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While we have no reservations in recommending the Amex Gold card as one of the top “travel hack” credit cards out there, it definitely used to be better. For example, back in the day you would get double points on all your “travel-related” spend. This is sadly no longer the case.
However…
You will still get double Membership Rewards points (2 per £1) when you spend directly with airlines. So, for example (to the extent this needs an example…), book directly with Etihad and you’ll get the points on the spend doubled:
(You’ll also get double points on spend in a foreign currency, and 3 points for every £1 spent at American Express Travel Online, but the airline double points are likely to be the “easiest win”.)
How much is that worth?
Given that we value Membership Rewards points at around a penny each (their flexibility very arguably makes them worth more than this), you’re getting a total 2% rebate on your flights booked directly in GBP.
In my Etihad example above, that’s a £16 rebate, which is not bad. Add it to the cashback I also earned on the flight, and you can see how the rebates stack up.
So, the basic conclusion is, this is a nice little benefit of the Amex Gold card, and it’s therefore important that when you do book directly with airlines, you therefore give some thought to using your Amex Gold for the transaction.
Any reasons NOT to do this?
The only obvious exception to this is if you hold the BA Amex Premium Plus card and are flying BA, as you will get 3 Avios for every £1 spent with British Airways. That’s better value than 2 Membership Rewards points.
Just to confirm this is just for the Amex Gold? If so this penalises the owners of the Amex Platinum who need to use the Platinum for the travel to be included in the insurance 🙁
I don’t think you need to pay with the Platinum exclusively. You could pay with any Amex card as long as you hold the Platinum to get covered by the insurance.
Having said that, I don’t think I’ll renew the Plat next year as I’ll have Gold status on Star Alliance as well as Platinum on Marriott/Starwood for 2018. It makes more sense to have the Gold Amex instead.
I do think it’s odd that Gold gets better earnings than the Platinum card though.
I’m 95% sure you have to pay with Platinum card to get ALL of the benifits can anyone clarify either way?
If you read through the T&Cs you will see that it doesn’t require the Platinum card itself as payment to get the coverage – it can be another Amex card. I checked this out thoroughly before I went to South Korea in March so unless they’ve changed things since then it should still be okay.
Interesting point, and yes I believe it is limited to the Amex Gold and NOT the Platinum.
The summary box for the Amex Platinum merely says:
You and your Supplementary Cardmember earn 1 point for every £1 spent and earn faster with 1 additional point for every £1 spent at American Express Travel Online.
No mention of any bonus for airline spend.
I also agree this is strange and a touch unfair. Surely the Plat card should have all the benefits of Gold, and then some more?