How to make £36 per year by NOT using your Amex Gold Deliveroo credit

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold recently added a valuable new perk for cardmembers.

Each month, you receive 2 x £5 credits to spend at Deliveroo. There is no minimum order.

As long as you order something at least twice per month, you are getting £120 of free credit from American Express each year. This is an excellent return in your first year of having Preferred Rewards Gold, given that the card is FREE in Year 1. It also comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points, worth at least £160, and two free airport lounge passes.

Our full review of American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is here and you can apply here.

When the Deliveroo benefit launched, some Head for Points readers complained that they couldn’t use it. If you are in a Deliveroo area but rarely order takeaway, you should look at the new grocery delivery companies on the app.

How can you make £36 per year without using Deliveroo at all?

I’m glad you asked.

Deliveroo has a subscription service called Deliveroo Plus. There are two subscription options, one at £11.49 per month and one at £3.49 per month.

You will need to download the Deliveroo app and create an account. Register your Preferred Rewards Gold card as your payment choice. Under your profile you see an option to register for Deliveroo Plus.

(I am not sure if you can sign up for Deliveroo Plus if you are physically not in a Deliveroo delivery area at the time of signing up. You may need to wait until you are in an urban area or try with a VPN.)

The £3.49 per month plan gives you free delivery on all orders of £25 or more.

Sign yourself up.

Why should someone who never uses Deliveroo pay for Deliveroo Plus?

It’s simple.

There is no minimum spend requirement to trigger the £5 American Express credit.

Your £3.49 monthly subscription to Deliveroo Plus will trigger an immediate £5 credit to your American Express Gold card. You make £1.51 profit each month. It’s not much, but it involves zero work once you are signed up and you’ll make £18 per year.

Here is proof it works, from my wife’s Gold card:

You can double this by signing up a friend or your partner for their own Deliveroo account, using the same Amex Gold card for payment.

This second subscription will trigger the second monthly £5 statement credit, earning you another £18 per year.

In total, you will make a profit of £36 over a year. This makes a decent dint in the £140 annual fee for Preferred Rewards Gold if you choose to continue after the first year.

And, of course, if you DO ever decide to order some food or groceries from Deliveroo, you’ll benefit from free delivery on orders of £25+ thanks to your Deliveroo Plus subscription.

This technique also saves you money if you use Deliveroo once per month

If you only use Deliveroo once per month, you can use this technique to increase your savings as long as your order is for at least £25. £25 is the Deliveroo Plus free delivery threshold.

Let’s assume you make one Deliveroo order per month, comprising £25 of food and the £2.99 delivery fee. Your total cost is £27.99, and you will receive a £5 cashback credit via Amex Gold.

If you sign up for Deliveroo Plus, however, the maths looks like this:

• First transaction – £3.49 Deliveroo Plus fee, which triggers £5 cashback

• Second transaction – £25 food order, no delivery fee due to Deliveroo Plus membership, order triggers the second £5 cashback

You have spend £28.49 in total but received £10 back.

This compares to spending £27.99 by not having Deliveroo Plus but only receiving £5 back.

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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:

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.

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: