What are the best credit card deals for October 2012?

UPDATE – MARCH 2025:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. 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.

The ‘Credit Card Offers’ page at the top of the site has been updated for October to reflect changes over the past month. (Click here to see it if you are an e-mail or RSS reader.)

Here are the changes over the past month:

British Airways American Express – the sign-up bonus on the basic card dropped to 1,000 Avios or 6,000 Avios on the Premium Plus card. These offers are both, frankly, shockingly poor compared to earlier this year. Hold off applying, there are far better card offers currently available.

Flybe Mastercard – the deal has improved, with the offer of ‘two free flights’ coming back. You get the usual one free flight for signing up, plus a second free flight for spending £500. Note, though, that taxes etc must still be paid. With Flybe, these often represent 80%+ of the price of buying a cash ticket. (Their website admits that, during a sale period, the taxes on a ‘free’ ticket may be MORE than the equivalent reward seat!)

Lloyds TSB Duo Avios cards – no change, but the current (weak) offer expires on 18th October so we will see what comes after

Virgin Atlantic American Express and Visa cards – there is a very good promotion on at the moment, described as the best they have ever done. See this post for details.

Priority Club Rewards Visa – the cards now come with Priority Club Gold (free card) or Priority Club Platinum (£99 card) status, although this is not mentioned on the website yet. See this post for more details.

Tesco Clubcard MasterCard – the ‘refer a friend’ bonus of 1,000 Clubcard points has rolled over into 2013

American Express Platinum charge card – the bonus for a direct application is back (50,000 points). See my other post today for news on who qualifies for the bonus.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold charge card – the bonus, after a dip to 10,000 points, is back at 20,000.

Finally, it is worth noting that the BMI Diamond Club cards continue to be available and will be, it seems, for a few months yet.

The 20,000 Avios bonus for getting the FREE bmi Diamond Club credit card remains the best deal currently available in UK loyalty cards. If you have one, get one for your partner. If they have one, get one for your parents and use the Family Account facility to move the miles to yourself. MBNA gives out cards to even very low earners, so do not miss out.

My top picks

If I had to list my preferred choice this month, I would say:

The bmi Diamond Club cards. You get 20,000 Avios. It will disappear soon, has no fee, has a low £250 target to trigger the bonus and is available to people on very modest incomes or pensions. You cannot ask for more.

American Express Prefered Rewards Gold. No fee for the first year and 2o,000 Membership Rewards points.

Hilton HHonors Platinum Visa. A free night in any Hilton Group property for spending £750. That could be worth £250 if spent wisely at a Conrad or Waldorf-Astoria branded property.

Virgin Atlantic Black – if you already collect Virgin miles, the 20,000 bonus miles under the current promotion are worth having, despite the £140 card fee. They would also convert into 40,000 Hilton Hhonors points.

American Express Platinum – if you meet the £40,000 household income requirement and have no other Amex-issued cards, including NO BA Amex then this is outstanding (but see my other post today for news on the qualification criteria). You get 50,000 Membership Rewards points and you can cancel for a pro-rata refund of your £450 as soon as you’ve hit the £3,000 spend target.

Don’t forget that you can see my detailed series of ‘Credit Card Reviews’ posts by clicking on ‘Credit Card Reviews’ under the ‘Categories’ menu on the right.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – March 2025 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 Mastercard

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

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 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 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to 120,000 points. You receive 80,000 points when you spend £12,000 within three months and a further 40,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 8th April 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 60,000 points. You receive 40,000 points when you spend £6,000 within three months and a further 20,000 points if you spend on the card between Month 14 and Month 17. Points convert 1:1 into Avios and many other programmes. Click here to apply.

American Express Business Platinum

Up to 120,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

Up to 60,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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