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HfP ‘Credit Cards’ page updated for July 2017 – what are the best deals this month?

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UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly directory of the top UK travel credit card offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Credit Cards’ menu above.  Thank you.

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.

Keep up to date with the latest UK credit card bonuses by signing up for our free daily or weekly newsletters.

It is time for our monthly round up of what is coming and what is going in the world of UK airline and hotel credit card sign-up deals.

Our updated directory of all 23 UK travel credit cards can be found by clicking the ‘Credit Cards’ tab at the top of the site or – for email, Flipboard, Apple News or mobile readers – by clicking here.  This article is a summary of the recent changes, and will hopefully be a useful starting point for new readers.

MBNA American Airlines credit card

What’s changed this month?

There’s a lot going on at the moment, and it gives you a sign of how the industry is changing.

The big development is that, overnight, MBNA scrapped its existing American Airlines cards (free, a dual Amex / Visa package) and replaced them with something completely different.

The American Express card has gone.  You now have a package which looks like this:

  • £70 annual fee
  • 15,000 American Airlines miles for signing up by 22nd August
  • an excellent 1.25 miles per £1 spent
  • Visa only

Full details, and my view on whether to apply, are in this article here.

In other news:

Virgin Flying Club dropped the increased bonus on its two Virgin Atlantic cards as scheduled.  The bonus is now back down to 3,000 miles on the free card and 18,500 miles on the £140 Black card.

The special deal on the two Emirates credit cards has also ended.  The bonus is back to 5,000 miles on the free card and 10,000 miles on the Elite card.

British Airways is still running an improved sign-up bonus on its two British Airways American Express cards.  No closing date has been given for this deal.

There is a slight tweak this time.  The Premium Plus card is back to 25,000 Avios for signing up.  The free BA Amex, however, is only up to 5,000 Avios from the usual 3,000 Avios – this is usually increased to 9,000 Avios.

I would guess that Amex is trying to encourage more people to take the Premium Plus card by widening the gap in the sign-up bonus.  Frankly, you shouldn’t get the free BA Amex if you are planning to earn the 2-4-1 Avios flight voucher – this article explains why.

Tesco is offering a £50 Tesco gift card if you sign for the Tesco Premium Credit Card before the end of August.  My review of the card is here.  If you convert your Clubcard points from purchases into Avios it works out at 0.6 Avios per £1 which is very good for a Visa or MasterCard.  My full article on the deal is here.

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:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

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.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

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.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

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.

Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card

1% cashback uncapped* on all your business spending (T&C apply) Read our full review

Category

American Airlines and AAdvantage, American Express Gold card, American Express Platinum card, British Airways American Express, Tesco Clubcard

Comments (101)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • jfduncan says:
    10 Jul10 July 10:17

    Slightly OT Looking for some advice here, whats the best route forward to pay a decent sized HMRC tax bill, i hold BA (Free) Hilton & IHG cards, although have status at hilton and way more points that IHG. Looking at charges i was going to use the Hilton card to pay the bill, short of there being a better solution that anyone can think of?

    Thanks in advance
    James

    • Genghis says:
      10 Jul10 July 12:27

      Depends which points you value more, Hilton vs IHG. 2 HHs at 0.3-0.4 = say 0.8p less fee of 0.3 something p = a reasonable profit

      • jfduncan says:
        10 Jul10 July 16:11

        Thanks Genghis,
        I had pretty much come round to HH points – as I value them more – but I guess the point is there is nothing else that immediately stands out card wise – I have until September to pay the bill – but would also need a fairly decent credit limit!

        James

    • RussellH says:
      11 Jul11 July 07:18

      MasterCard is cheaper for HMRC than Visa, so the extra cost for IHG points is less.

      Sure, Hilton hotels are often nicer than IHG, but there are far more IHG hotels in the UK than Hilton, and mostly, you need many more Hilton points to get something than you do IHG points. The big exception being some Hampton properties.

  • rick says:
    10 Jul10 July 10:21

    For a LTD company; are there any bills/taxes that can be overpaid or prepaid before it is due to HMRC?
    I am unlikely to renew my IHG Black but want to prepay some taxes to benefit the better rate and in the process qualify for Spire elite where I need to spend shy of 4K to gain the status.

  • s879 says:
    10 Jul10 July 10:25

    Can you have a Gold Amex card, be a supplementary card holder on Partner’s Amex Platinum and then be referred by partner for a Platinum upgrade (from Gold) to get the upgrade bonus?

    • Genghis says:
      10 Jul10 July 12:23

      No. You can’t be referred for an upgrade

      • S879 says:
        10 Jul10 July 21:25

        Thanks. So, just to be clear if someone has an Amex Gold, a Platinum can’t refer them for an upgrade? A Gold can refer for a Gold signup and a Platinum can refer for Gold or Platinum sign up?

        • the real harry1 says:
          10 Jul10 July 21:35

          that’s not what he said 🙂

          a Gold/ Platinum can refer a friend for a Gold/ Platinum, take your choice (as the one referred, you can choose)

          Genghis meant you can’t upgrade from supp to anything

          but you can take out a card in your own right

          • S879 says:
            10 Jul10 July 21:54

            Thanks, let me try again :-).
            I have Amex Gold in my name. If my other gets a platinum card in his name, can I have a supplementary card for that? Can he also refer me for an upgrade (not from supplementary) from my Gold card so that I also get Platinum? I didn’t explain it too clearly previously. In short, can you be a supplementary on partner’s amex and then upgrade your own gold card to platinum (the one in your name) too?

          • Alan says:
            10 Jul10 July 22:00

            Yes, being a supp has no bearing on you as a main cardholder. You can still be referred to hold a card in your own right even though you’re a supp on their card.

          • the real harry1 says:
            10 Jul10 July 22:02

            yes
            no (don’t need referral for upgrade)
            yes

            so both of you can be principals in your own name & supps on each other’s cards

            upgrading – best to speak to Amex to see if they’ll give you 20K for Gold —> Plat (in your own name)

          • Genghis says:
            10 Jul10 July 22:20

            How v confusing. Having a supplementary card doesn’t affect anything. You can have an Amex and refer partner for a new Amex card. You’ll get a referral bonus. They’ll get a sign up bonus so as long as not held a card earning that reward currency in last six months

  • rick says:
    10 Jul10 July 10:28

    Any of the Tech minded among the reader, here is an APP idea.
    An App to note card cancellation date and to notify eligibility for sign up bonus again based on input data (i.e. 6 months for Amex or user input).

    • Genghis says:
      10 Jul10 July 12:24

      Also called “Excel”

      • Crafty says:
        10 Jul10 July 14:13

        +1

        • the real harry1 says:
          10 Jul10 July 21:42

          Excel skills, ah 🙂

          I’ve got some primitive thing on Excel going working out my pension opps over time

          very proud of it 🙂

          but diarising stuff? there must be something easier, any moment now TripRep will come up with an idea lol

      • RussellH says:
        11 Jul11 July 07:21

        Other Spreadsheets are available

    • TripRep says:
      10 Jul10 July 21:38

      There’s one that already does this for Android.

      Google Calendar.

      Works a treat.

  • rick says:
    10 Jul10 July 10:29

    OT- MBNA Virgin Card Referral Bonus

    Has anyone received bonus miles from Virgin (IIRC it is 3000 Virgin FC Miles) for CC referral?
    Someone mentioned that it takes 3 months for points to get credited.
    I am expecting 2 credits so just trying to see how long do I need to wait.

    • HV says:
      10 Jul10 July 10:41

      I got nothing after a month. So phoned MBNA and they said it would be referred to their rewards team. The bonus hit 3 days after the telephone call.

      • Genghis says:
        10 Jul10 July 12:24

        Thanks. I need to chase then as it’s been 3 months since referred Mrs G

    • Wally1976 says:
      11 Jul11 July 09:53

      I got mine in 2-3 weeks IIRC.

  • Guy G says:
    10 Jul10 July 10:37

    Sorry for the OT.

    I’m thinking what to do with my SPG points and saw something on their page that I hoped someone knew a little more about. The offer is listed up at

    “One flat rate is all it takes. Cash in 1,000 Starpoints for 50% off the full price for a one- to five-night stay.”

    Surely I am not understanding this correctly, if the headline is true you could use 1,000 SPG pts to save a few hundred quid. Happy to be informed on where I have misunderstood the offer.

    Thanks

    • Rob says:
      10 Jul10 July 12:32

      That is how it works IF the hotel has loaded an SPG50 rate – and few do. Problem is that you need to call.

  • rick says:
    10 Jul10 July 11:32

    Rob,

    You mentioned last week meeting Curve team.
    Any news on likelihood of Amex being accepted by Curve?
    I know the official line is that they are working towards it.

    • Rob says:
      10 Jul10 July 12:30

      Not discussed, except to the extent that a fee capped BAPP means it would now be more attractive for Curve.

  • Another Phil says:
    10 Jul10 July 12:33

    I know AMEX points can be moved to Avios. Can I also move Avios out of BA Exec or Avios account and into AMEX?

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