Free Avios with 3V Virtual Visa – our updated list of places where you can use the card
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It was two weeks ago that I originally ran a version of this article, discussing places which accept the 3V Virtual Visa cards.
(If you missed the original post, you can buy two £25 3V Virtual Visa cards in Tesco for £50, earn 150 bonus Clubcard points – 360 Avios points – and then use the cards to pay off online bills where only debit cards are accepted. My main 3V Virtual Visa post is here.)
Head for Points automatically closes articles to new comments after two weeks. I have therefore republished the list below, with the latest additions, so that people can continue to comment.
Here is a list of places (utility companies mainly, I have ignored normal online retailers where they will always be accepted) where they definitely can and cannot be used online:
Works fine:
Amazon (Amazon sells online gift vouchers from 10p. Ordering a voucher to be sent to yourself is a great way to empty your 3V card if you have a small balance left. You can then add your gift voucher to your Amazon account as a credit, and it will be used next time you order. If you use our Amazon link here, Head for Points gets a commission when you order a gift voucher.)
BT
Charles Stanley (an investment group)
Co-Operative Energy
Council tax (varies by authority, of course, but most accept debit cards these days)
EDF
E.ON
Freemans
highstreetvouchers.com (lets you use the cards for a wide range of vouchers eg John Lewis)
HMRC (treated as a debit card so no 1.4% fee to pay, maximum of 20 cards can be used per day)
Next (to pay off account balance, although you can also use Next gift cards from Tesco for this)
Npower
O2
Orange
Oyster (Tube tickets in London)
Royal Mint (see this post on buying 50p coins for 50p!)
Sky (Sky also lets you prepay online, using that balance up before recommencing your normal direct debit)
South West Water
TalkTalk
Virgin Media
With caveats:
Barclaycard (works to settle Priority Club and Hilton HHonors credit cards, does not appear to work with standard Barclaycard bills. However, you cannot use more than two 3V cards in a day and no more than five in one month.)
First Utility (in your profile is the option to pay part of a bill, however once you have done this once the option disappears and further transactions must be done on the telephone)
Scottish Power (will take it but treat it as a credit card with a 1.4% fee)
TV Licence (cannot split payment, so would need to pay the £1.75 per card transfer fee to move £150 onto one 3V card)
Does not work:
American Express (to pay bill)
British Gas
Capital One credit cards (to pay bill)
Hargreaves Lansdown (an investment group – this was working but now seems to have been blocked)
MBNA credit cards (to pay bill)
Scottish Gas
Selftrade
T-Mobile
Tesco online shopping (surprised by this, any other reports?)
Tesco savings account (when depositing using a debit card)
Please continue to add your own experiences with utility companies, credit card companies etc. We know that they should work as ‘normal’ with online retailers so that is less important unless there is a special tweak involved. Other ideas apart from Amazon for cashing out very small remaining balances are also welcome.
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:
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
5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review
There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review
British Airways American Express
5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review
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.
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
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.
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.
Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa
Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review
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.
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
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.
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
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.
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