Get 10,000 extra bonus miles with the Miles & More credit cards

UPDATE – SEPTEMBER 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly directory of the top UK travel credit card offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Credit Cards’ menu above.  Thank you.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 26th September 2024, sign up for FREE Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and you will receive a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Avios. This is double the usual bonus! You only need to spend £1,000 within 90 days. Our full review is here. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

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Lufthansa and MBNA have brought back a decent sign-up bonus for the Miles & More credit card.

Normally the bonus is a dull 1,500 miles.  However, until 15th December, you will receive 11,500 miles.

These are paid in two instalments:

1,500 miles with your first purchase (as per normal)

10,000 miles when you spend £1,000 within 90 days

The cards come as a double-pack with an Amex and a Visa.  The earnings rate is surprisingly good – 1.5 Miles & More miles per £1 on the Amex and 0.75 miles per £1 on the Visa.

You also receive a 33% miles bonus on ALL your spending for the first six months, on both cards.  This takes the Amex up to 2 miles per £1, a very impressive earnings rate for a free card.

One of the key benefits of the Miles & More credit card is that it stops your Miles & More miles expiring.  Without the card, your miles have a 3-year expiry.  Unlike Avios, Miles & More miles expire after three years even if you have earned other miles in the meantime.

The card has no annual fee.

The issuer is MBNA, which also issues the American Airlines, Etihad, Emirates and United cards in the UK.  They are generally quite good at accepting modest earners (my Mum, who is retired on a modest pension, got a BMI card with no problem a couple of years ago).

You cannot churn MBNA cards, though.  If you have already had the Miles & More card, you will not receive a second sign-up bonus if you apply again – although they are happy to give you the card.

Miles & More miles only have value for long-haul redemptions, due to the crazy taxes on short-haul flights.  If you are a solo traveller, though, there might be some value in getting this card.  A one-way in Business Class from the UK to, say, Dubai is only 30,000 Miles & More miles on Swiss, Lufthansa or Austrian.  An 11,500 mile sign-up bonus would leave you 18,500 miles short, which would only require £9,250 of Amex spend at the ‘2 miles per £1’ rate for the first six months.

Miles & More also runs monthly mileage sales, which often have very good bargains – see this article for example.

Miles & More is NOT an American Express Membership Rewards partner, so you cannot top up your balance directly using Amex points.  The only option would be to transfer Amex points to Starwood and then to Miles & More, but that only gets you 0.5 M&M miles per 1 Amex point. 

You could, of course, also get the Starwood Amex card (review here) with a sign-up bonus 10,000 points and transfer those into 10,000 Miles & More miles  Lufthansa is also a Heathrow Rewards partner if you have any of those to convert.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – September 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 26th September 2024, sign up for FREE Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and you will receive a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Avios. This is double the usual bonus! You only need to spend £1,000 within 90 days. Our full review is here. Click here to apply.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

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.

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: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

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.