Introductory Bonuses

Most large Avios and Virgin Points balances in the UK are not built from everyday spending. They come from sign-up bonuses, referral incentives, and retention offers. A single Amex Business Platinum sign-up bonus (120,000 points, available to May 2026) delivers more points than three years of spending £1,000 per month on a 1-point-per-pound card. These are step-changes, not incremental earning — and used deliberately, they compress years of collecting into months.

Bonus amounts, eligibility rules, and spend thresholds change regularly. The numbers in this article reflect March 2026 — always check the current offers before applying, as issuers adjust bonuses several times per year.

Introductory Bonuses: The Big Numbers

These are the current UK sign-up bonuses as of March 2026. They change — sometimes dramatically — so treat these as a snapshot, not a permanent reference.

What this means in flights: 120,000 Amex MR from the Business Platinum sign-up bonus = 120,000 Avios = a return Business Class flight to New York for one person (off-peak, 160,000 with a companion voucher for two). A couple applying for Amex Gold (20,000 each) + BA Amex Premium Plus (30,000 each) collects 100,000 Avios from sign-up bonuses alone — before spending a penny on everyday purchases.

The Optimal Sequence for a Newcomer

If you have never held an Amex card, the highest-value order is:

1. Amex Gold — 20,000 MR (or 22,000 via referral), free Year 1, 4 lounge passes, £120 Deliveroo credit. The best starter card. Hit the £3,000 spend target from normal purchases.

2. BA Amex Premium Plus — 30,000 Avios. You can hold this alongside Amex Gold. Start working toward the £15,000 companion voucher threshold.

3. Amex Platinum — 50,000 MR (or higher during promotional periods — 75,000 + £250 travel credit ran until January 2026). Apply only if the £650 fee is justified by the lounge access, hotel statuses, and credits you will actually use.

4. Business cards (if eligible) — 60,000 or 120,000 MR. These do not conflict with personal cards. A director holding both personal Gold and Business Platinum collects up to 140,000+ MR from sign-up bonuses across both tracks.

Referral Bonuses

Once inside the Amex ecosystem, referring a partner, family member, or friend to apply for their own card earns you bonus points. Referral bonuses are one of the largest ongoing earning streams — potentially larger than everyday spending.

How it works: You generate a personal referral link from your Amex account. When someone applies via your link and is approved, you receive bonus points. The person you refer may also receive an enhanced sign-up bonus (e.g. Amex Gold referral bonus of 22,000 MR vs standard 20,000).

Typical referral amounts: These change frequently, but recent examples include 9,000 MR for referring someone to Amex Gold, 18,000 MR for Amex Platinum referrals, and varying amounts for BA Amex and other cards. Supplementary card bonuses have also run periodically — adding a free supplementary cardholder to your Gold or Platinum account has offered 6,000-12,000 bonus MR during promotional periods.

The household play: A couple where both partners apply for Amex Gold (each referring the other) can earn 22,000 MR each from sign-up + 9,000 MR each from the referral = 62,000 MR total from two free-in-Year-1 cards. That is 62,000 Avios from a combined spend of £6,000 on normal household purchases.

Retention Bonuses

When your annual fee is due, it is always worth calling or using live chat to ask whether a retention offer is available. Issuers use these selectively to prevent cancellations — but you have to ask. They will not volunteer them.

Amex Platinum: Retention offers of 30,000-50,000 MR are regularly reported. Some holders have received 50,000 MR simply by calling and saying they were considering cancelling due to the £650 fee. Higher offers (up to 100,000 MR in exceptional cases) have been reported but are rare and appear to be linked to long account history and high spend.

Amex Gold: Retention offers of 7,000-10,000 MR are common. At a £195 annual fee, 10,000 MR (worth ~£100 at 1p/point) reduces the effective fee to under £100 — making the card’s lounge passes and Deliveroo credit essentially free.

How to ask: Contact Amex via live chat or phone around your renewal date. Say you are considering cancelling because you are not sure the fee justifies the benefits. Be polite but clear. If no offer is made, you can still cancel (Amex refunds the fee pro-rata). If an offer appears, assess whether the points value exceeds the fee you are about to pay. Often it does.

Frequency: Amex typically offers retention bonuses no more than once per 12 months. If you received a sign-up or referral bonus recently, the retention team may cite this as a reason not to offer more points. Timing matters — accounts with 2+ years of history and consistent spend tend to receive better offers.

Business Cards Alongside Personal

For directors of limited companies or LLP members, business cards create a second track of bonuses without interfering with personal card cycles. Business Gold (60,000 MR to May 2026) and Business Platinum (120,000 MR to May 2026) are the highest sign-up bonuses currently available in the UK. Since 2024, there are no eligibility restrictions on business card bonuses — you receive the bonus regardless of what other Amex cards you hold.

Business spend flows through business products, personal spend through personal cards, and both feed the same Membership Rewards balance (which transfers to the same airline programmes). A director holding Amex Gold (personal) + BA Amex Premium Plus (personal) + Business Platinum can collect 170,000+ points from sign-up bonuses across three cards — enough for a return Business Class flight to Asia for two people with a companion voucher.

Sole traders can no longer apply for Business Gold or Business Platinum (changed January 2026). The BA Amex Accelerating Business card (30,000 Avios bonus, 1.5 Avios per £1) remains open to sole traders.

Credit Discipline: The Non-Negotiable

Bonus strategies only work when balances are cleared monthly. The moment you pay interest, the economics collapse — credit card interest rates (typically 26-30% APR on these cards) will always exceed the value of any points earned. A 30,000-point sign-up bonus worth ~£300 at 1p/point is wiped out by one month of interest on a £3,000 balance carried over.

The rules: Clear in full every month. Only spend what you would spend anyway — bonuses are triggered by routing existing spending through the right card, not by spending more. If the spend threshold is higher than your normal monthly outflow, consider whether you can genuinely meet it without changing behaviour. If not, the card is not right for you.

Credit score: Space applications sensibly. Multiple applications in a short period can temporarily reduce your credit score. If a mortgage or other major borrowing is planned within 6-12 months, delay new card applications. One or two applications per year, with balances cleared monthly, has minimal long-term credit impact for most people.