Reminder: You've Still Got Two Weeks for These Enhanced American Express UK Bonuses

With Christmas behind us and the new year approaching, now is actually the perfect time to think about your points strategy for 2026. The enhanced American Express offers I covered recently are still available, and you've got a couple of weeks left to apply before they expire on 13th January 2026.

If you're sitting in that post-Christmas period where you're planning next year's travel, this is worth a serious look. The Platinum Card is offering 85,000 Membership Rewards points plus £250 in travel credit, whilst the Gold Card has 45,000 points with the first year free. These are genuinely some of the best UK Amex bonuses we've seen.

There's something psychological about the end of December that makes us think about fresh starts and new plans. If you're already mentally planning 2026 travel, getting your points infrastructure sorted now means you're ready when you spot good redemption opportunities.

The spending requirements are also easier to manage if you apply now rather than waiting. Platinum needs £6,000 in three months, Gold needs £5,000 in six months. Starting in early January gives you the entire first quarter to hit these targets naturally, rather than scrambling in February or March when you've got less runway.

There's also a practical benefit I mentioned in my original article that bears repeating: if you apply for Platinum before the new year, you can still capture the remaining 2025 dining credits. That's £100 for UK restaurants and £100 for international restaurants that expire on 31st December. Apply tomorrow or Tuesday, and you've got a couple of days to book a nice meal and immediately get £200 back. It's essentially found money if you were planning to eat out anyway over the new year period.

Let me put this in concrete terms because "85,000 points" is abstract until you see what it translates to in actual travel.

Convert to Avios and you could book multiple European city breaks in business class. Off-peak business class to Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, or Dublin costs 15,000 Avios one-way or 30,000 return. That's two return business class trips to Europe with 25,000 points left over. Or you could put everything towards a long-haul redemption. An off-peak business class seat to New York costs 80,000 Avios one-way, so you're 5,000 points short of a return trip, but that's easily made up with a bit of everyday spending on the card.

If you're planning summer holiday travel, these points could fund a significant portion of your flights. Check our Avios calculator to see exactly what you could book to your specific destinations.

But remember, Membership Rewards aren't locked to Avios. You might decide Virgin Atlantic Flying Club offers better value for your route. Or you could transfer to hotel programmes. 85,000 Membership Rewards converts to 170,000 Hilton points or 127,500 Marriott points. That could cover several nights in premium properties depending on where you're staying.

Whilst Platinum gets most of the attention with its premium benefits, Gold is actually the more straightforward value proposition. You're getting 45,000 points for literally zero cost in year one. There's no annual fee to justify, no complex benefit calculations needed. If you can spend £5,000 in six months naturally, you're simply gaining 45,000 points at no cost whatsoever.

The catch, as I've mentioned before, is eligibility. You cannot have held any personal American Express card in the previous 24 months. This rules out many of our readers who have British Airways Amex cards. But if you don't qualify yourself, your partner might. Your adult children might. Anyone in your BA household account would let you benefit from the points they earn.

The four free Priority Pass visits per year are genuinely useful for occasional travellers. The £120 Deliveroo credit (paid as £5 per month when you spend £5 or more) effectively gives you a year of subsidised takeaways. And the spending bonuses add up, with 5,000 extra points at £10,000 spend and another 5,000 at £20,000 spend.

Platinum requires more analysis because of the £650 annual fee. But the good news for BA Amex holders is that you do qualify for this bonus, unlike Gold. The rule is that you cannot have held a personal Platinum, Gold, Green, or Amex Rewards Credit Card in the 24 months before applying. BA Amex cards don't count against this, which is huge for our audience.

The value case for Platinum comes from stacking multiple benefits. You're getting 85,000 points (worth at least £850 in travel), £250 in travel credit, and £400 in annual dining credits. That's £1,500 in direct value against a £650 fee before you even consider the hotel status, travel insurance, car hire insurance, Priority Pass, Fine Hotels & Resorts benefits, or Eurostar lounge access.

As someone who holds Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status myself, I can tell you that hotel elite status genuinely transforms your travel experience. The Gold status that comes with Platinum means room upgrades, late checkouts (often 2pm or 4pm instead of 11am), and bonus points on every stay. Over the course of a year with multiple hotel stays, this adds up to hundreds of pounds in value.

The travel insurance alone saves most families several hundred pounds annually. I use my Amex Platinum Business for exactly this reason. Not needing to purchase separate travel insurance policies for family trips is both cost-effective and convenient.

You've got until 13th January 2026 to apply, which gives you about two weeks to make a decision. That's enough time to properly evaluate whether these cards make sense for your circumstances without feeling rushed.

Here's what I'd suggest: spend some time this week thinking about your 2026 travel plans. How many trips are you likely to take? Will you stay in hotels where elite status matters? Would you benefit from travel insurance and car hire coverage? Do you spend enough on dining that the credits would get used?

For Platinum, calculate whether you'd extract £650 worth of value from the benefits. For Gold, it's simpler: can you spend £5,000 in six months? If yes, you're getting 45,000 points for free.

Remember that pro-rata refunds exist on both cards. If you get Platinum and decide after a few months it's not worth keeping, you'd only pay a portion of the annual fee. You keep all the points you've earned regardless.

Since covering these offers, I've had quite a few readers reach out with questions. The most common theme is people trying to work out whether they qualify based on their existing card history. The eligibility rules can be confusing, so let me clarify once more.

For Platinum: Having a BA Amex card is fine. Having a business Amex card is fine. Being a supplementary cardholder on someone else's Amex is fine. What disqualifies you is having held a personal Platinum, Gold, Green, or Amex Rewards Credit Card in your own name in the last 24 months.

For Gold: The rules are stricter. Any personal Amex in the last 24 months disqualifies you, including BA Amex cards. But business cards don't count, and being a supplementary cardholder doesn't count.

The second common question is about the spending requirements. Both cards count the spend from your approval date, not from when you receive or activate the card. So if you have large expenses coming up in Q1 2026, timing your application to align with these makes sense.

Starting the year with a substantial points balance gives you flexibility throughout 2026. When you spot good redemption opportunities or when transfer bonuses appear, you're ready to act. When airline award seats open up for routes you want to fly, you've got the points to book them.

The alternative is earning points gradually throughout the year and potentially missing opportunities because you don't have enough points when you need them. These welcome bonuses essentially front-load your points earning, giving you options from day one.

For Gold especially, with zero cost in year one, there's genuinely no downside if you can meet the spending requirement. You could apply, earn the 45,000 points, use them for a nice trip, and then decide at the end of year one whether the £195 annual fee is worth keeping the card for the ongoing benefits.

I'm not going to pressure anyone into applying for a credit card they don't need. Premium credit cards aren't right for everyone, and the annual fees can be substantial if you're not using the benefits.

But if you're someone who travels regularly, stays in hotels, and would benefit from the status and perks these cards offer, then these enhanced bonuses represent genuinely excellent value. The 85,000 point Platinum bonus is the highest UK offer I've tracked, and getting 45,000 points free with Gold is straightforward value.

You've got two weeks to decide. That's enough time to evaluate properly but not so much time that you should put it off indefinitely. If these cards make sense for your circumstances, applying sooner rather than later means more time to hit the spending requirements naturally and, for Platinum, the ability to capture those 2025 dining credits before they expire.

Apply for the American Express Cards here.

For the full detailed breakdown, see our comprehensive analysis of these offers, or check out our guides on Best Avios-earning credit cards and Best business credit cards for Avios.