This offer is running until 4 November 2025. If you’re approved and spend $12,000 in the first 3 months, you’ll receive 300,000 Membership Rewards points. That’s a good points boost for anyone with ongoing business expenses. Although the annual fee is hefty at $1750 per annum, it’s one of the highest-earning business cards in Australia after point conversions, and the sign-up bonus alone can easily cover the annual fee if you redeem strategically. Lounge access is extremely handy if you and your staff travel often. The new Accor+ Explorer upgrade adds 2 free hotel nights yearly, hotel discounts and status benefits, which can stack nicely with the other hotel perks included.
Requirements:
- Must be a Director or Controller of the business, can be a sole trader, partnerships, trusts, associations or companies.
- Annual business revenue of at least $75,000
- ABN must be active and registered for GST
- Bonus points not available to current or former American Express Card Members who have held any card in the past 18 months, yes both business and personal cards.
Key Card Details
• Get 300,000 Membership Rewards points when approved and meeting a $12,000 spend in the first three months (apply by 4 November 2025). These points can be converted to 150,000 Qantas Points, Velocity Points, Avios, Asia Miles, or other partner rewards.
• Earn 2.25 Membership Rewards points per dollar on eligible business purchases with no cap, and transfer to a selection of 13 airline and 2 hotel loyalty programs, including Qantas, Velocity and Krisflyer
• Points are in the Membership Rewards Ascent Premium program with no cap and no expiry while your account stays open
• Main and all employee card holders have unlimited entry to The Amex Centurion® Lounge, International American Express Lounges, Plaza Premium Lounges and Virgin Australia Lounges. All card holders can bring in up to 2 guests for free.
• The primary cardholder and one nominated employee cardholder each receive a Priority Pass membership, provides access to over 1,700 airport lounges and experiences globally, with lounges in 600 cities across 145 countries. No free guest access.
• Two free hotel nights each year in Asia Pacific with Accor+ Explorer perk
• Complimentary Gold elite status Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy and Radisson Rewards for main and employee card holders, enrolment required.
• Dell computer credit up to $125 twice a year
• Includes travel insurance for both domestic and international trips, purchase protection, rental car damage cover and more. Many of these protections extend to employee cards too.
• Free access to The Australian and Wall Street Journal digital subscriptions.
Business-Friendly Features
• Up to 55 interest-free days on purchases
• No preset spending limit, which can help with larger one-off purchases
• Flexible Payment Option to spread out bigger expenses
• Integration with XERO, MYOB, Quicken and other accounting tools
• Up to 99 employee cards for free
NEW Accor+ Explorer upgrade (from 1 October 2025)
https://www.accorplus.com/au/amex-explorer-upgrade/
If you stay in hotels for work or leisure, this can be valuable and offsets the card annual fee:
• Two free hotel nights each year (booked as part of a two-night minimum stay)
• 30% off dining and 15% off drinks for groups of up to 10 people in Asia-Pacific
• 15% off public hotel rates globally
• 30 Accor status nights a year, which gets you Gold status without having to earn it the hard way
• Member-only hotel deals and flash sales
Other hotel perks
All card holders, including employee cards, have access to enrol in gold status with Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors, plus access to Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts benefits like free breakfast, guaranteed late checkout, room upgrades and $100 property credits.
Hitting the $12,000 Spend Without Overspending
If your business already has regular outgoings, hitting the $12k in three months isn’t as daunting as it sounds. Just some examples:
• Paying supplier invoices (either directly or via payment services like B2Bpay or pay.com.au if your supplier does not take Amex or credit card payments)
• Prepaying annual insurance, utilities or rent if your landlord allows card payments
• Annual software licences for things like Xero, Adobe, Microsoft 365 or cloud hosting
• Stocking up on office consumables or materials you’ll use over the year
• Booking flights, accommodation or conference tickets for later in the year
• Pre-funding digital ad campaigns or marketing expenses
• Buying or upgrading computers, tools, or other business equipment
Personal Tips on Redemtion
If you know how to use them, 300,000 MR points can go a long way. The main value comes from transferring to airline partners like KrisFlyer, Asia Miles, Velocity or Avios.
1. Pick the right partner – KrisFlyer is strong for premium cabin Asia routes with low taxes & fees; Avios has really good redemption value and availability; Velocity is flexible and can transfer to Singapore Airlines.
2. Wait for transfer bonuses – Amex occasionally offers 10–30% extra points when you move them to certain airline programs.
3. Look for award seat sales – some airlines discount their points bookings from time to time; stacking this with a transfer bonus can be excellent value.
4. Aim high – business and first-class redemptions usually give best value than using points for economy flights or gift cards.
5. Fine Hotel and Resorts — Keep a watch out. Great value for redeeming amex points when promo "Complimentary 4th Night" promo runs. May give better value than redeeming points directly through hotel partner.
For business owners who travel or spend heavily on operations, this could be one of the most lucrative cards on the market right now. If you apply and are approved through a referral link, the referrer pockets 100,000 bonus points, so it’s worth using the OzBargain referral system to help out a fellow member :)
Anyone here redeemed MR points for business-class or premium stays recently? Keen to hear real-world value stories.
Isn’t platinum a better deal? And there’s referral too..