American Express is offering 50,000 Membership Rewards Points (worth $250 in gift cards) for New Amex Card Members who apply for the American Express Explorer Card and spend $4,000 or more on eligible purchases within the first 3 months of the approval date. Minimum spend, eligibility and T&Cs apply.

The current bonus Membership Rewards Points can be redeemed for $250 worth of gift cards and the $400 annual Travel Credit makes it an even more compelling offer.

The main benefit of the card is that it earns points into the American Express Membership Rewards, which provides flexibility in the frequent flyer and guest programs that you can divert your Membership Rewards Points to, without the high annual fee found with The American Express Platinum Card that caters to the very well-heeled traveller.

The card earn members up to 2 points per dollar spent on purchases and the points can either be redeemed for gift cards or can be transferred at a ratio of 2:1 Membership Rewards points into programs such as Velocity, Asia Miles and Etihad Guest as well as Hilton Honors, 3:1 to KrisFlyer Miles and Emirates Skywards, and 3:2 to Marriott Bonvoy.

We cover the transfer rates to different programs in more detail further down in the guide.

Digging into the benefits of the American Express Explorer

The American Express Explorer earns 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar on ongoing spend and there is no cap on the points you can earn.

Card Details

CardAmerican Express Explorer
Loyalty ProgramAmerican Express Membership Rewards
Points earned from spend2 Membership Rewards points earned per $1 on all purchases except government bodies where you will earn 1 point per $1 spent
Included InsurancesSmartphone Screen Cover
Trip Cancellation and Amendment Cover
Travel Inconvenience Cover
Medical Emergency Expenses Cover
Resumption of Long International Trip Cover
Personal Baggage, Valuables, Money and Travel Documents Cover
Personal Liability Cover
Loss Damage Waiver Cover
Card Refund and Purchase Cover
Buyer’s Advantage Cover
(PDS)
Overseas transaction fee3% of the converted amount
Mobile walletApple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay
Annual fee$395 p.a.

You will also be granted access to The Centurion® Lounge at Sydney or Melbourne twice per year without charge, which is a nice perk for international travellers in Economy or Premium Economy.

The card offers complimentary Silver status to the Hilton Honors program. If you already have the card, you can enrol using this link.

There is also a business version of the American Express Explorer card.

Earning points with the American Express Explorer

The card belongs to the American Express Membership Rewards program for points earn and redemption.

The headline points earn rate on spend is 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar, which equates to 1 frequent flyer point per dollar spent.

Effective Frequent Flyer Program Point Earn Rates

Frequent Flyer / Hotel ProgramPoints earned from spend
Velocity Frequent FlyerUp to 1 point / $
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyerUp to 0.66 mile / $
Cathay Pacific Asia MilesUp to 1 mile / $

These are the key programs for those who want to learn how to get the most value from their frequent flyer points. There is great value to be had for different reasons from each of these programs, Velocity (for Business Class travel on Virgin Australia), KrisFlyer (premium cabin travel on Singapore Airlines) and Asia Miles (great for long-haul premium cabin redemptions on oneworld airlines such as Cathay Pacific and Qantas).

American Express Membership Rewards PartnersTransfer Rates
Velocity Frequent Flyer
Asia Miles
Etihad Guest
Malaysian Airlines Enrich
THAI Royal Orchid Plus
HawaiianMiles
Qatar Privilege Club
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
2 Membership Rewards points = 1 frequent flyer point
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Emirates Skywards
3 Membership Rewards points = 1 frequent flyer point
Marriott Bonvoy3 Membership Rewards points = 2 Marriott points
Hilton Honors2 Membership Rewards points = 1 Honors point
Air New Zealand Airpoints200 Membership Rewards points = 1 Airpoints
Helloworld
American Express Travel Online
David Jones Pay with points
Ticketmaster
20,000 Membership Rewards points = $100 travel reward
You could transfer your points to KrisFlyer to book an award flight in Singapore Airlines’ modern A350 and Boeing 777-300ER Business Class

You’ll also earn the full points on the Explorer card for utilities and bills, unlike some other cards American Express offers. This means you’ll get full points on telecommunications and utilities, but not on government charges, such as the ATO and Australia Post.

$400 annual Travel Credit with American Express Travel

American Express Travel is the travel booking service that Amex offers to most of its Card Members for either preferential rates or bonus points.

As a Card Member, the $400 credit appears in your account on the Amex Travel website and can be redeemed for flights (excluding low-cost carriers), hotels, and car rentals.

In addition, you may also use the credit to book a stay at properties under The Hotel Collection using Pay with Points.

The great thing about the Travel Credit, by comparison to a free flight or hotel benefit that some other cards offer, is that it is flexible. Prefer to pay for Business or First Class? You can use the credit to offset these costs.

You can use your travel credit to book any of the cabins–Economy, Premium Economy, Business or First–on this British Airways Airbus A380.

A point to be aware of, however, is that the credit is generally non-refundable if you decide to cancel your booking (although this restriction has been waived during the COVID-19 pandemic). Therefore, make sure to use your credit on a travel booking with a high degree of certainty that it will go ahead.

The credit is renewed yearly after your annual fee is charged, but does not always exactly align with the statement period when the fee is charged.

If you make even just one trip a year where you can use the credit, the $400 Travel Credit is as good as cash and helps to offset the $395 annual fee of the card—just remember the restrictions around having to book through Amex Travel, and that it’s non-refundable.

Note: You will need to use your annual $400 Travel Credit on a single travel booking of $400 or more on your eligible Card, made through American Express Travel Online. Your booking will be charged in full to your American Express Explorer Credit Card and American Express will then credit $400 to your Account within 3 business days but may take up to 30 days. You will still receive your $400 Travel Credit each year, and your Travel Credit anniversary will remain the same. Click here for the full Terms & Conditions.

Get a room upgrade and US$100 hotel credit at high-end hotels

Explorer Card Members can now enjoy special benefits at properties part of The Hotel Collection. Every time you book two consecutive nights stay or more at one of these properties with your American Express Explorer Credit Card, you will receive:

  1. Up to US$100 hotel credit to spend on qualifying dining, spa and resort activities
  2. Complimentary room upgrade at check-in, when available
The Ritz Carlton Tokyo
Your US$75 credit can be used to eat at restaurants within the hotel

Included Insurances

There are a number of insurances available through the Explorer Card. These include:

  • Smartphone Screen Cover: up to $500 of screen repairs if you accidentally break your smartphone screen, with a 10% claim excess
  • Medical Emergency Expenses Cover: up to $2,500,000 towards medical treatment
  • Travel Cancellation and Amendment Cover: up to $30,000 in the event that your travel is cancelled for specific reasons
  • Baggage, Money and Documentation Cover: up to $10,000 to cover loss or damage to baggage, money or documents
  • Travel Inconvenience Insurance: up to $500 if your flight departure is delayed for four hours or more

One example of the coverage included—the Travel Insurance has a similar car rental ‘Loss Damage Waiver’ cover as its big brother, the $1,450 p.a. American Express Platinum Card, just with a slightly lower total vehicle value cover of $100,000.

The Smartphone Screen Cover is activated regardless of whether you hold a contract for the phone or whether you purchased the phone outright.

Similar conditions apply to the travel insurances. As an example, you will need to pay for the travel expenses on your card, with Amex Travel Credit, or with your Membership Rewards points to be covered.

You can read the PDS for the insurance benefits of the Explorer Card here.

This guide references some of the benefits of insurance policies provided with this card. You should read the PDS and obtain independent professional advice before obtaining this product.

American Express Plan It

American Express launched ‘Plan It’ in mid-2020, which allows cardholders to create instalment plans that allow for equal payments to be distributed over a 3, 6 or 12 month payment period. There is a monthly fixed fee to access this feature, with up to 10 Plan It plans with a minimum of $150 balance able to be created.

Unparalleled mobile wallet integration

American Express cards support Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, meaning you can use this card on your smartphone for easier payments.

Read the Point Hacks guide to using Apple Pay or for using Google Pay and Samsung Pay, including instructions on how to add your American Express card to those services.

With this feature set up, it means you could still use your NFC-enabled phone to make purchases with your American Express account, even if your physical card is lost or stolen and pending replacement.

American Express offer a range of both business and consumer charge and credit cards. They do permit business transactions to be made on personal cards, unlike some other banks, but you might find some of the other business-focused benefits of the business cards to be appealing or more appropriate.

So – if you’re a sole trader or a business looking to earn points with your business spend – this card would still work for that purpose.

There’s a full list of business and personal consumer American Express cards which might be suitable for earning points from business-related transactions here.

Eligibility criteria for bonus points for existing American Express Card Members

American Express is quite specific about whether existing Card Members will be eligible for bonus points if they apply for a card, are approved, and meet the minimum spend criteria.

Card Members who currently hold or who have previously held any Card product issued by American Express Australia Limited in the preceding 18-month period are ineligible for this offer.

American Express doesn’t allow existing Card Members, even for different types of American Express cards (e.g. Charge, Credit or Business) to be eligible for bonus points offers for cards in a different family.

Summing Up

This is a very compelling card proposition from American Express for those looking to access the Membership Rewards Program at a mid-level annual cost.

Each year, the $395 annual fee is more than rebated by the $400 Travel Credit, with the main consideration being that you’ll need to use it by booking through Amex Travel.

When it comes to earning points, this card could work well for people whose spend is not focused on the bonus categories found with other Amex-issued cards, such as supermarkets and fuel as with the American Express Platinum Edge Card.

The lack of bonus categories, but with a high effective frequent flyer point earn rate, means that it’s simple to consider just how many points you might be earning and whether the card will work for you.

All up, this is a card tailored to those looking for simplicity: high points earn from your spending, a wide range of points transfer partners, a large travel credit, insurance coverage, and The Centurion® Lounge visits at Sydney and Melbourne Airports.

50,000 Membership Rewards Points (worth $250 in gift cards) plus $400 annual Travel Credit with The American Express Explorer Card was last modified: November 7th, 2023 by Daniel Sciberras