Get a 30% bonus on American Express (IDC / IEC) Membership Rewards points to Avios
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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.
Want to earn more points from credit cards? – March 2024 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 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
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.
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review
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
Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
15,000 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:
SPECIAL OFFER: You receive a huge 120,000 Membership Rewards points if you apply for American Express Business Platinum by 9th April 2024. You receive 80,000 points for spending £12,000 within 90 days and a further 40,000 points if you retain the card for 14 months. Click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: You receive 60,000 Membership Rewards points if you apply for American Express Business Gold by 9th April 2024. Remember that the card is FREE for the first year. You receive 40,000 points for spending £6,000 within 90 days and a further 20,000 points if you retain the card for 14 months. Click here to apply.
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
American Express Business Platinum
Crazy 120,000 points bonus (to 9th April) and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
Huge 60,000 points sign-up bonus (until 9th April) and free for a year Read our full review
Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa
Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review
For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.
Barclaycard Select Cashback credit card
2% cashback on all your business spend for 3 months (1% thereafter) and no annual fee Read our full review
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