What bonuses can you get for adding free Amex supplementary cards to your account?

We often get questions on American Express supplementary cards in our forum or emailed to us directly, so I though it was worth taking a proper look at how they work. There are often misconceptions and confusion about them.

Today I want to talk about the benefits of adding a supplementary cardholder to your Amex account and what bonus you will earn if you do. A second article tomorrow will explore the topic in more detail.

Until 30th April 2026, American Express is offering special bonuses to Preferred Rewards Gold and The Platinum Card cardholders who have never issued a supplementary card before – full details are below.

Why should you add a supplementary cardholder?

Reason 1 – it is easier to hit spending bonuses

The obvious first reason is that, by giving your partner a supplementary card on your American Express account, you can both focus your spending onto the same card.

This is especially useful if you are working towards a spend-based bonus, such as:

• the 2-4-1 Companion Voucher on the British Airways American Express cards, which requires annual spending of £15,000

• The British Airways Club tier points you receive for spending £15,000, £20,000 and £25,000 each year (during a defined period) on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card

• the bonus Membership Rewards points you earn for spending £10,000 and £20,000 per year on the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card 

• the free night voucher you earn for spending £25,000 per year on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card

It also makes it easier to trigger a sign-up bonus, such as the £6,000 in three months of spending required on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card to receive the 30,000 Avios bonus.

Reason 2 – you can share card benefits with other people

If you have The Platinum Card from American Express, it is crazy not to allocate your one free Platinum supplementary card.  The person who gets it will receive:

• a Priority Pass for airport lounge access for themselves and a guest

• full travel insurance for themselves and their immediate family (do check the pre-existing conditions list first, age limit of 70 applies)

• Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium, Melia Rewards Gold and Marriott Bonvoy Gold hotel status

• Eurostar lounge access (no guests allowed)

Even if you are single, you might want to issue a supplementary Platinum to a trusted friend or relative purely for the benefits.  My Mum had a supplementary Platinum on my account until she hit 70 purely for the travel insurance.

You can issue further supplementary Platinum cards for £285 each per year.  This could be good value for the right person given the travel insurance, Priority Pass and hotel status card benefits.

Note that not all American Express cards give all of their benefits to supplementary cardholders, so check the small print.

The Platinum Card dining credits are NOT doubled up for supplementary cardholders for example. Similarly, Preferred Rewards Gold supplementary cardholders do not receive the four airport lounge passes or the £120 of Deliveroo credit.

Reason 3 – you can double-up on ‘statement credit’ cashback deals

Many people do not know that the holder of a supplementary card can register it as a stand-alone card on the American Express website.

If my wife logs in to her Amex online account, for example, she can see her own Platinum and British Airways American Express Premium Plus cards as well as the supplementary card she has on my Platinum account.

Importantly, the supplementary card receives its own batch of statement credit offers.  This means that, if an offer appears on both your main card and the supplementary, you can register for it twice and earn it twice.

This can make a major difference to justifying your annual card fee. This works especially well on the £95 Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card.

For the last few years, twice per year, Marriott has given an exclusive ‘£75 cashback on £200 of Marriott spend’ offer to cardholders. This appears on your free supplementary card too meaning that you can get up to £300 cashback per year. We wrote a dedicated article on this.

Reason 4 – you get bonus Membership Rewards points or Avios

American Express has a dedicated page on its website which you can use for issuing supplementary cards.  You can find it here.

The bonus is only paid on the FIRST supplementary card issued per account. You will receive:

• 9,000 Membership Rewards points for issuing your first Preferred Rewards Gold supplementary card (special offer to 30th April 2026)

• 12,000 Membership Rewards points for issuing your first Platinum supplementary card (special offer to 30th April 2026)

• 5,000 Avios for issuing your first British Airways American Express Premium Plus supplementary card

• 1,000 Avios for issuing your first free British Airways American Express supplementary card

• 3,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for issuing your first Marriott Bonvoy American Express supplementary card

• 3,000 Nectar points for issuing your first Nectar American Express supplementary card

The link for issuing supplementary cards is here.

Note that you WILL receive the bonus for issuing a supplementary card even if you did not qualify for a sign-up bonus when you originally applied for the card.

If you are planning to apply for a new American Express card soon, do NOT add a supplementary card during the application process as it does not trigger the bonus. Wait until you have received your card and then order a supplementary for your partner via the link above.

In Part 2 ….

In the second part of this short series, published tomorrow, we will look at the rules on getting American Express sign-up bonuses if you are already a supplementary cardholder.