And the credit card of the year award goes to ….

UPDATE – JUNE 2025:  This is an old article, and the credit card information given is likely to be out of date.

To learn about current credit card bonuses, benefits and interest rate information, take a look at our directory of the top UK travel credit card offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Credit Cards’ menu above.  Thank you.

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For reasons unknown, I was not invited to ‘The Cards & Payment Awards’ award ceremony a couple of weeks ago.

It is, however, an intriguing look at how people who do not know much about airline loyalty schemes judge airline loyalty credit cards. 

The motley crew above (apart from Milton Jones) were the winners of the “Best New Credit Card Product Of The Year” award.

This went to the Capital One for Aspire World Travel card.

The three finalists were:

Capital One – Aspire World Travel
Emirates Skywards and MBNA – Emirates Skywards Credit Card Account and Emirates Skywards Elite Credit Card Account
Etihad Guest & MBNA – Etihad Guest Credit Card Account

This list is so wrong …..

The Emirates cards are derivative, frankly.  As I wrote in my original article here, the ‘2 for 1’ voucher promised by the premium card is useless for most people.  Whilst the earnings rate is good (2 per £1 on the Amex, 1 per £1 on the Visa), Emirates has higher redemption rates than BA.   The sign-up bonus is weak and has never been on promotion.

The Etihad card is better – they ran a 17,000 mile sign-up bonus at one point (very good for a free card), offer double and triple miles on Etihad flights for cardholders and offer free Etihad Silver status for taking just one flight in any class.  (More details via the Etihad website here.)

However, whatever you think of their customer service, the most innovative credit card launch last year was – easily – the Lloyds Avios Rewards cards.  My original article on these cards is here.

The lack of a sign-up bonus means that these cards have not taken off well.  My personal impression of them was not helped when the Lloyds marketing team put the boot into me because I had allowed readers to post complaints about Lloyds credit card service levels on the site.

However, it is the first UK credit card to offer reward points AND no foreign exchange fees on overseas transactions.  There is a £24 fee but that is easily outweighed by the 3% saving on all your foreign transactions – and you earn Avios on that spend as well.

I cannot, for the life of me, understand why the Lloyds cards were not nominated for this award, unless they missed the entry deadline.  If they did miss the deadline, I hope they win next time – if only to put some pressure on other card issuers to drop foreign exchange fees.

And the greatest irony of all?  The winning card, the Capital One Aspire World Travel card (which offered cashback in the UK and no FX fees abroad) is no longer seems to be available to new customers, looking at the Capital One website.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 70,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – June 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 15th July 2025, the sign-up bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card is TRIPLED to 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. This would convert into 25,000 Avios or into 40 other airline schemes. It would also get you at least £300 of Marriott hotel stays based on our 0.5p per point low-end valuation. Other T&C apply and remain unchanged. Click here for our full card review and click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th August 2025, the sign-up bonus on the Hilton Honors Plus debit card is TRIPLED to 30,000 Hilton Honors points. You will also receive Gold Elite status in Hilton Honors for as long as you hold the card. Click here for our full card review and click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card

30,000 Avios and the famous annual Companion Voucher voucher Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 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:

The American Express Business Platinum Card

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

The American Express Business Gold Card

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 0.8 Avios per £1 Read our full review

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review