The points game has changed significantly since it was first introduced. It use to be that you  earned points and membership status by flying frequently with an airline. With the partnerships of airlines and credit card companies the game has changed. Nowadays you could earn points and achieve elite status in airline loyalty programs without ever stepping foot on a plane. As the points game has adapted so should your strategy. Earning points through your credit card has now become very valuable due to the generous offers available such as the large sign up bonuses, additional points for every pound spent, and some offers include flight upgrades, 2-4-1 flight vouchers or free hotel nights.

As a result, I am going to write a series on all the credit cards that I think you should consider for boosting your points for airlines and hotels. Below is a list of all the different credit cards that I will be covering throughout the series.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

American Express Platinum Card

British Airways American Express

British Airways American Express Premium

The Starwood Preferred Guest

Hilton HHonors Platinum Visa

Lloyds Avios Rewards American Express and Mastercard

Virgin Atlantic White American Express and Visa

Virgin Atlantic Black American Express and Visa

IHG Rewards Club Visa

IHG Rewards Club Black Visa

Marriott Rewards Mastercard

 

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Details

You will receive a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership reward points when you spend £2,000 pounds in your first 3 months. However if you are referred you will receive 22,000 Membership reward points. Please e-mail me at [email protected] if you would like a referral.

No annual fee for the first year. There will be a annual fee charge of £125 after. You can cancel this card anytime within the first year and will not be charged the annual fee, but do ensure you have transferred your points to a airline or hotel loyalty program. You can convert  your points to any of the following airline loyalty programs at a ratio of 1:1

• Alitalia

• British Airways

• Cathay Pacific

• Delta

• Etihad

• Emirates

• Finnair

• Iberia

• KLM

• SAS

• Singapore Airlines

• Virgin Atlantic

MR points can also be converted to hotel rewards the ratio varies for each hotel program. 1 MR point can be converted to

• 3 Club Carlson points

• 2 Hilton HHonours points

• 0.5 Starwood Preferred Guest Point.

You will get 1 point for every £1 spent using this card. However, for all travel (planes, trains, underground etc), petrol and supermarket spend you will receive double points.

As an extra bonus you get two complimentary airport VIP lounge passes.
What are membership rewards points?

Membership rewards points are a universal point currency, meaning MR points can be converted to many different hotel and flights rewards schemes. This provides you with more flexibility in terms of where you can spend your points. Other credit cards will be associated with a specific hotel chain or airline and therefore you will only be able to redeem your points on a specific airline or hotel program, there are some exceptions, sometimes you can convert your points to another airline or hotel but at a very unfair conversion rate. With MR points you can convert your MR points to hotel and airline loyalty programs as mentioned above.

Verdict

The American Express Preferred rewards gold card is one of my favourite cards to own and one that I highly recommend. By itself, the generous sign-up bonus of 22,000 membership reward points if referred  (Please send me a e-mail at [email protected] for a referral) and only 20,000 if you are not referred by itself makes this card worth having. In addition it’s free, Cash back!! (There is no annual fee for the first year. There is a annual fee after a year but you cancel this card before the year is up and will not incur any fees, which is exactly what I plan to do). Though what really sets this card apart from the others is that it’s not partnered with one airline or hotel, it is partnered with many. This is particularly valuable because you are not restricted to using the points you earned on a particular airline or hotel, where as most other cards are. An example of why this particular feature is so valuable is imagine you had a credit card that only partnered with British Airways and therefore you earned British Airways ‘Avios’ points. Imagine you wanted to use your points for a flight to the Maldives on a particular date. In this scenario you are restricted to the availability of rewards seats on British Airways and their partners ,’one world alliance’. Therefore it’s very possible that no flights are available for the required dates. However, Emirates might have rewards flights available on the particular date you want and therefore having a card that is partnered with a variety of airlines provide you a with more options to spend your points and not be restricted.

If that’s not enough to convince you that this is the card to get then I’m sure the look of this card will, with the gold sparkly finish, this card sure does stand out and will make you look like a baller.
My rating: 4 out of 5

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