Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

HfP ‘Credit Cards’ page updated for July 2017 – what are the best deals this month?

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UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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.

It is time for 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 updated directory of all 23 UK travel credit cards can be found by clicking the ‘Credit Cards’ tab at the top of the site or – for email, Flipboard, Apple News or mobile readers – by clicking here.  This article is a summary of the recent changes, and will hopefully be a useful starting point for new readers.

MBNA American Airlines credit card

What’s changed this month?

There’s a lot going on at the moment, and it gives you a sign of how the industry is changing.

The big development is that, overnight, MBNA scrapped its existing American Airlines cards (free, a dual Amex / Visa package) and replaced them with something completely different.

The American Express card has gone.  You now have a package which looks like this:

  • £70 annual fee
  • 15,000 American Airlines miles for signing up by 22nd August
  • an excellent 1.25 miles per £1 spent
  • Visa only

Full details, and my view on whether to apply, are in this article here.

In other news:

Virgin Flying Club dropped the increased bonus on its two Virgin Atlantic cards as scheduled.  The bonus is now back down to 3,000 miles on the free card and 18,500 miles on the £140 Black card.

The special deal on the two Emirates credit cards has also ended.  The bonus is back to 5,000 miles on the free card and 10,000 miles on the Elite card.

British Airways is still running an improved sign-up bonus on its two British Airways American Express cards.  No closing date has been given for this deal.

There is a slight tweak this time.  The Premium Plus card is back to 25,000 Avios for signing up.  The free BA Amex, however, is only up to 5,000 Avios from the usual 3,000 Avios – this is usually increased to 9,000 Avios.

I would guess that Amex is trying to encourage more people to take the Premium Plus card by widening the gap in the sign-up bonus.  Frankly, you shouldn’t get the free BA Amex if you are planning to earn the 2-4-1 Avios flight voucher – this article explains why.

Tesco is offering a £50 Tesco gift card if you sign for the Tesco Premium Credit Card before the end of August.  My review of the card is here.  If you convert your Clubcard points from purchases into Avios it works out at 0.6 Avios per £1 which is very good for a Visa or MasterCard.  My full article on the deal is here.

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 Airlines and AAdvantage, American Express Gold card, American Express Platinum card, British Airways American Express, Tesco Clubcard

Comments (101)

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

  • Amanda says:
    10 Jul10 July 13:26

    Hi Rob, we’ve booked a round the world Qantas ticket for early next year and are now ready to book the hotels (30 nights worth), we think that using Hilton would work best for us but are struggling to get our heads around whether it’s worth us getting a Platinum card for the HH benefits (and lounge access). I’m not sure whether we should book the hotels now and apply for the card a couple of months before we go or wait until we have the HH Gold membership via the Card as we’re not likely to use any of the benefits until we go…any thoughts would be appreciated. (and I’ll be after a recommendation code from you when we’re ready!)

    • James says:
      10 Jul10 July 13:53

      Amanda, have you considered doing the Hilton diamond status match (considering you will be staying a lot of nights). This way you would also have Hilton diamond for all your stays as well.

    • Rob says:
      10 Jul10 July 14:22

      Gold status will run until 3/18 irrespective of whether you get it now or in December.

      If your trip is after 31/3/18 you want to hold off getting Plat until January.

      If the 90 day status match is still running that would also do the job if you had something else.

      You need Diamond for lounge access, Gold is free brekky and a limited upgrade.

      • Amanda says:
        10 Jul10 July 14:53

        Thanks Rob sorry, didn’t see your reply! Sorry, I meant AIRPORT lounge access as we’ll be doing 12 flights in the month (We fly out on Mar 6). So is it best to wait until we have the Card before booking the hotels or is it what status you are when you check out that makes a difference? Apologies for the 20 questions!

        • Alex W says:
          10 Jul10 July 21:29

          I would wait to get the Plat card until later. You can email the hotels before arrival to let them know of your gold status. Also if you’re hiring any cars you get the free insurance with the plat card. You can then cancel the card after your holiday after you get the signup bonus and get a pro rata refund on the £450 fee.

  • Nishant Tharani says:
    10 Jul10 July 14:05

    Semi OT: two questions regarding churning the Amex cards
    1) do I get a pro rata refund of the annual fee for a card each time I cancel it? If not then churning doesn’t look so good..
    2) if I cancel the gold card, do I have to transfer the points into a specific programme at the time of cancellation? Or can I keep the balance in my Amex account even with the card cancelled?

    Thanks!

    • Alan says:
      10 Jul10 July 14:09

      1) Yes to pro-rata (unlike with MBNA or Creation)
      2) No to keeping in your MR account – you need to pick where you want to transfer them to before closing account. It’s the MR account being shut for 6/12 that lets you reapply for the card.

      • Genghis says:
        10 Jul10 July 16:59

        2) I thought officially you have 28 days to transfer out the points after card cancellation? Nevertheless I always transfer out, make sure points got, then cancel.

        • Alan says:
          10 Jul10 July 17:11

          Agreed, I was just trying to keep things simple 😉 Plus delays resetting the clock for next card application… 😛

          • Genghis says:
            10 Jul10 July 17:19

            You sure it delays resetting the clock? As after cancellation I always receive a letter with the official cancellation date, even if I have left a handful of points there which theoretically I could still transfer within the 28 days?

          • Alan says:
            10 Jul10 July 17:24

            Hmm interesting, my understanding was always that it was timing of closure of MR account that counted – hence why keeping it open with Plat CC (assuming offered) didn’t help as MR still not shut, but maybe cancelled accounts dealt with subtly differently. TBH I’d be worried about their system not doing things correctly and thus would prefer to have them switched. No personal experience though as I’m up past 450k MR so would be really stuck working out where to transfer and have just kept Plat open instead – had enough deals/good CS from Amex to feel it’s still been an OK deal.

          • Genghis says:
            10 Jul10 July 17:33

            I’d rather have the 184k MRs every year 🙂

          • Alan says:
            10 Jul10 July 17:46

            Haha – I don’t have a partner to swap referrals with so lower MR earning potential (although obviously lower burning cost too!)

      • Nishant Tharani says:
        10 Jul10 July 17:24

        Thanks! About to start churning, can’t wait for the business class upgrades :p

  • Adam says:
    10 Jul10 July 14:52

    I recently closed my Amex Plat charge card 3 months ago. I understand it’s possible to apply for both the plat & Gold charge cards. My last Gold charge card was closed over 6 months ago. Will I recive the 20,000 MR sign up bonus if i apply for the Gold Charge Card?

    • Polly says:
      10 Jul10 July 16:50

      No Adam, you won’t get a bonus until your last charge card cancellation is at least 6 moths out. Sorry….they will happily give you the card. But best wait. get the BAPP for I between times, 26 k bonus if referred, small spend.

  • John says:
    10 Jul10 July 15:12

    Any Amex transaction processing experts out there? I’m having difficulty obtaining a refund from Amazon/Amex. The original purchase transaction was with Amazon UK – and Amazon have refunded as expected….except the original amex card used is since cancelled. Not usually a problem (when this has happened before, Amex have written to me telling me they have a credit and how would I like to receive it, usually by cheque), but on this occasion Amex are not being helpful at all. Amazon have provided a refund reference number (is this 8-digit number the Acquirer Reference Number per chance? Do Amex use this in the same manner as Visa & MC? as this apparently allows any transaction to be tracked & found) but Amex say it means nothing to them (so presumably have not attempted to trace the refund transaction). Either way, Amazon won’t (or say they can’t) do anything more until they receive confirmation from Amex that the funds have not been received – but Amex oddly won’t supply this for whatever reason. So Amazon say refund has been actioned (8 weeks ago) and Amex say they haven’t received the funds but won’t provide confirmation of this to assist Amazon to help me further so I’m currently $cr3wed.

    Any help/advice welcome.

    • ankomonkey says:
      10 Jul10 July 17:55

      I’m going through similar right now. Got a letter saying I have credit balance on cancelled PRG. It’s £5.25 from Tesco Direct. I called and they said cheque is easiest way to give me the credit. I agreed. Then got letter saying I need to send them a receipt of the payment made with Tesco Direct. The only strange thing is that is was part of a larger order, so there was never a £5.25 debit on the card from Tesco Direct, but there was for £11. I’m most surprised that they can be bothered to delay processing of this and assign a resource to review what I send them, all for the sake of £5.25. Never had this before and have had refunds to cancelled Amex cards a few times.

    • Klaus-Peter Dudas says:
      10 Jul10 July 22:05

      I had a credit for about £75 on my old BAPP card. Called them up to ask and they just moved the credit to my PRG card. I then got a statement in the post a couple of weeks later with all of the transactions…

  • Oh! Matron! says:
    10 Jul10 July 16:09

    Just been sent an Amex / BA Premium offer (The day I cancelled my Play Amex)

    30,000 / £3K spend…

    • AVM says:
      10 Jul10 July 16:15

      Same here. The email subject says “Mr AVM, an exclusive 30,000 Avios bonus just for you”. Not so exclusive and not just for me, it appears. Another BA IT failure ? 😉

    • Lawro says:
      10 Jul10 July 16:32

      Assuming this won’t double up with usual referral bonuses given you need to apply through link in email. Assuming that’s the case, if referring other half still better off with current raised (26k) offer then.

    • Andrew says:
      10 Jul10 July 16:56

      I just received the same offer. Given I only have 500 at the moment, not sure it is worth it!

    • Dave says:
      10 Jul10 July 17:02

      Me too offered 30K – don’t feel so special either! Thought it was because they lost my bag on the PMI-STN flight on Saturday 🙂

  • Paulm says:
    10 Jul10 July 16:13

    Just had an email from BA offering 30k bonus to sign up for the BAPP, assume a targeted offer.

    • Anna says:
      10 Jul10 July 16:34

      But that would still be less than 9,000 + 26,000 if a partner referred you?

      • Anna says:
        10 Jul10 July 16:35

        But yes, just checked and I have the email!

        • Anna says:
          10 Jul10 July 16:37

          Also 10,000 bonus for the free card which might be a better deal.

          • Paulm says:
            10 Jul10 July 16:45

            Thanks, had not clicked the link so not seen the 10k offer for the free card which would work better for me.

  • Adam says:
    10 Jul10 July 16:23

    Will I receive a sign up bonus for AMEX Gold Charge Card if i cancelled my Plat Charge Card 3 months ago?

    • momomo says:
      10 Jul10 July 16:46

      No, you need to go six months without a Membership Rewards earning card to be eligible for an MR intro offer again.

      On a related note, does anyone know if Amex is offering any deals for Gold charge card holders looking to upgrade to Plat?

  • PaulW says:
    10 Jul10 July 16:53

    Slightly off topic getting a few good offers in Amex member offers today, thistle and gourman hotels..

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!