Bits: The Economist on ‘class war in the [BA] airport lounge’, 0% Post Office balance transfer

News in brief:

The Economist’s 1843 on ‘Class War In The Airport Lounge’

Intelligent Life, the quarterly lifestyle glossy from The Economist, was recently relaunched with a new title 1843.

The new edition features, on its back page, an article by Adrian Wooldridge.  It outlines his journey through British Airways Executive Club status.  He is clearly not a Head for Points reader, however, as it seems that he missed achieving Gold by 30 tier points and didn’t seem to know a) that he could ring BA for a one week extension or b) how to get 30 tier points quickly and cheaply.

It is well worth a read and you can find it here.

Did you know, for example, that in The Republic Plato argues that citizens come in three types:  Gold, Silver and Bronze?

As the article concludes:

We Britons understand the value of keeping the classes divided while holding out the possibility of social promotion.  BA’s slogan is ‘one world’ [er, no!] but its genius is to understand that, however interconnected humans become, it still pays to divide them into gold, silver and bronze.

0% balance transfer fee on the Post Office Mastercard

The Post Office dropped me a note last week to promote a new 22 month 0% balance transfer deal on its Platinum Mastercard.

I feature the Post Office card on HfP because it is one of only a handful of credit cards which are both FREE and have no foreign exchange fees on purchases abroad.

Whilst the Halifax Clarity card is a little better than the Post Office one for overseas use because Clarity also has no FX fees on overseas cash withdrawals, the new offer of:

0% interest for 22 months on balance transfers, and

0% fee on your balance transfer

will be interesting for some people.  This means that you can move an existing balance from any other credit card, fee free, to the Post Office card and pay no interest until early 2018.  You should definitely clear your balance at that point, however, as the representative APR is 17.8% variable.  This is NOT a card where you want to be paying interest.

You can still make new purchases without impacting your 0% balance transfer as your monthly repayment must, by law, be used to pay off the highest APR transactions first – which means paying off your fresh spending.  

This would still allow you to benefit from the 0% fees on foreign exchange transactions which is, of course, the key benefit for HfP readers.  More details of the Post Office Platinum card and this offer can be found here.

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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