Amazingly, the old bmi credit cards just got better!

If you hold one of the old BMI credit cards, you probably had a text message recently telling you that MBNA was writing to you with details of enhanced benefits on the cards.

You probably thought that this would relate to the improved mileage earnings on the bmi cards, which I wrote about here.

But you would be wrong!

Whilst the letters have not yet arrived, the details have been posted on the Diamond Club website here.

First, the cards have a funky new look:

Secondly, the site confirms the increased mileage earning I wrote about before.  Amazingly, the MasterCard with the £60 annual fee now earns 2.5 Avios per £1, a frankly astounding rate for a non-Amex card.  The fee-paying Amex cards will also carry this rate.

Thirdly, it is confirmed that you will earn double Avios – so 5 Avios points per £1 on some cards! – when you buy BA flights using the card.

Fourth, though, is the real surprise:

You will receive a 10% discount on all British Airways flights paid for with some of the MBNA credit cards!

Now, this discount is only off the base fair, excluding taxes, so the net discount will be a long way short of 10%.  It is still serious money when booking long-haul premium tickets, though.

You can use the discount as many times as you like.    The only rules are that all flights must start in the UK and the cardholder must be one of the passengers.

So, oddly, if you have one of the old BMI credit cards it is now far superior to the British Airways Amex.

There is little sense continuing to use your BA Amex once you are past the £10,000 threshold for the 2-4-1 voucher, and if you have the 2.5 Avios per £1 MasterCard then you will be laughing very heartily this morning.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

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

If you have a small business, we especially recommend Capital On Cap’s Visa card which comes with a generous bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)