Does having a supplementary Amex affect future sign-up bonuses?

After our piece the other week on the 10,000 bonus Avios for adding a free supplementary card to your BA Amex, we got a sensible question from a few readers:

If I am added as a supplementary cardholder on someone else's Amex, does that count as having "held" the card? Will it stop me getting a sign-up bonus when I apply for my own?

Short answer: no.

Why not

The Amex 24-month rule applies to primary cardholders only. A supplementary card sits on someone else's account. You are not the cardmember. You do not pay the bill. As far as Amex is concerned, you have never been an Amex customer in your own name.

So if your partner has any Amex card and adds you as a supplementary, you can still apply for any Amex in your own name and earn the full sign-up bonus, provided you meet the usual eligibility rules. On that, why not check out our Amex eligibility checker?

How you can boost your bonuses using Amex supplementary cards

This is the strategy that myself and Helena have pulled off to great effect in the past. If you and a partner are both willing to apply for cards, this rule lets a household collect twice as many Amex sign-up bonuses. Here is how it works step by step.

1. You apply first. Say you apply for the Gold. You get a supplementary card for your partner, getting that bonus. You then meet the spend requirement to get the sign-up bonus.

2. You refer your partner for the same card in their own name. They have never been the primary cardholder, so they are eligible for the full sign up bonus. So that's two sign-up bonuses, plus one referral bonus on the same card.

3. You get added as a free supplementary on their card. Same as before, get the bonus for adding a supplementary card, and then work together to get the sign-up bonus.

4. You then cancel your card. From the day you close the card, you cannot earn the Gold bonus again for two years. Until then, you are locked out.

5. Repeat with other Amex cards. Done patiently, a couple can collect hundreds of thousands of Avios and Membership Rewards points over a few years.

Sam

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