Amex still offering the ‘secret’ Gold Rewards Plus to cancelling Platinum cardholders

A reader emailed me last week to say that American Express tried to offer him the Gold Rewards Plus card when he called to cancel his Platinum charge card.  This is the first time in two years that I have heard of this happening – to be honest, I thought Gold Rewards Plus had bitten the dust.

As it is clearly still around, it is worth reminding you what it is and why I am not enthused by it.

Gold Rewards Plus appears to be a hybrid of the Platinum and Preferred Rewards Gold cards.  You CANNOT apply for this card directly – it is only offered to Platinum cardholders who try to cancel.

• I understand that it comes with the same travel insurance package as the Platinum card
• I understand that it comes with permanent double Membership Rewards points on travel and overseas purchases (as per Preferred Rewards Gold)
• I understand that it comes with 1 year of double points on supermarket and petrol spend (as per Preferred Rewards Gold)
• I understand that it offers 7,500 MR points each year when you renew, subject to spending £15,000 (as per Preferred Rewards Gold)
• I understand that it offers four ‘one use’ airport lounge passes via Lounge Club (Preferred Rewards Gold offers two)

As there is no publicly available documentation of the card, do not treat what I have written above as gospel.  The annual fee for this card is £285.

This is a bad deal in my view.

Basically, it is the Preferred Rewards Gold card plus travel insurance, but without a sign-up bonus or fee-free first year.

However, if you cancelled your Platinum card and waited for six months, you could apply for Preferred Rewards Gold instead.  This comes with a 20,000 point sign-up bonus (good for 20,000 Avios among other things), no fee for Year 1 and £125 thereafter.

Gold Rewards Plus has NO sign-up bonus and is £285 per year from Day 1.

If you want to know what the card looks like, it is identical to a standard Gold card.  I think you basically just get a different covering letter and some travel insurance and two extra Lounge Club passes thrown in.

You could make the case that the travel insurance is worth the extra £160 (or £130 if you value the two extra lounge passes at £30) – it depends how many supplementary cards you can issue and whether everyone is covered.  In some circumstances it might work out.

Given that Amex travel insurance now comes with extra terms and conditions (such as having to pay for flights and hotels with an Amex card to be fully covered) you may find it better value arranging your insurance elsewhere.

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 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 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