Get £75 off a £300 Amex Travel spend – but flights are excluded

American Express has brought back the ‘£75 cashback on a £300 spend at Amex Travel’ offer that it ran last autumn.

Whilst a good offer, there is one nasty bit of small print which you can VERY easily miss because it is tucked away as the fifth bullet point in the T&C. Flight bookings do not count.

On the upside, one improvement from last year is that cumulative spend is OK.

You MUST register for the offer before making a booking. You may, or may not, find it under the ‘Offers’ tab of your American Express card.

Here are the key things to note:

• It’s restricted to 20,000 registrations, which is the same as last year but still a small number – register quickly if you are targeted for it

• It does not seem to appear on co-brand travel cards (British Airways, Marriott), presumably due to conflicts with the co-brand partner

• It only appears to be on primary cards, not supplementary cards

• Cumulative spend is OK – you do NOT need to spend £300 in one transaction

• You have until 16th December to make your booking and there are no restrictions on when the hotel stay or car hire actually takes place

• Only pre-paid bookings count, unsurprisingly

• Only hotel and car hire transactions count, not flights

• As usual, hotel bookings via Amex Travel will be ineligible for status benefits or loyalty points, so the deal is best used for independent hotels or those where you have no interest in points

The inability to book flights is disappointing, as is the low number of registrations allowed, but the fact that you have until 16th December to book means that those who can register should be able to find a way of using it.

The best use is probably for booking an independent hotel, or a hotel in a chain where you have no status and/or do not collect points. Even then, double check that there is no ‘member rate’ available for a direct booking which would be a better deal than the Amex Travel rate.

The sweet spot is (for Platinum) Fine Hotels & Resorts pre-paid bookings and (for Gold and Platinum) The Hotel Collection pre-paid bookings. These offer added benefits which usually mean Amex beats any direct booking rate.

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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