What are the best credit card sign-up deals for March 2019? – plus the first Avios SME card

UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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.

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.

Keep up to date with the latest UK credit card bonuses by signing up for our free daily or weekly newsletters.

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?“.

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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:

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.

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.

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.