New year, new credit card – various sign-up bonuses are disappearing soon

UPDATE – APRIL 2025:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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 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.

Keep up to date with the latest UK credit card bonuses by signing up for our free daily or weekly newsletters.

If one of your New Year resolutions was to churn your credit card collection in order to pick up a generous sign-up bonus, there are a number of offers which are ending soon and are well worth considering.

All of these deals are with American Express, because they are the only issuer which currently has time-limited sign-up bonuses on offer.  That said, I expect to see some interesting deals from MBNA and potentially Lloyds in the next few weeks.

Note that there is no longer any rush to apply for the Amex Platinum card to receive the Cathay Pacific Gold card (=BA Silver).  In the last couple of days, Amex updated their website.  This now says that the deadline for applying for the Cathay card has been moved back to 31st March from 15th February.

Expires 30th January – Starwood Preferred Guest American Express credit card

The Starwood / SPG Amex offers you 20,000 Starwood points in their hotel programme for signing up.  If you transfer the 20,000 points to Avios, you will receive 25,000 miles!

As well as Avios, Starwood partners with another 20+ airline programmes, so this is also a good opportunity to top-off any other airline account you have.

You pay a £75 annual fee, but this is refundable pro-rata when you cancel.

You can get this card even if you already have a BA Amex, Amex Gold, Amex Platinum or indeed any other Amex card.  My full review of the card is here and my initial post on the 20,000 points promotion is here.  The official Amex page for the SPG card is here.

Expires 12th February – British Airways American Express credit card

The sign-up bonus on the free British Airways credit card is increased from 3,000 Avios to 9,000 Avios until 12th February.

Full details are in my review here.  The Amex home page for the card is here.

You will receive the sign-up bonus on this card even if you already have an Amex Gold, Platinum or SPG Amex (or indeed any MBNA or Lloyds Amex).

Expires 12th February – British Airways Premium Plus American Express credit card

The sign-up bonus on the British Airways fee-carrying card is increased from 18,000 Avios to 25,000 Avios until 12th February.

Full details are in my review here.  The Amex home page for the card is here.

Apply by early March – American Express Platinum charge card

The American Express Platinum charge card now offers 30,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 30,000 Avios amongst other things.

You receive a pro-rata refund on the £450 fee when you cancel the card and you will retain most of the benefits – Starwood Gold, Carlson Gold, Accor Platinum, Cathay Pacific Gold (= BA Silver) – for the rest of the year even after you cancel!

The key benefit of this card – the Cathay Pacific Gold card, which gets you the same benefits as a BA Silver card, including BA lounge access, is going away on March 31st.  (This old post explains a little more about it, albeit it references the old closing date of 15th February.)  You need to have received your Platinum card by that date, which means you really need to be applying by early March.

(Note that Amex has just changed the end date for this promotion from 15 February to 31 March. I will do a separate post on this in a day or so.)

My full review of the card is here. Amex’s own home page is here.

If you are interested in applying for any of these cards, it makes sense to move sooner rather than later.  Don’t forget to think about whether you can sign up your partner as well …. or even your parents if they agree.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 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 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

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher 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

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:

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

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 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

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