Barclays Premier Rewards closing – Avios coming?

Customers of Barclays Premier received an email on Thursday telling them that Barclays Premier Rewards is closing on 15th December. Apparently:

“in recent years fewer people have been using it, with only a small number of our Premier customers now benefitting from the programme.

We’re truly grateful for your loyalty and we’re looking at new and different ways to recognise that. We’re working hard behind the scenes to improve the benefits we give you and make sure you get even more from Premier in the future.”

The reason this is relevant is that Avios signed a major deal with Barclays Premier earlier in the year.

The partnership was meant to launch this Summer. We don’t know the details, but there would be a generous switching bonus and presumably the opportunity to earn from credit cards and other products.

Covid put the brakes on the launch and there will not be a public launch until 2021. I understand there may be a soft launch for existing customers before then, but I don’t recommend moving to Barclays Premier until a large Avios bribe is offered.

---

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous 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:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

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.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.