Introducing the Lloyds Choice Rewards credit card …. the 3rd of their new Avios-earning cards

Yesterday I spent, frankly, more time than is sensible poring over the details of the new Lloyds Avios Rewards credit cards. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of my analysis can be found here.  The website for the free card is here, the paid card is here.

However, Lloyds quietly slipped out a 3rd Avios-earning card on Monday – the Lloyds Choice Rewards credit card.  Here is my review.

This is Lloyds attempting to take on American Express Membership Rewards, Tesco Clubcard Mastercard or the Starwood Preferred Guest Amex card.  Instead of earning Avios points for your spending, you will earn Choice Points.  You could convert your Choice Points to Avios, but you also have other options.

Here is the key point of interest for the card – you earn 0.5 Avios per £1 on the Mastercard.  That is double what you earn on the Lloyds Avios Rewards card and 2/3rd more than you earn if you paid £140 for the Lloyds Premier Avios Rewards card.

This is part of the reason that I was lukewarm on the £140 Lloyds Premier Avios Rewards card yesterday.  If the Mastercard had offered 0.5 Avios per £1 then it would have been a more attractive package.

Here is a full summary of the Lloyds Choice Rewards credit card:

You receive an American Express card and a Mastercard

There is a £24 annual fee

0% interest on purchases for the first 13 months

You earn Choice Points, which convert to 1 Avios per £1 spent on the Amex and 0.5 Avios per £1 spent on the Mastercard

You receive double points on the Amex for the first six months, capped at £2,500 of spend per month

Alternatively, you can redeem your Choice Points for “cashback, shopping vouchers and magazines subscriptions”.  If you opt for cashback, you receive 1% of Amex spend and 0.5% of Mastercard spend.  If you opt for shopping vouchers (Argos, Currys, Homebase, House of Fraser) you receive 1.5% of your Amex spend and 0.75% of your Mastercard spend.

Do I recommend this card?

Not really, if you are a keen Avios collector.  It may have more interest to ‘casual’ Avios collectors who want a back-up redemption option.

The Avios earnings rate on these cards is good, but you can do better.  The Tesco Mastercard offers 0.6 Avios per £1 spent, compared to 0.5 Avios here, with the possibility of a conversion bonus on top.  Tesco also has a wide range of other Clubcard partners if you decide not to redeem for Avios, and has no fee.

The Avios-earning rate on the American Express card is also not market-leading, at 1 Avios per £1 spent.  You would be better off with the free British Airways American Express card which does not carry a fee and also offers 1 Avios per £1.  Or, of course, the Lloyds Avios Rewards card which offers 1.25 Avios per £1 for the same £24 fee.

In any event, the shopping vouchers option on this card is pretty good, and makes your Avios look expensive.   Spend £1,000 on the Amex, for example, and you could get £15 of House of Fraser vouchers or 1,000 Avios.  That makes the Avios VERY expensive at 1.5p each.  Even taking straight cashback, you would be comparing £10 vs 1,000 Avios, which is a marginal call.

Fundamentally, I am not sure why Lloyds added Avios to this card as an option.  I would strongly recommend, if you get this card, that you take your rewards as a shopping voucher – assuming there are things at Argos, House of Fraser or Currys that you would buy.

I’m interested in your comments on this one, since it seems a strange mix of benefits and fee, whilst inadvertently also making the earnings rate on the £140 Lloyds Premier Avios Rewards card look bad.

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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.