What is the best Star Alliance credit card?
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What credit card should you get if you want to redeem for flights with a Star Alliance airline? Let’s find out.
Who are the members of Star Alliance?
The bulk of major global airlines have formed three alliances – oneworld (which includes British Airways), Star Alliance and SkyTeam (which includes Virgin Atlantic).
Star Alliance is the largest of the three, both in terms of member airlines (25) and airports served (1,290). This means that it can be handy to have access to miles in a Star Alliance frequent flyer programme in order to redeem across these carriers.
The full Star Alliance member list is: Aegean, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana, Austrian, Avianca, Brussels, Copa, Croatia, EgyptAir, Ethopian, EVA, LOT, Lufthansa, Shenzen, Singapore, South African, SWISS, TAP, Thai, Turkish and United.
Our article on which Star Alliance frequent flyer programme is best for you can be found here.
Which UK credit cards earn Star Alliance miles?
One of the key determinants for me when joining a mileage programme is the ability to earn miles via a credit card. There is often a generous sign-up bonus to be had, and earning via a credit card lets you top up your mileage balance if your flying reduces. A credit card is also a good way to ‘top off’ a mileage programme you intend to abandon after one last redemption.
However, no Star Alliance airlines have their own UK credit card.
Unless a new Lufthansa appears (Lufthansa’s Miles & More closed its UK card in 2021), you need to look for alternatives.
All of the cards we discuss below add a 3% foreign exchange fee so you might want to get a separate free credit card to use abroad.
Unfortunately there are no travel rewards cards without a foreign exchange fee, although the Virgin Atlantic credit cards have 0% FX fees in the Eurozone. One option is to get a free card from Currensea. Currensea is a simple but clever idea. You pay abroad with your Currensea Mastercard debit card. Currensea translates the cost to Sterling with just a 0.5% fee (83% less than the usual rate) and withdraws the money from your bank account. You can find out more by clicking here. Currensea is free so there is no risk in giving it a try.
Option 1: Get an American Express card which earns Membership Rewards points
The easiest way of earning Star Alliance miles indirectly with a UK credit card is by transferring American Express Membership Rewards points.
You can earn American Express Membership Rewards points with, primarily, these five cards:
The Platinum Card from American Express
50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
American Express Rewards
The only ‘free for life’ Amex card which earns Membership Rewards Read our full review
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
Looking at the Amex Membership Rewards catalogue the only Star Alliance airline which is a transfer partner is:
- Singapore Airlines: 3 Membership Rewards points = 2 miles
Click the links to our reviews above to learn more about these five cards and their sign-up bonuses.
Option 2: Get the Marriott Bonvoy American Express credit card
Whilst American Express Membership Rewards points are easy to earn, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer is just one of the many Star Alliance frequent flyer schemes.
A better answer may be the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card.
The Marriott Bonvoy American Express awards points in the Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty scheme, covering 36 hotel brands. It comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
Here are the full card details:
Sign-up bonus and earn rate:
- Get 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points when you spend £3,000 within 90 days
- Earn 2 Marriott Bonvoy points per £1 spent
- Earn 6 points per £1 spent at Marriott hotels
- Points convert at 3:1 into Avios or other airline miles
Other information:
- 15 elite night credits per year to help you towards higher status
- Free night, up to 25,000 points, when you spend £25,000 per year.
- Upgrade to Gold Elite status when you spend £15,000 in a card year
- Annual fee: £95
Representative 54.1% APR variable based on an assumed £1,200 credit limit and £95 annual fee. Interest rate on purchases 30.4% APR variable.
You will receive 20,000 points as a sign-up bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express 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 24 months, have held any other personal American Express card.
You are OK if you had a supplementary card on someone else’s American Express account.
You are OK if, currently or in the previous 24 months, you have held a Business American Express card.
For clarity, you can still apply for the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card even if you do not qualify for the bonus. You would still benefit from the 15 elite night credits per year, the free night (up to 25,000 points) for spending £25,000 and Gold Elite status for spending £15,000.
You will receive 15 elite night credits per year in Marriott Bonvoy. The first batch will arrive within 60 days on applying and then in Spring in each subsequent year.
15 elite nights will automatically get you Silver Elite status in Marriott Bonvoy and put you nearer to Gold Elite and higher tiers.
If you spend £15,000 per card year, you will be upgraded to Gold Elite status in Marriott Bonvoy.
If you spend £25,000 per card year, you will receive a free night voucher, valid at any hotel where reward nights cost up to 25,000 points.
You need a minimum personal income of £20,000 to apply for the card.
You can convert Marriott Bonvoy points to 40 airlines. The transfer rate is nominally 3 : 1, with the credit card earning 2 point per £1. For most partners this is increased to 3 : 1.25 if you convert 60,000 Bonvoy points at once.
There is a preferential conversion rate to United Airlines – which is a Star Alliance member – of 2:1 if you convert 60,000 Bonvoy points at once.
These are the Star Alliance members which are Marriott Bonvoy airline partners. The earning rates shown ignore the 25% bonus if you convert 60,000 Bonvoy points (20,000 miles) at once.
- Aegean: 0.66 miles per £1
- Air Canada: 0.66 miles per £1
- Air China: 0.66 miles per £1
- Air New Zealand: 0.66 points per £66
- ANA: 0.66 miles per £1
- Asiana Airlines: 0.66 miles per £1
- Avianca: 0.66 miles per £1
- Copa Airlines: 0.66 miles per £1
- Singapore Airlines: 0.66 miles per £1
- TAP Air Portugal: 0.66 miles per £1
- Thai Airways: 0.66 miles per £1
- Turkish Airlines: 0.66 miles per £1
- United Airlines: 0.66 miles per £1
In most cases, the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card is your best option for earning Star Alliance miles from UK credit card spend.
Option 3: Get a HSBC Premier credit card
HSBC Premier is an option if you want Singapore Airlines, TAP Air Portugal or EVA Air miles. It has an excellent Visa / Mastercard rate (0.5 miles per £1 on the free card, 1.5 miles per £1 on the paid card).
You need a HSBC Premier current account, however, which has tough income and savings criteria. This means that it is out of reach for many readers.
We review the free HSBC Premier credit card here and review the £290 HSBC Premier World Elite credit card here.
Conclusion
There are plenty of options here for anyone wanting to earn Star Alliance miles from a credit card. As far as I can see, the only members with no earning ability are Lufthansa Miles & More (admittedly a big hole), EgyptAir and Ethiopian. Shenzhen Airlines uses Air China’s PheonixMiles programme.
Want Singapore Airlines miles?
The free (in year one) American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is probably your best choice if you want Singapore Airlines miles. You earn 1 point per £1 and the sign-up bonus is 20,000 Membership Rewards points. The points convert at 3:2 into Singapore Airlines. You can apply here.
Want miles with any other Star Alliance airline?
The £95 Marriott Bonvoy American Express is probably your best choice for Star Alliance miles with all other airlines.
The Marriott Bonvoy Amex has a number of partners at a decent conversion rate of 0.825 miles per £1 (assuming you convert in 60,000 Bonvoy point chunks) and may be a good way to hedge your bets about which Star Alliance programme you want to redeem through.
You can, of course, also redeem your points for Marriott hotel rooms if you change your mind about airline miles. My full review of the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card is here. You can apply here.
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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – January 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 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:
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.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
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
30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 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:
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
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 when you spend at least £2,000 per month.
Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card
Get 1% cashback when you spend at least £2,000 per month* Read our full review
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