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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.

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.

Comments (140)

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

  • Axel says:

    What did the rejection letter say as the reason?

    • JamesB says:

      Internal review and experian score. Experian was 933 at time of application.

      • Callum says:

        Did they say Experian score or your Experian credit record?

        The scores provided by Experian etc are generally meaningless (unlike in the US I believe where they’re actually used?) so it would be interesting if Amex is using them.

      • JamesB says:

        @Callum, just checked asain and it said “data we have obtained from an authorised credit reference agency(ies)”. Experian were later named as that agency.

      • Callum says:

        The means your Experian score meant nothing at all. They used the data on your Experian record to create their own. If you get it free it’s useful to track your general credit worthiness but don’t pay for it.

        I remember my Experian score was 999 at one point despite only qualifying for sub-prime credit!

      • JamesB says:

        Agreed, I think it is an amex internal issue…simply I have too many cards or too much unused credit for their liking. At the moment I only have the score via Barclays so I will get a free access to have a look at the full report to check nothing is amiss.

      • Genghis says:

        @JamesB You’re probably aware but you can access your full Experian data for free via MSE Credit Club

      • JamesB says:

        @Genghis, yes thanks, that was what I was thinking about or simply requesting a free cooy from experian.

      • Genghis says:

        Before the free access via MSE, I would pay the £2 or so on an annual basis for the statutory report just to check things over.

  • Chirag Bakhai says:

    I applied for Lloyds card in branch on thursday and seemed to go through fine. Was told that phone applications are no longer possible but branch still ok

  • Daniel Knight says:

    OT – mobile credit card readers. Cheapest is £19+vat upfront and 1.69% transaction fee. If a new BAPP was signed up and £10k put through to get the 241 am I correct with this maths…? 10000 x 1.69% is 169, plus the 23 for the card reader plus 195 Amex fee is total cost of £387. This would get 26000 sign up points, 15000 points for the £10k spend and 100000 points equivalent for the 241 equals 141000 points. Cost per point £387 / 141000 = 0.2475p. Possibly half that if the BAPP was killed in a month with a pro rate refund. Quarter penny per avios is good but is my maths?!

  • Lloyds Avios Voucher says:

    Anyone knows what happens to the Lloyds Avios upgrade vouchers with Avios closing? I assume it will be converted to a BA voucher instead maybe? Ha no news however at all from Lloyds..

    • Anna says:

      It’s on the avios website, the voucher will go into your BA account but you’ll have to call avios.com to redeem it.

  • Rob says:

    OK. Will have a dig into Aqua (Rewards version).

  • James says:

    For those of us still with the Lloyds Duo Avios cards, will we still be able to earn the upgrade vouchers going forwards or is the transition to BA only for existing vouchers and then it’s stopping ?

    • callum says:

      You can still earn going forwards until they say otherwise. They’ve not given a commitment to how long that would be.

  • Alex W says:

    I was rejected for plat Companion a couple of months ago. Recently applied for SPG Amex, decision was deferred but eventually approved with about 1/3 the credit limit I had last time. Possibly because have moved house and got a car on finance in December. My credit report is very good though.

    • JamesB says:

      My best guess is that my available credit vastly outstrips my use. I think I will probably half it before trying again. Also, I have got Sainbury and Tesco cards that I rarely use so I will likely cancel those too despite them not being a problem before.

  • Andy Morgan says:

    Are the Lloyds cards still the best (cheapest) for using abroad to still earn Avios miles?

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