Amex Rewards Credit Card (Free)

The American Express Rewards Credit Card is the only free-for-life UK card earning Membership Rewards points. It has no annual fee, earns 1 MR point per £1, and comes with a 10,500 MR sign-up bonus. It has no lounge passes, no Deliveroo credit, no bonus earning categories, and no travel benefits of any kind. It exists for one strategic purpose: keeping your Membership Rewards balance alive indefinitely when you cancel the Gold or Platinum card.

Without an active MR-earning card, American Express gives you 30 days to transfer or spend your points before they are forfeited. If you have accumulated 50,000 MR from a Gold or Platinum sign-up bonus and are not ready to transfer them, cancelling without a safety net means losing the lot. The Amex Rewards card prevents that — hold it at zero cost and your entire MR balance plus transfer access to 19+ programmes remains available for as long as you keep the card.

The Correct Sequence

The Amex Rewards card fits at the end of an application sequence, not the beginning. The optimal order for a newcomer to Amex:

Step 1 — Amex Gold: 20,000 MR bonus (22,000 via referral), free Year 1. Apply first because the Gold bonus requires no personal Amex in 24 months — and Gold does NOT block the BA Amex bonus.

Step 2 — BA Amex Premium Plus: 30,000 Avios bonus. The BA Amex checks only for “BA Amex in 24 months”, not “any Amex”. You can hold Gold and BA Amex simultaneously.

Step 3 — Amex Platinum (optional): 50,000 MR bonus. Requires no MR-earning Amex in 24 months — but BA Amex does NOT count as MR-earning (it earns Avios directly). So you can apply for Platinum while holding BA Amex. However, if you still hold the Gold, you must cancel it first and wait 24 months.

Step 4 — Amex Rewards (safety net): Apply only after you have collected all the higher-value bonuses you want. Then hold indefinitely at zero cost to preserve your MR balance.

Applying for the Rewards card at Step 1 would forfeit the Gold bonus (20,000 MR), the Platinum bonus (50,000 MR), and the BA Amex bonus (30,000 Avios) — a total loss of 100,000+ points. The sequencing matters enormously.

How MR Points Survival Works

Membership Rewards points exist in your Amex account, not in any airline or hotel programme. If you cancel your last MR-earning card, Amex gives you 30 days to transfer or redeem the points. After 30 days, unspent points are forfeited.

The Amex Rewards card prevents this by maintaining an active MR-earning card on your account at all times. Your points sit safely, your transfer access remains open, and you can move points to any of the 19+ partners whenever a booking opportunity appears — even years later. This is particularly valuable for collectors who accumulate MR gradually and prefer to transfer only when they have a specific redemption in mind (the correct approach, as covered in our transfers guide).

The card also continues to earn 1 MR per £1 on any spending you route through it, so your balance grows slowly even without a premium Amex card. It does not earn the Gold’s bonus categories (no double points on airlines or FX) or the annual spend bonus — it is purely a base-rate earner and points preserver.

When to Apply

You are cancelling Amex Gold or Platinum and have MR points you are not ready to transfer. Apply for the Rewards card before cancelling the other card. This ensures continuous MR access with no 30-day countdown.

You have collected all the personal Amex bonuses you want and now want a zero-cost way to keep MR points flexible indefinitely. The 10,500 MR bonus adds a modest sweetener.

You hold a Business Amex but no personal MR card. Business MR and personal MR are technically separate balances. The Rewards card maintains the personal side. However, both balances can transfer to the same airline programme accounts — having both active gives maximum flexibility.

What This Card Is Not

This is not a card to use as your primary spender. At 1 MR per £1 with no bonus categories, no lounge passes, and no travel benefits, it is outperformed by every other MR-earning Amex on earning power and value. The Gold card earns double on airlines and FX, has four lounge passes and £120 Deliveroo credit. The Platinum has unlimited lounges and hotel status. Even the BA Amex free earns at the same 1-point-per-£1 rate but deposits Avios directly (saving the transfer step).

Think of the Amex Rewards card as insurance — the cheapest possible way to keep your MR balance alive and your transfer options open. Use a different card for actual spending.