Raffles

EDIT: This opening post was rewritten in August 2012 to reflect the current terms


Congratulation to Roger who spotted this and tucked it away in the Amex thread. I thought it needed a wider audience.

Look here:

http://www.americanexpress.com/uk/gold-card/

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is currently offering its best ever deal. The card is now FREE for the first year (£125 a year thereafter) and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points for signing-up and spending £2,000 in the first three months.

20,000 Membership Rewards points are good for:

20,000 Avios - potentially more if the recent 40% / 100% transfer bonuses are repeated!
20,000 Virgin FC miles
40,000 Hilton points
30,000 Alitalia miles
20,000 United miles
20,000 Asia Miles
20,000 Etihad miles
20,000 Delta miles
25,000 Flying Blue miles
1,333 Jumeirah Sirius points
20,000 SAS miles
20,000 Singapore Airlines miles
60,000 Club Carlson points
10,000 SPG points

You also get 2 airport lounge passes valid in 350 lounges worldwide.

The card gives DOUBLE POINTS on all travel spend (flights, hotels, car hire) which could be attractive - that is 2 Avios per £1 on travel expenditure which is better than the BA Amex for non-BA flights. A sample list of retailers which are qualifying for double points on travel (and indeed, for the first year, grocery) spend can be found in post 379.

You also get DOUBLE POINTS on all overseas spend (although you cannot double-up with the travel bonus) and DOUBLE POINTS on grocery and petrol spend, although this latter deal is only for your first year.

The terms and conditions of who qualifies for the bonus have been changing on a regular basis. However, the current rule is this:

"The 20,000 Membership Rewards bonus points will be awarded onto your account once you have been approved and you have spent and charged £2,000 within the first 3 months of Cardmembership.All introductory offers are subject to change, can be withdrawn at any time and are not available if you currently hold or have held any other Membership Rewards enrolled American Express Cards in the past 6 months. "

This means:

If you have or have had in the last 6 months a BA Amex, Nectar Amex, SPG Amex or Costco Amex then you are OK

If you have or have had in the last 6 months a Platinum, Gold or Green Amex charge card, then you are NOT OK

If you have any Amex issued by someone other than Amex (a Lloyds Amex, an MBNA Amex etc) then you are OK as these have nothing to do with the qualifying criteria as they were not issued directly by Amex

Most people will look to cancel the card before the first anniversay to avoid paying the fee in Year 2. If you do decide to keep the card and pay the £125 renewal fee, you will get a bonus of 7,500 MR points if you have spend £15k on the card during your previous year.

Important things to note:
1. This is a CHARGE card and not a credit card. You must settle your account in full every month.
2. Note the £20k minimum household income

You can increase your sign-up bonus to 22,000 Membership Rewards points if you are referred by an existing Platinum or Gold Amex cardholder. The referrer will receive 12,000 points as well. There is a long list of FT'ers in post 1 of this thread - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...t-sign-up.html - who will be able to refer you.

BingBongBoy

Darn and blast!

Beansprout

Thanks for the post!

I came across this on the Amex site the other day and wasn't 100% sure it wasn't too good to be true, not knowing much about MR!

k3v

thanks for the heads up. ill apply in the morning and report back.

Beansprout

Further to this...have applied...forgot to use my Quidco acct...called and it's already gone through. I jumped at the £95 - doh!!

Edit: If it's useful to anyone - I don't have a BA Amex but do have a Lloyds Airmiles Amex.

Am going to see if others in the same household account (so same address - ie my family) can apply and get the card + points too. A nice 80k airmiles hopefully!

adl73x

I already have an Amex Gold Charge Card.

I'd be happy if I just got the bonuses on travel spend, let alone the 20,000 MR but as an exiting cardholder I've had no advice of these changes from Amex so my hopes are not high.

littlevoices

For someone like me, who hasn't really paid much attention to the Amex Gold card/Member reward points in the past (until someone cross posted on the bmi forum), how does this fare against my current cards - Is this a one-time offer (use then drop after the 20k points come in) or do people actually use this card regularly to their own benefit?

To put it in perspective I have an Amex cashback (which I rarely use after my first year's large cashback cheque) and a BD Amex (my main Amex card for those juicy airmiles), then a Marriott Visa for those places that don't accept Amex (and Marriott hotels).

To put it in perspective I tend to spend about £3k/month on the Amex and about £2k on the Marriott.

Raffles

This is a charge card, so to use it on a regular basis would mean you need to clear your account IN FULL each month. You can't use it as your main or sole card for that reason. You will also get a lower limit since Amex will want to be sure you can clear the balance from your salary each month.

It is worse than the BMI Amex (1.5 miles per £1) apart from travel spend, where this card will get you 2 miles per £1. It is better than the cashback card which pays poorly after the opening offer. Amex don't transfer into Marriott so there is no comparison for that.

I would certainly get it and claim the bonus (although your existing Amex card may get you rejected, who knows?) and then reconsider after you've spent the £500.

adl73x

The BD Amex is an MBNA branded Amex, not one operated by Amex themselves, so holding the BD card should not be a disadvantage.

I called Amex UK moments ago, both the call centre operative and his supervisor were surprised by the Preferred Rewards Gold Card and had no idea if any of the benefits would be offered to existing Gold Card holders.

Stez

Dang, and I've just spent a small fortune on Lufty flights for my rellies and this would have been perfect for double BA miles!

Have sent an application, and will have to see within 10 working days if I get accepted alongside my current BA Amex card.

BBB: It asks for Household income, not personal income, regarding the £20,000 limit. Interestingly, it has Cabin Crew in the occupation list, but all the others are quite generic.

uk1

Thanks Raffles,

A good thing for a husband and wife sharing a family BA account by the looks of it.

rareair

Approved - fourth Amex card (plat cashback, BMI, Airmiles DUO)

Thanks for the tip! ^

Jetstreamer

If people who prefer it, the £60 cashback is also available via topcashback.

hingethunder

Great stuff, thanks! Just applied and was accepted, already a BA Amex cardholder

Roger

BingBongBoy and Stez: the online application asks for:So, it's your gross income (before tax) plus investments. I think it should include allowances and the like. Given that others' perks such as company cars and private health insurance are PAYE-taxable, they can be considered income. I'm not sure whether the notional value of ID90s should be included.