Amex Launches Great Gold Credit Card Offer With 30,000 Bonus Points

New American Express Gold customers can earn 30,000 bonus points as part of an enhanced offer before Christmas.

The credit card giant has increased the sign-up bonus on its Preferred Rewards Gold credit card from 20,000 to 30,000 points in its biggest upfront points offer.

New Amex Gold cardholders can earn 30,000 points when they spend £3,000 in the first three months of having the card.

It means new members who sign up for an Amex Gold card starting today could earn up to 30,000 points.

In the run-up to Christmas, it wouldn’t be difficult to make a dent in American Express’ £3,000 spending requirement.

Research from TSB Bank shows that consumers are expected to spend an average of £315 each on gifts alone this Christmas – that’s before food, alcohol, nights out and entertainment come into play.

To get the offer, customers must sign up for an Amex Gold card and be accepted by January 14.

30,000 points are worth £150 in gift vouchers across a range of shopping, travel and lifestyle partners, which are used to offset purchases made with the card, or can be redeemed for flights and hotels with Amex Travel.

Membership Rewards points can also be converted 1-for-1 into Avios, meaning you can earn 30,000 Avois points with the bonus offer.

In addition to this, existing Amex Gold cardholders can earn additional membership reward points by referring a friend, as part of the limited-time offer.

This means that a referrer will now earn 14,000 referral reward points, up from 9,000.

Meanwhile, the referred person receives 40,000, compared to 22,000, when they spend £3,000 in the first three months of having the card.

The referred person will also earn 5,000 bonus points when they make a transaction of any amount within the 15th month of having the card.

The referral earnings limit is set at 90,000 points per year.

The referral bonus will be valid until January 14.

Gold cardholders get four access to Priority Pass lounges each year and £120 in Deliveroo statement credits each year.

This comes in the form of two £5 credits each month. You’ll receive £5 cashback every time a Deliveroo order worth £5 or more is loaded onto your Gold card, up to £10 credit per month.

Gold cardholders also earn up to 12,500 bonus Membership Rewards points each year of membership based on total spending.

The first 2,500 points come after spending £5,000 and an additional 2,500 points are earned after each incremental spend of £5,000, up to a total of 12,500 points.

The bonus is only available to customers who have not had a personal American Express card in the last 24 months.

Is it worth purchasing the Gold card to get the bonus?

The Amex Gold card is free for the first year and then has a hefty annual fee of £195 in subsequent years.

You can cancel before it is charged and there is no obligation to keep the card beyond the first year.

Those who do not pay their balance each month will be hit with a 31 percent purchase fee. The representative APR is 88.3 percent, including the annual fee.

It makes it crucial to pay as you go, or you’ll eliminate any potential benefits and you could end up with a hefty interest bill.

Rob Burgess, of frequent flyer website Headforpoints, said: ‘This is the most generous sign-up bonus available on any free UK loyalty credit card, although Amex Gold is only free for the first year.

‘For future years, there will be a fee of £195. Personally, I’d find it difficult to justify that fee in light of the benefits unless I was making heavy use of the $75 hotel credits, airport lounge passes and Deliveroo credit.’