The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card is offering new, approved sign-ups 25,000 points – boosted from the usual 20,000.

You need to apply by Tuesday 8 August 2023 and spend £3,000 in the first three months of membership. It can take up to one month for bonus points to be awarded to a card members account.

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card has an annual fee of £160, but is waived for the first year only. It has a representative 73.8% APR variable. Before you apply, make sure to read the full terms and conditions, including all the information on fees and charges to know exactly what you’re signing up for.

Also note that there are exclusions for the £3,000 initial spend such as balance transfers, buying American Express travellers cheques or loading pre-paid cards.

As part of the offer, for those who apply by Tuesday 18 July and spend the minimum £3,000 in the first three months, you’ll be automatically entered into a prize draw to win one of 3,200 Amazon vouchers worth up to £200. This is split between 1,000 x £50 vouchers, 400 x £100 vouchers and 1,800 x £200 vouchers.

The offer is only available for those who have not held a personal American Express Card within the previous 24 months.

If you have held a personal American Express Card within the previous 24 months, you’ll be entitled to all other card benefits, but not the 25,000 reward points.

But all is not lost if you’re a current Amex Gold Card holder as you can earn extra membership rewards points when referring a friend.

Existing card members could earn a bonus of 14,000 points, while your referred friend could earn 30,000 bonus points, if they sign up and are approved, and spend £3,000 in the first three months of card membership.

Again as above, any new card members who are referred and approved for a Gold Card by 18 July, and spend £3,000 in three months, will be automatically entered into the Amazon prize draw too.

What else do you get with the Amex Gold Credit Card?

As well as bagging the boosted 25,000 points, card holders gain points on their spends, including:

• Three points on Amex Travel for every £1 spent
• Two points on purchases direct with airlines for every £1 spent
• One point on other purchases for every £1 spent.

Further, every time you spend £5,000 you will get 2,500 bonus membership rewards points, up to 12,500 bonus points per year, though only spend what you can actually afford to repay.

The points accrued can then be redeemed against a range of shopping, travel and lifestyle ‘partners’, such as Eurostar, John Lewis and British Airways at a current rate of 1,000 points for £4.50 to spend. Points can be spent online, or put onto gifts cards and vouchers. With gift cards you can get £5 back per 1,000 points.

Holders also get four complementary Priority Pass airport lounge visits every year (option of 1,300 airports around the world), and twice a month, you can get £5 back on eligible Deliveroo purchases.

Amex holders can also get access to ‘insider events’ from cocktail making masterclasses to football stadium tours.

According to frequent flyer website, HeadforPoints (HfP), this is the first “special offer” seen on this card since October 2022.

Rob Burgess, editor of HfP, said: “This package is an exceptionally generous deal for a card which is free for the first year. Remember that 25,000 membership rewards points convert into 25,000 Avios points, amongst other things.

“If you were thinking about applying, it makes sense to do so now whilst the sign-up bonus is increased to 25,000 membership rewards points.”

However, he added: “The earning rate on your day-to-day spending is one membership rewards point per £1 spent. This is OK but not exceptional.”