UPDATE: This offer has expired.
The Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express is currently offering 25,000 points after you spend $2,000 on the card within the first 3 months. While 25,000 points is not as high as some other offers out there, it is still one of my favorite cards especially due to the American Express statement credit offers.
For a publicly available offer, 25,000 points is one of the higher offers we have seen in awhile. It has also been around for quite some time so this seems to be the norm. If you are in the market for this card, first see if you have been targeted by a better offer.
Earning & Bonus Categories
Many times this card is referred to as the “3-2-1 Amex card.” That is because you earn triple points on airfare booked directly with the airline, double points on gasoline at U.S. stand-alone gas stations and U.S. stand-alone supermarkets, and single points on other purchases. I actually do not have this card in my wallet, but Mr. Deals was able to snag the business version of this card last fall during a one day only 75,000 point offer and the bonus categories have really paid off. Mr. Deals flies a decent amount for work and luckily is able to use his own personal credit card, not a company corporate card – phew! This card has allowed him to earn 3x points on all airfare when booked directly with the airline. It is also the card we use for all our personal travel as well. Even if you do not purchase airfare much, 2x points on gas and grocery purchases in the US is huge.
Redeeming
My preferred use is to transfer points to a partner airline, which includes: Air Canada, Singapore, ANA, British Airways, Iberia, Delta, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, Alitalia, Aeromexico, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America, El Al, Frontier, JetBlue, Hawaiian. Unlike Chase Ultimate Rewards, transferring to hotels has a pretty poor transfer rate (i.e., Amex to Starwood transfers at 3:1) – thus making airlines your #1 transfer opportunity. While this might be limiting for some, there are many programs and Amex often runs some pretty unbelievable bonus offers when transferring your points over. This past year we have seen, for example, 40% bonus to Delta + MQMs, 25% bonus to AirFrance/KLM, 20% bonus to Iberia, 20% bonus to British Airways, and probably many more that I am forgetting. The transfer bonus opportunities to British Airways are my favorite.
*Terms and limitations apply.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links where I get paid a small commission if you apply and get approved for a credit card. I will only list the best credit card offers as my goal is for you to travel for free!
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
I just applied for the SPG card 3 days ago, and was approved under the 25k points offer. When I just used the link you gave for personalized offers it shows me 30k points. I just called Amex to ask if it can be changed, and was told by two different people that I’d have to apply again because the system won’t let them change it. This doesn’t seem to follow with what I’ve read about this kind of thing – sound like BS to you?
I’m also seeing a 50k points offer for PRG. Thoughts on whether I could get approved again so close together? Too bad my wife doesn’t have the same offer or we could just have her apply instead.
@Pete – For the SPG offer, I would suggest sending them a secure message. Typically Amex is much better at handling situations and bumping up targeted bonuses via this route vs. a phone call. You can send them a secure message on the Amex site when you are logged into your account. Typically they would give you the 5k points manually once you meet the spending terms.
For the PRG offer, I would wait a little bit (at least a month). Does it state in your targeted offer the expiration date? Amex is much better than Chase in allowing multiple applications go through, so have a feeling you will be fine. Might have to call the reconsideration line and potentially shift some credit around.
Is this card churable? I just closed mine about 4 months ago.
@John – Typically you need about 2 years with AMEX to get the sign on bonus again. However, if the card you closed had a much lower sign up bonus, you might be eligible to get the difference in points. If the card had a 15k bonus and this card is now 25k, you might be able to get 10k.
Quick question on “churning” from a newbie. Does that wait cycle begin immediately after you cancel the card?
@Neil – It really depends on the card issuer. For Amex, specifically, you may be able to get the sign on bonus 2 years after you cancelled the card. Unfortunately, there is no set rules on this.
Isnt better to wait until the offer is at least 50,000 or even 75,000? I mean, 25,000 is great, but they just recently had 50/75 offers….
@They haven’t had any 50k/075k public offers, just targeted. But yes, if you are not in a rush, I’d hold out for a targeted offer. I’ve been yet to be targeted though.
[…] and shipping. You will then earn 1x point on all other purchases. This card and the personal American Express Premier Gold card have great values when it comes to purchasing airfare. Although, you might remember a prior post to […]
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