Four easy ways to hit your credit card sign-up bonus spending target

There are plenty of Head for Points readers currently chasing a spending target on their American Express card.  Why?  Because they want to trigger a lucrative sign-up bonus in order to book a flight before the Avios devaluation takes place on April 28th.

This article discusses cards you could get and still trigger a sign-up bonus before April 28th.  Time is ticking away – your window is a lot tighter than it was when that piece was published three weeks ago.  Unless you can hit your spending target within 1-2 weeks it is probably already too late to get a British Airways American Express.

Here is a reminder of four ways to push your spend towards the target if you think you may fall short:

American Express gift cards

As I wrote last week, Amex is currently selling its gift cards with no fees via a special promotional code. Until 31st March, you can order up to £500-worth per transaction. You can charge it to your BA / Gold / Platinum American Express card (it will go through as a purchase) and you can then spend it at your leisure during 2015.

Supermarket gift vouchers

The easiest ideas are often the ones you forget. If you are running a little short on your spending, just buy £xxx-worth of gift vouchers or gift cards for your usual supermarket. This brings forward spending that you would do anyway and doesn’t cost you anything.

If you buy your petrol from your supermarket, even better – it means you will be able to spend the gift vouchers more quickly.

Ordering foreign currency and travellers cheques from Amex

As I wrote here, ordering foreign currency from the Amex travelmoneynow website is treated as a purchase. Ignore what your card rules or the Amex website says contrary to this, I promise you it will go through as a purchase.

The currency needs to be delivered to your home or office, however, as Amex only has offices at Birmingham International Airport.

Details of Amex’s foreign exchange rates can be found here.

If you are not travelling, one option used to be to order Sterling Travellers Cheques.  There is a 1.5% fee for this but that is relatively modest if it gets you to your spending target.  However, in the last couple of years a few major banks have stopped accepting them as deposits – HSBC pulled out last June.  Do not do this unless you are 100% sure that you can redeem them.

Use Paypal if a retailer accepts it but does not accept American Express

Some online retailers do not take American Express but do accept Paypal. In most cases (some retailers block Amex access to Paypal), you can select to pay with Paypal and use your Amex card through that. More information in this post.

It is, of course, also possible to send a payment to a friend or relative via Paypal, charged to your Amex. There will be a 3%+ charge for this. You need to be VERY careful if you do this, as Paypal operates under tough money laundering restrictions. Any signs of suspicious transactions will lead to your funds being frozen.

If you are a long-term Paypal user and / or have your personal bank account verified with them and / or have your Amex card ‘verified’ then, realistically, sending a few hundred pounds this way should not be a problem.  You would be foolish to push your luck though.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.