal for 50,000 Avios!

However, the Platinum card has some great benefits – Cathay Pacific Gold card (= BA Silver and gets you into BA lounges), Starwood Gold, Club Carlson Gold, Accor Platinum (EDIT – initially said Gold by mistake), 2 Priority Passes for lounge access when not flying BA etc – and you may decide that it is well worth keeping once you have got used to the benefits. I have had once since 1999.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus.

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers.

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending:

Barclaycard Select Cashback Credit Card

1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review

Category

American Express Membership Rewards, American Express Platinum card

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

David says:

28 Feb28 February 22:00

Thanks for the info.

There is no mention of the Cathay card on the Amex website, although it is not something I need.
- Rob says:
  
  28 Feb28 February 22:19
  
  Everyone asks this! No idea why they did this, unless it is to protect the BA relationship.
  
  It is sort of mentioned. They say you get access to 1,000 lounges. Priority Pass only has 650, the other 350 refer to the oneworld global network that Cathay gets you into.
  - David says:
    
    28 Feb28 February 22:22
    
    Thanks Raffles.
    
    Will sleep on the offer and may seek your referral if I decide to proceed. Have a BA PP Amex, but the Platinum card sounds good.
    
    I appreciate the blog!
John Trops says:

1 Mar1 March 09:47

Slightly off topic, I applied for the BA standard Amex for my wife last month (I already have the Premium Plus and have hit my £10k threshold) and now realise after reading Head for Points that I should have got her the Premium Plus too. So far we haven’t started spending on it much. Were she to upgrade now i.e before her 3 month spend critieria has been fulfilled and spent £3000 would she get the additional bonus i.e 25,000 points instead of the 9,000.
Alternatively, should I just do another online application for the premium plus for her so she has a standard card and a premium plus? Any benefit in holding both cards or is this forbidden?
- Rob says:
  
  1 Mar1 March 10:22
  
  You can’t hold both cards.
  
  I don’t know what would happen to your bonus if you upgraded now, you would need to speak to Amex and try to get something in writing if they say they can change the bonus. Your 9k is guaranteed if you don’t upgrade until after the bonus hits, but there is a risk you may end up with nothing ( or 25k).
  - John Trops says:
    
    1 Mar1 March 21:35
    
    Thanks. I might wait till the bonus 9k has hit in that case!
tom says:

4 Mar4 March 12:12

Hi. Raffles!

Another question regarding the ba amex

As a ba amex card holder with a very high credit limit, I just applied for the platinum and got declined.

Do you think I can request them to decrease my BA AMEX credit limit in order to get the PLATINUM ? will that work with amex?

Many thanks
- Flashware says:
  
  4 Mar4 March 12:14
  
  You could do, however note that the Platinum bonus has now finished and is sitting on 0…
  - tom says:
    
    4 Mar4 March 12:24
    
    On 2000 actually…
    
    But I won’t get the bonus when applied for it when offer was still on ?
- Rob says:
  
  4 Mar4 March 14:25
  
  As others have said, they have killed the Platinum bonus! However, I am sure it will come back in some form. I would definitely cut your BA Amex if it is too high. It will help you with all future card applications, not just Amex.
  - tom says:
    
    4 Mar4 March 14:37
    
    My question was if I can still get THIS application going threw by reducing the credit limit and getting approved on the same phone call. Any experience with this ?
    - Rob says:
      
      4 Mar4 March 15:34
      
      Good question. Best you can do is ring Amex and discuss it with them, but I doubt it can be done immediately – they could reduce your BA Amex limit on the spot but then may want some more time to reconsider your application. However, be sure to get in writing via email that this is a contination of your old application and not a new one. Ignore anything the agent says about it definitely going through with yesterdays date etc, because this won’t count for anything if the 50,000 does not post and you have to chase it up – you want it in writing.
Ben E says:

11 Mar11 March 10:32

So I referred my Dad within the deadline and we checked yesterday – they will still value the referral email and credit the 52k points for signing up. Good news.

He’s come back to me with a question this morning though: supplementary cards on the Amex platinum are free or not? He thinks it looks like they’re £170. Can anyone confirm please?

thanks
B
- Alan says:
  
  11 Mar11 March 10:33
  
  The first Plat is free, subsequent Gold cards are also free but subsequent Plat supp cards are chargeable after the first one.
  - Ben E says:
    
    11 Mar11 March 10:41
    
    Cool, thanks for the confirmation