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
| Card | American Express Explorer |
| Loyalty Program | American Express Membership Rewards |
| Points earned from spend | 2 Membership Rewards points earned per $1 on all purchases except government bodies where you will earn 1 point per $1 spent |
| Included Insurances | Smartphone 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 fee | 3% of the converted amount |
| Mobile wallet | Apple 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 Program | Points earned from spend |
|---|---|
| Velocity Frequent Flyer | Up to 1 point / $ |
| Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | Up to 0.66 mile / $ |
| Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | Up 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 Partners | Transfer 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 Bonvoy | 3 Membership Rewards points = 2 Marriott points |
| Hilton Honors | 2 Membership Rewards points = 1 Honors point |
| Air New Zealand Airpoints | 200 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’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.
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:
- Up to US$100 hotel credit to spend on qualifying dining, spa and resort activities
- Complimentary room upgrade at check-in, when available
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.
Considering this card for Business-related transactions?
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.
As far as we know, the devaluation will occur on 15 April 2019.
I applied the card on 24th FEB, got approved the next day on 25th FEB.
The card arrived on 27th FEB and I spent 1.5K over the next few days.
I got the 100K points yesterday on the 4th MAR, so it’s only seven days.
Thank you very much!
Thanks!
Thanks
As you are an additional card holder and not the primary pone, you should be eligible for this offer. However, I recommend getting in touch with American Express and getting their confirmation, and also request them to put in into notes on your account.
Please see my response to your earlier question. Thanks.
If you give a supplementary card to others who are not spouse or dependent children, then only selected covers can apply, according to those specified in the T&C.
If in doubt, always confirm with AMEX as the source of truth as terms can change/update over time.
This card will also NOT provide travel cover to additional card holders (while you being the primary card holder).
This sucks and i hope Amex changes it.
On page 3 of the T&C,s it does state that the cover applies to the Primary Card Member, including spouses and dependent children who may also be Supplementary Card Members.
It may be worth reconfirming this with American Express also.
Please update the details accordingly.
I know you cant tell me what to do but can you help with my options?
I want to fly BNE-London (any airport, cheapest best, going straight to Bedford). Then Rome-BNE for the return flight.
I have Velocity (111,000) and Amex (133,000) points plus $400 Amex travel credit.
I know I can do Velocity for 75k each way plus approx $250 per flight.
What other options do I have that would be beneficial?
Is it worth using Amex points directly or always transfer them to an airline? I have KrisFlyer but no points on it.
Can you please help me with my choices at all? 🙂
Thank you!
is this 75k offer is a new promotion havent been introduced before?? now 75K instead of 100k?
Do you think we will see 100,000 bonus points be offered again like when the card was launched?
If this is the best deal we are likely to see, what can we boost this to if we get referred by someone who currently holds the card/another Amex card?
Can you confirm what the current referral bonus is for both parties in this case?
Thanks
just after some clarification please, i have my annual fee due any day now, see that i can pay it and then within 30 days cancel the card with the annual fee refunded,
anything in place using this annual fee (travel credit) for some flights, and then cancel before the 30 days is up??
thanks in advance
any downsides i’m missing if the above is my sole aim? (and the bonus categories on platinum aren’t relevant)
I’m presuming the flight is unaffected. the Does anyone have any experience of this?
If you have an Ascent Premium-earning card, then that ratio is upped to 1:1. More on the differences here.
I was wondering a few questions that I can’t seem to locate online.
I am currently a Velocity AMEX Card Holder and took advantage of the 100k points deal they had this time last year.
My plan is:
– Refer my Dad to AMEX (to take advantage of the referral points 30K)
– Dad (assuming spends the 3k etc) will then receive the 100,000 AMEX Points.
My question is, what is the best way possible for me personally to take advantage of those points? Would becoming a secondary card holder on “his account” make this possible? Or can he transfer to me somehow?
Looking forward to see what others have done in this scenario
Thanks
If I have the qantas express ultimate card, will this make me ineligible for this card?
In the past i have had credit cards with ‘free flights’ and noticed they don’t give you any status credits or points on the free flight. Would the same apply on a flight booked with he $400 credit on the Amex web site?
The prices should be the same on the VA and Amex websites but it’s always good to cross-check.
And I can’t see anything in the terms and conditions saying that you are excluded from earning points or Status Credits on this booking.
Looking at the Explorer card it seems more suitable for my travel needs. What are my options of change the card type (note that I haven’t activated the Velocity card).
Cheers
For the Explorer, per $1 spent, you’ll earn 2 Membership Rewards points. Due to the 4:3 transfer ratio, $1 ends up being equal to 1.5 Velocity points.
As for the ANZ Rewards Platinum, per $1 spent, you’ll earn 1.5 Rewards points. Due to the 2:1 transfer ratio, $1 ends up being equal to only 0.75 Velocity points.
So the Explorer earns you double the amount of Velocity points and doesn’t have a points cap, with the ANZ card does.
Just wondering if wehen transferring points from my Explorer card, does it equate to status points or $ Points when transferred.
For example, I am Gold Elite with Star Alliance through Air New Zealand, I need 600 more Airpoints to retain it this year, Which i am not going to get – If I trasnferred my Amex Points, I would make this, But I want to ensure my Amex points count towards Airpoints, rather than Airpoint Dollars.
I’m also a member of Singapore Airlines, but with no status – I would move my Amex points to this if it meant the points would count towards status.
Thanks in advance.
Cheers,
_C
If I am currently holding a secondary card (my partner is the primary card holder), will I still be eligible for the bonus sign up?
Being a supplementary cardholder shouldn’t make you ineligible for the signup bonus. Since only the main cardholder of the account is what’s usually assessed in credit card applications.
Technically, you’re a new customer to Amex.
Do you have any idea how tight they are on the minimum annual income? My fiance is on a 60k pkg annually and would love to get a hold of this card.
Cheers
Now I’m not even sure how many points I’ll get, and if I’ll get any as it’s taken so long to be approved? Will they still give me the sign up bonus even if the card was approved 3+ months after I applied for it?
Workarounds – transfer points to a program which allows points pooling / sharing. Primarily these would be Starwood or Velocity.
Amex also let you do transfers between accounts for a fee but it’s usually cost prohibitive and there is a 50k limit.
Personally, I transfer to Starwood and merge over there and use for hotel redemptions.
Anyone kept track on the regularity of these offers from Amex??
It appears the Vehicle cover for the explorer card is virtually identical aside from the 125K->100K value of the vehicle. Great!.
I read Todd’s awesome guide here: http://www.ridehacks.com.au/ultimate-guide-to-rental-car-insurance/#credit-cards that is referenced across the PointHacks website.
The section here has confused me though when he states:
To this effect, Avis and Hertz may be well-matched rental providers for Amex Platinum cardholders because the ‘un excessed-ed’ items are not considered a breach of agreement.
I don’t understand why the Amex Explorer card would be a better fit for Avis and Hertz and not say Thrifty …what am i missing here?
We will pay any amounts You are responsible for under the Rental
Agreement, including the Deductible if loss is incurred during a
Covered Rental Trip, as a result of accidental damage, fire, vandalism,
theft or loss of use of the Rental Vehicle.
I’ll clarify my point about the ‘breach of agreement’. The forewarning is that this is a technicality within the insurance PDS which may or may not be used by Ace (the Amex insurance provider) against you. Alas, it’s worth considering anyway.
All rental excess policies have a specific clause along the lines of: ‘If you break the rental agreement, our excess protection policy is void’. Now this is obvious if you are drink driving, using it as an Uber X car, or some other obvious ‘breach of agreement’.
The lesser known ‘breach’ that I found in the Europcar T’s and C’s (note: haven’t checked to see if they have changed…they often do) is that when you suffer certain damage where there is no coverage by Europcar, e.g. tyres and windscreen, where you have to pay for the full amount to fix the damage. However the wording is that this is a ‘severe breach of the rental agreement’.
This kind of sucks because it would imply that Amex (and all other ‘rental excess insurers’) should technically leave you out in the cold. If it was a ding in the door, they will cover you because you didn’t breach the agreement. But if it’s underbody damage, they could worm out of it. Be careful.
I’m not sure with thrifty, I haven’t checked their policy but considering they now have a Tesla I probably should add it into the article.
Let me know how else I can help!
Business Class return ticket from Sydney to Los Angeles on Asia Miles is 120,000 points while on QFF it’s 192,000 points. It means you have to spend $48,000 more to redeem the same flight!
I too am a little miffed about the lack of QFF support. SPG transfers won’t work either.
Anyone know of any other way of transferring point to QFF.
Also, has anyone received their bonus 100,000 points. Was there anything else you had to do other than spend your minimum $$$?
I logged in today and its reverted back but yeh that was one of the quirks.
I have been travelling for the past 3-4 weeks, and have travelled to China and Thailand. I found that certain merchants in those countries netted me 2points per dollar whilst some didn’t. Which was really weird. Hey I’m not complaining but was wondering if anyone else had similar discrepancies.
Regards
Is the Amex Velocity for example a “consumer” card?
Is it possible to apply for the Explore card and recieve the bonus points even though I currently hold a Amex Velocity Card? I’m hearing that some people are still getting the bonuses.
on the amex pages it says only new customers? If i have a NAB Velocity AMEX card im not going to be able to get these points, am i correct?
I am comparing the Explorer and the Amex Velocity Platinum. In terms of the points earned, is there a black and white answer to which is the better earner or does it depend on personal spending habits…the Platinum got a little confusing with the 3 different levels of points to be earned at restaurants, travel etc.
Thanks,
http://catalogue.membershiprewards.com.au/en/viewPartnerOverview.mtw
Is this a different program to the Membership Rewards Gateway?
My wife currently has a supplementary card for my Platinum Edge card. Does 18 month restriction apply to her in this case?
Oct/Nov are generally quiet months in terms of spend.
I have an altitude black amex card issued through Westpac so will I have to wait the 18 month qualifying period or is it for amex cards issued through amex Australia directly.
I will get 1 of these if I can get the sign on bonus
I haven’t yet received my first statement -might it become available after this or will it become available at all?
I’m hoping to refer my partner before the deal expires at the end of November.
The annual fee gets charged on day 1 whilst the travel credit only gets credited on the 1st anniversary (i.e. 1 year later).
You might be interested to know that my new Explorer card is pooling points into my Ascent Premium rewards account. I have AMEX Plat charge with the Plat Reserve Credit …and now the new Explorer. Was expecting Explorer to link to a some sort of new Gateway rewards account but its not. After the Explorer first use the points were pooled into the general points account for my Plat charge card.
This effectively means the Explorer is earning 2 points per $ with no cap and can be transferred at 1:1 into SQ, Virgin, Qantas etc…
Is it worth shifting from Citi prestige?
Does anyone know if the points bonus is limited to one person per household?
I added my partner as a supplementary card holder, but in retrospect she should probably apply for the card and get the bonus too. After a year we might supplement the cards and get cumulative points that way.
Anyone more experienced with this kind of thing see any issues with this?
Now that Westpac is downgrading its points transfer to Singapore/Virgin to be only 1.2points per $ this card is now the winner (after Amex plat cap) at 1.5 points per $ and no cap. No sign up bonus is a shame and agree with Dan on this.
Can you transfer points from one Membership rewards program to another? Also are family transfers allowed?
Same for a family transfer, I assume you mean between two people who hold cards in the same kind of Membership Rewards?
The reason I have it working was because Charge online services were not working for me as a cardholder of both. It seems like this can happen if you are a cardholder of Edge first and then take the Charge; the fact that the Edge is your primary and oldest card seems to mess your online account up.
It then seems like the only way to solve this is to find someone on the phone in Amex Card Services who really knows what they are doing, and have them pool the points accounts. And then you get the nice outcome of earning points on Edge into Ascent Premium, not just Ascent, and having points pooled too.
Back to Explorer. Due to Ascent vs Gateway, I don’t see points pooling working at all with two cards in different programs. Very happy to be proven wrong, of course.