After the stick, comes the carrot.
Yesterday, AMEX announced that it would be raising its FCY fee from 2.5% to 2.95%, effective 1 March 2020. Today, we’re seeing some targeted, limited quantity AMEX Offers for bonuses on foreign currency spending.
| What are AMEX Offers? |
| AMEX Offers are available to Platinum, True Cashback and KrisFlyer cobrand cardholders, and can be found in the “Offers” section of the AMEX app or AMEX ibanking portal. Offers may include bonus points/miles, or discounts in the form of statement credits. Registration is required, and keep in mind that some offers may be targeted. These are not applicable to DBS/Citi/UOB AMEX cardholders.
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AMEX Platinum Charge: 3.75 mpd bonus on FCY
The first 2,500 AMEX Platinum Charge cardholders who register will enjoy 6 bonus MR points per S$1, on the first S$1,000 of foreign currency spending. This is equivalent to enjoying a 3.75 mpd bonus, and makes the overall FCY earn rate a whopping 4.53 mpd.
Your spending must be done by 31 March 2020, but you’ll obviously want to use the offer before 1 March 2020 in order to maximize the benefit.
| CPM @ 2.5% FCY Fee | CPM @ 2.95% FCY Fee | |
| AMEX Platinum Charge | 0.55 (first S$1K) 3.21 (after) | 0.65 (first S$1K) 3.78 (after) |
As you can see, this bonus represents a great deal on FCY- for the first S$1K. A 0.55 cpm figure is even lower than the OCBC 90N’s 0.81 cpm, and if you were targeted, you definitely need to take it up.
AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend & KrisFlyer Credit Card: 2 mpd bonus on FCY
The first 8,000 AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend cardholders who register will enjoy 2 bonus KrisFlyer miles per S$1, on the first S$500 of spending. This makes the overall FCY earn rate 3.2 mpd (remember, the KrisFlyer Ascend only earns 2 mpd on FCY during June and December, by which time this offer will have lapsed).
The AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card has the same offer, with a separate 8,000 card cap. The overall FCY earn rate would be 3.1 mpd.
| Update: The AMEX Solitaire PPS and PPS Card also enjoy a 2 mpd bonus on the first S$500, each with an 8,000 card cap. Thanks @mayurpatel |
Just like the AMEX Platinum Charge, this offer is for spending made by 31 March 2020. You’ll want to spend before 1 March 2020 to maximize the benefit.
| CPM @ 2.5% FCY Fee | CPM @ 2.95% FCY Fee | |
 AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend | 0.78 (first S$500) 2.08 (after) | 0.92 (first S$500) 2.46 (after) |
 AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card | 0.81 (first S$500) 2.27 (after) | 0.95 (first S$500) 2.68 (after) |
A 0.78/0.81 cpm for foreign currency spending is a likewise competitive figure, but do note the smaller S$500 cap. It’s still something you should take up if you were targeted though.
Other offers
AMEX Platinum Reserve and Platinum Credit Card members will have separate targeted offers for 6 bonus MR points per S$1, capped at S$500 of spending. There is a 5,000 card limit each for the Platinum Reserve and Platinum Credit Card.
Conclusion
Check your AMEX app to see if you were targeted for these offers, and if so, register ASAP. The AMEX Platinum Charge offer strikes me as particularly good, and I’ll definitely be using it on my upcoming trip to New York (stay tuned for that trip planning post shortly).
I’m in! Thanks, Aaron!
Interestingly (sadly), the missus, on her own new (Jan 2020) principal Plat Charge, wasn’t offered..
6,000 bonus points aren’t a whole lot, but every drop makes an ocean…. 😌
There is another AMEX offer where one has to spend $2020 to get another 2020 points. Can both offers stack?
Just nice.. can switch over for 1 month at least for $500 after OCBC 90N lapse.
yup! but keep in mind if you wait till 90n lapses you’ll pay a slightly higher 2.95% fee. still worth it at 4.53 mpd, but slightly worse
Has anyone tried looking at this with supplementary cards? I.e if you had 3 supplementary cards does that mean it is $3000 FCY spend that will benefit?
only basic card member, sub card is not eligible
Have charged a couple of foreign ccy transactions on the Amex Plat Charge card this week but have still not been given the bonus points yet, only the normal 2 MR points. T&Cs says it will take up to 5 business days to be credited so we shall see.