Part 2: Why ‘no foreign exchange fees’ on the new Lloyds Avios Rewards cards is a game-changer

I am dedicating all three articles today to the new Lloyds Avios Rewards cards.  Post 1 is an overview, and Post 3 looks at the upgrade voucher.  This post looks at the FX fees benefit.

For me, the most surprising part of this announcement was the fact that there will be no 3% foreign exchange fee added to transactions you make with either of the two Lloyds Avios Rewards cards.

To put this in perspective, never before has a UK rewards card – of any sort – also offered ‘fee free’ foreign exchange transactions.

In general, before today, it was almost always a bad idea to use a mileage card for overseas spend.  This is because all miles and points cards – and indeed almost all other UK credit and debit cards – charged a foreign exchange fee of 2.75% to 2.99%.  Most card issuers hide this fee so you don’t realise you are paying it, because they simply adjust their exchange rate by 2.75%-2.99% rather than breaking the fee out.

There were a number of credit cards, however, which did NOT charge any foreign loading fees.  None of these offered rewards.

With ‘fee free cards’, your transactions are converted at the wholesale exchange rates set by Mastercard or Visa, which to all intents and purposes are the ‘spot’ rates.   Before the Lloyds card launched, the best offerings were from the Halifax, Saga, the Post Office and Capital One, who have cards with no annual fee and no FX fees on purchases.  Nationwide also offers a good card, but only for its FlexAccount holders.  If you live in London, Metro Bank was another option with a ‘no FX charges’ debit card.

Some mileage cards offered a bonus for foreign spending, but still charged the 3% fee.

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card gives you double points when you use it abroad.  This means you get 2 Membership Rewards points per £1, which converts to 2 Avios per £1.

The IHG Rewards Club Black Visa card gives you 4 Priority Club points per £1 spent abroad, double the normal rate.

In both of these cases, the ‘bonus’ for foreign spend brought your total reward up to about 2p of value per £1 spent, but this was outweighed by the 2.99p per £1 FX fee.

(Of course, spending abroad also helps you to achieve spending targets.  The IHG Rewards Club card mentioned above also gives you a free night voucher when you spend £10,000 per year.  And of course the BA Premium Plus Amex gives you a 2-4-1 voucher for Avios redemptions valid in any class when you spend £10,000 per year.  It was often worthwhile paying the FX fee on your credit card in order to achieve some of your spending target.  After all, for most of us our holiday is one of the main expenditures of the year.)

The new Lloyds Avios Rewards card lets you have the best of both worlds

Your best option, before yesterday, was either:

Use an Amex Gold or IHG Rewards Club Black card, earn the equivalent of 2% back in benefits but pay the 2.99% fee

or

Use a Halifax, Saga, Post Office etc ‘no fees’ card but get no rewards

The new Lloyds Avios Rewards card lets you earn 1.25 Avios per £1 on the Amex card AND saves you the 2.99% foreign exchange fee.  If you spend more than £800 abroad on your credit card each year, the saving on foreign exchange fees (at 3%) would outweigh the £24 annual fee for the card.

For this reason, I recommend getting a £24 Lloyds Avios Rewards card even if you only use it for overseas spend.  Whether you should bother to put additional spend on the card depends on whether you value the other benefits …. which is what Part 1 and Part 3 of my series of posts today discusses.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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

Get 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

30,000 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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

50,000 points when you sign-up 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.