30000 points with the Amex Gold Card
American Express

Amex Gold Card Sign-up Bonus Boosted To 30000 Points

Until the 9th of November, American Express has increased the sign-up bonus on the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card from 20000 to 30000 membership reward points. These 30000 points can be redeemed for 30000 Avios, 60000 Hilton points or 45000 Marriott points to name a few examples.

This bonus is pretty much as good as it gets on a card that is completely FREE for the first year. You need to spend £3,000 within 90 days to get the 30000 points sign-up bonus. This equates to roughly £1,000 a month worth of spend on the card.

If you have held or hold a personal card from American Express in the past 24 months you aren’t eligible for a sign-up bonus from an American Express card. There are two major exceptions to this:

1) British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card

You cannot of held or currently hold an Avios earning card in the last 24 months to be eligible for a sign-up bonus. You can hold another personal American Express card and still be eligible for the sign-up bonus.

2) The Platinum Card

You cannot of held or currently hold a personal Membership Reward points-earning card in the last 24 months to be eligible for a sign-up bonus. You can hold another personal American Express card and still be eligible for the sign-up bonus.

This is my experience using the points system and is not a recommendation of any financial product. There are other credit cards that can earn you travel points including IHG credit cardTesco Credit Cards (by exchanging Clubcard points for Virgin points, hotel stays and more) & Virgin Atlantic credit card. If you use one of my referral links to an American Express card upon you being accepted I will receive points, this varies between 9,000 – 18,000 depending on the card I refer you from.

What are the 30000 points worth?

They can be redeemed for 30,000 Avios (flights) this will give you enough points for a Business Class return (£50 ‘taxes & fees’ will be due for the best value option) to Zone 1+2 locations including Milan, Prague & Venice. To view all the locations and options you have see here – https://pointsuncovered.com/avios/how-many-avios-does-a-flight-cost-in-2021/

You can also use them for a varied selection of hotels
Hilton usefully provide a points explorer which will handily tell you where you can go within your budget per night in points – http://pointsexplorer.hiltonhonors.com – converting your membership reward points into Hilton would get you 60,000 points

With Marriott you can use their Points Redemption list to find out where you could travel for 45,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points (30,000 membership reward points converted into Marriott points) – https://points-redemption.marriott.com/category-change – you can filter via location & sort via the number of points required.

Thirdly you can use them for a variety of experiences
Marriott (would give you 45000 points to spend on experiences) – https://moments.marriottbonvoy.com/
For example, this would normally be around the amount you would require to get 2 x concert tickets to watch a band/artist perform in the O2 from the Marriott Bonvoy™ Luxury Suite.

Hilton (would give you 60000 points to spend on experiences) – https://experiences.hiltonhonors.com/
For example, this would get you a spa experience, afternoon tea, culinary experiences & cocktails amongst many other things!

As COVID restrictions continue to ease we should see a reemergence of more experiences.

Alternatively, they can be converted into Nectar points (Avios first for a better conversion rate) you’d get 48,000 Nectar points worth £240 (Sainsbury’s, eBay, Argos etc.) You could also redeem for a £150 voucher (Amazon, M&S & many more) or £135 off anything on your credit card bill amongst many others things. Explore all the other possibilities here – https://global.americanexpress.com/myca/intl/rewards/emea/action?request_type=un_Rewards&Face=en_GB

How do I get the 30000 points?

You need to spend £3,000 in 90 days. That means you need to be able to put £1000 a month or £250 a week on your card to meet the sign-up bonus.

What other benefits does the card have?

The main benefits are…

You will get 2 free Priority Pass lounge passes each year. These are valid at any airport lounge in the Priority Pass network. Each pass is valid for one visit and one person, so these free passes would be enough for a couple to have one visit or an individual to have 2 visits. You can view what airport lounges accept Priority Pass here – https://www.prioritypass.com/

You will receive £5 back up to twice a month on Deliveroo purchases.

Each £1 spent on the card will give you one membership reward point unless on airlines/foreign currency transactions where you will get 2 points per £1. Travel bookings made through the American Express Travel website will give you 3 membership reward points per £1.

You can read more about the benefits here – https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/credit-cards/gold-credit-card/ – the card has no annual for the first year, £140 afterward. Representative 59.9% APR variable.

What about the annual fee?

The first year is FREE, after this, you will be charged an annual fee of £140. To avoid this you can just cancel before your first free year is up but you may find the benefits worthwhile for you to continue holding the card. Remember, even if you’ve paid your annual fee you can cancel at any time for a pro-rata refund of the fee paid. You won’t lose your points either, just transfer them to whichever scheme you want before you cancel. If you kept your card for 3 months after paying your annual fee you’d receive a £105 refund on the annual fee meaning your outlay will only be £35.

If you are eligible for the sign-up bonus look at the numbers… 30000 points convert into 30,000 Avios what we value at 1p each, which equals £300, £300 profit in the first year. Or if you convert into Nectar (Avios first for a better conversion rate) you’d get 48,000 Nectar points worth £240, which means you’d be £240 in profit… This doesn’t include whatever value you place on the card benefits either!

If you were referred you’d receive an additional 5000 membership reward points which would give you 56,000 Nectar points worth £280, not bad eh?

Will I be eligible to get the card?

There is no minimum income requirement for the card. As long as you are a UK resident that is 18+ with no history of bad credit you have a good chance of being accepted!

Can my partner, family member or friend get one too?

Of course! There are NO limits to how many people in your household can have a card. If you got one card you could then refer your family member/friend etc for extra points (6,000 from the Gold card.) This way the points soon stack up! If you (referred) and one other person you referred got the Gold card and met the spending target (make sure you are both eligible) you’d have 76,000 membership reward points when pooled together!

To get a referral (you will receive 5000 extra bonus points for meeting your spend target on the Gold Card) go here – https://pointsuncovered.com/amex-referral-link-uk/

If you don’t want to be referred or just want to read more about the Gold card go here – https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/credit-cards/gold-credit-card

Are you tempted by the increased sign-up bonus to take out the Amex Gold Card?

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For full details of how your data is used and stored, please see GDPR policy page here.