American Airlines free UK credit card is now offering 15,000 miles bonus

American Airlines has tripled the sign-up bonus of its UK credit cards from 5,000 miles to 15,000 miles.

Whilst a far cry from the amazing 35,000 miles they offered last year, this is still a very good offer for a free card.

Here is the link to the application form.

The key facts of the card are discussed in my review of the card from last year.  Here are the key points:

The cards are issued by MBNA, so if you already have the bmi, Virgin, Lufthansa, Etihad, Emirates or United cards it may impact your ability to get them

However, MBNA has a history of allowing you, if rejected, to still get them if you agree to reduce the credit limit on your existing cards

The cards come as an American Express and Visa double-pack, earning 1.5 miles per £1 on the Amex and 0.75 miles per £1 on the Visa

The cards are free.

The bonus is triggered as follows:

5,000 miles for the first purchase

10,000 miles when you spend £1,500 within 90 days

There is NO restriction that the spend must be on the American Express card.  All of the qualifying spend can be made on the Visa card if you want.

MBNA does not like ‘churning’.  If you have previously had the AA cards, you are unlikely to receive the bonus again.  If you apply now, you will not be able to receive another bonus in the future, at least for a few years.  You will be fine to apply for other MBNA cards, however.

In my article yesterday about buying American Airlines miles, I mentioned some of the ‘sweet spot’ redemptions, such as Etihad flights from the UK to the Middle East for 30,000 miles one-way in business class.

On its own, 15,000 American Airlines miles is not enough to make it worthwhile starting an AA collection.  However, if there was a redemption you liked the look of (perhaps an Etihad First Class Suite to the Middle East from London for just 40,000 miles) and you had a way of topping them up via a points purchase or a hotel points transfer, it might be worth a look.

The offer closes on May 31st.

The representative APR is 17.9% variable.

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How to earn American Airlines miles from UK credit cards (April 2024)

American Airlines no longer has its own UK credit card.

There is, however, still a way to earn American Airlines miles from a UK credit card. 

The route is via Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to American Airlines miles at the rate of 3:1.

The best way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 20,000 points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend. At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 American Airlines miles per £1 spent on the card.

You can apply here.