Get a 30% bonus on American Express (IDC / IEC) Membership Rewards points to Avios
Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.
UPDATE – JULY 2025: This is an old article, and the credit card information given is likely to be out of date.
To learn about current credit card bonuses, benefits, terms and interest rate information, take a look at our directory of the top UK travel credit card offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Credit Cards’ menu above. Thank you.
Keep up to date with new UK credit card bonuses by signing up for our free daily or weekly newsletters.
This is, admittedly, a minority post since not many readers will have an American Express International Dollar Card or International Euro Card.
These cards are issued in the UK to people who would prefer to have a card which bills them in $ or Euros. If you have a bank account in those currencies, you effectively get your foreign exchange transaction in $ or Euro (depending on your card) for free as you won’t be paying any foreign exchange fees.
The Membership Rewards scheme is also more generous than the general UK scheme, since it offers 1 point per $ or per €, compared with 1 point per £. However, this is offset by poorer conversion rates to most programmes.
Avios, for example, is a 3:2 conversion ratio instead of 1:1 from the UK scheme. (There are still some foreign airlines that allow 1:1 conversion from the $ card, though, although not Avios or Flying Club.) I will do a longer explanatory post on this in a day or so.
There is currently a semi-secret transfer bonus from the IDC card to Avios. I say ‘semi-secret’ because a HFP reader was emailed about it and passed the email to me. However, I never got the email and the offer does not feature on the IDC Membership Rewards website.
I rang Amex, though, and they said it was open to all IDC cardholders. I did a test transaction of 5,000 IDC Membership Rewards points and, indeed, I received 4,333 Avios (ie 3,333 at 3:2 plus 30%).
The original email goes:
Transfer your American Express Membership Rewards Points into the British Airways Executive Club and receive 30% bonus Avios before 31 August 2013.
Whether you’d prefer to fly further or upgrade the choice is yours. For example, if you fly return Economy Class New York City to London, it costs 40,000 Avios. Normally you would need to transfer 60,000 Membership Rewards Points to receive this. Right now, you only need to transfer 46,800* Membership Rewards Points (saving you 13,200 Points).
Avios are redeemable through British Airways or any of their oneWorld ® partner airlines; transfer your Membership Rewards Points today and decide where your Avios will take you.
I am in the US soon, so I may put a few $ charges through my International Dollar Card and then transfer the points across to Avios before the end of August.
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 70,000 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? – July 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 15th July 2025, the sign-up bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card is TRIPLED to 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. This would convert into 25,000 Avios or into 40 other airline schemes. It would also get you at least £300 of Marriott hotel stays based on our 0.5p per point low-end valuation. Other T&C apply and remain unchanged. Click here for our full card review and click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th August 2025, the sign-up bonus on the Hilton Honors Plus debit card is TRIPLED to 30,000 Hilton Honors points. You will also receive Gold Elite status in Hilton Honors for as long as you hold the card. Click here for our full card review and click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card
30,000 Avios and the famous annual Companion Voucher voucher Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express
50,000 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:

The American Express Business Platinum Card
50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

The American Express Business Gold Card
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 0.8 Avios per £1 Read our full review

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
Comments (12)