Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Reader gets a refund from Barclaycard within seven minutes

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

When I wrote about the closure of the IHG Rewards Club credit cards issued by Barclaycard yesterday I suggested that, if you will not now be able to hit the £10,000 target for earning your free night, you ask for compensation.

My suggestion was:

Work out how much you will have spent in your card year by 20th April (eg £6,000)

Assume that you would have redeemed your free night voucher at a top InterContinental worth £250

Make a claim for the % of £250 you have reached – in my example, 6/10th of £250 which is £150

A reader did just that, emailing the Executive Office (EO@barclaycard.co.uk) yesterday morning. He asked for a sum based on the formula above.  Seven minutes later he had a reply confirming that he will receive the full amount requested.

If you have no chance of triggering your £10,000 voucher before 20th April, you may want to do the same.


earns points from credit cards

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 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

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.

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

Comments (100)

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

  • jamie says:

    OT, but of interest to all churners out there.

    no need at all to wait for the so called “6 months” between holding amex cards

    had posted in the past that I churn BA and platinum at 2-3 month intervals and have never missed a welcome bonus. well, just done my first spg amex churn , 6 weeks after closing last account, and have received welcome bonus after spending a grand.

    • the real harry1 says:

      interesting tidbit

      depends if you are worried about getting blacklisted or not IMV

      • the real harry1 says:

        Genghis changes his churning plans to 3 months frequency, doubling everything at a stroke 🙂

        • Genghis says:

          🙂 I’m taking it easy now (till June). No credit card applications since Dec. I’m getting itchy feet tho

  • Pid says:

    OT – Can you get the BA amex and the lloyds avios card at same time? My understanding is that you can but a college of mine said he was refused the BA amex last year and when he enquired why he was told it was beaches he has the lloyds one. Seems strange to me as they are issued by different people. What to know so that he can try again via my referral!

    • Genghis says:

      You can have them at the same time as both me and my wife have done it.

      • Genghis says:

        However, he could still be refused because he has another credit card (which just happens to be the Lloyds avios card) for all manner of reasons – i.e. Amex may not like his potentially high credit limit / utilisation (whatever) on the Lloyds avios card.

        • Pid says:

          Thank you, that is what I thought. Hopefully he will be successful when he re applies. 🙂

      • AndyGWP says:

        Yeah, to confirm, I have both BA amex and Lloyds 🙂

  • Clive says:

    First route with QSuite is……….drum roll

    LONDON

    Mid next year

    • TGLoyalty says:

      June this year according to the websites I’ve read today

  • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

    Shame I rather liked the QR 777s. Found the seats very comfortable for sleeping and generally very spacious for a couple (our window seat had four windows to itself!). Not great for single travellers though I imagine.

  • Lewis Watson says:

    Probably should have asked for more then if he got refund so easily lol

  • James67 says:

    Haha, would love to have heard what Mr Cruz had to say on learning about that. I wonder how much it works out at per sheet.

  • RussellH says:

    Simon Calder’s article on this in the i also mentioned in passing a previous 4 hour delay on BA because of a mouse on board…

  • Genghis says:

    OT. Did some market research this evening on Heathrow selling fast track security access. Watch this space…

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

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.