The new Amex Business Platinum annual £200 travel credit works better than we thought

American Express added a £200 Amex Travel credit to the benefits package on the Business Platinum card on 10th October.

Importantly, you receive this credit EVERY membership year. It isn’t a one-off.

The only catch is that the £200 must be spent in a single transaction. If you use it against a hotel booking, it will need to be pre-paid and therefore will not qualify for elite status benefits or hotel loyalty points.

For most people who read HfP, this is almost as good as £200 of cash.

There was some confusion over how the current year credit was applied

When we discussed this offer with American Express, we were initially told that existing cardholders would receive a £200 credit on 10th October which had to be used in their current membership year.

This was a bit tough on people like myself, who has a 11th November membership year. It only gave me four weeks to book something.

The good news is that American Express had a change of heart before the launch:

• for existing Business Platinum cardholders, your initial £200 of Amex Travel credit lasts for a full 12 months, irrespective of your year end – you have until 10th October 2023 to use it

• as soon as you pass your next anniversary date, an additional £200 of Amex Travel credit will be added to your account – this will be valid for exactly 12 months

This means that, for the first year, existing cardholders may see 2 x £200 Amex Travel credits showing on their account at some point.

Even though you have two credits, they cannot both be used against the same booking. You would need to split your hotel or flight booking into individual nights or individual passengers in order to use both £200 credits on the same trip.

Don’t forget that:

• you need to spend more than £200 for the transaction to trigger the cashback (if you spend £150 you get nothing, you don’t get £150)

• you lose the credit if you subsequently cancel your flight or hotel booking

Where can you see your travel credit?

You won’t see it on your American Express Business Platinum statement or in the app.

However, if you log in to Amex Travel at travel.americanexpress.co.uk, it will show. The expiry date is also shown clearly.

PS. Don’t forget that American Express Business Platinum is currently offering a huge 60,000 Membership Rewards points sign-up bonus if you spend £8,000 within three months.

The rule for receiving the bonus is that you haven’t had a personal OR business Amex card which earns Membership Rewards points (Green, Gold, Platinum, Centurion, Amex Rewards Credit Card) in the last 13 months.

The annual fee is £650, refundable pro-rata if you cancel.

You can find out more in our article here and you can apply here.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

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