Amex Gold & Platinum: Earn Up to 12,000 Points by Adding a Supplementary Card

American Express is offering boosted bonuses of up to 12,000 Membership Rewards points simply for adding a supplementary cardholder to your Gold or Platinum account - with no minimum spend attached. The offer runs across five Amex cards in total and is available to any cardholder who has not yet issued their first supplementary card on that account. If you have a partner, family member, or close friend who does not already hold a card on your account, this is one of the easiest point boosts you will find.

The boosted bonuses apply to five American Express cards. Here is the breakdown of what is on offer compared to the standard supplementary card bonuses:

There is also a separate offer of £25 cashback for adding a supplementary card to either of the two Amex Cashback cards. And the standard (non-boosted) bonuses on other cards remain in place - adding a supplementary card to the British Airways Amex Premium Plus earns 5,000 Avios, whilst the standard BA Amex earns 1,000 Avios.

The most important detail: your first supplementary card is free. There is no annual fee and no spend target. You simply add the cardholder, and the points land.

The value of Membership Rewards points depends on how you use them, but for flights and hotels the maths is compelling. At a commonly used benchmark of 0.75p per point, 12,000 points is worth roughly £90 in travel value. At 1p per point - achievable with the right Avios or airline transfer - that rises to £120. You can use the Smart With Points Avios Value Calculator to sense-check the redemption value before you transfer.

For context on the Gold card specifically: the standard welcome bonus for a new Amex Gold applicant is 20,000 points. Picking up 9,000 extra points just by adding a supplementary card - with no spend - represents a 45% uplift on that welcome bonus for free. On the Platinum card, 12,000 points with no spend is an even stronger return given the card's higher annual fee is already baked into your costs.

For Marriott Bonvoy cardholders, 6,000 Marriott points converts to around £30-£40 in hotel credit depending on the property category - or can contribute toward a free night award at lower-tier properties.

This is where the process matters. Amex has a specific page for supplementary card applications tied to this promotion - and it is not guaranteed that applications made through any other route on the Amex website will track the bonus. You must use the dedicated supplementary card page linked from the promotional offer to ensure your points register correctly.

Here is the step-by-step process:

The supplementary cardholder gets a card in their own name linked to your account. They earn points on their spending, which go directly into your Membership Rewards balance.

The offer has some clear eligibility rules that are worth understanding before you go through the process:

One edge case worth flagging: if you have supplementary cards on other Amex products you own, that does not disqualify you from the bonus on a card where no supplementary card has been issued. The eligibility is assessed per card account, not across your entire Amex relationship.

Yes - eligibility is assessed per card account. If your Gold account has never had a supplementary card issued on it, you qualify for the 9,000-point bonus regardless of what supplementary cards exist on your other Amex accounts.

No. Unlike most Amex welcome bonuses, there is no spend target to unlock this bonus. Adding the supplementary cardholder and activating the card is all that is required.

The supplementary card bonus is separate from the main cardholder welcome bonus. If you are considering applying for Amex Gold for the first time, check your eligibility for the welcome bonus first using the Amex Welcome Bonus Eligibility Tool - you can earn both the welcome bonus and the supplementary card bonus on the same account.

The boosted supplementary card bonus runs until 31st October 2026. Applications must be submitted before that date to qualify for the enhanced points amounts listed above.

This is about as low-effort as points bonuses get. If you hold an Amex Gold, Platinum, Marriott Bonvoy, Nectar, or Amex Rewards card and have never added a supplementary cardholder, you are leaving up to 12,000 points on the table for free. There is no annual fee for the first supplementary card and no spend required - just an application through the correct Amex promotional link. The offer runs until 31st October 2026, so there is time to act, but it is the kind of thing that is easy to keep putting off. If you have a partner or family member who would use a card, this weekend is a good moment to set it up.

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

1. Platinum Card: 50,000 points after spending £6,000 in 3 months (£6.5/yr)

2. HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard: Receive 40,000 reward points when you spend £2,000 on your card in the first 90 ... (£2.9/yr)

3. Gold Card: 30,000 points after spending £4,000 in 3 months (£1.95/yr (waived first year))

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

Hotels:

Status Matches:

• Flying Blue Status Match - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue (New Markets) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

• Flying Blue UK (BA Status Holders) - Air France / KLM (SkyTeam)

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