Update on the Amex / Amazon deal – points showing, gift cards OK, Prime OK, so jump in

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There was a huge response to my article on Monday about the fantastic new Amazon offer from American Express.

It is available for many – but not all – British Airways American Express, Amex Gold and Amex Platinum cardholders.

You will find this offer on the ‘Offers’ tab of your British Airways American Express / Amex Gold / Amex Platinum statement page online, or in the app.

There are a few versions. You will hopefully see some combination of:

Get 500 / 1,000 Avios / Membership Rewards points when you spend £25 at amazon.co.uk before 19th September using your BA Amex / Amex Gold / Platinum card

It isn’t clear who gets what and you may have got nothing if you are very unlucky.

It is limited to the first 20,000 people to register so I recommend you sign up immediately. You have until 19th September to make a purchase and have it post to your Amex account.

There was some confusion over the wording of the offer. It said “purchases made with Market Place Sellers, Amazon Prime or subscriptions to Amazon Prime” do not count. Secondary terms and conditions also implied that gift cards would not count, even though American Express has no idea what you bought.

I did a test purchase on my own Amazon account for a £25 gift card. I AM an Amazon Prime customer. Within 2 minutes of making the purchase I got an email from American Express saying “Congratulations, you have earned 500 bonus Avios – if your transaction meets the offer terms”.

The 500 bonus Avios have now posted to my account. See below (click to enlarge):

This means:

gift card purchases do count

even Amazon Prime customers still earn the bonus on gift cards

This offer should be a no-brainer for qualifying BA Amex / Amex Gold / Amex Platinum cardholders, especially if you have the 1,000 points version. £25 is a ludicrously low purchase limit for earning 1,000 Avios or Membership Rewards points.

As I found, purchases of Amazon e-gift cards count. These can be bought online via this link and added to your personal Amazon account via this page. The balance is used automatically on your next purchase.

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, British Airways American Express

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

Anon says:

9 Aug9 August 11:13

I have the offer (1000 Avios for £25 for a BA Amex), saved it to my card and made a purchase (for above £25 and done through the link on the Amex app that says redeem this offer online now) – no email about Avios at all.

Has anyone had any luck calling them to claim?
- Geoff says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 11:28
  
  Wait a couple of days. I registered 4 cards for the offer, then made the 4 purchases. No emails received from Amex at all, but after 24 hours all show as ‘redeemed’ on my account and Avios have posted for 1 (the first one). Fully expecting the other 3 to show up.
- Rob says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 13:43
  
  Why not wait to see how many Avios post on Friday?
Dimitris says:

9 Aug9 August 11:27

I have AMEX gold and i cannot even see the offer. Anyone else has the same issue?
- Geoff says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 11:30
  
  Lots of people can’t see the offer as they were not targeted but have success requesting it via the chat system. Many also report being refused.
Clive says:

9 Aug9 August 11:40

Considering how Amex is our biggest ‘friend’ as a source of Avios and how excellent their service is, it’s a shame when the plague of locusts mentality kicks in and people start going at them repeatedly and then moaning.
It isn’t a huge number of Avios. We asked politely and got it or we didn’t (I didn’t). Maintaining a good relationship with them individually and as a hobby-community seems more important.
- LuckyJim says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 13:08
  
  ‘how excellent their service is’
  
  Wut? Even the concierge service on Platinum is useless. Re this issue, it is not the amount of avios but the fact that they tell a different story every time you contact them. Apalling customer care.
  
  As with many companies, loyal customers are taken for granted while new customers are fawned over. I’ve been loyal for too long. As of today I plan to exploit the system to the max. Let the churning begin.
  - Nick says:
    
    9 Aug9 August 15:34
    
    The complete opposite of my experience. Amex have been great with me for years, consistently solid customer service.
    
    And I don’t see why anybody would be upset about not getting this offer. It was targeted, with a restricted number. If you didn’t get it, bad luck-better luck next time.
  - Clive says:
    
    9 Aug9 August 16:25
    
    ‘Apalling customer care’
    
    You’re easily ‘apalled’, Sir
    - Alex W says:
      
      9 Aug9 August 22:37
      
      I agree with you Clive. The plague of locusts are too eager and could easily ruin things for everyone else – remember the Wyndham Rewards promo?
- Chris says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 16:31
  
  What a hilarious comment- “maintain a good relationship with them”: they want your money, not to be your pal.
  - Rob says:
    
    9 Aug9 August 16:41
    
    It would make perfect sense for Amex to stop accepting applications from people with a track record of closing cards quickly. The only reason churning continues here (Amex has already stopped it in the US, you get 1 bonus per card per lifetime) is that the UK bonus structure for staff is based on accepted applications.
    - Chris says:
      
      9 Aug9 August 18:56
      
      Are you suggesting ‘staff’ are making the decisions or indeed selling the cards?
      - Rob says:
        
        9 Aug9 August 20:02
        
        As always in business, what gets measured gets done ….
DScott says:

9 Aug9 August 11:41

Just been told by Vaani on Amex Chat that no further manual enrollment s will happen. Computer says no.
Js says:

9 Aug9 August 12:44

What is the significance of being a prime member when purchasing a gift card? Does it get processed differently?
- Rob says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 13:40
  
  The promo rules say ‘not applicable to Amazon Prime’ – but what does that mean?
  - LuckyJim says:
    
    9 Aug9 August 13:57
    
    I think it means that if you signed up as a new Prime member (paying the membership fee with your Amex card) that spend would not (or should not) trigger this offer.
    - Rob says:
      
      9 Aug9 August 15:49
      
      No, that is a separate exclusion! And, again, one I doubt they can actually police.
      - mark2 says:
        
        9 Aug9 August 15:54
        
        I think that it means the purchases of films etc. to download.
        But what do I know?
      - Alex W says:
        
        9 Aug9 August 22:31
        
        I think it means that “prime now” is excluded. Someone else mentioned it in the comments the other day.
Mark says:

9 Aug9 August 13:00

I think this post has crashed Amex’s chat server. It’s been busy every time I’ve looked for the last 2 days…
HC says:

9 Aug9 August 13:48

i was just chatting with one of their agents and got this response to the question why is wasn’t in my profile, also they would not add the offer manually for me… :
It is a targeted offer extended to BA and MR card members who have not redeemed an Amex offer before or in 2017.
- LuckyJim says:
  
  9 Aug9 August 13:59
  
  Which suggest that if you take advantage of a decent offer you may not receive attractive offers in the future.
Kirsty says:

9 Aug9 August 14:45

Just purchased an e gift card online, as a Prime Account holder and an Amex Plat owner. No problem and have had an email notifying me of the 1000 bonus membership rewards from Amex