Confirmed: Last sign-up date for free BA Silver (ie Cathay Gold) via Amex Platinum is 31 March

Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.

It now seems official. American Express has confirmed on the American Express Platinum members website (which I can’t link to) that the Cathay Pacific Gold card deal will end on 31st March.

If you are not familiar with this offer, this is how it works.

When you take out an American Express Platinum charge card, you can apply for a Cathay Pacific Marco Polo Club Gold card, valid for one year.

Cathay A350-900

Cathay Pacific, like British Airways, is a member of the oneworld alliance. This means that your Cathay Pacific Gold card gives you the same benefits as a British Airways Silver card when you fly with BA.

In particular:

You can use BA lounges, even when flying economy – and bring a guest

You can use the lounges of any other oneworld airline when flying with them (Qantas, Qatar, Cathay, Finnair, Royal Jordanian etc)

You can select seats on BA flights for free

You can get an additional baggage allowance

You can check-in at business class desks

The full list of benefits from a oneworld Sapphire card (which is what both BA Silver and Cathay Gold offer) can be found here.

To receive your Cathay Pacific Gold card, you must therefore apply for your Amex Platinum card, receive it AND order the Cathay Gold card online by 31st March. Realistically, this means that you would need to apply for Amex Platinum by mid March.

But doesn’t Amex Platinum have a £450 fee …..?

Yes, it does. However, the fee is refunded pro-rata when you cancel.

When you cancel, you keep the Cathay Gold card for the remainder of the 12 months for which it is valid. You also keep the three hotel status cards for the rest of the year – Starwood Gold, Accor Platinum and Carlson (Radisson) Gold.

There is also a very lucrative sign-up bonus with Amex Platinum, although you can only get this if you have not had an Amex Gold or Amex Platinum in the last six months. You will receive 30,000 Amex Membership Rewards points, which can be converted into 30,000 Avios or 30,000 Virgin Flying Club miles amongst other things.

This is how it could pan out:

Apply for American Express Platinum now

Order your Cathay Gold, Starwood Gold, Accor Platinum and Club Carlson Gold cards

Spend the £2,000 in 3 months required to trigger the 30,000 Membership Rewards points

Transfer your 30,000 points – plus the extra points from your spending – into 30,000 Avios, Virgin Flying Club miles or whatever other programme you choose

Cancel the card after three months for a pro-rata fee refund

For a net cost of just £112 (3/12th of £450):

you will have earned 30,000 Avios, and

you get the equivalent of a British Airways Silver card for a year and

you get Gold status at Starwood hotels for a year and

you get Platinum status at Accor hotels for a year and

you get Gold status at Carlson (Radisson, Park Inn) hotels for a year.

Which sounds OK to me ….

My full review of the American Express Platinum card is here.

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 Platinum card, Cathay Pacific and Asia Miles

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

mja10 says:

22 Nov22 November 09:33

I’ve got my CX Gold through my AMEX Plat but how is it I link it to my BAEC account to be able to choose seats for free in Y?
- Paul says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 10:06
  
  When you book your tickets, use your CX number as your FFP.
  
  Once you have chosen your seats, you can change it to your BAEC number using another one world partner’s site. On FT, there are threads that suggest that you can do this via the Finair website.
  - CWK says:
    
    3 Dec3 December 11:23
    
    I can confirm that this works.
    
    Flying from LCY to IBZ, used CX number on booking, pre-assigned seats (row 8). Went to Finnair website to change to my BAEC (Blue) number. Job done and will receive 1,750 Avios and tier points for the flight, and the pre-assigned seats are still shown on the booking.
avidsaver says:

22 Nov22 November 09:33

Hi Raffles, I’m new to all these chargecard perks. “You can select seats on BA flights for free”. Does this perk only apply to the Plat Card/Marco Polo holder or if they make a booking for themselves and another traveller (on same booking) can they both select their seats for free?
- CWK says:
  
  3 Dec3 December 11:26
  
  Yes, as per comment above, I booked a flight from IBZ for myself and partner (on same booking), and in seats 8A and 8B.
aceman says:

22 Nov22 November 09:34

You also get to (or at least used to) get to keep the priority pass, but it becomes the basic level membership (worth $99 a year) that charges you $27 a visit. PP send a form asking for another CC details to bill it to.
Dave says:

22 Nov22 November 10:08

A bit of topic, sorry for that. I need to jump to NEW YORK for one day during the next week, as I have over half a million miles in BA and VIRGIN the amount of miles spending on that trip wont make such a difference. Now, my options are for tha outbound , LON-NYC , between the LCY CLUB world flight and VIRGIN UPPER CLASS, and for coming back, its or again the LCY overnight flight or th BA FIRST to heathrow. as the timings are almost the same between the two. What would you suggest ? I dont mind the food or the custumer service. my concern is pure about seat comfort (and maybe lounge comfort) netto.

Also do you know if BA has already upgraded all their LON-NYC flights to the NEW FIRST? and is there any difference in first between all kinds of aircrafts like 777, 747 or a380?

And one more question. would maybe be an even better option for a solo traveller? with another airline? I want to take ful advandage of the fact that it is low season and almost everything is avlble!

Thanks again for your fantastic blog, Raffles! I am enjoying it since the first week
- Rob says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 11:01
  
  Virgin Upper Class lounge at Heathrow is amazing and well worth trying.
  
  BA seating is arguably better, though, especially if you book Cub World on a 747 and sit upstairs.
  
  BA First is your best option is travelling solo because half the seats are solo seats.
  
  New F pretty much guaranteed to New York, I understand BA is now giving compensation to anyone who gets old First.
  
  The City flight is also worth trying once, but there is no lounge at City. Good seats though and the novelty of clearing immigration at Shannon.
  
  So, all options have something to recommend. The only thing I would avoid is Club World on a 777 as it is not very intimate – huge cabin with 50 to 70 seats in one open area – and the Galleries Club lounge at Heathrow, whilst good, is a poorer option than The Concorde Room or Virgin Clubhouse.
  - dave says:
    
    22 Nov22 November 11:12
    
    Thanks a million!
- AviosNewbie says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 13:11
  
  I am taking the LCY-JFK CW flight the week after next, and had pretty much considered all the options you mention. Traveling on a smaller, all business class flight seems like a good attraction. Plus, you’ll clear US customs in Ireland. And lastly, you’ll get higher tier points than flying out of LHR, which was the deciding factor for me, as I will now make BA Silver.
  
  You might also want to explore the new AA business class (which you can book using Avios on the BA site) – just make sure the flight contains 77W, and you’ll be sure to get the new business class. I have heard some very good reviews about it – some say it’s better than BA’s product.
needroos says:

22 Nov22 November 10:08

I have applied for the AMEX Platinum on Sunday. Application didn’t get approved online so still waiting for a reply. When should I hear back from them?

Also, I have an AMEX SPG card and bought some flights for April on it which require the card to be presented at check in. If I get the Platinum and cancel the SPG would showing the SPG card at checkin (though cancelled) be enough to satisfy the airline?
- Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 10:37
  
  Give Amex a call. Sometimes apps get stuck in referral queues.
  - needroos says:
    
    22 Nov22 November 11:45
    
    Ah, will do, cheers.
- Kiran says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 10:51
  
  In the dozen years or so of flying, I was never asked to present the card used for booking. But earlier this month, I was flying from Hyderabad in India to Bangkok with Thai Airways. I booked the ticket with Hilton Honors card back in July. I did cancel the card but luckily I didn’t destroy it. I presented the card and they were fine with it. They just verified the last four digits of the card number.
  - needroos says:
    
    22 Nov22 November 11:30
    
    Thanks! QR seems to be quite picky with this. They always seem to swipe my card. Flights in April are with MH, so not sure what their policy is. Ill keep the physical card and hope that’s enough.
  - steve says:
    
    22 Nov22 November 20:57
    
    BA do it regularly, that is, ask for the credit card used for the booking. If you book online and then use eg business class checkin to get your boarding pass its almost guaranteed (in my experience)
    - Alan says:
      
      22 Nov22 November 20:59
      
      Interesting, I’ve never experienced this with them!
    - Rob says:
      
      22 Nov22 November 21:05
      
      Agreed, it has happened to me – and I didn’t have the card. But they are easy to fob off with another card in the same name.
      - andy l says:
        
        22 Nov22 November 22:22
        
        Its simply a fraud detection routine
Yizun says:

22 Nov22 November 10:19

So I would suppose they would not roll this card in the future? (as they did in the past?)
Luke says:

22 Nov22 November 10:51

What luck, mine renews on the 1st February 2014 😀
CCorbs says:

22 Nov22 November 11:02

I have just been approved for the Platinum Card and really need to get the Cathay Pacific gold card ASAP as have CX flights out to Hong Kong on 24th and want to use lounges in HK / extra baggage etc.

How do I apply for the Marco Polo Gold Card and how long is it likely to take to arrive?
- Rob says:
  
  22 Nov22 November 13:38
  
  Go to americanexpress.co.uk/platinum and complete the online form.
  
  Mine took 10 days to arrive, others say 2-3 weeks. It comes from Hong Kong so can be variable.