Amex Preferred Reward Gold: Boosted 40,000 points welcome bonus

Earn points worth up to £225, with another £25 available on top if you’re referred

Until 26 May 2026, the welcome offer is increased on the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card.

Here’s what you need to know.

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What is the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card?

This card from Amex is free in the first year, but costs a huge £195 a year from the second year onwards – so it’s best to only get this one for a single year and then cancel it.

You’ll earn Amex Membership Reward points with your spending. There’s a set 1 point per £1 spent. These points can be swapped for gift cards or Nectar points at a value of 0.5p per point, or 1:1 to many airline partners.

However there are also bonus points triggered when you hit spending thresholds, so the card can potentially give you a return of close to 0.75%.

You can find more details on how the Preferred Rewards Gold card works, the value of its points and other features in our full Amex Gold credit card review.

Boosted American Express Preferred Rewards welcome offer

Boosted: earn 40,000 points

The latest increased offer runs from 19 March to 26 May 2026.

At 40,000 Amex Reward points, it’s worth 20,000 more points than the standard offer.

Unlike the normal offer you need to spend more to trigger the bonus. It’s increased to £5,000, though you’ve got extra time to do this – six months in total. That spending that will earn you another 5,000 points and a total of 45,000. That adds up to £225 as gift cards.

As with most other Amex welcome offers you can’t have had any Amex account in your name in the last 24 months (that doesn’t include supplementary cardholders).

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Additional offers

Extra 5,000 points referral bonus

You can get an additional 5,000 on top of the boosted offer if you apply in the first place via a refer-a-friend link. Those points are worth another £25.

That’s a total of 45,000 points, plus 5,000 for the spending, adding up to 50,000 Amex points. That’s worth £250 as a gift voucher or in Nectar points.

Standard American Express Preferred Rewards welcome offer

Standard: earn 20,000 points

When you first apply for the card you may be able to get a welcome bonus, usually 20,000 Amex Reward Points. That’s worth £100 as a gift card as Nectar. To be eligible for the Gold card bonus you cannot have had any Amex in your name in the last two years.

There’s also a minimum spend required to trigger the bonus. Spend a penny less and you’ll get nothing. This is usually £3,000 in the first three months. Those points would be worth another £15, giving you a total of £115.

The generic offer for this Amex card runs all year. You’ll get a little more if you apply via a refer-a-friend offer or a cashback site, but personally I’d always wait for one of the increased offers that tend to run two or three times a year.

The latest Amex offers

Check out this article with details of boosted referral bonuses and other extra offers with your American Express card.

Other Amex Gold perks

Once you have the card there are additional savings and bonuses to be had. Spend £10,000 in the year and you’ll get another 5,000 points added, worth another £25. There’s also £10 credit every month (two lots of £5) when you use the card to pay for Deliveroo.