Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

‘Credit Card Offers’ updated for March 2015 – summary of the current top deals

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and 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.

After a break in February – because there was nothing new to write about – it is time for the return of our monthly round up of what is coming and what is going in the world of UK airline and hotel credit card sign-up deals.  Our directory of all 25 UK travel credit cards can be found by clicking the ‘Credit Card Offers’ tab at the top of the site or – for email, Flipboard or mobile readers – by clicking here.

What’s new?

Not much, to be honest.  Apart from IHG Rewards Club (which is a good deal) and Virgin Atlantic, not much is happening.  The only new offer is from Emirates and that is a repeat of one they ran twice last year.

These are the three offers worth noting:

IHG Rewards Club (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental etc) is offering a TRIPLED bonus on its two hotel cards. The free card gets you 30,000 IHG Rewards Club points, the £99 card brings you 60,000 points. This is an EXCELLENT deal if you are focussed on free hotel nights – you even get Gold or Platinum status in IHG Rewards Club thrown in. This offer runs until March 31st so you only have two weeks left to apply.

The bonus on the free Virgin Atlantic White card is more than tripled from 3,000 miles to 10,000 miles. The bonus on the paid Black card increases from 18,500 miles to 25,000 miles. This offer will run until the end of March – again, you only have two weeks left.

The higher sign-up bonuses on the two Emirates credit cards are back.  This offer runs until early April.  The bonus on the free card is doubled to 10,000 miles whilst the bonus on the paid cards is doubled to 20,000 miles.  MBNA is happy for you to apply for both cards.

I expand on all of these offers below.

UK Rewards credit and charge cards

What are the best deals at the moment?

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are my top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus. The IHG, Emirates and Virgin offers are special deals whilst Amex Gold, Amex Platinum and Hilton cards are consistently strong offers.

These deals are listed in no particular order and their position on the list is not a sign of how good or bad the offer is.

IHG Rewards Club Visa and IHG Rewards Club Premium Visa

The bonus on these cards is tripled until 31st March as long as you apply via special links. The free card gets you 30,000 points which is worth up to six hotel nights during a PointBreaks promotion – or 6,000 airline miles. The £99 card is worth 60,000 points which should get around £300 of free hotel rooms – or 12,000 airline miles. You can find our more in this article from December.

The representative APR on the free card is 18.9% variable and 42.2% variable on the Premium card, including the fee and assuming a £1200 credit limit.

Emirates Skywards and Emirates Skywards Elite

The sign-up bonus on this free card is increased from 5,000 Avios to 10,000 Skywards miles until 12th April. The paid card has its bonus doubled to 20,000 miles albeit with a £150 non-refundable fee.

My review of the free Emirates credit card is here.  My review of the Emirates Skywards Elite credit card is here.  My original article on this promotion is here.

The representative APR is 17.9% variable on the free card and 54.9% variable on the Elite card, including the £150 fee and assuming a notional £1200 credit limit.

American Express Platinum

The card 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 – for the rest of the year even after you cancel. The Amex Platinum benefits package is extensive, though, and once you’ve got it you might find the numbers add up for you. I have had one for 15 years.

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

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

This is currently an outstanding deal which is showing no signs of going away. You pay no fee for the first year and earn 20,000 Membership Rewards points (see here for what 20,000 MR points can get you – 20,000 Avios points for a start!).

If you are new to this hobby, I would make this your first American Express card.  One benefit of earning American Express points is that you only need to transfer them to an airline or hotel scheme when you are ready to redeem – there is no risk of being caught out by devaluations!

My full review of Amex Gold is here. The Amex home page is here.

Hilton HHonors Platinum Visa

You receive a free night in any Hilton Group property for spending £750 on this card. That could be worth £250 if spent wisely at a Conrad or Waldorf-Astoria branded property. My full review of the UK Hilton credit card is here. The home page is here.

This remains my favourite promotion for someone new to this hobby. The card is free, you only need to spend a modest amount to trigger the bonus, and you can enjoy a free night in a luxury hotel afterwards (if you pick a decent one!). It will whet your appetite for what miles and points can bring you. The representative APR is 18.9% variable.

Virgin Flying Club White and Virgin Flying Club Black

Virgin has increased the bonus on its two credit card packages. The free White card now offers 10,000 miles (usually 3,000) whilst the Black card offers 25,000 (usually 18,500). I wrote more about this deal here.

The representative APR on the free card is 17.9% variable and on the paid card 52.0% variable including the fee, based on a £1200 credit limit.

Bonus on small business cards

Head for Points focusses primarily on personal cards. However, if you are a sole trader or run a very small business, you may also want to check out the American Express Platinum Business Card and the American Express Gold Business Card. There is currently a 20,000 points (= 20,000 Avios) bonus on the Gold Business card and a 40,000 points (40,000 Avios) bonus on the Platinum Business card.

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

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

Barclaycard Avios Plus 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 card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

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.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

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

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 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:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

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

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus 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 Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

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.

Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card

1% cashback uncapped* on all your business spending (T&C apply) Read our full review

Category

American Express Gold card, American Express Platinum card, Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

Comments (44)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Garth says:
    15 Mar15 March 05:59

    The Hilton honours card is excellent. I used the free night for a £500 pound night at the Conrad koi samua. Best credit card deal by far!

  • CliveJ says:
    15 Mar15 March 07:15

    I really should cancel my Amex Gold or SPG soon, with a view to a churn.

    Typo on the Emirates review Rob. I think 12th Feb should be 12th April.

  • JQ says:
    15 Mar15 March 07:38

    Am I right in saying that applying for the IHG Premium card is basically equivalent to paying £99 for platinum status for 2 years and 60K points? (as the spend requirement is probably 1p, and there are better rewards for spending £10k elsewhere)

    • Globetrotter7 says:
      15 Mar15 March 08:14

      JQ that’s my thinking too. I’ve already bagged 60k from the card and 50k from my SYS offers which (added to my balance) have given me 9 FREE nights for our upcoming holiday in Spain (August). Plat status has already proved its worth… thru a room upgrade (yes, already!). So now, I’m better off spending £10k on my new BAPP card and earning a companion voucher instead.

      • sandgrounder says:
        15 Mar15 March 09:05

        Depends how many 10k spends you have to play with really. BAPP is a no brainer for your first 10k, but the IHG 10k gets you 20k points plus a free night, even deducting the £99 that is 2p in value if well spent.

    • Raffles says:
      15 Mar15 March 09:35

      Spending the £10k is not a bad deal if you have done your BA Amex 241. You would get 20,000 IHG points fo £10k spend plus a free night that could be worth £200 if used well. That is a 3 per cent return on your £10k.

      This card will also work well with Supercard I think.

    • Raymond Hennessy says:
      15 Mar15 March 09:38

      I got the free card and 30000 points.Combined with SYS ,I get another 55000 points,which if I read it right,means automatic Platinum status.

      • Brian says:
        15 Mar15 March 13:45

        Unfortunately, bonus points like the ones gained through SYS don’t count towards status. Credit card points do, however, so you’ll be well on your way to Platinum, I guess.

  • ups says:
    15 Mar15 March 08:50

    Do the IHG points count towards status? I have reached gold through stays and wonder if the 30k points with the free card will help towards platinum.

    • Dan says:
      15 Mar15 March 09:19

      I can confirm they do. On the tracker under ‘your elite qualifying points and nights’ I have now blasted past the 60k threshold for platinum thanks to this 🙂

  • Peter says:
    15 Mar15 March 09:43

    Am I likely to be upgraded on my completely free “into the nights” stay at Hotel Indigo, Rome if I get platinum status via the premium IHG card?

    • ee says:
      15 Mar15 March 13:29

      Peter – we are booked into the same hotel with the ITN free nights and are already platinum. Our reservation has been modified but the room type is unchanged. Some hotels will only assign the upgrade shortly before the stay so I haven’t given up hope yet. However, this is a fairly small property and we are going in a peak time of the year so my expectations are fairly grounded.

    • Rob says:
      15 Mar15 March 15:10

      In theory but there are no guaranteed upgrades. You can ask at check in and push.

  • flyforfun says:
    15 Mar15 March 10:21

    Just been conducting a review of my cards after reading this and given the impending reduction in points on my classic MBNA Diamond Club MC.

    I’ve got a Lloyds Avios card from when they were still with the TSB. I’ve not used the card much since the 10X promo ended. I now notice as just Lloyds, its a Premier Card, There apparently is a £140 fee for this card and I’m pretty sure I’ve not been notified about it. I’ve not received anything either. I want to use this card next month when go overseas to avoid the FX transaction fee. I’m wondering if this will trigger the annual fee and if so can I contest it. Amex were very reasonable in removing fees when downgrading cards.

    • Roger says:
      15 Mar15 March 10:33

      The former fee-free LloydsTSB Duo cards are still no-fee but are not promoted as they are not available to new applicants.

      I still have mine and used it in the recent small business promotion.

      • flyforfun says:
        15 Mar15 March 12:36

        Great! Do they have the same benefits as the paid card, ie 1.5 Avios per £ with Amex, 1.5 per £5 on MC, Flight Upgrade/Companion Vouchers at £5000/£12000 spend respectively?

        • Roger says:
          15 Mar15 March 15:15

          No, just 1 Avio per £ on the AmEx. The MC offers 1 per £5, I think, but I’ve never used it. AFAIK upgrades are only available with the fee-payable cards.

          Altogether pretty useless, which I guess is why it’s not offered to new applicants.

    • Rob says:
      15 Mar15 March 15:11

      The Avios Duo card, as was, is NOT FX free.

      • flyforfun says:
        15 Mar15 March 20:21

        Urrgh! Is that why I’ve seen people since saying they were trying to swap over to the new card and having the same issues we all seemed to had when the card came out originally, like lost applications forms, needing to go into the branch with id. They were so shocking I think I’ll try the new Travelex card!

        • flyforfun says:
          15 Mar15 March 21:15

          Just seen the summary box details on my “premier” card. Yes, there is a FX fee and also a £50 annual fee if I don’t hold a Lloyds Premier Current Account. Time to do a swap and hope for the best.

          • callum says:
            15 Mar15 March 23:12

            If you swap to the new basic one (£24 a year) you’ll get the same earning rate as your current card – 1.25 per £1. Instead of a companion ticket for spending £15k you’ll get an upgrade voucher for spending £7k, and you’ll also get no FX charges.

            For me the new card is better, I don’t know if it is for you though. If the new Travelex card turns out to be as good as it sounds, I might get rid of the Lloyds card and get the free TSB card – using it via the Travelex card when abroad.

  • N says:
    15 Mar15 March 12:37

    Why can’t I put my business expenditure through a personal card? What would be stopping me?

    • sandgrounder says:
      15 Mar15 March 18:40

      Your accountant?

      • flyforfun says:
        15 Mar15 March 20:22

        My accountant doesn’t care, as long as I can show him that it’s a business expense.

        • Alan says:
          15 Mar15 March 20:30

          Indeed – presumably the difference is that with a personal card you need to then make a transfer from your business bank account to cover the cost of any items that fall under business spend, whereas with a business card the full amount just comes out your business current account?

  • Nathan says:
    16 Mar16 March 01:26

    What’s the churning rules for Barclay cards (IHG and Hilton)

    • Rob says:
      16 Mar16 March 09:39

      Not publicly stated but experience from HFP readers is that a 6 month gap is OK.

      Note that Barclays also stops you applying for 2 cards in a 3 month period so you can’t get Hilton and IHG at the same time.

      • RT says:
        16 Mar16 March 11:13

        So which should I do first… IHG… or Hilton…. hmmmm

        • Rob says:
          16 Mar16 March 11:43

          Hilton bonus is permanent, the IHG one is temporary and may (or may not) ever be repeated ….

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? SPECIAL OFFER TO 12TH MAY EARN POINTS WORTH 30,000 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express Gold

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!