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Which airline credit card is best for long term spending?

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Many of the credit card articles on Head for Points are focused on sign-up bonuses.  Get a card, spend the minimum required to trigger the bonus and potentially move on.

However, if you are a medium to high spender, the few thousand pounds of card spend required each year to hit your sign-up bonus targets is not a stretch.

You need to consider where to put the rest of your annual spend. This article can help you.

Which airline credit card is best for long term spending?

It’s a long one, but the overall summary is:

To keep it simple, this article ONLY looks at the value you get when redeeming credit card vouchers in Business Class.

This allows us to cut all of the discussion about the free British Airways American Express Credit Card, because the Companion Voucher on that card is only valid for Economy flights.

If you are not interested in redeeming your Avios or Virgin Points for Business Class, this article won’t help you – although you can use our methodology to run similar calculations for Premium Economy or Economy.

All of the calculations are based on flying Business Class / Upper Class to San Francisco. The conclusions may vary on other routes.

A caveat about Virgin Atlantic

Our Virgin Atlantic analysis is based on ‘Saver’ seat availability in Upper Class.

Under the new dynamic pricing system for reward flights, these seats are few and far between on most routes except for the US East Coast and India. On some routes there are effectively zero ‘Saver’ seats released for the entire year. Without a ‘Saver’ seat you can expect to pay up to 700,000 Virgin Points for your second seat, and you’re not that stupid.

Which airline credit card is best for long term spending?

Part 1 – Travelling as a couple

We do not consider the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards in this section. The annual voucher can upgrade one return ticket or two one-way tickets, which means that you should use the numbers in the ‘Travelling solo’ section in Part 2 even if two are travelling.

Our ‘Excellent’ choices for long-term spending:

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard – if you have elite status

Spend £10,000 on the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard card and you receive a voucher, valid for two years, worth 150,000 Virgin Points.

You must have Silver or Gold status in Virgin Flying Club for your voucher to be worth 150,000 points. Red members (status is based on the day you book) only get a voucher worth 75,000 points.

For a couple, it can be used to book a ticket for your companion when you book a cash or reward ticket for yourself.

You can top up the voucher if the companion ticket costs more than 150,000 Virgin Points.

For San Francisco in Upper Class (which is the example used throughout this article) the companion ‘Saver’ ticket would cost no more than 155,000 points return. Remember our caveats above about the difficulty of finding such seats, however ….

Based on a valuation of 1p per Virgin Point and finding a ‘Saver’ seat worth 155,000 Virgin Points:

  • the companion voucher is ‘worth’ £1,500 (150,000 Virgin Points saving x 1p) and
  • you also earn 15,000 base Virgin Points for spending £10,000 on your Reward+ Mastercard to trigger the voucher (worth £150 @ 1p) but
  • the card fee is £160

The net benefit for a Silver or Gold member spending £10,000 on the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard = £1,490 (£1,500 + £150 – £160) or 14.9% of spend.

Our full review of the Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus Mastercard is here. You can apply here.

Which airline credit card is best for long term spending?

British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card

Spend £15,000 on this card in a membership year and you get a Companion Voucher which gives you two Avios redemption tickets on BA, Iberia or Aer Lingus for the points of one.

The Companion Voucher also allows a solo traveller to book a return ticket for a 50% Avios discount – we look at this option later.

On a typical redemption (two Club World tickets to San Francisco on a peak day), this saves you 200,000 Avios points when you use the ‘most Avios, least cash’ booking option.

If you value an Avios at 1p:

  • the 2-4-1 Companion Voucher is ‘worth’ £2,000 (200,000 Avios saving x 1p) and
  • you also earn 22,500 base Avios for spending £15,000 to trigger the voucher (worth £225 @ 1p) but
  • you pay an annual fee of £300

The net benefit for spending £15,000 on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card = £1,925 (£2,000 + £225 – £300) or 12.8% of your card spend.

Our full review of the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card is here. You can apply here.

Which airline credit card is best for long term spending?

Our ‘Very Good’ choices for long-term spending:

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard (free) – if you have elite status

The vouchers on both Virgin Atlantic credit cards are identical – both are valid for two years and both are valid in all travel classes. The only difference is that the free card requires £20,000 of spending to trigger it.

This is how the maths goes, based on two people flying to San Francisco in Upper Class (booking the second person in a 155,000 points ‘Saver’ seat) and holding Silver or Gold status in Virgin Flying Club.

Based on valuation of 1p per Virgin Point, to match our Avios valuation:

  • the 2-4-1 voucher is ‘worth’ £1,500 (150,000 Virgin Points saving x 1p) and
  • you also earn 15,000 base Virgin Points for spending £20,000 to trigger the voucher (worth £150 @ 1p) and
  • the card fee is £0

The net benefit for a Silver or Gold member spending £20,000 on the Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard = £1,650 (£1,500 + £150) or 8.25% of spend.

Our full review of the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard is here. You can apply here.

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard – if you do NOT have elite status

A ‘no status’ Red member of Virgin Flying Club will only receive an annual voucher worth 75,000 Virgin Points.

Using our San Francisco Upper Class example, the 2nd ticket will require to pay 80,000 Virgin Points. This is based the ticket costing 155,000 Virgin Points and the voucher saving you 75,000.

This means:

  • the 2-4-1 voucher is ‘worth’ £750 (75,000 Virgin Points saving x 1p) and
  • you also earn 15,000 base Virgin Points for spending £10,000 to trigger the voucher (worth £150 @ 1p) but
  • the card fee is £160

The net benefit for spending £10,000 on the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard = £740 (£750 + £150 – £160) or 7.4% of spend.

Our full review of the Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus Mastercard is here. You can apply here.

Our ‘Good’ choices for long-term spending:

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard (free) – if you do NOT have elite status

A ‘no status’ Red member of Virgin Flying Club will only receive an annual voucher worth 75,000 Virgin Points.

Using our San Francisco Upper Class example, the 2nd ticket will require to pay 80,000 Virgin Points. This is based the ticket costing 155,000 Virgin Points and the voucher saving you 75,000.

This means:

  • the 2-4-1 voucher is ‘worth’ £750 (75,000 Virgin Points saving x 1p) and
  • you also earn 15,000 base Virgin Points for spending £20,000 to trigger the voucher (worth £150 @ 1p)
  • the card fee is £0

The net benefit for spending £20,000 on the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard = £900 (£750 + £150) or 4.5% of spend.

Our full review of the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard is here. You can apply here.

Which airline credit card is best for long term spending?

Part 2 – Travelling solo

Because the solo traveller deals are worse than those offered to a couple, none of the options below are rated as ‘Excellent’, which we define as offering a 10%+ return on your card spend.

Our ‘Very Good’ choices for long-term spending:

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

Spend £10,000 on the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard card and you receive a voucher, valid for two years, worth 150,000 Virgin Points.

You must have Silver or Gold status in Virgin Flying Club for your voucher to be worth 150,000 points. Red members (status is based on the day you book) only get a voucher worth 75,000 points.

If you are travelling solo, there is an important point to note: you cannot use your voucher for a discount of 75,000 or 150,000 Virgin Points on a ticket for yourself.

That would be too simple ….

Instead, to fly in Upper Class, you need to:

  • book a cash ticket in Premium and use points (offset by the voucher) to upgrade it
  • book a reward ticket in Premium and use points (offset by the voucher) to upgrade it – your voucher only discounts the upgrade element

If you book a ticket for cash, the base points cost is assumed to be the ‘Saver’ price of a ticket on that route. For example, a Premium ‘Saver’ ticket to San Francisco, peak date, is 75,000 Virgin Points return. If an Upper Class tickets costs 155,000 points, the upgrade will cost 80,000 points.

If you book a ticket for points, the base cost is what you actually paid. If you pay 100,000 Virgin Points to book a Premium seat and an Upper Class seat costs 155,000 points, the upgrade is 55,000 points.

Using ‘Saver’ prices as an example, you’d be looking at 75,000 points for Premium and 155,000 points for Upper Class.

I should stress, however, that finding a date to San Francisco with both Premium and Upper Class ‘Saver’ seats will be, erm, challenging.

Based on a valuation of 1p per Virgin Point:

  • your voucher is ‘worth’ £750 to £800 (the cap of 75,000 Virgin Points if you have no status, 80,000 Virgin Points if you do, saving x 1p) and
  • you also earn 15,000 base Virgin Points for spending £10,000 to trigger the voucher (worth £150 @ 1p) but
  • the card fee is £160

The net benefit for spending £10,000 on the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard = £740 or £790 (£750 or £800 + £150 – £160) or 7.4% (if you don’t have status) or 7.9% of spend (if you do have status).

Our full review of the Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus Mastercard is here. You can apply here.

Our ‘Good’ choices for long-term spending:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card

Spend £15,000 on this card in a membership year and you can book an Avios redemption for one person at a 50% discount. You can fly on British Airways, Aer Lingus or Iberia.

On a typical redemption (a Club World ticket to San Francisco on a peak day), this saves you 100,000 Avios points when you use the ‘most Avios, least cash’ booking option.

If you value an Avios at 1p:

  • the 2-4-1 Companion Voucher is ‘worth’ £1,000 (100,000 Avios saving x 1p) and
  • you also earn 22,500 base Avios for spending £15,000 to trigger the voucher (worth £225 @ 1p) but
  • you pay an annual fee of £300

The net benefit for spending £15,000 on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card = £925 (£1,000 + £225 – £300) or 6.2% of your card spend.

Our full review of the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card is here. You can apply here.

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Spend £10,000 on the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard in a membership year and you receive an Avios upgrade voucher.

This allows you to either:

  • book a return Avios flight for one person, paying the Avios required for the next cheapest cabin (so World Traveller Plus if booking Club World, or World Traveller if booking World Traveller Plus)
  • book two x one-way flights for two people, on the same terms as above

A return Club World business class flight to San Francisco on a peak day requires 200,000 Avios. A return World Traveller Plus ticket is 135,000 Avios. The upgrade voucher saves you 65,000 Avios when you book into Club World.

Based on a valuation of 1p per Avios:

  • the upgrade voucher is ‘worth’ £650 (65,000 Avios saving x 1p) and
  • you also earn 15,000 base Avios for spending £10,000 to trigger the voucher (worth £150 @ 1p) but
  • the card fee is £20 per month, so £240 for a year

The net benefit for spending £10,000 on the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard = £560 (£650 + £150 – £240) or 5.6% of spend.

Our full review of the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard is here. You can apply here.

Which airline credit card is best for long term spending?

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard (free)

A ‘Saver’ return Upper Class flight to San Francisco is no more than 155,000 Virgin Points on a peak date. A return Premium ‘Saver’ ticket is 75,000 Virgin Points – this is also the assume base cost if you choose to upgrade a cash Premium ticket.

The section above on the Reward+ card explains the methodology in more detail.

Based on a valuation of 1p per Virgin Point:

  • your voucher is ‘worth’ £750 to £800 (the cap of 75,000 Virgin Points if you have no status, 80,000 Virgin Points if you do, saving x 1p) and
  • you also earn 15,000 base Virgin Points for spending £20,000 to trigger the voucher (worth £150 @ 1p) and
  • the card fee is £0

The net benefit for spending £20,000 on the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard = £900 or £950 depending on whether you have status or not (£750 or £800 + £150) or 4.5% or 4.75% of spend.

Our full review of the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard is here. You can apply here.

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard (free)

Spend £20,000 on this card in a membership year and you receive an Avios upgrade voucher.

Note that the vouchers on both Barclaycard Avios credit cards are identical – both are valid for two years and both are valid in the same travel classes, with First Class excluded.

Using the same example as above, a return Club World business class flight to San Francisco on a peak day requires 200,000 Avios. A return World Traveller Plus ticket is 135,000 Avios. The upgrade voucher saves you 65,000 Avios when upgrading to Club World.

Based on a valuation of 1p per Avios:

  • the upgrade voucher is ‘worth’ £650 (65,000 Avios saving x 1p) and
  • you also earn 20,000 base Avios for spending £20,000 to trigger the voucher (worth £200 @ 1p) and
  • the card is free

The net benefit for spending £20,000 on the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard = £850 (£650 + £200) or 4.25% of spend.

Our full review of the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard is here. You can apply here.

Conclusion

You might be slightly surprised by the numbers above.

The most rewarding credit card on the market is NOT the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card. It is the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard.

There are two reasons why the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard scores better than the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card in some cases:

  • the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card is £140 per year more expensive than the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard, which impacts your return
  • you now need to spend £15,000 to trigger the voucher on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card, compared to just £10,000 on the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ card, which reduces your overall ‘return per £1 spent’

This claim comes with big caveats

BUT …. and it is a big ‘but’ …. you need to have Silver or Gold status in Virgin Flying Club to get a voucher worth 150,000 Virgin Points.

Everyone else will only get a voucher worth 75,000 Virgin Points – although, in some cases, this is enough to fund a full 2-4-1 redemption or upgrade. After all, Upper Class seats to New York can now be as low as 69,000 Virgin Points return on off-peak dates.

A bigger issue is that you also need to be travelling on a route where ‘Saver’ seats are widely available – and there aren’t many of those, unless the US East Coast or India are your targets.

What about Barclaycard?

What is possibly surprising is how badly the two Barclaycard Avios Mastercard products perform.

However, for most people, these cards are a fall-back for earning Avios where American Express is not accepted – and if you can manage to trigger the annual voucher as well, it’s just an added bonus.

In summary ….

As it stands:

  • if you don’t have Virgin Flying Club elite status, or
  • you aren’t interested in the handful of Virgin Atlantic routes with lots of ‘Saver’ seats, then

…. the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card remains – by far – the most valuable credit card for long term spending. Once you’ve spent £15,000 and triggered your Companion Voucher, use the information above to decide where the rest of your spend should go.

Further information and APR details

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Bonus: 5,000 Avios

Read our full review

Other information:

  • Receive an Avios upgrade voucher when you spend £20,000 in a card year
  • Upgrade a return BA flight for one person or two one-way flights for a couple
  • Annual fee: Free

Representative 29.9% APR variable

Apply here
See if you qualify for the 5,000 Avios sign-up bonus +

You will receive 5,000 Avios as a sign-up bonus on the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard credit card if you spend £1,000 within 90 days of signing up.

To qualify for the bonus, you must NOT, currently or in the previous six months, have held any other Barclaycard credit card.  You must also have not held either of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards in the previous 24 months.

You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s Barclaycard account.

You are OK if, currently or in the previous six months, you have had a British Airways American Express credit card.

For clarity, you can still apply for the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard even if you do not qualify for the bonus.  You would still benefit from the upgrade voucher and the other card benefits.

Learn more about the card benefits +

When you spend £20,000 on the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard, you receive a voucher entitling you to:

  • book a return Avios flight for one person, paying the Avios of the next lowest cabin (ie book Club World but only pay the World Traveller Plus Avios requirement)
  • book a one-way Avios flight, or one leg of a return flight, for two people, paying the Avios of the next lowest cabin

The voucher is valid for two years.  Full taxes and charges need to be paid on both tickets, based on the cabin you fly.

The voucher can be used for anyone, as long as the booking is made from the Avios account of the cardholder.

The voucher cannot be used to fly in First Class.

You receive your voucher within five days of reaching the spending target.

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Bonus: 25,000 Avios

Read our full review

Other information:

  • Receive an Avios upgrade voucher when you spend £10,000 in a card year
  • Upgrade a return BA flight for one person or two one-way flights for a couple
  • Annual fee: £240, charged at £20 per month

Representative 80.1% APR variable based on an assumed £1,200 credit limit and £20 monthly fee.  Interest rate on purchases 29.9% APR variable.

Apply here
See if you qualify for the 25,000 Avios sign-up bonus +

You will receive 25,000 Avios as a sign-up bonus on the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard credit card if you spend £3,000 within 90 days of signing up.

To qualify for the bonus, you must NOT, currently or in the previous six months, have held any other Barclaycard credit card.  You must also have not held either of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards in the previous 24 months.

You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s Barclaycard account.

You are OK if, currently or in the previous six months, you have had a British Airways American Express credit card.

For clarity, you can still apply for the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard even if you do not qualify for the bonus.  You would still benefit from the upgrade voucher and the other card benefits.

Learn more about the card benefits +

When you spend £10,000 on the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard, you receive a voucher entitling you to:

  • book a return Avios flight for one person, paying the Avios of the next lowest cabin (ie book Club World but only pay the World Traveller Plus Avios requirement)
  • book a one-way Avios flight, or one leg of a return flight, for two people, paying the Avios of the next lowest cabin

The voucher is valid for two years.  Full taxes and charges need to be paid on both tickets, based on the cabin you fly.

The voucher cannot be used to fly in First Class.

The voucher can be used for anyone, as long as the booking is made from the Avios account of the cardholder.

You receive your voucher within five days of reaching the spending target.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card

Bonus: 30,000 Avios

Read our full review

Other information:

  • Receive a Companion Voucher, letting you book two flights for the Avios of one, when you spend £15,000 in a card year
  • A solo traveller can use it for a 50% discount on the Avios for one ticket
  • The voucher is valid in any cabin
  • It can be used on British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus
  • Annual fee: £300

Representative 137.8% APR variable based on an assumed £1,200 credit limit and £300 annual fee. Interest rate on purchases 30.0% APR variable.

Apply here
See if you qualify for the 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus +

You will receive 30,000 Avios as a sign-up bonus on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card if you spend £6,000 within three months of signing up.

To qualify for the bonus, you must not have held the British Airways American Express Premium Plus or the free British Airways American Express credit cards in the previous 24 months.

You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s British Airways American Express account.

You are OK if, currently or in the previous 24 months, you have held any other American Express card.

For clarity, you can still apply for the British Airways Premium Plus card even if you do not qualify for the bonus.  You would still benefit from the Companion Voucher and all of the other card benefits.

Learn more about the card benefits +

When you spend £15,000 on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card, you receive a Companion Voucher entitling you to book two Avios redemption flights for the miles of one.

Alternatively, a solo traveller can use the voucher for a 50% reduction on the Avios required for one ticket.

This voucher is valid for two years.  Full taxes and charges need to be paid on both tickets.

This voucher is the most valuable perk available in the UK airline and hotel credit card sector in my view. It could save you 150,000 or more Avios when used for a long-haul redemption in a premium cabin.

The Companion Voucher from the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card is far more powerful than the voucher given with the free British Airways American Express Credit Card.  You need to spend the same £15,000 to receive it.  More importantly, the Premium Plus voucher is valid for two years and is valid in ALL cabins.  The voucher on the free British Airways American Express Credit Card is only valid for one year and can only be used for Economy flights.

You receive your voucher within a few days of reaching the spending target.  You need to fly the outbound leg of your 2-4-1 flight before the expiry date of the voucher.

The voucher can be used for flights on British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus.

You need a minimum personal income of £35,000 to apply for the card.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

Bonus: 3,000 points

Read our full review

Other information:

  • Get a reward voucher worth 75,000 or 150,000 Virgin Points when you spend £20,000 in a year
  • Use it towards a companion ticket when you buy a cash or reward flight
  • Solo travellers can use it to upgrade a cash or reward flight by one cabin
  • Vouchers are valid for two years
  • Annual fee: Free

Representative 26.9% APR variable

Apply here
See if you qualify for the 3,000 points sign-up bonus +

You receive a bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points after your first purchase, however small.

You may want to consider applying for the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard instead for its higher bonus.  This comes with a £160 annual fee but has a sign-up bonus of 18,000 Virgin Points.  You also receive a higher earning rate of 1.5 miles per £1 spent.

You cannot apply if you have had the free Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card in the previous six months.  You are free to apply if you have any other Virgin Money credit card or the paid-for Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card.

Learn more about the card benefits +

When you spend £20,000 per year on the Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard, you will receive a reward voucher.

The voucher is worth:

75,000 Virgin Points if you have no status in Virgin Flying Club on the date you book

150,000 Virgin Points if you have Silver or Gold status in Virgin Flying Club on the date you book

The voucher is valid for two years and will get you:

A discount on a companion flight when you book a cash or reward flight at full price for yourself (taxes and charges need to be paid on the companion ticket)

A discount on a one category upgrade for yourself when you book a cash or reward flight

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

Bonus: 18,000 points

Read our full review

Other information:

  • Get a reward voucher worth 75,000 or 150,000 Virgin Points when you spend £10,000 in a year
  • Use it towards a companion ticket when you buy a cash or reward flight
  • Solo travellers can use it to upgrade a cash or reward flight by one cabin
  • Vouchers are valid for two years
  • Annual fee: £160

Representative 69.7% APR variable based on an assumed £1,200 credit limit and £160 annual fee.  Interest rate on purchases 26.9% APR variable.

Apply here
See if you qualify for the 18,000 points sign-up bonus +

You receive a bonus of 18,000 Virgin Points after your first purchase, however small.

There are no restrictions on earning the bonus if you are accepted.

You cannot apply if you have had a Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card in the previous six months.  You are free to apply if you have any other Virgin Money credit card or the free Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card.

Learn more about the card benefits +

When you spend £10,000 per year on the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard, you will receive a reward voucher.

The voucher is worth:

75,000 Virgin Points if you have no status in Virgin Flying Club on the date you book

150,000 Virgin Points if you have Silver or Gold status in Virgin Flying Club on the date you book

The voucher is valid for two years and will get you:

A discount on a companion flight when you book a cash or reward flight at full price for yourself (taxes and charges need to be paid on the companion ticket)

A discount on a one category upgrade for yourself when you book a cash or reward flight

PS. If you 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 will help you travel better. To join our 70,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

earns points from credit cards

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – July 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 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 15th July 2025, the sign-up bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card is TRIPLED to 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. This would convert into 25,000 Avios or into 40 other airline schemes. It would also get you at least £300 of Marriott hotel stays based on our 0.5p per point low-end valuation. Other T&C apply and remain unchanged. Click here for our full card review and click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th August 2025, the sign-up bonus on the Hilton Honors Plus debit card is TRIPLED to 30,000 Hilton Honors points. You will also receive Gold Elite status in Hilton Honors for as long as you hold the card. Click here for our full card review and click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

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 Card

30,000 Avios and the famous annual Companion Voucher 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:

The American Express Business Platinum Card

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

The American Express Business Gold Card

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 0.8 Avios per £1 Read our full review

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Category

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard, British Airways American Express, Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

Comments (60)

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

  • ChasP says:
    27 Jan27 January 08:20

    The Virgin website specificallly allows points upgrades from economy to Upper
    https://flywith.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/upgrades-and-extras/upgrade-cabin-seat/bid-for-an-upgrade/fixed-priced-upgrades-terms-and-conditions.html
    and I used a voucher to cover the difference between economy and Upper – it was only 60k in this case but the voucher would otherwise have been wasted

    • Throwawayname says:
      27 Jan27 January 09:10

      Thanks for flagging this up, it’s marvellous. Complete game-changer for my solo travel.

  • AJA says:
    27 Jan27 January 08:48

    There are two other big benefits of the BAPP voucher; one is that you can start outside the UK so you can use it for the second benefit which is the ability to use it on Aer Lingus and Iberia flights as well as BA. Plus you have shorthaul options in business class too. I just booked using a companion voucher to fly CE to Athens in May. Not the best use if you only consider long haul as being of value but the cash fare for 2 is £1520 meaning I’ve saved £985. I consider the £300 annual card fee a sunk cost as it’s necessary to pay that to get a companion voucher usable for business class.

    • JDB says:
      27 Jan27 January 08:59

      I think you are right not to be obsessed about using the voucher for long haul which actually comes with a whole lot of extra costs. It also seems far more important to use it for a trip one really wants to do rather than contorting oneself just to use the voucher like flying to India because there’s availability when you actually want to go Singapore etc. So much extra complexity, cost and time wasted.

      Even if the cash cost weren’t so high, you have saved a lot of Avios/money and gained an extra 7,500 Avios in earning the voucher, plus of course Greece is a brilliant destination.

      • AJA says:
        27 Jan27 January 09:12

        This is exactly my view. Plus with the changes to BAC it was easy to just book using Avios rather than trying to consider paying cash and doing a BAH deal to get TP. Those BAH deals are quite good but they are rather limited on hotel choice.

      • Gordon says:
        27 Jan27 January 09:14

        I don’t think people are obsessed with flying long haul on the voucher, it’s clearly the best use, to maximize the savings, but I agree on the point that the desired destination, indeed needs to be available.
        But as you said upthread, you’ve seen plenty of posters using the voucher traveling east with ease, so there are plenty of options available.

        • JDB says:
          27 Jan27 January 11:10

          @Gordon – while using a voucher, say to Australia saves the maximum amount of Avios, it’s still expensive vs QR without a voucher. Similarly to Asia with AY.

          My wife also always points out that it’s all very well having these vouchers (and we earn one each) but particularly if you go long haul, you are likely to be away for longer incurring greater hotel and other costs so the ‘savings’ can vanish and can still consume muchos Avios. Some people are directly buying the Avios as well which has a real cost.

          Obviously if you were planning that long haul trip anyway the 241 voucher is great but reflexively to use it long haul every time isn’t always the right answer. The BUV is different and doesn’t work for us at all so we take 7,000 Avios instead of the three vouchers we earn.

          • Vit says:
            27 Jan27 January 16:17

            “Similarly to Asia with AY.”

            Exactly this!

          • camille55 says:
            28 Jan28 January 03:47

            Agree long haul every time (just because of the Avios ‘saving’) is not the correct answer. I think our previous BA AX 241’s only ever used for short haul to European resorts, ideally with RFS.

            Hotel costs mitigated using 544 redemptions via Bonvoy or HH, ideally leveraging status to ensure breakfast is included.

            This combination very much the Holy Grail, if you can swing it!

    • Greg says:
      27 Jan27 January 10:11

      Athens is a good example of the benefit of a Barclaycard Upgrade voucher because you go from Economy straight to Club for less than half the avios. Istanbul and Larnaca are other destinations where an upgreade voucher is better than a 241

      • John says:
        28 Jan28 January 00:00

        But “club” short haul is really just a premium economy product. Granted you get lounge and extra bags etc if you need them

  • Paul says:
    27 Jan27 January 08:50

    SFO is a bad choice on Virgin.

    They have massive capacity to LAX. During the sale in early January I booked 3 passengers one way in upper for 140k points and $700 in TOTAL for mid August for LAX to LHR (this was booked pre fires having an impact of demand.)

    Not sure if they are still ironing out the variable system, but that was unbeatable.

  • AndrewT says:
    27 Jan27 January 10:39

    The relative comparison between the free and Plus Barclaycards is heavily distorted by the fact that it’s based on a £10K spend on the Plus but £20K spend on the free card.

    The Plus card looks good if you (only) spend £10K on it, but if you spend £20K then the free card is a better option. You need to get close to £50K for the extra Avios earned on the Plus and the net benefits to catch up – and if you could do that are probably better off putting £20K on the free Barclaycard and the rest somewhere else to get more benefits there.

    Of course you can spend £10K on the Plus card, then (subject to availability of the offer) switch to the free version and start again, which is what I’ve successfully done three times now.

    • david says:
      27 Jan27 January 13:00

      Wow good going. I got the Plus when first come out then downgraded and have not been given the option since then to upgrade again. Not that I want to, just never been offered.

      • Lumma says:
        27 Jan27 January 21:25

        It comes and goes for me. I don’t think it’s worth £20 a month though

  • camille55 says:
    27 Jan27 January 11:10

    Rob – no mention of the Amex Gold? For spending up to £25k pa, that seems to me to be the richest earning opportunity for Amex MR’s. Most relevant for those that have ditched the BAPP.

    Not sure why Amex don’t add an annual spend counter online for this.

  • Gordon says:
    27 Jan27 January 12:17

    @JDB – I get your point re QR and AY, especially if people are buying Avios!

    But I’d like to think that most of the hfp community can afford two to three weeks away, in 4 or 5 star Hotels, more than once a year, so would not necessarily worry about the costs, so I don’t really see that as a hindrance?

    I doubt there are many people that have to avoid flying long haul because of the financial implications of extended accommodation costs.

    • Throwawayname says:
      27 Jan27 January 12:44

      A lot of long-haul destinations also offer phenomenal value when it comes to accommodation. The perfectly respectable 3-star hotel where I stayed in Hanoi during the SAS challenge was just £23 (literally the same price as a metered taxi from the airport to the city centre), and I have stayed in 5-star properties (or junior suites in 4*) in Colombia, Indonesia, Mexico and other countries for less than £50 a night. If you’re travelling as a couple and paying that sort of money on hotels, it’ll probably be a month until hotel costs exceed what you’ve spent on YQ and APD for an award redemption.

    • david says:
      27 Jan27 January 13:03

      Yeah to be fair I thought was an obscure comment from JDB. Unless your going to NYC, Hawaii, Bahamas and similar locations, any other hotel on Earth is going to be cheaper than a staycation here in the UK for example.

  • Peter Watkins says:
    1 Feb1 February 08:29

    This month I have ditched my Amex/BA Premium Plus and replaced it with Barclaycard Avios (free). I am not prepared to go along with the utter corporate greed of BA with its new spend/reward policy (Amex dragged into this also). Saddens me to lose my loyalty as I was a lifelong employee of BA, retiring as a senior manager. For my long haul flights I now search online (Matrix.ITA/Google flights) for the best deals on airlines I will fly with, and aircraft I will fly on.

    • Saltrams says:
      1 Feb1 February 13:35

      Random empathy @PeterWatkins: I’ve just turned 62, my father worked for BA (BOAC) and my grandfather started at Imperial Airways, Croydon (I was with BA a short time too). It’s like being part of one’s DNA and so very disheartening to look back on how things were. Of course everything changes and has to progress but it could all have been done so differently 😟

  • TravelTim says:
    3 Feb3 February 00:18

    All of this ssems to assume that the voucher is the main aim. What about if you want to maximize your overall benefit but would not benefit much from a voucher?
    For example, I’m considering moving my banking to Barclays Premier which would therefore trigger an upgrade voucher through them each year, which I would use for my annual long-haul trip. If I’m only doing that trip, plus a few European flights per year, then a second voucher, triggered from credit card spending would have little value for me.
    In that situation, what card makes the most sense assuming that I’m still keen to maximise avois & other benefits on my credit card spend?

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