Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

The three different types of loyalty credit cards I own

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18 months ago I ran this post on ‘What is your credit card ‘end game’ strategy?‘.  This was fundamentally about which cards you should, long term, end up keeping in your wallet and generated a lot of discussion.  I will run an updated version soon.

If you look at the full range of ‘miles and points’ credit cards, you can generally break them down into three categories:

UK Rewards credit and charge cards

  • The card you actually use day-to-day because of its good earning rate in a programme you value (which was the focus of the ‘end game’ post above)
  • The card you get purely for the sign-up bonus, and cancel soon afterwards
  • The card you keep for the ancillary benefits such as hotel status but do not use for daily spending

What is best for me may not be best for you. However, I thought it might be interesting to look at what is currently lurking in my wallet (or my desk drawer).

The day-to-day spending cards I use 

Until three weeks ago, this was the good old bmi Diamond Club Mastercard which has just been closed down.  I was very lucky to still have this card, which had not available to new applicants for about four years.  I got a whopping 2.5 Avios per £1 spent on it which made the £60 per year fee great value for money.  Paying the 0.38% credit card fee to HMRC when settling tax bills was always a pleasure knowing that I was buying Avios points for 0.15p each.

I have just replaced the bmi card with the Lufthansa Miles & More cards (review).  I will get one mile per £1 spent on the Visa card for the first six months and that will take me through the January tax bill.  The ONLY reason I got this card is that I have a soft spot for Lufthansa First Class which is a truly excellent product – here is my review of the First Class Terminal in Frankfurt.  Lufthansa First reward availability is only made available to its own Miles & More members unless you book at very short notice.

My British Airways Premium Plus American Express (review) 2-4-1 voucher has been triggered for the year, so that card is back in the desk drawer.  It will be coming back into the light in February when my new card year starts.

I also have, in both my own and my wife’s name, the IHG Rewards Club Black Visa card (this card is now called the Premium Mastercard, review).   As well as earning two IHG points per £1, we also both receive a ‘free night’ voucher for spending £10,000 each year.  We try to use these at a decent InterContinental somewhere.

For overseas spend, I currently have a Metro Bank debit card on the Head for Points bank account which has no FX fees in Europe.  My wife also has a Post Office Mastercard which has no FX fees anywhere.  A better choice would be the Lloyds Avios Rewards Card (review) as this has no FX fees and earns Avios.

If you don’t want to take out a separate credit card purely to use overseas, look at the free Curve and Supercard products.  Curve is currently paying you £5 to take out their card as I wrote here.

PS.  My wife also has a House of Fraser Mastercard.  It isn’t a bad product offering 0.5% cashback in House of Fraser vouchers.  It also has no fee.  She uses the BA Amex or – until cancelled – the bmi Mastercard for what she considers general household spending which I settle.  She charges her clothes, haircuts etc to the House of Fraser card and settles that herself.  We have never had a joint bank account but only because it seemed unnecessary.

The cards I got for the sign-up bonus

I am generally NOT an aggressive credit card churner, tending to open only one or two new accounts each year. This year, the offers have been particularly poor.

Before applying for the Miles & More card with its limited time 10,000 miles bonus, the last card we got was when my wife was sent a targetted 20,000 point bonus on the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express last Winter.

I am unsure whether I should get the HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard.  I (article) already have a HSBC Premier current account so I qualify automatically.  £195 is a big fee but 40,000 Avios / Etihad / Singapore / Cathay Pacific miles is a big bonus.  My gut feeling is that I will wait until next year.

The cards I keep for ancillary benefits

For 17 years, this has been the American Express Platinum card (review) for me. I get my BA Premium Plus Amex fee-free for holding this (a benefit no longer offered to new applicants, unfortunately) which saves me £195, and I value the travel insurance, hotel statuses and other perks.

Note that I very rarely spend anything on my Platinum card, unless there is a promotion going on.  1 Membership Rewards point per £1 is pretty poor to be honest.

I will also probably keep the IHG Rewards Club Black and Lufthansa Miles & More cards even if I move my spending elsewhere.  My £99 fee for the IHG card buys me a free upgrade to IHG Rewards Club Platinum status.  IHG Rewards Club benefits are, to put it mildly, variable, with many hotels offering nothing at all.  Many do take it seriously with the occasional decent upgrade or gift.

The Lufthansa card stops my Miles & More miles from expiring as long as I use it once a month.  This is a very handy feature because Miles & More miles, for non-status members, have a ‘hard’ three year expiry from the date you earn them which cannot be extended.  I would move one of my monthly recurring charges onto the card and ensure the bill was paid by Direct Debit.

So, that is the current content of our credit card drawer.  How about you?

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 Platinum card, British Airways American Express, HSBC Premier Mastercard, IHG One Rewards, Lufthansa and Miles & More

Comments (194)

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

  • pointsarb says:
    24 Oct24 October 11:37

    * hit

  • bryan says:
    24 Oct24 October 11:44

    Currently have the BA Amex and the SPG Amex (looking to hit sign up bonus so does my everyday spend at the moment)

    Apart from that I use

    IHG card to do my everyday spend (if they don’t take amex) or to get cash out via curve, holding it also gives me gold, not many benefits but at least stops my points expiring

    Long term I will likely sign up for the Amex Platinum or Gold card in 6 months to get the sign up bonus or upgrade the BA card to the BAPP

  • RTs says:
    24 Oct24 October 11:48

    Hi – does anyone know whether the upgrade from Gold to Platinum offer is still on?

    The link I had previously is no longer live.

    • Lev441 says:
      24 Oct24 October 11:52

      When I rang them up last week I was offered 15,000 MR bonus on a £1k spend… May be worth speaking to the call centre

  • Neil says:
    24 Oct24 October 13:32

    IHG Premium – for Plat status – got a very pleasant upgrade at the CP in Berlin recently.

    Hilton – currently in the drawer – surfaces when my year starts and I need to spend £10k for gold which I value highly (breakfasts + upgrades)

    Virgin Black – recent addition for the points bonus – will revert to the Lufthansa card when I’ve got the Virgin points. I’ve given up flying BA – their J product is rubbish compared to Swiss or Lufty.

    Nationwide FlexPlus debit card – for commission free withdrawals abroad and insurances

    Nationwide Select credit card – for commission free purchases abroad

  • PauloG says:
    24 Oct24 October 14:36

    I’m wondering if I can apply for a Amex Gold (personal card)?

    I have recently cancelled my BAPP a month ago after hitting target & 2-4-1, so cant re-apply yet. Wife has also just triggered her 2-4-1 so I’m putting that card in the drawer so she can refer me once my 6 month wait period is up.

    I have a Business Amex Plat card, which I use for some business purchases, but want to retain for the card benefits already described in other posts, pocketed the sign up bonus for that earlier this year.

    Currently just got the Virgin Black, and plan to pay my Corp Tax, Staff Tax & NI payment on the Visa. Kids are 8 & 5yrs old, so plan to holiday in Florida / Cancun to utilise the points / vouchers, once accumulated. I realise the restricted destination list puts many off of Virgin.

    Am I eligible to apply for an Amex Gold (personal) and then try to upgrade to Plat once I hit spend target? Even though I have a Plat business? If so, does that hinder my re-applying for BAPP at all?

    • James says:
      24 Oct24 October 16:20

      You won’t get two sign up bonuses. I had this same discussion with them and told them that they weren’t incentivising me to channel my business spend through them. The guy agreed, but claimed himself powerless to do anything. So I said ‘bye’

    • Lev441 says:
      24 Oct24 October 16:23

      No I don’t think you’re eligible for the sign up bonus as you hold a card which earns membership reward points. If you cancel the Business Amex platinum card then after six months you’ll be eligible for a sign up bonus.

      BAPP is separate to the membership rewards so you are ok to reapply for that after the 6 month wait from your last card.

      • PauloG says:
        24 Oct24 October 16:52

        Thanks Guys, that’s useful.

        I think I will get the wife to do a personal Gold maybe, although she is a supp card holder on the business Plat, she only has the BAPP in her personal name at the moment as far as Amex are concerned. That should work if I understand correctly?

        Can I refer her from my business Plat? Any other options welcome!!

    • Talay says:
      24 Oct24 October 23:39

      Is there a charge to “”pay my Corp Tax, Staff Tax & NI payment on the Visa” ?

      I pay a lot of tax, plus employees payments etc. and would love something back !

      • Lev441 says:
        25 Oct25 October 11:47

        it depends on the exact card but personal visa/mastercards are around the 0.40% mark.

        • PauloG says:
          25 Oct25 October 13:26

          On one of Rob’s other articles I’m sure it says the Virgin visa is circa 0.41% fee with HMRC.

          • Stuart says:
            25 Oct25 October 18:01

            My new IHG card issued by creation was 0.286% very exacting!!

          • Roger says:
            25 Oct25 October 19:42

            Are you sure it is 0.286%?
            My transactions are being charged at 0.386%
            Just double checked using first 8 digits and it is indeed 0.386% fees for HMRC.

  • S says:
    24 Oct24 October 15:08

    I usually use my American Amex Premier Rewards Gold Card as it charges 0% for foreign spending and I get 3 membership reward points for each $ spent when buying airline tickets. No other card comes close.

  • TripleB says:
    24 Oct24 October 15:11

    As someone who has only lived in the UK for just over a year my wallet consists of:

    Metrobank debit mastercard for overseas ATM withdrawals, non GBP spend and booking airfares where there is a higher fee for using a credit card. This card has saved me many hundreds of pounds in the last year. I cannot rate it highly enough.

    I also have the Metrobank credit mastercard (with a £500 limit) for use abroad (mainly because Metrobank were the only institution willing to give me a credit card at the time – they picked through my bank account transactions and pay slips to assess my credit risk and then the branch manager approved it after the computer had initially said no because I didn’t have a credit history).

    I now have the IHG credit Mastercard for all my sterling spend. In the new year I will reduce the credit limit on this to £100, stick it in a draw and apply for the Barclays Hilton card.

    • Bob says:
      25 Oct25 October 11:12

      I wouldn’t reduce the credit limit to £100 if I were you. There seems to be a common misconception on here about how credit limits and scores work – http://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/requesting-lower-credit-limits-could-hurt-scores/

      • TripleB says:
        25 Oct25 October 15:31

        Yes I have been stung by having a high utilization rate (rookie error) – I had a £375 end of month balance on my £500 card (because I had booked an airfare the day before) and went from having a equifax ‘good’ rating to a ‘poor’ rating overnight (which then meant that I had to wait 3 months for it to come back) – even though I was paying the entire balance by the due date.

        What I now do is diarise the statement dates of my credit cards and make sure that I pay them down (but not off – I want to have a utilisation rate so it looks like I might pay interest from time to time) before the statement is issued so as that I don’t get burnt by it again.

        What I will do is reduce the limit to £100 and continue to practice my pre-statement pay down – that way I will hopefully be able to get another £500 limit card and all will be right with the world!

  • Ciaran G says:
    24 Oct24 October 15:58

    I’m having a hard time deciding if the Amex Platinum is worth it. The benefits I see most valuable are the travel insurance, Hotel statuses, and priority pass. I’m in my late 20’s and have a job where I travel quite a lot where I would normally stay in Hiltons, Radisson Blus, or IHG hotels. I currently don’t spend enough to always maintain Gold (or equivalent level), though I do have the IHG Black Card so I have Platinum on that. It is also my day-to-day spending as the redemptions are cheap for personal travel and I can rack up a lot of points via their schemes they always have going on.

    I take on average 25-30 flights a year, and my stays are usually from 3-7 days. I travel on my own when on business, but also fly a lot with family and friends (so the guest lounge passes, and insurance cover from supplemental cards would go a long way).

    Reckon the card is worth the fee for someone like me?

    • Lev441 says:
      24 Oct24 October 16:25

      I think its worth it for someone like yourself who flies so much. Lounge passes and insurance cover alone should cover it for you!!

      • Ciaran G says:
        24 Oct24 October 22:30

        Yeah, I did the math more clearly and the lounge access alone would pay for the card. My local airport and the next closest airport both have nice lounges I could use fairly often as I fly from these the most.

    • Zander says:
      24 Oct24 October 16:39

      I, like you, travel a lot and I’d say the Plat AMEX is worth it with lounge passes, hotel status and insurance as £450 for all of that is pocket change compared to the value you should get out of the Plat card.

    • Genghis says:
      24 Oct24 October 16:41

      It depends. For me Amex Plat is a churning card for sign up bonus points, to ‘top up’ hotel statuses and to use to get in the Eurostar lounges (used just 30 mins ago as work policy is only Standard Premier). The ongoing benefits that you need the cards for are then the travel insurance and the lounge access. I have a great personal travel insurance cover with Bupa through work so really would leave £450 for lounge access. I cannot justify this given I may fly 5 times a year on personal travel. J for work so not needed.

      • Stuart Graham says:
        24 Oct24 October 18:39

        If you have a friend who travels lots then you could give them a supplementary card with its own priority pass card and share the annual fee

        • Ciaran G says:
          24 Oct24 October 22:28

          Do supplementary cards definitely get their own priority pass? If this is the case I could give some to my family members so they can also get lounge access. Very often, my mother, me, and my younger brother travel together. So I could give my mum a supplementary card, and my brother can use my “guest” entry.

          Which leads me to another Q – if the supplementary cards do grant priority passes – do they also grant the guest lounge access? Or is that only for the main card?

          • Rob says:
            24 Oct24 October 22:33

            The Plat supp gets a PP. Supps 2 to 5 are Gold so do not get one.

          • Wally1976 says:
            25 Oct25 October 13:00

            Yes the first supplementary card gets a priority pass which also allows a guest so you can get 4 people into the lounge in total from one Amex Plat account.

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