What are the best credit card deals for March 2019?
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UPDATE – FEBRUARY 2025: This article is now out of date, but don’t worry. We produce a monthly directory of the top UK travel credit card offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Credit Cards’ menu above. Thank you.
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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.
Our directory of the 16 main UK travel credit and charge 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 was new in February?
The first Avios payment card for small businesses launched – with a special HfP sign-up offer
Until now, there has never been a payment for small businesses which let you earn Avios. This has now changed.
The Capital Club card, from Capital on Tap, is aimed at small businesses and sole traders. Whilst you may not have heard of Capital on Tap, it already has 50,000 customers for its existing ‘no rewards’ payment card. This is their first move into the rewards market.
This is what the card offers your business:
- 10,000 Capital on Tap points (converts to 5,000 Avios) for signing up and spending £5,000 within 3 months
- 1 Capital on Tap point for every £1 you spend (converts to 0.5 Avios)
- No foreign exchange fees when spending overseas
- No ATM fees if withdrawing cash on the card
- Up to 56 days interest free credit on purchases (minimum monthly repayment is the greater of 10% of balance or £250)
- Up to 15 free supplementary cards for your staff
The card has an annual fee of £99. This is obviously tax deductible as a business expense. The maximum credit limit on offer is £50,000.
There is an extra bonus for Head for Points readers. If you use promo code headforpoints when signing up, you will receive an additional 500 Capital on Tap points. This is worth an additional 250 Avios.
The site will still show 10,000 Capital on Tap points as your bonus but the extra 500 will be added separately. Your interest rate is based on your business profile and can be as low as 9.9% APR. The standard interest rate for marketing purposes is 39.4% APR.
You can find full details on their website here. My full article on the Capital Club card is here. Don’t forget to add the headforpoints promo code for the additional 500 sign-up points.
The special offer on the Virgin Reward credit cards ended
The sign-up bonus on the Virgin Reward and Virgin Reward+ credit cards dropped back to its standard level last Thursday. You will now only receive 5,000 miles (was 10,000) on the free card and 15,000 miles (was 25,000 miles) on the paid Reward+ card.
On the upside, the Apple and Android smartphone apps from Virgin Money finally launched. You can now manage your cards on the go.
Monese launched an exclusive partnership with Avios
Online-only bank Monese announced a partnership with Avios, which also has an equity stake in the business. We covered the Monese / Avios partnership here.
The benefits so far are restricted to viewing your Avios balance and recent transactions. There is a lot more to come, however, which will apparently include the ability to earn Avios with your debit card spending.
You download the Monese app here if you want to give it a try.
Bank of Ireland announced it is dropping its Real Rewards credit card in Ireland
For our Irish readers, Aer Lingus is now offering a co-brand credit card in association with Bank of Ireland. The reception has been muted, to be honest. There is no sign-up bonus and the monthly fee is high.
There was an alternative option, however. The free Bank of Ireland personal credit card let you earn SuperValu Real Rewards supermarket points, which converted at 1:1 into Avios. The rate wasn’t great to put it mildly – 1 Avios per €10 spent – but a lot of people found it better than paying €7.99 per month for the ‘official’ Aer Lingus / Bank of Ireland card.
Unfortunately this option is ending. From 1st April it will no longer be possible to earn SuperValue points from Bank of Ireland credit cards. Your only route for earning Avios is to pay up for the Aer Lingus credit card.
American Express still has 30,000 point bonus on the DOLLAR / EURO versions of the Platinum card
For the first time in a while, Amex is running a sign-up bonus on its Dollar and Euro Platinum charge cards – 30,000 Membership Rewards points to be precise.
The good news is that you can get this bonus even if you already have a UK Platinum or Gold card. The bad news is that this is a complicated product with poorer transfer rates to most airline schemes than the UK cards. I wrote about the pros, cons and sweet spots in this article.
Finally, I also ran this article on “What are the best travel credit cards for LONG-TERM spending?“.
PS. If you are reading this but are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and deals to improve how you travel. To sign up, visit this page of the site or click any of the ‘Subscribe’ links on this page. Thank you.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – February 2025 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 Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

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 – 20,000 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
50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
18,000 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:

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
10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

Capital on Tap Visa
NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 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
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