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What are the best credit card deals for May 2018?

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It is time for our regular round up of what is coming and what is going in the world of UK airline and hotel credit card sign-up deals.

‘Stuff’ is still going on after a relatively dull period.  The market is slowly coming to terms with the interchange fee caps and is moving forward.  Below you can read about:

  • A new bonus worth 2,400 Avios on the free Tesco Clubcard Mastercard
  • The upcoming closure of the MBNA Virgin Atlantic cards
  • The return of the Marriott Rewards Mastercard and
  • The overnight change of Amex Gold from a charge card to a credit card

Virgin Atlantic Reward free credit card

Our directory of the 16 main 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.

What is new in the last month?

Get 2,400 Avios with the FREE Tesco credit card

The newest new news is the 2,400 Avios or 2,500 Virgin Flying Club miles sign-up bonus on the FREE Tesco Clubcard Mastercard.

The bonus is actually 1,000 Tesco Clubcard points but that converts into Avios or Virgin miles at the rates above.

We rarely see a bonus on this card.  You don’t even need to hit a spend target – you get the bonus as soon as you make your first transaction.  The representative APR is 18.9% variableMy full article on the deal is here and you can apply here.

The Tesco Clubcard Mastercard is the most generous free Visa or Mastercard for earning Avios unless you have a £75k+ salary and qualify for HSBC Premier.

The Tesco Premium card is still offering 12,000 Avios

The Tesco Premium credit card is offering a sign-up bonus of 5,000 Tesco Clubcard points until 11th July.  This means that the bonus is worth 12,500 Virgin Flying Club miles or 12,000 Avios.

There is no spend target.  You simply need to make one purchase in Tesco within the first two months.

The snag is the £150 annual fee, which basically nets off the bonus.  This means that whether you get the card depends on how you value the other benefits, including free travel insurance and a strong (for Avios) earning rate which works out at 0.6 Avios per £1 spent.

If you spend over £5000 per year with Tesco on this card, including petrol, you receive an end-of-year bonus of another 5,000 Clubcard points.  This does make it a decent proposition but clearly not many people spend that much.

You can apply here but read my full article on the deal first.  Representative APR 56.5% variable, including the fee, assuming a £1200 credit limit.

The Marriott Mastercard is coming back

Marriott has announced that the free Creation-issued Marriott Rewards Mastercard will return in August.

If the package remains unchanged, this is an OK card.  You earn 1 Marriott Rewards point per £1 spent, which I value at 0.5p.

Existing cardholders, from before the card was withdrawn two years ago, get two good extra benefits.  You receive 2,000 Marriott Rewards point for free, every year, as a gift.  You also receive 10 nights credit towards elite status which gives you Marriott Rewards Silver automatically.  It isn’t clear if these benefits will remain.

Marriott Rewards Mastercard

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold became a credit card

With absolutely no notice at all, American Express turned its Preferred Rewards Gold charge card into a credit card overnight.

This has no impact on existing Gold charge card holders.  However, I would stress a couple of points:

If you have Gold charge, you are allowed to apply for Gold credit.  You won’t get a sign-up bonus but you would get another ‘free first year’ and another two Lounge Pass vouchers.  This is a tempting idea if you are currently paying for Amex Gold charge.

It will no longer be possible to get a bonus for upgrading from Gold to Platinum, as you cannot upgrade a credit card to a charge card – they are totally different products from a regulatory standpoint

My full article on the change is here.  Representative APR 57.6% variable including the annual fee (free in year 1) based on a notional £1,200 credit limit. Interest rate on purchases 22.9% APR variable.

MBNA is closing its Virgin Atlantic White and Black cards – apply for the new ones now

In April we saw the welcome launch of the two new Virgin Atlantic credit cards.  As these are brand new, you should – if you haven’t read my recent articles – read these three pieces: one, two and three.  They will help you decide which card to get.

If you don’t have any existing Virgin Flying Club miles, I wrote this article to help you decide if the new credit cards were a good excuse to start collecting.

Last week, MBNA wrote to all existing Virgin Atlantic credit card holders telling them that ‘changes were coming’.  The letter was purposely vague, but I am treating it as the official ’60 days notice of closure’ which means that you should expect the cards to be turned off at the end of June or thereabouts.

To summarise the key facts about the new Virgin Money-issued Virgin Atlantic cards:

You CAN apply for these cards – and get a sign-up bonus – if you already have the MBNA Virgin Atlantic credit cards.  You don’t need to wait for your MBNA cards to be closed.

The free Reward card has a 5000 miles sign-up bonus, earns 0.75 miles per £1 and comes with a 241 or upgrade voucher for spending £20,000 per year

The £160 Reward+ card has a 15000 miles sign-up bonus, earns 1.5 miles per £1 and comes with a 241 or upgrade voucher for spending £10,000 per year

The cards are issued by Virgin Money so it is very unlikely that you will be conflicted due to having any other cards from the same bank

You can apply for the free Reward card here and the £160 Reward+ card here.   You can compare the cards side-by-side here.

Frankly, as long as your credit is excellent, picking up 5000 miles from the free Virgin Reward credit card seems a no-brainer especially as there is no minimum spend threshold.

Legal stuff: I need to tell you that the free Reward card has a representative APR of 22.9% variable.  The Reward+ card has a representative APR of 63.9% based on a notional £1200 credit limit and the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 22.9%.


best travel rewards credit cards

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – November 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

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

Huge 80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

30,000 bonus points (TO 18 NOVEMBER) 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

30,000 points (TO 9TH DECEMBER) plus good benefits Read our full review

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

20,000 points (ONLY TO 9TH DECEMBER) 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

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 when you spend at least £2,000 per month.

Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card

Get 1% cashback when you spend at least £2,000 per month* Read our full review

Comments (106)

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

  • Kevin says:

    This may have been answered a thousand times but I’m a new Amex Platinum member so forgive me. Do the benefits of Fine Hotels & Resorts and The Hotel Collection stack with the hotel gold card benefits. e.g. for Hilton?

  • Neil says:

    I have the rewards gold card and I had a flyer for extra points to get a gold credit card. Does that mean I have two now? I kept the rewards to use a couple of passes next week. Will I get more as suggested in the post? Cheers

    • marknewstart says:

      Is there a link for this gold credit card? Would like to get one myself

    • mark2 says:

      There is now confusion between the Gold credit card which replaces the gold charge card and the gold companion credit card which can accompany the gold charge card. which is now closed to new members.

  • KBuffett says:

    Does anyone have a link to upgrade from Amex PRGC (charge) to Amex Plat please?

  • Ray says:

    With all the MBNA changes has anyone heard anything about the United Card? The better half and I have a few hundred thousand miles between us now and use this card to keep the miles alive until we get the time to use them.
    Cheers

  • KBuffett says:

    Is it possible to cancel a supplementary card through the app? Or do I need to call them?

  • johnny_c-l says:

    Just seen a flashy new advert for the Virgin Atlantic cards when pulling into Clapham Junction – looks like the PR is in full swing now (but the sign is not as flash as the old Emirates plane taking off)…

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

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