40,000 Membership Rewards points – worth 40,000 Avios – with Amex Platinum Business

UPDATE – APRIL 2025:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly directory of the top UK travel credit card offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Credit Cards’ menu above.  Thank you.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

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I don’t write much about small business credit cards on Head for Points, because they tend to offer poor value. There are, for example, two British Airways American Express Corporate Cards, which I discuss in this post on the On Business loyalty scheme. They are not desperately exciting, though, and usually have no sign-up bonus.

American Express, however, has just launched a new deal on its small business cards.

Amex is now offering 40,000 Membership Rewards points when you apply for the American Express Platinum Business card.  There has been no bonus on this card at all for the last few months.

You also receive 20,000 Membership Rewards points when you apply for the American Express Gold Business card.  More interestingly, the American Express Gold Business card is free for the first year.

See here for full details on the Platinum and Gold cards.

Bonus eligibility

This is where is gets complicated.

According to the rules, you CANNOT get these bonuses “if you currently hold or have held any Membership Rewards enrolled American Express Card in the past six months”.  In plain English, that means a Gold, Platinum, Green or Centurion personal Amex card.  This is because, whilst these are called ‘business’ cards, they are mainly aimed at sole traders and the points go into a personal Membership Rewards account.

And yet … last time I wrote about this, two readers with existing Amex MR cards said that they had applied for the card AND successfully received the bonus.  It may be that Amex really means that the bonus doesn’t apply if you have already had a ‘business’ Amex card in the last six months.  Or perhaps Amex just has rubbish IT ….

The other issue is the £6,000 qualifying spend.  Unless you have a business that puts a lot of spend through credit cards, this is a lot of spend to divert to the card if the bonus does not post.  You may consider it worth the gamble though.

Getting the card

Here are the basics:

• The Platinum card carries an annual fee of £450, the Gold card costs £125 but is free for the first year
• Clause 18.2 of the Terms & Conditions confirms that you will get a pro-rata fee refund on the Platinum card fee if you cancel
• See this post for what you can do with Membership Rewards points in other loyalty schemes
• You need to spend £6,000 in three months to get the 40,000 points on the Platinum Business card
• You need to spend £3,000 in three months to get the 20,000 points on the Gold Business card
• You earn 1 point per £1 when you spend on the card

What does Amex count as a small business?

Here are the rules from the Amex website for Platinum:

To apply for the Platinum Business Card, you should be able to say yes to the following:

• I am aged 18 or over
• The company has been trading for more than one year and has a current UK Bank or Building Society account
• My personal income is over £20,000
• I/The Business have/has no County Court Judgements for non-payment of debt

• Pay annual fee of £450 (Tax deductable) [the site actually says £125 but this is a typo!]

There is one other important point to note. The Platinum Business card still comes with full travel insurance, with no small print. It is the policy that the Platinum personal card used to have before it was downgraded, with no requirement to use the card to pay for anything before you qualify. You can also cover 5 other family groups, apart from your own, by handing out supplementary cards on your account.

You receive Starwood Gold and Club Carlson Gold, as you would with a personal Platinum Amex.  There is no mention of Accor Platinum, however.  You will also receive a Priority Pass for airport lounge access.

If you run a larger business, you may want to consider giving you and/or your staff the American Express Green Corporate Card, Gold Corporate Card, Platinum Corporate Card or British Airways American Express Corporate Card.  You can request more details on the corporate card range here.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2025 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend 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 Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review