Don’t redeem American Express Membership Rewards points for cash credit, even with a bonus

American Express has been emailing Gold and Platinum cardholders this week with a ‘special’ offer.

If you redeem your Membership Rewards points for statement credit by 31st March, you can get a 20% bonus.

To be fair to Amex, they are very upfront about what you get.  The email makes it very clear, in an example, that you’ll now get £27, rather than £22.50, if you redeem 5,000 Membership Rewards points for statement credit.

To save you getting your calculator out, you are getting 0.54p per point.  This is terrible.  At least, it is terrible for anyone who reads HfP and knows how much value you can get out of them with travel partners.

If you read my article on the best uses of Membership Rewards points, you’ll see that 1p per point is achievable via travel rewards.

The only possible upside from this offer is that a lot of non-HfP readers might take advantage, pushing down Amex’s average cost per Membership Rewards redemption.  This would make it less likely that they will need to cut the more expensive travel rewards ….

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