What is the best replacement for the UK Hilton Honors Platinum Visa credit card?

Barclaycard closed the Hilton Honors credit card in the UK last week.

This follows a run of travel card closures, with MBNA closing all of its eight UK airline partner credit cards to new applicants recently.

Why did this happen?

You should NOT assume that the Hilton Honors credit card will return under a new issuer.

The core driver was the European Union cap on interchange fees.  This restricted the fee that payment processors could charge retailers for accepting credit cards to 0.3%.   It is very difficult to run a successful rewards card on this basis.

What is your best alternative to the Hilton Honors UK credit card?

If you currently hold the Hilton Honors Visa credit card it will continue to operate for a while.  Whether that is weeks, months or years I don’t know.

If you had been planning to get a Hilton credit card but never got around to it, here are your options:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold or American Express Platinum (points convert 1:2 into Hilton Honors)

or / and

the Virgin Atlantic credit cards to be launched in April 2018 as either a Visa or Mastercard (miles convert 2:3 into Hilton Honors)

The sign-up bonus on Amex Gold would get you 40,000 Hilton Honors points – and the card is free for the first year.  You can cancel at any time.

The sign-up bonus on Amex Platinum would get you 60,000 Hilton Honors points and all cardholders receive Hilton Honors Gold status.

Reviews and to apply

Here are my reviews of the cards mentioned above, which also explain the sign-up bonuses available:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold – review, apply 

American Express Platinum – review, apply 

We will be covering the new Virgin Atlantic Flying Club credit cards in detail as soon as we have the details.

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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.