If you’ve been thinking about getting the American Express Platinum Card, now could be a very good time to take another look.

There is currently an enhanced welcome offer of a whopping 100,000 Membership Rewards points when you apply via an eligible referral offer linked below and meet the required spending target.

That’s a seriously generous haul of points — and because Amex Membership Rewards points transfer to British Airways Club at 1:1, 100,000 Membership Rewards points can become 100,000 Avios.

How do you get the 100,000 points?

The current enhanced offer gives you 100,000 Membership Rewards points when you:

• Apply for the Platinum Card through an eligible referral offer
• Are approved for the card
• Spend £6,000 within the first three months of Cardmembership

The enhanced referral offer is currently available until 3 November 2026, although Amex offers can change, so check the terms presented when you apply.

You also need to meet Amex’s eligibility requirements. In particular, you won’t qualify for the welcome bonus if you currently hold, or have held within the previous 24 months, a personal American Express Card that earns Membership Rewards points.

100,000 points can become 100,000 Avios

For anyone collecting Avios, this is where the offer gets particularly interesting.

Amex Membership Rewards points can be transferred to British Airways Club at a rate of 1 Membership Rewards point to 1 Avios. Transfers are currently available in increments of 500 points, with a minimum transfer of 1,000 points.

So the welcome bonus alone can give you:

100,000 Membership Rewards points = 100,000 Avios

That’s a substantial chunk of Avios that could be used towards flights with British Airways and other oneworld airlines.

And you’re not restricted to Avios. Membership Rewards has a range of airline and hotel transfer partners, giving you plenty of flexibility over how you use the points.

What else do you get with the Platinum Card?

The 100,000-point welcome bonus is the headline attraction, but the Platinum Card comes with a long list of travel and lifestyle benefits.

Airport lounge access

The Platinum Card gives you access to more than 1,550 airport lounges in over 140 countries, including through the American Express Global Lounge Collection and Priority Pass. The main cardholder and Platinum supplementary cardholder can also bring one guest into participating lounges at no additional charge, subject to the applicable terms.

If you travel regularly, this can be one of the most useful benefits of the card.

Worldwide travel insurance

The card includes comprehensive worldwide travel insurance for the cardmember and eligible supplementary cardmembers, including their partners and dependent children, for trips of up to 90 days, subject to the policy’s terms, eligibility requirements and exclusions.

£400 Global Dining Credit

The Platinum Card currently comes with up to £400 of Global Dining Credit — £200 to spend at participating restaurants in the UK and another £200 at participating restaurants abroad.

You’ll need to enrol and use the credit at eligible restaurants, and the benefit is subject to the applicable terms.

Hotel benefits

There are also a range of hotel benefits available through Platinum, including benefits at participating hotels that can include room upgrades, late checkout and credits to spend during your stay. Amex currently values the headline hotel benefits at £551.

Complimentary supplementary card

You can also add a first Platinum supplementary card at no additional annual fee. This can be useful for sharing some of the card’s benefits and earning additional Membership Rewards points on their spending.

And plenty more

The card also includes:

• 2 Membership Rewards points per £1 spent through Amex Travel
• 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 on other eligible purchases
• American Express Offers
• Purchase and Refund Protection
• Platinum Travel Services
• American Express Experiences
• A complimentary digital subscription to The Times and Sunday Times
• Benefits at The Bicester Collection

The Platinum Card is very much a premium travel card, rather than simply a points-earning credit card.

Is 100,000 points really that generous?

Yes.

The Platinum Card has a £650 annual fee, so it’s not a card you should take simply because the welcome bonus looks attractive. You need to be confident that you’ll get enough value from the travel, dining and lifestyle benefits to justify the fee.

But a 100,000-point welcome bonus is unusually substantial.

If you’re already able to put £6,000 of normal, planned spending through a card over three months, earning 100,000 Membership Rewards points on top of the card’s regular rewards and benefits is a compelling proposition.

And if your aim is Avios, the maths is particularly simple:

£6,000 of qualifying spending → 100,000 Membership Rewards points → 100,000 Avios

That’s before taking into account the points you earn from the £6,000 of spending itself.

Platinum or Gold?

The Platinum Card isn’t necessarily the right choice for everyone. The annual fee is significantly higher than the Preferred Rewards Gold Card, and whether Platinum is worthwhile depends heavily on how much you travel and how much use you can make of its benefits.

We’ve compared the two cards in detail here:

Amex Platinum vs Gold Personal Cards UK

It’s worth reading that comparison before applying, particularly if you’re trying to decide whether the Platinum benefits justify the annual fee.

Bottom line

100,000 Membership Rewards points is a seriously generous welcome offer.

For an Avios collector, the ability to turn those points into 100,000 Avios at a 1:1 transfer rate to British Airways Club makes the offer particularly compelling.

The Platinum Card also comes with a huge package of travel benefits, including airport lounge access, worldwide travel insurance, hotel benefits and up to £400 of Global Dining Credit.

The important thing is to make sure you can comfortably meet the £6,000 spending requirement within three months through spending you would make anyway, and that you can get enough value from the card to justify its £650 annual fee.

But if you’re already looking for a premium travel card and have £6,000 of planned spending coming up, 100,000 Membership Rewards points is an offer that’s very difficult for points collectors to ignore.