In this post:
Three New AMEX Platinum Wellness Benefits Worth Up to £350
Amex has introduced three new wellness benefits for AMEX Platinum cardholders, including shopping credits and a complimentary subscription.
lululemon – 2x £75 Credits Yearly
lululemon is best known for its premium activewear, and Platinum cardholders can now receive up to £150 in statement credits each year, split into two £75 credits. You’ll need to spend at least £150 in each six-month period to qualify, and you can spread this across multiple transactions. The credits reset on 1st January and 1st July.
This benefit applies only to primary Platinum cardholders, and you must enrol to benefit and purchase from a participating UK store (not outlets) or lululemon.co.uk.
Oura – £150 Per Year
Oura makes smart rings that track your sleep, activity and recovery. You can now receive £150 statement credit when you spend £300 in a single transaction on ouraring.com. This is ideal if you’re considering buying an Oura ring, but it’s hard to use each year.
This benefit is also available to primary cardholders and resets on 1st January each year.
Calm
A complimentary Calm Premium membership worth £49.99 per year, which includes Meditation, sleep and relaxation content.
Supplementary cardholders can also claim their own subscription, and Business Platinum cardholders can too, but you must activate this benefit via the AMEX Experiences app.
Worth Applying?
That’s incredible value for a card with a £650 annual fee, which already includes a huge range of benefits, from hotel status to unlimited lounge access, £400 Global Dining Credit, and more. For a full breakdown of the other benefits, you can read our AMEX Platinum Guide.
This follows AMEX introducing similar benefits in the US last year, including $300 per year at Lululemon and $200 towards Oura. However, when AMEX added these benefits, they increased the annual fee to $895. Now we’re seeing a scaled-down version, but thankfully there’s no mention of increasing the current £650 annual fee. Fingers crossed it stays that way!
If you already use these brands or plan to use the benefits, this is fantastic news. Make sure you enrol in all these offers so you don’t miss out on your cashback benefits.
If you’re thinking of applying for the Platinum Card, AMEX are currently running a sign-up bonus of 75,000 Membership Reward Points, up from 50,000, when you spend £6,000 in the first three months.
Discover the AMEX Platinum card here >>>
Virgin Wines Advent Calendars Reduced to 18,500 Virgin Points
Virgin have just launched an ‘Early Bird’ offer for their Christmas advent calendars. You can now buy one for 18,500 Virgin Points until 31st October, including delivery. After this, the price will increase to 20,000 Points.
The calendars include 24 mini bottles of 187ml, plus a full-size bottle revealed behind door 25. The gin calendar includes 24 5cl gins.
With the discount, you get a value of 0.58p per point once you’ve taken delivery into account. This is very slightly higher than Virgin Red’s usual non-travel redemption rates. However, if you redeem for flights, upgrades, experiences, or cruises, you can often get a much higher value per point, especially for Premium cabins.
You can also opt to pay cash. Each calendar is £99.99 plus a delivery fee of £7.99 per calendar, and you can reserve your calendar now for £10.
To order, click Redeem on the Virgin Red site, and make sure your account is linked to Flying Club so you can view and spend your Virgin Points from both. You can pay with cash via the Virgin Wines website.
These calendars are a great way to try new labels this Christmas. If you’re considering ordering a Virgin Wines advent calendar, now is the best time, before prices increase and they potentially sell out.
Hilton and Scandic Reunite – More Loyalty Benefits to Come?
Scandic Hotels Group has entered into a multi-year development agreement with Hilton.
Long-standing Hilton Honors members may remember when Hilton and Scandic were partners and you could book Scandic hotels via Hilton. The two companies are now partnering again, albeit under a different arrangement.
The partnership covers Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, with the first hotel, a 284-room Hilton near Copenhagen Airport, due to open in 2029.
Scandic already operates three Hilton properties in Helsinki, including the Hilton Helsinki Airport.
Jens Mathiesen, president & CEO, Scandic Hotels Group said:
“This agreement is well aligned with Scandic’s long-term growth strategy. Having successfully franchised and operated Hilton hotels in Helsinki for many years, we have demonstrated the strength of combining a global brand with Scandic’s leading operational platform. Together with Hilton, we see attractive opportunities to grow and expand our business across the Nordics”
The agreement will include new loyalty benefits for Hilton and Scandic Friends members, though it’s not yet clear what these will be. This could include reciprocal status recognition, points transfers or something similar.
The two schemes are unlikely to merge, particularly as the agreement focuses on developing new Hilton properties rather than converting existing Scandic hotels.
This is great news, especially given Scandic’s recent expansion into the UK and Ireland after taking over operational responsibility for Dalata’s 56 hotels (including the Clayton and Maldron brands) in November 2025, which has around 12,000 rooms.
Will Clayton and Maldron hotels eventually join Scandic Friends? We don’t know yet, but this would certainly be very beneficial.
