What are the best credit card sign-up deals for March 2020? – plus your news round-up

UPDATE – APRIL 2024:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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

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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?

IHG Rewards Club doubled the sign-up bonus on its free credit card

For the first time in a long time (ever?) IHG Rewards Club is running an enhanced bonus on the FREE IHG Rewards Club Mastercard.

Until 31st March, you will receive 20,000 IHG Rewards Club points for signing up and spending £500 within three months.  The usual bonus is just 10,000 points.

20,000 IHG Rewards Club points converts into 4,000 Avios or other airline miles, or you can put them towards a free hotel room.  20,000 points should get you a room worth £80-£100.

This means that BOTH cards – the free one and the £99 Premium version – now have the same sign-up bonus.  Nothing has changed on the Premium card.

Slightly oddly, I still think that the £99 Premium card is better, even though the bonus is currently the same as the free card.  This article explains why I think the IHG Rewards Club Premium Mastercard is the best deal.  After all, we gave it an ‘Editor’s Choice’ award in the Head for Points 2019 Travel & Loyalty Awards.

The Marriott Bonvoy Amex was launched, to replace the Starwood Amex

On 26th February, the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express card was replaced by the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card.

There isn’t much good news surrounding this, unfortunately.  The most positive thing is that the card now comes with 15 elite nights credit per year.  This puts you a lot nearer Platinum Elite (35 nights vs 50 nights usually) which is the sweet spot in terms of getting lounge access, guaranteed late check-out and free breakfast.

The bad news is that the earning rate drops by 33%, from 3 Bonvoy points per £1 to just 2 points.  The annual fee remains unchanged at £75.

The sign-up bonus was also whacked, falling from 30,000 Marriott Bonvoy points to just 20,000.  Importantly, the qualifying spend to trigger the bonus jumps sharply, from £1,000 to £3,000.

Full details of the changes can be found in our Marriott Bonvoy Amex introductory article here.  We have also written a full review of the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card here.  You can apply for the card here.

This article looks at your options if you are planning to ditch your Marriott Bonvoy Amex.

Avios and Barclays agree a long-term partnership

Last Autumn, Barclays Premier tried to do an ‘under the radar’ trial with Avios, offering 25,000 Avios to a small group of people if they opened a bank account.  The secret trial got ruined when we decided to tell everyone about it.  The good news is that Barclays got to understand how popular this incentive could be!

You can learn more about the 2019 Avios / Barclays Premier offer here.

Unsuprisingly, following the strong response last year, Avios and Barclays have signed a long-term agreement to promote Barclays Premier.

You should note the deal is NOT yet live again and won’t be for a while.  However, when it returns, there will be a generous Avios sign-up bonus for opening a Barclays Premier current account.

You will also be able to earn Avios on “other banking products as well as receive additional loyalty benefits and experience”.  It isn’t clear if this will include debit or credit card spend.

There is nothing to do at the moment, although if you were thinking of moving your banking to HSBC Premier or another premium provider then you may want to hold off for a few months.  An Avios incentive from Barclays Premier will be along soon.

Virgin Atlantic ended the 25,000 mile bonus on its Reward+ card

The sign-up bonus on the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card dropped back to 15,000 miles from 25,000 miles at the end of February.

Note that there was NO special offer on the free Virgin Atlantic credit card, which remained at 5,000 miles for signing up.  The March offer is therefore the standard 5,000 miles or 15,000 miles depending on which card you choose.

My review of the free Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card is here.  My review of the paid Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard is here.  You can apply for both cards here.

Accor may be launching a UK Visa credit card

Accor Live Limitless, the loyalty scheme for Novotel, Mercure, ibis etc, has announced a major deal with Visa to launch credit cards worldwide.

Instead of doing deals on a country by country level, Accor has done a GLOBAL credit card deal with Visa.  Credit cards will be issued by “Visa partner financial institutions and banks in key markets across Europe, North and South America, Middle East and Asia Pacific”.

This is unlikely to be hugely lucrative because Accor Live Limitless is a 100% revenue based loyalty scheme.  1 Accor point = 2 Eurocents off a hotel room.  There is no ‘reward chart’ and therefore no gamification element.  You can’t be clever and save your points for a day when hotel prices are high.  You get 2 Eurocents per point, 365 days of the year.

This means that an Accor Visa card will, effectively, be a cashback credit card.  It’s just that the cash has to spent with Accor!  Given that most cashback credit cards in the UK are paying 0.2p or 0.25p per £1 spent, we can’t expect much.

Let’s see if Accor can surprise us.  I imagine it will take at least 18 months to launch anything.

American Express still has a 30,000 point bonus on the DOLLAR / EURO versions of the Platinum card

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 of the American Express International Currency Cards in this article.

Finally, whilst not directly related to miles and points, Head for Points is running an exclusive sign-up offer with Revolut.  Sign up via our link here and you do not have to pay the £4.99 delivery fee for the plastic card.  Read our full article first on how to save the £4.99 fee when you join Revolut via our special HfP reader offer.

If you have your own small business, we also reviewed Revolut for Business – click here for our Revolut for Business review.  You can sign up here.

Further reading ….

We ran the following credit card articles during February:

Which Virgin Atlantic credit card is best for you?

The Marriott Bonvoy American Express credit card launches today – is it any good?

Where can you go with Virgin Flying Club miles, given the 25,000 mile bonus on their credit card?

Is a 25,000 mile bonus on the Virgin Reward+ credit card a good reason to collect Flying Club miles?

What you need to know about the Amex Centurion airport lounges in the US, HK and soon UK!

How to access some Lufthansa lounges with American Express Platinum

The little-known way that Amex Platinum gets you Star Alliance Silver and fast track Star Alliance Gold

NEW: Get a VERY rare increased bonus on the free IHG Rewards Club Mastercard!

Is Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa (10,500 Avios bonus) or BA Accelerating Business Amex the best SME credit card?

Is the new Tesco Clubcard Plus credit card, which earns Avios, worth a look?

You may also want to read our ‘Top 10’ series:

What are the top 10 reasons to get American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (Amex Gold)?

What are the top 10 reasons to get American Express Platinum (The Platinum Card)?

What are the top 10 reasons to get the American Express Rewards Credit Card?

What are the top 10 reasons to get the British Airways American Express (BA Amex)?

What are the top 10 reasons to get the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card?

What are the top 10 reasons to get the HSBC Premier Mastercard?

What are the top 10 reasons to get the HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard?

What are the top 10 reasons to get the free IHG Rewards Club credit card?

What are the top 10 reasons to get the Lufthansa Miles & More Diners Club and Mastercard?

What are the top 10 reasons to get the Marriott Bonvoy American Express credit card?

What are the top 10 reasons to get the Tesco Clubcard Mastercard credit card?

What are the top 10 reasons to get the Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard credit card?

What are the top 10 reasons to get the Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus Mastercard credit card?

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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.