Get up to £400 for taking out the American Express Nectar credit card

UPDATE – SEPTEMBER 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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 26th September 2024, sign up for FREE Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and you will receive a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Avios. This is double the usual bonus! You only need to spend £1,000 within 90 days. Our full review is here. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

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We have never covered Nectar points much.  The little coverage we did give it has now migrated over to Shopper Points since we launched that site last December.

Head for Points mainly focusses on credit cards which offer airline miles or hotel loyalty points for your spending.  However, easyJet and Expedia are partners with Nectar.

Nectar has launched an exceptional sign-up bonus

Full details of the American Express Nectar credit card can be found on the website here.  As you can see, the standard sign-up bonus is 20,000 Nectar points.

However, starting from 1st October, you will receive 40,000 Nectar points if you apply via the link on the Nectar website or in the Nectar app.

This is an exceedingly generous deal as I will discuss in a minute.  NOT EVERYONE WILL HAVE THE OFFER although it seems very widespread.

Before we go on, I need to tell you that the Nectar credit card has a representative APR of 25.0%, including the £25 fee (which is waived in year one if you do not have any other Amex cards), based on a notional credit limit of £1,200.

What can I get for 40,000 Nectar points?

In 90% of cases, a Nectar point is worth 0.5p.

You will 0.5p if you swipe your Nectar card in Sainsbury’s to pay for your shopping, or use the points to pay for Expedia flights or hotels, or book an easyJet flight.  In the worse case scenario, your points are worth £200.

If you are prepared to sit on your points for a while, you could do better.

Over the last year Nectar has been offering special deals on redemptions.  Let’s imagine that you hold on to your points until a ‘1p per point’ deal comes along.  Your sign-up bonus would be worth £400.

You need to spend £2,000 within three months to receive the 40,000 points.  You cannot apply if you have held the Nectar credit card in the last six months.

If you have a BA, SPG, Platinum, Gold etc American Express card then you will definitely receive the bonus.

Note that you receive the bonus in two parts.  American Express will award the standard 20,000 points via your statement whilst Nectar will add an additional 20,000 points directly to your Nectar account.

What is the annual fee?

The Amex website says that your first year is free and thereafter you pay £25.

The small print, however, says that anyone who holds ANY Amex-issued American Express card, or who has done so in the last six month, does not qualify for the fee waiver.

This means that almost all Head for Points readers will need to pay the £25 fee.  It will be refunded pro-rata if you later cancel the card.

What is the on-going earning?

You earn 2 Nectar points per £1 of general spend.  This is effectively 1% cashback at the very least.  This is not a bad deal, especially if you hold on to your points for a deal worth more than 0.5p per point.

Conclusion

This is a very generous deal and well worth a look.  The £25 annual fee should not put you off.

You can learn more about the card here – I recommend taking a look today if you are interested but do NOT apply!

Remember these two key things:

you MUST apply via the Nectar app or after logging in to the Nectar website via the special promotional page

you must apply in OCTOBER so don’t risk it by applying today, wait until Saturday!

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

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 26th September 2024, sign up for FREE Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and you will receive a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Avios. This is double the usual bonus! You only need to spend £1,000 within 90 days. Our full review is here. Click here to apply.

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

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.

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 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

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.