American Express is currently offering 5,000 bonus points for adding an additional Card Member to your account and having them meet a minimum spend requirement. You’ll want to check if any of your cards have been targeted for the offer.
The 5,000 bonus points are awarded in the points currency of the main card, being Membership Rewards points, Qantas Points or Velocity Points.
And as with all additional member/supplementary cards:
- It is an additional card on the primary Card Members’ account, so will not exclude the additional Card Member from a sign-up bonus in the future
- Additional Card Members must be 16 years of age or older
- You will be liable for all cardholders’ spending—but you will also earn points for their purchases
- Some cards charge a fee to add an additional Card Member, whereas others don’t—be sure to read the fine print
- Additional Card Members are eligible for Amex Offers
The last time this promotion was run was in October last year, with 5,000 points offered.
Based on our valuations, 5,000 bonus Amex Membership Rewards points are worth $50. The 5,000 Velocity Points on offer are worth a higher $90, and Qantas Points the most, at $95.
The full terms and conditions of this offer are at the end of this post.
How to add an additional Card Member to your Amex account to earn bonus points
- Check your email to see if you were targeted for the promotion
- If not, do one of the following (my recommendations in order):
- log in to your American Express account and look for a pop-up advertising the offer
- if you don’t see a pop-up, open live chat and ask the agent if you are eligible for the offer on any of your cards
- if you don’t want to do this online, call the number on the back of your card and ask the phone agent if you are eligible for the offer
- Click on My Account
- Click on Add someone to your account
- Choose the card you’d like to add the additional Card Member to
- Fill out the form
- Add the additional Card Member by 31 March
- Have the additional Card Member spend at least $500 on the card by 30 April
- Wait until sometime in July to receive the bonus points
Offer history
- March 2020: 5,000 bonus points for adding an additional Card Member
- September-October 2019: 5,000 bonus points for adding an additional Card Member
- August 2018: 3,000 bonus points for adding an additional Card Member
Summing up
If you are able to add a trusted additional Card Member to your American Express account and are willing to take liability for their purchases, then this is a great way to pick up some extra American Express Membership Rewards points to use on redemptions like these.
Do you plan on taking advantage of this promotion? Are you eligible?
Have you had success receiving bonus points with this promotion? Let us know, including which card you hold, in the comments below!
Offer terms and conditions
Cards are offered, issued, and administered by American Express Australia Limited ABN 92 108 952 085, Australian Credit Licence No. 291313. American Express income and credit approval criteria applies. Subject to Terms and Conditions. Interest rates, fees and charges apply. All information, including fees, charges and interest rates are correct as at 10 February 2020 and are subject to change.
The Primary Card Member will receive 5,000 Bonus Points when they apply for an Additional Card by 31 March 2020, and the Additional Card Member spends $500 on eligible purchases by the 30 April 2020. This offer is limited to the first approved Additional Card added during this campaign. Eligible purchases do not include cash advances, interest, balance transfers, fees and charges for travellers cheques and foreign currencies. 5,000 Bonus Points will be awarded to the Primary Card Member’s Account 8 – 10 weeks after the offer ends (30 April 2020). This advertised offer is not applicable or valid in conjunction with any other advertised or promotional offer. This offer is only available to Card Members who have received a direct invitation from American Express.
Additional Card Members must be 16 years of age or over. Additional Card Members were previously referred to as “Supplementary Card Members”. The basic Card Member will be liable to pay for all transactions made by Additional Card Members. Earning of points is subject to the terms and conditions of the Rewards Program the Basic Card Member is actively enrolled. All points earned on Additional Card Member spend will go to the Primary Card Members Account.
Additional Card Fees May apply to the following Card products. Qantas Classic up to $30p.a. per Additional Card. Qantas Premium up to $30p.a. per Additional Card. Gold Charge Card up to $65p.a. Per Additional Card. Green Charge Card up to $40p.a. per Additional Card. Gold Credit Card up to $20p.a. per Additional Card. David Jones American Express card is $0 for the first year, $29 for subsequent years. David Jones American Express Platinum Card is $0 for up to 4 Additional Cards, $99 p.a. thereafter.
Just a quick question on adding an additional card holder. Does this process mean that Amex will do another credit enquiry on me? Or on the additional card holder? I don’t want unnecessary credit enquiries on my credit file so I just want to make sure they don’t do this as standard practice. Thanks
Hi James, additional cardholders don’t incur additional credit enquiries.
Does anyone know if the effects the additional card holder’s ability to benefit from “new customer” offers? Thanks
Hi Andrew
Additional cardholders are able to benefit from “new customer” offers, as the account for the additional card is not in their name.
Thanks Daniel. We’re about 9 months through the Boss’s “waiting” period before she applies for a new Amex and I didn’t want to risk resetting the clock.
Called up today and the offer apparently finished on the 23rd. However, they mentioned further offers will be released on the 15th of December for the Xmas period.
I missed this offer at the time, but when I logged onto my Platinum Reserve card account (companion credit card to the Platinum Charge, I was given the offer of 3,000 points to the first additional card member once they spend $750 on the card. There was an Apply Now button and I did it online. I assume I’m eligible as I was logged into my account at the time.
I added an additional cardholder to four of my cards (Platinum, Ultimate, DJs and Westpac Altitude last week. Points in account within two days except for Platinum Charge.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi I’ve got the Amex Gold Velocity card. I received the supplementary card but no points as yet.
Hi Daniel,
Thanks for the heads-up. Yes, it worked! I called and added my wife as a supplementary cardholder for my Platinum Edge card. I was told I’d receive the 3000 bonus points within the next four weeks. I also asked whether I could also add my daughter but was told that the 3000 points can be given only once per card. I also have an AmEx Explorer and was told that I could earn another 3000 points by adding a supplementary cardholder to the Explorer. Alas, I couldn’t think of anyone else to add as my wife and daughter already are supp cardholders!
I had this offer show up online under the offers section when i logged in, so it doesn’t need to be dont over the phone.
Good to hear. I’ve added that into the status bar of this post.
Hi
I added 1 family member to three of my cards (Plat edge, DJs and Westpac Altitude about 3 weeks ago.Points in account within two days.
Great to hear!