Here's something that landed in a lot of inboxes over the weekend - and it's worth taking seriously before the deadline sneaks up on you.

The Amex Business Platinum card is currently sitting at 120,000 Membership Rewards points as a sign-up bonus. That converts 1:1 into Avios, Virgin Points, or a handful of other airline currencies. And unlike some offers in the past, there's now virtually no small print about previous card history. If you're approved and hit the spend target, you get the bonus. Full stop.

There is a catch, though - and it's a meaningful one. So let's go through the full picture before you get excited and start filling in an application form.

What is the minimum personal income required to apply for the Amex Business Platinum card?

The answer is waiting near the bottom... keep scrolling 👇

Let's start with the headline number. 120,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 120,000 Avios at a 1:1 ratio. At our standard estimate of 1p per Avios, that's £1,200 of potential travel value from a single sign-up bonus. Used smartly on a premium cabin redemption, you could realistically get more than that.

Alternatively, those 120,000 points could become 240,000 Hilton Honors points, 180,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, or 60,000 Emirates Skywards miles. There's a lot of flexibility in what you do with them - which is part of the appeal of Membership Rewards as a currency. You can explore all your options with our Points Converter tool.

But here's where it gets interesting - the rules changed in 2024. Amex removed the restrictions that previously stopped you from earning a bonus if you'd held a similar card before. That means:

And that's the catch I mentioned upfront. Sole traders can no longer apply. That change came in earlier this year, and it's significant. If you're self-employed as a sole trader, this card simply isn't an option for you. The only Amex travel card still open to sole traders is the BA Accelerating Business card.

To unlock the bonus, you need to spend £12,000 within three months of approval. That's roughly £4,000 per month - which for a limited company with meaningful outgoings (suppliers, software, marketing, travel) is very achievable. For a company with lower monthly spend, it's trickier.

The annual fee is £650 - billed with your first statement and refunded pro-rata if you cancel. That's not a small number, but when you stack up the benefits it's easier to justify. You get a £200 annual Amex Travel credit (usable in one transaction on flights, hotels or car hire via Amex Travel), a £150 Dell credit per year (split across two halves of the year), and £300 of Indeed credit annually for job advertising. If you use any of those, the fee starts looking very manageable.

You also get Priority Pass lounge access for up to four people, Gold status with Hilton Honors, Gold with Marriott Bonvoy, and Premium with Radisson Rewards. If you've been looking at our Marriott Bonvoy coverage or Hilton Honors stories, you'll know that mid-tier status in both programmes is worth real money in complimentary upgrades and breakfast.

Heads up: Amex has lower acceptance rates with some suppliers than Visa or Mastercard. You'll want a backup card. Capital on Tap's free Visa business card earns 0.8 Avios per £1 with no FX fees - worth having alongside this if you don't already.

The offer ends 5th May 2026. If you want to check your eligibility before applying, our Amex Welcome Bonus Eligibility Tool is a good place to start.

This one's for anyone with a stash of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points sitting in their account. It turns out that Virgin's ANA award chart is one of the better-kept secrets in UK points travel - particularly for flights to Japan in premium cabins.

Virgin Atlantic is a Star Alliance outsider, but it has bilateral agreements with ANA (All Nippon Airways), one of the best business class products in the sky. That matters because it means you can book ANA flights using Virgin Points at Virgin's own award rates - which are often lower than what you'd pay through more conventional Star Alliance currencies.

The strategy works especially well in premium cabins. ANA's business class - The Room on long-haul routes - is genuinely outstanding, and if you can find availability and book it through Virgin Flying Club, you could be getting significant value per point compared to other routes and programmes.

If you want to see what Virgin Points can get you destination-wise, our Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Map is a good starting point. And for checking availability before you commit to anything, our Virgin Atlantic Reward Seat Finder will help you search for open seats.

Worth knowing: the Citi ThankYou to Virgin Atlantic transfer bonus of +30% ends 18th April 2026. If you have Citi ThankYou points and have been thinking about topping up your Virgin account, the clock is ticking.

Hilton currently has a promotion running where you can buy Hilton Honors points with up to a 100% bonus - effectively doubling what you receive. The offer runs until 29th May 2026. Some people are reportedly being offered 80% rather than 100%, likely depending on your account history and how frequently you've bought points recently.

Buying points is almost never worth it at face value. But with a 100% bonus, the calculation changes - particularly if you're a few thousand points short of a specific redemption, or if you're targeting an expensive property where the cash rate is genuinely eye-watering.

One example worth thinking about: if you're targeting a high-end property that might cost £400-£600 per night in cash but is achievable on points, and you're sitting 10,000-15,000 short of enough to book it, topping up with doubled points can make the numbers work. Just do the maths carefully before committing - buying points should always be redemption-specific, not speculative.

Heads up: not all members are seeing the 100% offer. Log into your Hilton Honors account to check what rate you've been offered before assuming you'll get the maximum bonus.

Worth flagging quickly - from 1st October 2026, American Express cardholders (including Platinum and Centurion) will no longer have access to Lufthansa Group lounges. This is a meaningful cut if you regularly fly Lufthansa, SWISS, or Austrian and have been relying on your Amex card to get in.

Amex has confirmed that over 1,550 airport lounges remain accessible through Priority Pass and the Centurion Lounge network. But if Lufthansa lounges were a specific reason you valued your card, it's worth factoring this into any upcoming renewal decisions. You can browse all UK airport lounge options at our Airport Lounge Guide.

The answer is 🟣 £35,000. Amex Business Platinum requires a personal income of at least £35,000 to apply. There's no minimum turnover requirement for the business itself - just the personal income threshold and the requirement to be a Director of a Limited Company or a Member of a Limited Liability Partnership.

If you landed 120,000 Avios tomorrow - what would you use them for? A longhaul business class redemption, a handful of short-haul trips, or something else entirely? Hit reply - I genuinely read every response and it helps shape future newsletters.

That's all for today. If you're a Limited Company Director and you've been sitting on the fence about the Amex Business Platinum, the deadline is 5th May - so now's the time to do the maths properly and decide. See you Wednesday. ✌️

Looking to redeem your points? Here's what's available right now (via Award Travel Finder):

Hotels:

Status Matches:

See all award deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →

Before we wrap up, I wanted to share some timely opportunities I've been tracking (courtesy of our friends at AwardTravelFinder). These deals won't last long, so let's dive in.

Airline programs:

Hotel programs:

These are the top credit card welcome bonuses we're tracking. Offers change frequently - see all cards.

1. Platinum Card: 75,000 points after spending £10,000 in 6 months (£650/yr)

2. Business Gold Card: 60,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£195/yr (waived first year))

3. Business Platinum Card: 50,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£650/yr)

4. Gold Card: 20,000 points after spending £3,000 in 3 months (£195/yr (waived first year))

Award Travel Finder hunts down the best redemptions so you don't have to.

See all deals at AwardTravelFinder.com →