Contest: Win 2 million Membership Rewards points with a new AMEX Platinum Charge

If you’ve been thinking about signing up for an American Express Platinum Charge, here’s a little added incentive.

From now till 18 May 2023, in addition to the standard sign-up bonus of up to 75,000 Membership Rewards (MR) points, customers who apply via The MileLion can enjoy up to 10,000 bonus MR points, plus a 2 million MR points contest. 

Here’s the full details of the sign-up offer and contest, together with what you could do with all those points.

New AMEX Platinum Charge sign-up offer

AMEX Platinum Charge
Apply Here
	New Customers	Existing Customers
Spend S$5,000 (Mo. 1-3)	10K	5K
Spend S$15,000 (Mo. 1-3)	75K
Base Points from S$15,000 (@ 2 pts/S$1.60)	18.75K
Spend S$10,000 (Mo. 1-3)		50K
Base Points from S$10,000 (@ 2 pts/S$1.60)		12.5K
Total Spend	S$15K	S$10K
Total Points	103.75K	67.5K

American Express is offering two different sign-up offers for the AMEX Platinum Charge, depending on whether you count as a new or existing customer.

New customers

New customers who sign-up via The MileLion will receive 10,000 bonus MR points when they apply by 18 May 2023 and receive approval by 1 June 2023, and spend S$5,000 in the first 90 days of approval.

If they spend a further S$10,000 (i.e. S$15,000 total), they will receive a further 75,000 bonus MR points. 

To summarise the offer, by spending S$15,000 in the first 90 days of approval, they will receive 103,750 MR points, broken down as follows:

• 10,000 bonus MR points (MileLion bonus)
• 75,000 bonus MR points (sign-up bonus)
• 18,750 base MR points (S$15,000 @ 2 MR points/S$1.60)

Existing customers

Existing AMEX customers who sign-up via The MileLion will receive 5,000 bonus MR points when they apply by 18 May 2023 and receive approval by 1 June 2023, and spend S$5,000 in the first 90 days of approval.

If they spend a further S$5,000 (i.e. S$10,000 total), they will receive a further 50,000 bonus MR points. 

To summarise the offer, by spending S$10,000 in the first 90 days of approval, they will receive 67,500 MR points, broken down as follows:

• 5,000 bonus MR points (MileLion bonus)
• 50,000 bonus MR points (sign-up bonus)
• 12,500 base MR points (S$10,000 @ 2 MR points/S$1.60)

When will bonus MR points be credited?

In terms of crediting timelines:

• 5,000/10,000 MR points will be credited within 12 weeks of meeting the spend threshold
• 50,000/75,000 MR points will be credited within 10 weeks of meeting the spend threshold

Any questions about the promotion should be directed to American Express.

What counts as qualifying spending?

American Express has a list of excluded spending categories here, but the key ones to note are: 

• GrabPay top-ups
• Insurance
• Public hospitals and polyclinics
• SPC transactions
• Utilities

For the avoidance of doubt, CardUp, private and non-profit hospital bills, donations, and anything else not explicitly stated in the exclusion list will count as eligible spend. 

Spending by both principal and supplementary cardholders will be pooled when determining whether the minimum spend threshold has been met. 

Terms & Conditions

• 5,000/10,000 MR points for S$5,000 spend
• 50,000/75,000 MR points for S$10,000/S$15,000 spend

This offer cannot be further stacked with any MGM bonuses, and terminating the card within six months of approval will lead to a clawback of the sign-up bonus.

2 Million Membership Rewards Points Contest

Submit Your Entry

T&Cs

All applications submitted by 18 May 2023 will be eligible to participate in the 2 Million Membership Rewards Points Contest, which features:

• 1 prize of 1,000,000 MR points
• 5 prizes of 200,000 MR points 

To enter the contest, complete an application for an AMEX Platinum Charge card through any of the links in this article. Note down your Application Reference Number (AMEX’s application system does not generate an email confirmation, unfortunately, so be sure to take a screenshot).

After that, visit this link and complete the contest form with your answer to the following question:

What is your favourite AMEX Platinum Charge benefit, and why?

The six most creative answers (as chosen by The MileLion) will win. 

The contest is open to both new and existing customers. Winners will be chosen on 31 July 2023, and announced within seven days on The MileLion’s Facebook page and Telegram channel. This post will also be updated with the list of winners. 

Terms & Conditions

The T&Cs for the 2 Million Membership Rewards giveaway can be found here.

AMEX Platinum Charge: Key benefits

AMEX Platinum Charge cardholders can look forward to benefits such as:

• S$1,354 of dining, entertainment, lifestyle, travel and fashion credits each calendar year
• Unlimited airport lounge access for the cardholder + 1 guest
  • Priority Pass Lounges
  • Centurion Lounges
  • International American Express Lounges
  • Delta SkyClub
  • Plaza Premium Lounges
• One complimentary hotel night every membership year, redeemable at worldwide participating properties including Banyan Tree, Mandarin Oriental and Ritz-Carlton hotels
• Tower Club access
• Tower Club & assorted dining vouchers
• Access to the American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts programme, which offers perks such as free breakfast, room upgrades (subject to availability), a US$100 experience credit and guaranteed late check-out
• Hilton Honors Gold status, Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status, Pan Pacific DISCOVERY Platinum status & Radisson Rewards Premium status
• American Express Love Dining
• American Express Chillax
• Platinum Golf privileges

Do note that the S$1,354 of dining, entertainment, lifestyle and travel credits are issued on a calendar year basis. For some thoughts on how to best utilise your credits, refer to this post.

In order to get maximum value, be sure to share the AMEX Platinum Charge’s benefits with friends and family. Two supplementary cards are free for life, and enjoy perks such as complimentary lounge access, hotel elite status, Tower Club access and AMEX Love Dining & Chillax.

What can you do with 1,000,000 MR points?

Supposing you take home the grand prize of 1,000,000 MR points, there’s a whole lot of travel waiting in your future. 

AMEX Platinum Charge cardholders can convert Membership Rewards points to airline miles or hotel points at the following rates:

💳 Membership Rewards Transfer Partners
Frequent Flyer Programme	Conversion Ratio (AMEX: Partner)
	400:250
	400:250
	400:250
	400:250
	400:250
	400:250
	400:250
	400:250
	400:250
	400:250
	1,000:1,000
	1,000:1,250

Let’s say you go with airline miles: 1,000,000 MR points would therefore be equal to 625,000 miles with eight frequent flyer programmes. 

With 625,000 KrisFlyer miles, you could book 3x round-trip Business Class tickets between Singapore and Europe on Singapore Airlines, or 6x round-trip Business Class tickets between Singapore and Tokyo or South Korea.

Alternatively, with 625,000 Asia Miles, you could book 3x Business Class oneworld multi-carrier awards with travel of up to 18,000 miles each. An example itinerary would be:

• Cathay Pacific from Singapore to Hong Kong
• Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong to Tokyo Haneda
• American Airlines from Tokyo Haneda to Los Angeles
• Japan Airlines from Los Angeles to Tokyo Haneda
• Japan Airlines from Tokyo Haneda to Singapore

This would cover a total distance of 17,655 miles, and would cost 155,000 miles per Business Class ticket. 

Or if you feel like doing something slightly wacky, why not 25x round-trip Business Class tickets from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur? Sure, the flight’s barely an hour long, but the flight’s not the point- you’ll get to enjoy the excellent Qatar Premium Lounge at Changi before you fly! This can be a unique date night experience, believe me.

Speaking of Qatar Airways, you can also convert those 625,000 British Airways Avios into 625,000 Qatar Airways Avios, and use them for 4x round-trip Business Class tickets between Singapore and Europe on Qatar Airways. Qatar Privilege Club does not impose fuel surcharges on Qatar Airways redemptions, so your cash co-payment will be minimal.

But you’ll be in the airplane for at most a day. Why not invest your points instead in the experience on arrival? 1,000,000 MR points can be converted into 1,250,000 Hilton points, or 1,000,000 Marriott points, which could get you 10 nights at the Conrad Maldives, 15 nights at the Conrad Osaka, or 24 nights at the St. Regis Bangkok! (Hilton and Marriott practice dynamic pricing, which means you may get more or fewer nights than what I’m showing above depending on when you stay).

Don’t forget, the AMEX Platinum Charge gives you Hilton Honors Gold status, so not only will you enjoy the fifth night free on all redemptions, you’ll also get complimentary breakfast for two adults per day. That can save a whole lot of money, especially in high-cost destinations. 

Conclusion

AMEX Platinum Charge

Apply Here

From now till 18 May 2023, customers who sign up for an AMEX Platinum Charge via The MileLion will enjoy the public sign-up bonus of up to 75,000 MR points, plus up to a further 10,000 bonus MR points and the chance to win a share of 2 million MR points. 

All you need to do is submit an application and answer the question “What’s your favourite AMEX Platinum Charge benefit and why?”

Good luck!