Get £45 for free if you have a Monese bank account
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Monese is the online banking app which has a partnership with Avios – albeit that the partnership has not gone much further, so far, than letting you view your Avios balance alongside your financial balance.
I know that 2,000 HfP readers have a Monese account following our recent competition. If you didn’t win, here is £45 as compensation.
If you don’t already have a Monese account, you can use my refer-a-friend code of ROBE820. You will receive a £5 credit plus a further £15 when you’ve spent £500 on your card. I think that is how it works – it doesn’t actually tell me anywhere what you get ….
If you are reading this on your phone, the download link is here.
How to get your free £45
As a Black Friday offer, Monese has two offers running:
- Buy a £50 shopping gift card for £35
- Buy a £100 shopping gift card for £70
By far the easiest option is to buy an Amazon gift card and add it to your Amazon account for future use (it is valid for 10 years).
Here is a step by step guide to how to do it. This is based on the £100 gift card but the process is the same for the £50 card. You can buy one of each per Monese account.
As you can see from the time stamps on the screenshots, it only took me four minutes to buy and redeem each gift card – and it would have been quicker if I wasn’t taking and uploading screenshots!
If the offer comes up as ‘expired’, it isn’t. It is just overload on the system. I got ‘expired’ early on Friday but was then able to purchase successfully at lunchtime. If GIFT100 fails for the £100 gift card, you may find that GIFT50 still works, according to readers.
Step 1: Make sure you have £70 in your Monese account
I withdrew £70 from my linked HSBC account and it arrived instantly:
Step 2: Go to ‘Promotions’, which is under the menu in the top left corner (the ‘head’ icon)
Step 3: Add the code ‘GIFT100’ (or ‘GIFT50’ for the £50 card):
…. which will lead you to this screen:
Step 4: Click on your messages (the ‘bell’ in the top right corner)
You can then activate your gift card.
Step 5: Choose the gift card you want
You can choose from Amazon, Argos, Asda, Caffe Nero, Cineworld, Costa, Currys ….. and that is just A-C! For an easy life, take an Amazon gift card (valid for 10 years):
Step 6: Click here to go to the page of the amazon.co.uk where you redeem electronic gift cards
And that’s it. £30 saved.
If you bought the £100 gift card, you can repeat the process with code GIFT50 and pay £35 for a £50 gift card.
I hope the free £45 makes up for not winning our Monese competition.
If you’re not already a Monese account holder, you can download the app here.
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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 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 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.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.
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
80,000 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
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