What Can You Get With 20,000 Amex Points?

What is 20,000 American Express Membership Rewards Points worth?

Many people are interested in what 20,000 Amex points can get them, because this is the welcome bonus for the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card when you spend £3,000 in your first 3 months as a cardmember. If redeemed smartly 20,000 Amex points should be worth around £200, as explained below.

However, perhaps a better question is what could 26,000 Amex points be worth, because in addition to the 20,000 welcome bonus:

1. Spending the £3,000 will earn you at least a further 3,000 points (potentially more depending on card offers)
2. You can increase the Gold Card bonus by 2,000 points to 22,000 Amex points using our refer a friend link (find it here)
3. You get 1,000 extra Amex points by adding a free supplementary cardholder via the App once you have activated the card.

So, 20,000+3,000+2,000+1,000 = 26,000 Amex points to spend.

How much these points are worth will depend on how you redeem them – and some options will have a fixed value, whilst others will vary. Typically the best value will be achieved by transferring the points to a travel loyalty scheme, such as British Airways Executive Club or a hotel scheme (Hilton, Marriott, Radisson), and using them to redeem reward flights or stays. Below is some detail and examples on what to reasonably expect from 20,000 points.

Amex Points Value UK

American Express Points can be transferred to a range of partners, the best redemption value can usually be found for travel, but there are also shopping and subscription options. Below is a handy table with an average, relatively easily achieved, value for 20,000 Amex points with key partners. However, it is possible to find opportunities to get much higher (or lower!) value, as explained below.

Redemption	Partner	Transfer Rate	Value	Total Value 20,000 Amex	Total Value 26,000 Amex
Flights	BA Avios	1:1	Approx 1p	£200+	£260+
Hotel	Hilton	2:1	Approx 0.35p	£140	£182
Hotel	Marriott	2:3	Approx 0.5p	£150	£195
Shopping	Amazon	N/A	Fixed 0.45p	£90	£117
Shopping	Nectar	1:1	Fixed 0.5p	£100	£130
Gift Cards	Various	N/A	Fixed 0.5p	£100	£130
Statement Credit	Amex	N/A	Fixed 0.45p	£90	£117

As in the image above, once you have collected American Express Rewards points, you can redeem via the App or website. Options are given for reducing monthly card balance (0.45p/point statement credit), shop online (0.45p/point), gift cards (0.5p/point), use points to travel via Amex (0.45p/point) and finally for transferring points to partners (airlines, hotels, etc.) – which is where the real value of 1p+ per point can be found.

What are Amex Points Worth When Redeemed for Flights?

You can use American Express points to book flights with a range of Amex partners (12 airline schemes to be precise). Partner airline schemes include: British Airways Executive Club (Avios), Emirates and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club. Most transfer at the rate of 1:1, with a couple of exceptions:

• British Airways (Avios): 1:1
• Virgin Atlantic (Flying Club): 1:1
• Air France/KLM (Flying Blue): 1:1
• Etihad Airways (Etihad Guest): 1:1
• Iberia (Iberia Plus): 1:1
• SAS (EuroBonus): 1:1
• Cathay Pacific (Asia Miles): 1:1
• Qatar Airways (Privilege Club): 1:1
• Qantas (Frequent Flyer): 1:1
• Emirates (Skywards): 4:3
• Singapore Airlines (KrisFlyer): 3:2
• Delta (SkyMiles): 1000:1000

Given this site is UK based, I’ll focus the example on Avios, which can be used with British Airways. Avios points are typically valued at about 1p per point, which means 20,000 points is worth around £200. However, as reward seats have a set price, if you manage to book one during a high demand time (e.g. school holidays), this could end up being worth significantly more. I previously booked a return flight in school holidays for 9,000 Avios, which was priced at over £1,000 (getting a value of 11p per point!). To get these seats you need to be ready to book early, and quickly, see my earlier post: here.

Converting Amex points to Avios via British Airways Executive Club, and using for reward flights tends to be a very good use of Amex points – particularly where flight prices may be higher.

For 9,250 points (off peak) or 9,750 points (peak) + 50p you could book a one-way flight (so 18,500/19,500 return) from London to a range of destinations, including Amsterdam, Paris, Bilboa, Copenhagen and Innsbruck.

For 11,750 (off peak) or 12,750 (peak) + 50p you could go further afield to destinations including Faro, Budapest, Ibiza and Algiers.

Business Class seats start at 15,000 one-way + £12.50 (30,000 return), meaning with 26,000 points you would be close to one return business class flight to Amsterdam, Paris, Copenhagen, etc.

It’s also possible to part pay flights with Avios, but remember to consider the value you’re getting for any specific option.

What are Amex Points Worth When Redeemed for Hotel Stays?

Many hotel partners again use dynamic, rather than fixed, points pricing, which means achieving significant increases in value isn’t usually possible. However, it’s not always exact science and there can still be significant difference in point value between hotels, so it’s always worth dividing the cash price by the points cost. Hotel partners can be a particularly good choice if you don’t live in London and therefore using Avios with British Airways may be less convenient. As per the image below, the American Express Membership rewards page will give you the option to transfer points to Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy or Radisson Rewards. You’ll need an account set up with the relevant scheme, transfers are usually relatively quick – but often take longer when you first link the accounts (presumably whilst the details are checked).

Redeeming with Hilton, 20,000 Amex points will get you 40,000 Hilton points (1:2 transfer rate) and will generally get you a standard room priced at around £130-140, but there could be options worth anywhere in the £150-250 range depending on the dates. For example a quick search shows that in October Doubletree Liverpool is available for 28,000 points or £72 (0.25p/pt) or alternatively Hampton by Hilton Croydon is 35,000 points or £126 (0.36p/pt). I generally aim for 0.33-0.35p per point, and will use the app to look for opportunities for good redemptions.

Similar situations will apply with Marriott, but in each case 20,000 (or 26,000) Amex points should get you a free one night hotel stay valued around £150-200 somewhere.

When are Amex Points Worth When Redeemed for Shopping or Gift Cards?

Shopping options have a standard set credit value if you use Amex points, so will always be the easiest, fixed, but lowest value redemption. In the UK Amex points are worth 0.45p for statement credit. If you want to get value from your points, then I’d generally recommend avoiding these options – you’re better off hanging on to the points for future travel than making a quick Amazon redemption or taking a statement credit. 20,000 Amex points is worth a minimum of £90 (0.45p per point) for shopping or statement credit or £100 for gift cards (0.5p per point) – so if you want to use one of these options, then gift cards will get you slightly more value. You can redeem these easily via the website, with no requirement to transfer to other schemes. Whilst not as attractive as some of the travel partners, £100 is still a decent bonus and there are many choices – from Amazon to Arsenal, Tesco, Uber and Wayfair.

Amex Gold Card Details

• The bonus for a £3,000 spend in 3 months is 20,000 points.
• The gold card comes with four free airport lounge passes (generally worth about £25+ each) 
• You get 1 Membership Rewards point for every £1 you spend. Plus, you get up to 12,500 bonus points a year as you get 2,500 bonus points every time you spend £5,000 up to 5 times per year. (This benefit is changing on 15 October 2025 after which date Cardmembers will get 5,000 Membership Rewards bonus points when they spend £10,000, up to 10,000 bonus points per Cardmembership year.)
• You get £5 back on Deliveroo, up to twice per month
• Plus you get all the benefits of being an American Express member, such as targeted offers and access to reserved tickets for gigs and events.

The card has a £195/year fee, but is free in the first year (and can be cancelled before the fee is charged.

You can increase the welcome bonus to 22,000 points if you use this referral link 

Conclusion

In summary, while the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card advertises a 20,000 point welcome bonus, in reality most new cardholders can end up with around 26,000 Membership Rewards points once you factor in the spending requirement, referral boost (use our refer a friend link here) and supplementary card bonus. The actual cash value of those points depends heavily on how you redeem them—shopping credits and gift cards will reliably give you around £100-130, but transferring to travel partners like British Airways or Hilton can easily double that, and in the right circumstances deliver even more. If you’re willing to plan ahead and maximise your redemptions, those 26,000 Amex points could be worth upwards of £260 in flights or hotels, making the Gold card’s first-year bonus an excellent opportunity for savvy travellers.

Disclaimer: This is an amateur, personal blog and this review is based on my experience of using the card. Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that any product is right for your circumstances, and that you access the full and up to date information. If you use my referral link, then I may also get a points bonus.

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