Use your American Express card to pay in certain shops before June and earn money back.
American Express cardholders will be able to enjoy statement credits of up to £15 when they use their card to shop with certain retailers until 28th June.
You’ll need to log into your card account or the American Express mobile app to enrol for an offer. Then when you make an eligible purchase in store or online, the statement credit will be added automatically to your account.
Here are the deals on offer until 28th June:
- Caffe Nero – spend £10 or more to receive a £5 statement credit;
- Boots – spend £20 or more to receive a £5 credit;
- Vue Cinemas – spend £25 or more to receive a £10 credit;
- Shell – spend £50 or more to receive a £10 credit;
- Thetrainline.com – spend £50 or more to receive a £10 credit;
- Ocado – spend £60 or more to receive a £15 credit.
You have to make the payment in full on your American Express in order to qualify, and you must enrol for the offer first in order to get the statement credit. Each offer is valid once per card.
Picking an American Express card
[SPOTLIGHT]If you don’t have an American Express credit card or charge card, it’s well worth considering one. As well as offers like the current statement credit deal, American Express cards are some of the best around at rewarding you for your typical spending habits.
As a result, they are good options but only if you pay your bill off in full each month. Otherwise the interest you’re charged may erode the value of the rewards you manage to build up.
Also, bear in mind that American Express still isn’t accepted everywhere.
Cashback
American Express offers two cashback credit cards. As the name suggests, they pay you a percentage of your spending back in cold, hard cash.
The first is the American Express Platinum Cashback Everyday card. The Everyday card pays out 5% cashback in the first three months with the card (capped at £100 cashback), followed by up to 1.25% thereafter, depending on how much you spend over the year. What’s more, there’s no annual fee to worry about.
Alternatively there’s the Platinum Cashback card. This again pays 5% in the first three months (capped this time at £125), but you then get a flat rate of 1.25% thereafter. And that rate doubles each year for your anniversary month.
There is an annual fee of £25 to consider though.
To see how they compare to the rest of the cashback credit card market, check out The best cashback credit cards.
Reward points
If you are a regular shopper at Sainsbury’s, then the American Express Nectar credit card is worth a look.
You get 20,000 bonus Nectar points when you take out the card and spend £2,000 in the first three months, which is £100. After that you earn two points for every £1 spent on the card, and four points for every £1 spent at Nectar partners.
There is normally a £25 annual fee, though this is waived for the first year.
There’s also the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card. This charge card hands you 20,000 bonus Membership Rewards points when you spend £2,000 in the first three months, which can be cashed in for £100 gift cards at a range of partners. After that you earn one point for every £1 you spend, two points for spending directly with airlines or in a foreign currency, and three points for every £1 spent at amextravel.co.uk.
On top of all that, you get two complimentary airport lounge passes a year, $75USD hotel credit and room upgrade at over 350 hotels worldwide and 10% off at Hertz car rental. And the usual £140 annual fee doesn’t apply for the first year. However, this is a charge card not a credit card so you have to pay off your balance in full each month.
Read The best reward credit cards for more on what else is out there.
Avios cards
American Express offers two standalone cards which allow you to earn Avios points (formerly known as Airmiles).
There’s the British Airways American Express credit card, which is fee-free and offers 9,000 bonus Avios if you take out the card before 17th June and spend £1,000 in your first three months. You get one Avios for every £1 you spend and if you manage to spend £20,000 in a year you get a free companion voucher to use on a flight.
Alternatively there’s the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card, which comes with a whopping £25,000 bonus Avios if you get the card before 17th June and spend £3,000 in the first three months.
You then earn 1.5 Avios for every £1 you spend, which doubles when you spend direct with British Airways or BA Holidays. You’ll qualify for a free companion voucher when you spend £10,000 in a year. There is a massive £150 annual fee though.
There are separate Avios credit cards on offer from Lloyds and TSB which you might like to consider too. Each card offer actually consists of two cards – a Visa or MasterCard and an American Express. The American Express card always offers a better return on your spending, and what’s more these cards qualify for the statement credit deal.
For more, read The best air mile credit cards.