Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

More about the forthcoming changes to your Lloyds Avios Rewards credit card

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

Yesterday we ran an article on the changes to the Lloyds Duo Avios credit cards which were sent to cardholders on Monday.

I said that I expected letters to follow to holders of the Lloyds Avios Rewards cards shortly.   I now have details of what will happen.

This is what you need to know:

This is going to be a very slow process.  Letters will be staggered between now and April 2019.  It isn’t clear if this is due to Lloyds looking to avoid a squeeze on their infrastructure or if they are hoping to tie it in with your annual renewal date.

The changes will apply to your account 60 days from the date the letter is sent

However, if the changes were linked to your renewal date, there would be no reason for Lloyds to be telling people, as they are, that – as the new replacement Lloyds Avios Mastercard is free – you will receive a pro-rata fee refund on your existing card

If you have had a Club Lloyds current account for at least six months, you receive an extra 0.1 Avios per £1 (0.2 Avios per £1 for foreign spending)

Some customers may receive a retention offer at the time of the switch

There will be a 2.95% foreign exchange fee going forward (the card currently has 0% FX fees)

There will not be an upgrade voucher going forward

The Lloyds call centre is telling some people that there is a final cut off of 2nd February for spend to count towards your upgrade voucher, irrespective of your year end.  This is NOT confirmed in writing yet so treat it as rumour.

The Avios earning rate on the new Mastercard will be the same as the one offered to ex-Lloyds Duo Avios cardholders:

0.4 Avios per £1 you spend in the UK

0.8 Avios per £1 you spend outside the UK

0.4 Avios per £1 transferred on a balance transfer (this is a new benefit – Lloyds Duo Avios cardholders used to get Avios on balance transfers but Lloyds Avios Rewards cardholders did not)

….. plus the extra 25% bonus for Club Lloyds current account holders.

One thing I don’t know is whether this new Lloyds Avios Rewards Mastercard will be reopened to new cardholders or whether it will remain exclusively for ex-Amex cardholders.

Lloyds Bank has set up a special website on the changes and you can find more details here.

With everyone getting 60 days notice and the letters being staggered over almost a year, there is no need to rush out and get a 0% foreign exchange fees card or get a replacement Avios-earning Amex.  I would wait until you get your letter and then make a move.

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

British Airways and Avios

Comments (164)

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

  • Roberto says:
    8 Aug8 August 16:17

    OT – Curve related….

    Spoke to their customer services and they confirmed that the first gen cards will be swapping over to the debit later this year. All non debit cards will be replaced in the coming months. Old cards will continue to work up to when the new cards are activated.

    • the_real_a says:
      8 Aug8 August 16:34

      yup and downgraded to 50k limits 🙁

      • Matt says:
        8 Aug8 August 16:43

        I remember it being stated here that 50k was MC imposed annual limit but can I ask if anyone has a daily limit more than 3750 on the debit version? Just wondering if there is any point asking for an increase and how much I could reasonably ask for… thanks.

    • RIccatti says:
      8 Aug8 August 18:12

      Those are not news. Curve been sending emails to each holder of the old gen card.

  • Liz says:
    8 Aug8 August 16:47

    Are people still missing Curve transactions – we paid for 3 items totalling £300 via hubby’s Curve /IHG – showing in app but not showing on IHG from 26/7. All transactions on my IHG have tracked ok.

    • KevMc says:
      8 Aug8 August 17:28

      Yes – I contacted their support and they said that they are aware of the problem and to expect the transactions to appear on the underlying card “within the next day or two”. Personally I am stopping using it any further until I’ve seen all the transactions I have outstanding pop up on my IHG statement (I have about 8 transactions going back as far as 29th)

      • Liz says:
        8 Aug8 August 17:57

        Hubby used his card again today and it is showing up as pending on IHG ok – just missing our 3 transactions from 26/7

    • RIccatti says:
      8 Aug8 August 18:16

      This is a non-issue.

      Just do not use Curve for pre-authorisations. They got much better at refunding but still cannot separate at the outset the charge from pre-authorisation.

      If you show Curve card at hotel reception — all chances are that crazy pre-auth amount will be first actually billed to your underlying card, then refunded “within 7 days”.

      • Liz says:
        8 Aug8 August 22:31

        This is nothing to do with hotel pre-authorisations – it’s 3 purchases that have not appeared on IHG card. Normally they show up as pending immediately. Not complaining if the charges don’t go through but I need the pts for qualifying for Spire.

        • RIccatti says:
          9 Aug9 August 08:41

          Yeah, the funny thing that pre-auth which you don’t want to appear, will appear as pending, go through to post on the statement, and then might/might not get refunded.

          Curve systems became better at doing refunds but the pre-auth will still be charged.

  • Yawn says:
    8 Aug8 August 18:45

    Hmm. What to do? My new (third) year should start later this month. I’ve used the previous two vouchers to fly business class to India and Japan, so would be keen to get a third. If I have until February, as the rumours suggest, I’d be fine. But what if the letter drops in, say, October? Also, there is no obvious replacement for the solo traveller is there? I really don’t need a companion voucher.

    • Lev441 says:
      8 Aug8 August 20:42

      Upgrade voucher on the virgin Atlantic credit card? Only other option there for the solo traveller..

  • Chris says:
    8 Aug8 August 19:27

    Interestingly the terms and conditions give a link of http://www.ba.com/lloyds

    I can’t help but wonder is this the end of the BA Amex? I can’t see how BA will be able to actively promote two credit cards.

    • Letterbox burka says:
      8 Aug8 August 20:38

      You’re making several speculative jumps, none of which might be true. In the absence of more evidence: wait for more evidence.

    • Rob says:
      8 Aug8 August 20:54

      It is totally normal in the US to work with multiple card groups. There will be 2 Marriott cards – SPG Amex and Creation Mastercard – from the end of August. That said, it makes sense for BA to dump Amex given the fee cap.

      • RIccatti says:
        9 Aug9 August 08:44

        –There will be 2 Marriott cards – SPG Amex and Creation Mastercard – from the end of August.

        But not because Marriott wanted it that way, Rob.

        SPG AMEX in the US now earns 2/3 of the old Starpoint (x2 Marriott points per 1$ on general purchases), and there is no signup bonus in points.

  • Darren says:
    8 Aug8 August 20:21

    I saw a comment about gifting the voucher (the card holder doesn’t fly) is this a thing or have I dreamt it?

  • Qfx says:
    8 Aug8 August 23:37

    What if I pay my MasterCard bill using my Curve card which is linked to that same MasterCard.

    • John says:
      9 Aug9 August 05:56

      Try it and let us know

    • RIccatti says:
      9 Aug9 August 08:46

      If you want to have blocked, because this will be direct abuse of terms, difficult to ignore for Curve.

      • Stuart says:
        9 Aug9 August 09:28

        Having read the curve t&c’s a number of times I don’t see this. Could you point out specifically where this is mentioned?

        I have for some time now paid my Amex bill with Curve linked to IHG, then changed the linked card to MBNA & payed the IHG bill, all with no problems. I requested a limit increase & Curve didn’t even bat an eyelid.

        All this “first rule of fight club” nonsense is getting boring. This is supposed to be a sharing site, so all those “I know something hush hush” & don’t want to share should move along elsewhere.

        • Mark2 says:
          9 Aug9 August 10:28

          OP asked about using a card to pay itself which is different from what you describe. Yours is a better way.

  • Stuart says:
    9 Aug9 August 11:07

    Indeed, but my point was there is nothing in the t&c’s forbidding the practice. Those that insist there are are those “elitists” that want to keep all the glitches to their own little circle.

  • Rob says:
    9 Aug9 August 17:56

    Thanks, will cover over the weekend.

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!