The earnings rate on the old bmi credit cards has been secretly increased

Yes, strange but true.

According to this Flyertalk thread, the earning rate on the bmi credit cards, issued by MBNA, has been increased.  This is despite the fact that a) that you can no longer apply for these cards and b) no-one has been officially notified of this increase.

My own card statement is not triggered for another couple of days, so I don’t have personal proof of this yet.  

However, based on the FT thread:

The bmi American Express card rate is increased from 1.5 miles per £1 to 2 miles per £1

The bmi Visa card rate is increased from 0.75 miles per £1 to 1 mile per £1

The (very old) bmi £60 Platinum MasterCard, which I still have, is increased from an already-crazy 2 miles per £1 to 2.5 miles per £1

The (very old) bmi MasterCard is increased from 1.5 miles per £1 to 2 miles per £1

There are no data points yet on the bmi ‘Plus’ cards, but presumably similar increases have been applied and they will be earning 2.5 miles on the Amex and 1 or 1.5 miles

Why is this happening?  Does MBNA have a massive pile of pre-bought Diamond Club miles they want to use up before BA terminates their contract?  Have customers started to drift away now that Diamond Club is effectively closed and miles can only be transferred to Avios?  Have some people started using the BA American Express cards instead and MBNA wants to woo them back?

We don’t know.  But with earnings rates like this, you’d be crazy to use any other card in your wallet at the moment.

(PS.  None of these cards are available to new applicants, before anyone asks.)

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous 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:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

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You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.