What are the benefits of the Barclaycard Avios Plus credit card?
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Why should you get the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard credit card?
Today, I want to look at the top 10 card benefits you get if you apply for a Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard credit card.
You can apply for the card here.
Here is the legal information we need to tell you:
Sign-up bonus and earn rate:
- Get 25,000 Avios when you spend £3,000 within 90 days
- Earn 1.5 Avios per £1 spent
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.
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 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.
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.
The top 10 benefits of the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard credit card:
1. You receive 25,000 Avios points for signing up
The Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard credit card comes with a very generous sign-up bonus worth 25,000 Avios.
(If the information box above shows a higher bonus, you will receive this. The box is automatically updated with the best deal available on the date you are reading this.)
You qualify for the bonus as long as you haven’t had either of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards in your name (supplementary cards do not count) in the previous 24 months.
You need to spend £3,000 within three months to receive the bonus.
2. You receive 1.5 Avios for every £1 you spend on the card
There are a few exceptions (cash withdrawals do not earn points) but in reality virtually every £1 you spend will earn 1.5 Avios points. This is 50% more Avios than on the free Barclaycard Avios credit card.
3. It’s a Mastercard, with wide acceptance
Whilst American Express runs some excellent reward credit cards, you can’t escape the fact that they are not accepted everywhere. The Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard is accepted more widely.
Even if you have or plan to get a British Airways Premium Plus American Express credit card, I still recommend getting one of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards (admittedly, probably the free one if you are paying for the Premium Plus Amex) to use where Amex is not accepted.
4. You receive an upgrade voucher for an Avios redemption when you spend £10,000 in a card year
When you spend £10,000 in your current card year, a voucher will be deposited in your British Airways Executive Club account allowing you to upgrade a return Avios flight for one person or a one-way Avios flight for two people.
This HfP article explains how the Barclaycard upgrade vouchers work. In simple terms, all you need to know is that they are not really upgrade vouchers, they are ‘book an Avios seat and only pay the Avios of the next cabin down’ vouchers.
This means that, if you want to fly in Business Class, you need to look for flights with Avios availability in Business Class but you will only be charged the Avios needed for Premium Economy (long haul) or Economy (short haul).
5. The upgrade voucher can be used for anyone, not just yourself
If you have or had a British Airways American Express credit card, you will know that the annual 2-4-1 companion voucher can only be used if you travel. You cannot gift it to someone else.
The Barclaycard upgrade voucher is different. As long as you make the booking from your Executive Club account using your Avios, anyone can be the traveller. This gives you more flexibility, especially if a family of three uses it alongside a 2-4-1 companion voucher from a BA Amex card.
6. Apple Pay is now supported
Whilst it wasn’t available when the card launched in 2022, Apple Pay is now supported by the Barclaycard Avios Plus credit card.
7. You get discounted airport lounge access
Cardholders get access to the DragonPass airport lounge network, which includes lounges at virtually all major UK airports. You can enter a lounge for just £18.50 per person, which can represent a saving of up to 50% on the standard rate.
8. You can give your partner a free supplementary card
Barclaycard will let you issue a free supplementary card to someone else, allowing their spending to earn Avios for you and count towards your annual upgrade voucher.
Obviously you are responsible for paying the charges on the supplementary card, which are added to your monthly statement.
9. You save £5 per month on the annual fee if you have Barclays Premier
If you have, or later apply for, a Barclays Premier current account with Barclays Avios Rewards, you will receive a £5 discount on the Barclaycard Avios Plus monthly fee. This is paid via a cashback credit into your Premier account.
You can learn more about Barclays Premier here. You will receive another annual Barclays Upgrade Voucher for an Avios redemption each year simply for having the account.
Note that a minimum annual income of £75,000 is required for Barclays Premier.
10. You receive four free airport lounge passes if you also hold Barclays Premier
As well as a £5 discount on the monthly card fee, anyone who holds both Barclays Premier with Barclays Avios Rewards and the Barclaycard Avios Plus credit card will receive four free airport lounge passes each year.
These can used at any lounge in the DragonPass network, including two lounges in Heathrow Terminal 5, the home of British Airways.
Conclusion
The Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard credit card is an excellent product, mainly because of the annual upgrade voucher. You only need to spend £10,000 in a year to trigger the voucher and you have two years to use it.
Throw in the excellent sign-up bonus of 25,000 Avios (worth £250 if used wisely) and the earning rate of 1.5 Avios per £1 spent is good and you have a great package which gives an excellent return on your spending.
You can sign up for the Barclaycard Avios Plus credit card, or find out more information, on the official website here.
Sign-up bonus and earn rate:
- Get 25,000 Avios when you spend £3,000 within 90 days
- Earn 1.5 Avios per £1 spent
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.
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 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.
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.
Disclaimer: Head for Points is a journalistic website. Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that any product is right for your circumstances. Recommendations are based primarily on the ability to earn miles and points. The site discusses products offered by lenders but is not a lender itself. Robert Burgess, trading as Head for Points, is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as an independent credit broker.
