Amex Platinum and Amex Centurion cardholders have been offered double Amex Membership Rewards points on all purchases from 22 April until 20 July 2020.
The offer applies automatically for all Platinum and Centurion cardholders and there is no need to register. The following notice is being displayed to eligible cardholders on the Amex website:
Double Rewards: Double the points. Double the value. Until 20 July 2020, earn double Membership Rewards points on all eligible spend, and, if you choose to pay (or part-pay) for any item on your Card statement with points – using Select & Pay– you’ll enjoy twice the value.
Amex Platinum cardholders normally earn 2.25 Amex Membership Rewards points per dollar for everyday purchases, or 1 point per dollar on government purchases such as tax payments. With this promotion, the earn rate increases to 4.5 Amex points per dollar, or 2 points on government purchases, respectively.
Amex Centurion cardholders normally earn 2.5 Amex points per dollar on everyday purchases. This means the temporary earn rate will increase to 5 points per dollar until 20 July 2020.
You can transfer Amex Membership Rewards programs to a range of airline frequent flyer programs at a 2:1 conversion rate. That means you’ll effectively be earning 2.25 airline miles per $1 spent on your Amex Platinum card until 20 July 2020 – which is very generous.
But you won’t be able to transfer your Amex Membership Rewards points to Velocity Frequent Flyer at the moment. Since Virgin Australia went into voluntary administration, American Express has temporarily suspended point transfers to Velocity Frequent Flyer. NAB, ANZ, HSBC, Westpac and St George have also suspended the ability to transfer points to Velocity from their respective rewards programs.
The increased earn rate for the next three months goes some way to compensate Amex Platinum and Centurion cardholders who cannot use many of their usual travel benefits at the moment, due to the current travel restrictions. But if you feel that you still aren’t getting sufficient value from your card this year, you could call American Express to request an annual fee reduction or discuss other options.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Double Amex MR points until 20 July 2020
What now for Amex Velocity cardholders?
Although Amex has suspended Membership Rewards point transfers to Velocity Frequent Flyer, co-branded Amex Velocity cards will continue to automatically earn Velocity points. This affects the Amex Velocity Escape and Amex Velocity Platinum credit cards.
If you hold one of these credit cards, Amex may allow you to transfer to a different American Express credit card product without having to submit a new application. There is some more information available on the American Express website.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Virgin Australia collapse – impact on Amex cards
