What are the best credit card deals for May 2013?

I have updated the ‘Credit Card Offers‘ page at the top of the site for May.

We have had a couple of great months in terms of new offers being launched.

In March, we got the new promotion on the Lloyds TSB Duo Avios cards and the return of a bonus on the American Express Platinum charge card.

During April we got (click to see the relevant posts):

35,000 American Airlines miles with their MBNA American Express and Visa cards – the best offer that I have EVER seen for a free loyalty credit card

a link for an additional 10,000 Hilton HHonors points with the free Hilton Visa

and I showed you how to get an additional 5,000 Avios when applying for the Lloyds TSB Duo Avios cards!

The only bit of bad news is that the 6,500 (or 15,000 miles, if you used my link) deal on the Lufthansa Miles & More card has ended. This is now back to a boring 1,500 miles.

I churned our personal portfolio during the month:

I applied for the American Airlines card, and was (surprisingly) accepted with a £10,000 limit, despite having a £20,000 limit on my bmi card. I have already spent the required £5,000 settling a tax bill, so I will be able to report on how quickly the miles post.

I finally chopped up our Lloyds TSB Duo Avios cards. I had only kept these because I was waiting for a refund from BA on an old BMI redemption. Whilst BA had promised to make the refund by bank transfer, I wanted to be 100% sure. Unfortunately, the £50 fee on the Lloyds card came around before the refund turned up, but you can’t win them all.

I got an American Express International Dollar Card. I will write about this more at a later date.

What are the best loyalty credit cards currently available?

Here is my advice on the best cards currently available if you are thinking of ‘churning’ the contents of your wallet:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

This is currently an outstanding deal, which is showing no signs of going away. No fee for the first year and 20,000 Membership Rewards points.  Apply here.

American Airlines American Express and Visa

Until 31st May, this card is offering 35,000 American Airlines miles when you spend £5,000 within 180 days. This is the best sign-up deal I have ever seen on any free credit card. You can learn more about the deal here, here and here. The miles can be redeemed on British Airways flights, but cannot be merged with your Avios points.

Lloyds TSB Premier Duo and Duo Avios cards

This is good deal and is much improved on the previous promotion. The free (‘Duo’) cards give you 15,000 Avios points for signing-up. The £50 fee ‘Premier Duo’ cards give you 20,000 Avios. You need to spend £500 per month for the first three months on the American Express card to receive the bonus, which may require careful tracking of your spending. You can learn more about the Lloyds TSB Duo Avios promotion here.

American Express Platinum

The card now offers 30,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 30,000 Avios amongst other things.

You receive a pro-rata refund on the £450 fee when you cancel the card and you will retain most of the benefits – Starwood Gold, Carlson Gold, Accor Platinum, Cathay Pacific Gold (= BA Silver) for the rest of the year even after you cancel!  Apply here.

Hilton HHonors Platinum Visa

You receive 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. If you use this link before 10th June you will receive an extra 10,000 Hilton points.

Priority Club Black Visa

If you are used to having Platinum status for your Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn Express, Indigo, InterContinental etc stays, you will probably have noticed by now that you are very unlikely to requalify in 2013. The incredibly harsh new regime – which means only base points and not bonuses count for status – will see 80%+ of Platinum cardholders drop away, I imagine.

The Priority Club Black Visa comes with Platinum status as a free (and not publicised) perk. There is an annual fee of £99 but if you do enough stays at Priority Club hotels then it is a decent deal.

Full details, including links to the application forms, are on the ‘Credit Card Offers’ page.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 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 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:

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up 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 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