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American Express has boosted the sign-up offer for its popular American Express Velocity Platinum Card, with up to 100,000 bonus Velocity Points now available: that’s 25,000 points for each month you spend $1,000 in the first four months.

This a great opportunity to supercharge your Velocity Points balance and bring your next holiday within reach (the bonus alone can cover the points cost of a return economy award seat to the USA or Asia).

You’ll have to act fast, as this offer runs only until 19 June 2019.

The Amex Velocity Platinum Card comes with a very strong Velocity Points earn rate on spend, a complimentary Virgin Australia domestic return flight each year, lounge entries, travel insurance, and many other valuable perks.

Here’s an overview of the card benefits you can enjoy, with more details and a mobile-friendly application form available on Amex’s website here.

1. Earn piles of points on everyday spend

You’ll quickly build your Velocity Points balance by earning 1.25 points per $1 spent on everyday purchases: one of the highest Velocity Points earn rates in Australia.

You’ll earn 2.25 Velocity Points per $1 spent with Virgin Australia, and 0.5 Velocity Points per $1 spent with government bodies.

Hundreds of thousands of merchants accept Amex in Australia, and that number is growing, so there’s no shortage of places where you can earn points with this card.

There’s also no cap on how many points you can earn.

2. Take off with a complimentary domestic return flight each year

After your first card purchase, you’ll be entitled to a complimentary Virgin Australia domestic economy return flight between selected cities.

This benefit is available on each anniversary of your card membership, helping offset most or even all of the $375 annual card fee.

There are many routes to choose from, as you can see in the table below.

Departure CityDestinations
AdelaideAlice Springs, Brisbane, Canberra, Coolangatta (Gold Coast), Melbourne, Sydney
BrisbaneAdelaide, Cairns, Canberra, Darwin, Emerald, Hamilton Island, Hobart, Mackay, Melbourne, Newcastle, Proserpine, Rockhampton, Sydney, Townsville
HobartBrisbane, Melbourne, Sydney
MelbourneAdelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Coolangatta (Gold Coast), Hamilton Island, Hobart, Launceston, Mildura, Maroochydore (Sunshine Coast), Newcastle, Sydney
PerthAdelaide, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Melbourne, Sydney
SydneyAdelaide, Albury, Ayers Rock (Uluru), Ballina/Byron, Brisbane, Canberra, Cairns, Coffs Harbour, Coolangatta (Gold Coast), Hamilton Island, Hervey Bay, Hobart, Launceston, Maroochydore (Sunshine Coast), Melbourne, Port Macquarie, Tamworth, Townsville
Other citiesClick here to see the routes from other cities.

It’s easy to reserve the flight online or over the phone, and you can book it for yourself or any person you choose.

3. Enjoy four airport lounge entries each year

Relax before your next flight in style, even if you’re flying economy.

Each year, you’ll receive two passes to a Virgin Australia lounge, which gives you access to some very stylish spaces to kick back in. The passes will be loaded onto your Velocity membership card.

On top of that, you’ll get two entries each year to the exclusive American Express Lounge at Sydney Airport international or Melbourne Airport international. Simply show your American Express Velocity Platinum Card at the door to get in.

Relax in a lounge before you fly

If you’re travelling with a partner, they can use one of the passes to enter with you.

We’d value these lounge passes at more than $50 each – so there’s over $200 of value here each year.

4. Earn 100 Velocity Status Credits when you spend $50,000 in a year

Attain elite status with Virgin Australia faster by receiving 100 Status Credits when you reach $50,000 of eligible spend on your card within a membership year.

Eligible spend is all spend made by you and additional card members, except cash type purchases like travellers’ cheques and foreign currencies, and interest, fees and charges on the account.

This is a very useful perk for frequent flyers chasing status, as you only need 250 Status Credits to attain Silver (200 to keep it in subsequent years) or 500 Status Credits to attain Gold (400 to keep it in later years).

The higher your status, the more perks you enjoy – like extra Virgin Australia lounge passes when you hit Silver and unlimited lounge access when you reach Gold.

5. Travel securely with domestic and overseas travel insurance

You’ll receive comprehensive travel insurance cover when you pay for a return trip with your card or use Velocity Points to book.

The insurance covers you, your partner and dependent children 22 years of age or younger for:

  • inconvenience (flight delays, cancellations or missed connections, and delayed luggage)
  • medical emergency expenses up to $2,500,000
  • damaged, destroyed, lost or stolen baggage, money or documents
  • travel cancellation costs
  • personal liability.

The full insurance T&Cs are available to view here.

6. Earn more points, save money and enjoy other lifestyle benefits

There are many other perks to enjoy with this card, including:

  • up to 4 complimentary additional cards for family members over 18 years of age – an easy way for your household to earn points faster
  • up to 55 days interest-free on purchases (the interest rate thereafter is 20.74%)
  • a 0% p.a. balance transfer for 12 months, with a one-off establishment fee of 1%
  • Refund and Purchase Protection
  • Amex Offers: save money with regular discount offers, like the recent $50 back on spend with David Jones and small merchants
  • Amex Invites: access sought-after events like music, theatre and film, including via pre-sale tickets, and enjoy exclusive lounges at selected events.

Plus up to 100,000 bonus Velocity Points 

Receive up to 100,000 bonus Velocity Points when you apply online by 19 June 2019, are approved and meet the minimum spend criteria – that’s 25,000 points for each month you spend $1,000 in the first 4 months.

This is enough points to take off overseas with Virgin Australia or one of its partners like Singapore Airlines or Delta. For example, you could fly:

  • from eastern Australia to Los Angeles with Virgin Australia or Delta in economy return (89,600 points plus taxes) or one way in stylish business class (95,500 points plus taxes)
  • from anywhere in Australia to as far as Sri Lanka, China or Japan with Singapore Airlines in economy return (up to 100,000 points plus taxes) or one way in business class (up to 92,000 points plus taxes).

Use your points to enjoy Virgin Australia business class

This offer is only available to new American Express Card Members. That means you must not have held a card issued directly by American Express Australia in the last 18 months. However, you are eligible for this offer if you’ve held an Amex card issued by a bank (i.e. Westpac, ANZ, CBA or NAB) or if you’re an additional card member on someone else’s account.

The minimum income to qualify is $65,000.

This is a great opportunity to pick up a top-quality card with many travel and lifestyle benefits, while also giving your Velocity Points account a huge boost.

To read more and apply, click here (mobile friendly).

 
 
Important: This article is not intended to suggest that you should apply for a credit card. You should seek independent, professional advice and consider your personal circumstances before deciding to apply for a credit card.

If you apply for a card via a link in this article, we may receive a commission from Amex. This income helps keep our site running, and we thank you for your support.

Read more in our Credit Cards Disclosure.

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