How We Racked Up 30,000 Points with the Amex Gold (and You Can Too)

If you’re looking to dip your toes into the world of points, Avios, and travel perks—this is the card to get started with.

Right now, Amex is offering a huge welcome bonus on the American Express® Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card:

30,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend £3,000 in the first 3 months. Oh, and they’ve scrapped the annual fee for the first year—so you’re basically getting free points and perks for just using the card like you normally would.

Here’s what we did:

We grabbed the card, hit the spend target in the first couple of months with normal spending (groceries, bills, etc.), converted the points to Avios (British Airways), used the 4 free airport lounge passes that come with the card, and then cancelled it just before the 12-month mark to avoid the £195 fee.

Super simple. Super worth it.

A few perks to shout about:

• 30,000 points (convertible to Avios, Nectar, or other travel partners)

• No annual fee in year one

• 4 complimentary airport lounge visits via Priority Pass

• Offers & cashback from brands like Deliveroo, Booking.com, and more

Even if you don’t travel much, the points are super flexible. You can use them for flights, upgrades, hotel stays—or even just Amazon vouchers if you want to play it safe.

Important tip:

Make sure you don’t currently have a personal Amex card (or haven’t had one in the last 24 months), or you won’t be eligible for the welcome bonus. Also, keep an eye on the date you opened the card so you can cancel it before the year’s up if you want to dodge that second-year fee.

Final thoughts:

This is probably the best “starter” card out there if you’re getting into the world of points and travel hacks. Low risk, big rewards, and genuinely useful perks. We’ve done it, and we’d do it again.

You can check out the full offer here.

Let me know if you end up grabbing it—I’m always down to chat points and how to make the most of them.