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Are the Lloyds Avios Rewards credit cards now fully closed to new applicants?

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The Lloyds Avios Rewards credit cards were closed to new online applications on 1st March as we wrote here.

At the time, Lloyds told us that you could continue to apply via telephone or in a branch for a limited period.

That period appears to be over.  A reader tried to apply this week by telephone and in a branch and was rebuffed on both occasions.  Apparently it no longer even appears as an option on the branch IT system.

On the upside, as Lloyds made some in-branch applicants watch two videos on ‘how to use a credit card sensibly’ before they would process the application, this may be for the best ……

I am told, however, that we may not have seen the back of these cards for good.

How Lloyds expects to compete with a £24 Mastercard earning 0.25 Avios per £1 when Virgin Atlantic now offers a free Mastercard earning 0.75 Flying Club miles per £1 is a different question.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (October 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous 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

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

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

50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

10,000 points bonus – plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

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

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

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.

American Express Business Platinum

Up to 80,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

Get up to 40,000 points as a sign-up offer and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (140)

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

  • VJ says:
    4 May4 May 14:21

    May someone suggest how many points require for a night @ Radisson Blu Sobieski Hotel Warsaw

    Link to the source will be appreciated.

    Thanks

  • the_real_a says:
    4 May4 May 14:50

    The voucher is such an underrated benefit. I save circa 78k avios flying to Asia every year. The only pain point is that a return has to be booked, it would be much better if it were two one way vouchers to mix and match with availability.

  • Bach says:
    4 May4 May 15:07

    OT – I can’t add my SPG account on my Amex account to move MR points. I think I read here that there is a little trick? Adding zeros? Or am I mixing with something else?

  • barnaby100 says:
    4 May4 May 15:28

    OT- don’t seem to be able to comment on old threads anymore. I am sampling the new LBA lounge. The White Rose- certainly a step backwards. Cold, like being in a corridor- well it is in a corridor with no walls, clinical, white, no privacy. Only a couple of sockets in the whole room. Manned bar but no-one is manning it. Dodgy buffet and some slop dish (must have BA caterers) . Now the food was always ropey but it was warn and cosy before and you could help yourself- cant even get a coke here. It is like being in an open plan office. Certainly not worth paying to access. The other guests have now given up and are considering raiding the bar. If it is meant to be a business lounge it needs to have business facilities-plugs would be a start. Do the people who design these places ever travel?

    • Rob says:
      4 May4 May 15:42

      Thanks. I had a feeling, looking at the pictures, it would be like that.

  • Calvin Chen says:
    4 May4 May 15:43

    Dear Lee, thanks for sharing the flights experience with Qatar to Tokyo.
    My partner and I also had the same flight last year November with Qatar to Tokyo in Business class but unfortunately not with the QSuites. We flew from AMS-DOH-NRT on the way out and then HND-DOH-LHR and with A380 on the way home. The services provided from ground staff till cabin crew are all the best i ever experience. The outbound from DOH-NRT in 2-2-2 configuration not really comfortable as you have mentioned but the return on A350-900 from HND is absolutely fantastic. Looking forward for my next flight with them to Kuala Lumpur in August.

    • Lee says:
      5 May5 May 19:46

      Calvin, I agree with the 2x2x2, not quite as comfortable as the others. I guess as they are the original business class cabins and slightly older planes that’s to be expected. It could also be the A380 and A350 are so very good, it makes the 777’s appear not as good! Hopefully you’ll get Qsuite next time, I’m definitely looking out for it again. It’s nice to hear the service is consistently really good too, QR staff and crew are excellent.

  • Anna says:
    4 May4 May 16:18

    Hi Russell, thank you so much for trying to reply! Tom pointed me in the direction of the right page and I’ve found it now!

  • Matt B says:
    4 May4 May 17:17

    In the last 8 weeks or so I have taken the white card, the gold charge card, then the gold companion credit card, and today from a referral just received a gold credit card – basically I hold 1 charge card and 3 credits cards now, so not sure what their rules are!

    • JamesB says:
      4 May4 May 18:09

      I called them and they said there is no rule on 2 card limit. I will give it a rest for a couple of months and try again. My credit rating is fine and I am sure credit limits and use are fine so I think it is down to amex internal issues.

      • Ian says:
        4 May4 May 19:29

        I churn and have had 3 credits cards plus charge cards with Amex at the same time a couple of times in the last few years. I lower the credit limits on existing Amex credit cards ahead of time before applying for #3 as I think the overall combined credit limit with Amex is likely important.

  • ankomonkey says:
    4 May4 May 17:44

    OT, but card related: received a replacement Creation Marriott Mastercard today. The letter was correctly headed with “Marriott…”, but the accompanying literature all referred to the Creation IHG card. Creation at their best 😉

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

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