It is part of our series of articles looking at the major UK loyalty credit cards and discussing whether or not they are worth applying for. These articles are linked to the relevant sections of the ‘Credit Cards‘ area of the menu bar. Our other UK airline and hotel credit card reviews can be found here.

Key link: Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus Mastercard application form

Key facts: £160 annual fee

The representative APR is 69.7% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 26.9% variable.

Reward credit cards generally have high interest rates and are not suitable for anyone who does not pay off their full balance each month. If you do not clear your balance, you should look for a non-rewards credit card with a low interest rate.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

About the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ card

The Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card – issued by Virgin Money – is issued as a Mastercard.

Virgin Money does not have any other travel reward cards apart from Virgin Atlantic so it should not conflict with any other credit cards you hold.

You can find our review of the free Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card here. Whilst that version has no annual fee, it has no sign-up bonus and a lower earning rate of 0.75 points per £1.

What is the Virgin Reward+ sign-up bonus?

The sign-up bonus on the Reward+ Mastercard is 15,000 Virgin Points.

You will receive this after your first purchase. There is no spending target to hit.

You cannot apply if you have recently cancelled a Reward+ card. The website states that you can apply if: “You don’t already have a Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit Card or have closed one in the last 6 months. If you have – don’t worry, you can apply for our Reward card instead.“

You CAN apply and get the bonus if you have the free Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card. A recent rule change now allows you to hold both cards.

You can apply and get the bonus if you have a non-Virgin Atlantic credit card from Virgin Money.

You can apply and get the bonus if you are currently a supplementary cardholder on someone else’s Virgin Atlantic credit card.

Any other benefits?

Yes.

The Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus credit card comes with an annual bonus for hitting a spending target.

After spending £10,000 in a card membership year, you will receive your choice of:

• A 2-4-1 voucher, valid for two years, when you book a cash or miles ticket on Virgin Atlantic in Upper Class, Premium or Economy

• A return upgrade – on either a cash or miles ticket – from Premium to Upper Class, or from Economy Delight/Classic to Premium (requires reward availability in the higher class)

If you have Silver or Gold status in Virgin Flying Club, you can also choose:

• Virgin Clubhouse lounge passes (requires a same-day Virgin Atlantic or Delta flight) – one pass if you are Silver, two passes if you are Gold

Yes, the Virgin Atlantic vouchers can be used on CASH tickets

There is a key difference between the 2-4-1 and upgrade vouchers offered by Virgin Atlantic compared to the ones offered for British Airways via American Express and Barclaycard.

Virgin Atlantic vouchers can be used on cash tickets as well as reward tickets. If you book a cash flight, you bring someone else with you as long as:

• you pay the taxes and charges element of the ticket, which admittedly can be fairly high

• there is a reward ticket available in the cabin – if there are no reward seats on offer, you can’t use the 2-4-1 voucher even if you are booking a cash flight for yourself (for an upgrade, there must be a reward seat in the higher cabin)

There is small print:

• If you are a Red (no status) member, you need to pay 50% of the points for your 2nd ticket if you redeem your 2-4-1 voucher in Upper Class. You do not pay this if you redeem in Premium or Economy as a ‘no status’ member.

• you need to take the outbound leg of your flight before the two year expiry date – you can return later

If you usually travel on your own, the upgrade voucher is likely to suit you best. This can also be used by a couple to upgrade one leg per person on a return cash or reward flight.

If you don’t want to pay the annual fee for the Reward+ card, you should look at the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard instead. The same benefits are available but you need to spend £20,000 per year to unlock them.

How do you receive your annual voucher?

Your voucher is triggered within 1-2 weeks of passing the £10,000 annual spend threshold.

You should receive an email from Virgin Flying Club confirming this. If not, go to the ‘My Activity’ section of the Virgin Atlantic website, under ‘My Account’.

You should see ‘Virgin Atlantic Credit Card Reward Voucher’ as a transaction line, with ‘0 points’ showing next to it.

The voucher cannot be redeemed online. You need to call Virgin Flying Club to redeem it.

Is there an annual fee?

Yes. The Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card has an annual fee of £160 per year. This is not refundable pro-rata if you choose to cancel

What do I earn per £1 spent on the card?

You earn 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 spent.

This is an exceptionally good return for a Visa or Mastercard.  It is only equalled by the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard (£240 annual fee, 25,000 Avios sign-up bonus).

Bookings with Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Atlantic Holidays earn double miles.

The number of miles you earn per month is restricted to your credit limit.  For example, if you have a limit of £10,000 then you will only earn miles on the first £10,000 of your spending each month.  This only impacts the small number of people who pay down their account during the month and then run it up again. Bonus miles from spending with Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Atlantic Holidays are not included in the cap.

Is this a good card to use when travelling?

Yes, in Europe.

Virgin Money does not charge any fees when you pay for something in Euro, Swedish Kronor or Romanian Lei.

The two Virgin Atlantic credit cards are the ONLY ‘miles and points’ cards in the UK which waive foreign exchange fees on some transactions.

As Virgin Money adds a 3% foreign exchange fee on transactions in all other currencies, you might want to get a separate free credit card to use abroad.

Unfortunately there are no travel rewards cards without any foreign exchange fees globally. 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 Virgin card charges outside the EU) 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.

What is a Virgin Point worth?

This is clearly a ‘finger in the air’ exercise. I would, however, flag some key pointers.

Virgin Flying Club has a lot of partners which allows you top up your balance to the level needed for a good redemption:

• You can earn points by converting Tesco Clubcard points as well as Heathrow Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards points. Even if you never fly with Virgin Atlantic, you could top up your credit card miles with Tesco Clubcard points.

• They have particularly good earning rates with Hertz

• You can transfer Virgin Points to Hilton Honors at a 1 : 1.5 ratio which puts a floor under their value. You can also transfer to IHG One Rewards at 1 : 1.

I am happy to value Virgin Points at 0.75p – 1p each, in line with Avios.

How does the Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus card compare to a cashback card?

The majority of UK credit cards offering ‘retail rewards’ – those from Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsburys, John Lewis etc – give you 0.1% to 0.25% back on what you spend.

Offering 1.5 Virgin Points per £1, plus an added bonus for spending £10,000 per year, the Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus credit card is substantially more attractive than the best Mastercard or Visa cashback card.

Anything else I need to know?

In March 2023, Virgin Atlantic joined the SkyTeam alliance. This allows you to redeem Virgin Points on many other airlines including Delta, Air France, KLM, Vietnam Airlines, Korean Air and many more.

Note that you can ONLY manage your account via the Virgin Money app or with paper statements. There is no ability to manage your account via a website.

Conclusion

The Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card is one of the best two airline or hotel Visa or Mastercards on the market. The only direct competitor for the title of ‘best non-Amex card’ is the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard.

15,000 points is a strong sign-up bonus and there is no spending target to hit. You receive the points after making your first purchase on the card.

You may want to consider downgrading to the free card after that if you are not triggering, or do not value, the annual voucher.

The real strength is the on-going earning rate. 1.5 Virgin Points for every £1 you spend is an excellent return.

Note that the application process is a little odd. You must go through the ‘Check Eligibility’ process first, although the data you supply is carried across to the application form so it isn’t much more effort.

The application form for the Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus Mastercard credit card can be found here.

(Want to earn more miles and points from credit cards?  Click here to visit our dedicated airline and hotel travel credit cards page or use the ‘Credit Cards’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

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.

It is part of our series of articles looking at the major UK loyalty credit cards and discussing whether or not they are worth applying for. These articles are linked to the relevant sections of the ‘Credit Cards‘ area of the menu bar. Our other UK airline and hotel credit card reviews can be found here.

Key link: Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard application form

Key facts: No annual fee

The representative APR is 26.9% variable.

Reward credit cards generally have high interest rates and are not suitable for anyone who does not pay off their full balance each month. If you do not clear your balance, you should look for a non-rewards credit card with a low interest rate.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

About the Virgin Atlantic free credit card

The Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card – issued by Virgin Money – comes as a Mastercard.

Virgin Money does not have any other travel reward cards apart from Virgin Atlantic so it should not conflict with any other credit cards you hold.

You can find our review of the £160 annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus credit card here. Whilst there is a fee, it does have a sign-up bonus of 15,000 points.

As there is no sign-up bonus on the free card, you might find Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus to be a better overall deal, at least for the first year.

What is the sign-up bonus on the free Virgin Atlantic credit card?

There is no sign-up bonus on the card.

The Reward+ card, on the other hand, comes with a bonus of 15,000 Virgin Points. There is no spending requirement with the bonus arriving after your first purchase, however small.

You cannot apply if you have recently cancelled a Reward card. The website states that you can apply if: “You don’t already have a Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card or have closed one in the last 6 months. If you have – don’t worry, you can apply for our Reward+ card instead.“

You CAN apply and get the bonus if you have the paid-for Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus credit card. A recent rule change now allows you to hold both cards.

You can apply if you have a non-Virgin Atlantic credit card from Virgin Money.

You can apply if you are currently a supplementary cardholder on someone else’s Virgin Atlantic credit card.

Any other benefits?

Yes. The Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card comes with a good spend bonus.

After spending £20,000 in a card membership year, you can pick from:

• A 2-4-1 voucher, valid for two years, when you book a cash or miles ticket on Virgin Atlantic in Upper Class, Premium or Economy

• A return upgrade – on either a cash or miles ticket – from Premium to Upper Class, or from Economy Delight/Classic to Premium (requires reward availability in the higher class)

If you have Silver or Gold status in Virgin Flying Club, you can also choose:

• Virgin Clubhouse lounge passes (requires a same-day Virgin Atlantic or Delta flight) – one pass if you are Silver, two passes if you are Gold

Yes, the Virgin Atlantic vouchers can be used on CASH tickets

There is a key difference between the 2-4-1 and upgrade vouchers offered by Virgin Atlantic compared to the ones offered for British Airways via American Express and Barclaycard.

Virgin Atlantic vouchers can be used on cash tickets as well as reward tickets. If you book a cash flight, you bring someone else with you as long as:

• you pay the taxes and charges element of the ticket, which admittedly can be fairly high

• there is a reward ticket available in the cabin – if there are no reward seats on offer, you can’t use the 2-4-1 voucher even if you are booking a cash flight for yourself (for an upgrade, there must be a reward seat in the higher cabin)

There is small print:

• If you are a Red (no status) member, you need to pay 50% of the points for your 2nd ticket if you redeem your 2-4-1 voucher in Upper Class. You do not pay this if you redeem in Premium or Economy as a ‘no status’ member.

• you need to take the outbound leg of your flight before the two year expiry date – you can return later

If you usually travel on your own, the upgrade voucher is likely to suit you best. This can also be used by a couple to upgrade one leg per person on a return cash or reward flight.

If you cannot reach £20,000 of spending per year, you should look at the £160 Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard instead.  This only requires £10,000 of annual spending to unlock the same benefits and comes with a 15,000 points sign-up bonus.

How do you receive your annual voucher?

Your voucher is triggered within 1-2 weeks of passing the £20,000 annual spend threshold.

You should receive an email from Virgin Flying Club confirming this. If not, go to the ‘My Activity’ section of the Virgin Atlantic website, under ‘My Account’.

You should see ‘Virgin Atlantic Credit Card Reward Voucher’ as a transaction line, with ‘0 points’ showing next to it.

The voucher cannot be redeemed online. You need to call Virgin Flying Club to redeem it.

Is there an annual fee?

No.

There is no fee for the Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard.

What do I earn per £1 spent on the free Virgin credit card?

You earn 0.75 Virgin Points per £1 spent.

This is a very good return for a free Visa or Mastercard.  Only one card beats it – the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard, which earns 1 Avios per £1 spent.

The key issue to consider before applying, however, is whether it is worth spending £160 for the paid Virgin Atlantic Reward Plus card instead.  The paid card earns you a 15,000 miles sign-up bonus and has an earning rate which is twice as high at 1.5 Flying Club points per £1.  This justifies the £160 fee for the first year.

Bookings with Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Holidays earn double miles.

The number of miles you earn per month is restricted to your credit limit.  For example, if you have a limit of £10,000 then you will only earn points on the first £10,000 of your spending each month.  This only impacts the small number of people who would otherwise pay down their account during the month and then run it up again. Bonus miles from spending with Virgin Atlantic or Virgin Atlantic Holidays are not included in the cap.

What is a Virgin Point worth?

This is clearly a ‘finger in the air’ exercise. I would, however, flag some key pointers.

Virgin has a lot of partners which allows you top up your balance to the level needed for a good redemption:

• You can earn points by converting Tesco Clubcard points as well as Heathrow Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards points. Even if you never fly with Virgin Atlantic, you could top up your credit card miles with Tesco Clubcard points.

• They have particularly good earning rates with Hertz

• You can transfer Virgin Points to Hilton Honors at a 1 : 1.5 ratio which puts a floor under their value. You can also transfer to IHG One Rewards at 1 : 1.

As Virgin Atlantic does not offer any short haul redemptions, except for those offered by Air France and KLM, you need to be confident that you can earn enough via the card and the routes outlined above, plus miles earned from flying, to unlock a good long-haul redemption.

If you can, I am happy to value Virgin Points at 0.75p – 1p each, in line with Avios.

Is this a good card to use when travelling?

Yes, in Europe.

Virgin Money does not charge any fees when you pay for something in Euro, Swedish Kronor or Romanian Lei.

The two Virgin Atlantic credit cards are the ONLY ‘miles and points’ cards in the UK which waive foreign exchange fees on some transactions.

As Virgin Money adds a 3% foreign exchange fee on transactions in all other currencies, you might want to get a separate free credit card to use abroad.

Unfortunately there are no travel rewards cards without any foreign exchange fees globally. 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 Virgin card charges outside the EU) 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.

How does the Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard compare to a cashback credit card?

The majority of UK credit cards offering ‘retail rewards’ – those from Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsburys, John Lewis etc – give you 0.1% to 0.25% back on what you spend.

Offering 0.75 Virgin Flying Club points, plus an added bonus for spending £20,000 per year, the Virgin Atlantic Reward credit card is substantially more attractive.

Anything else I need to know?

In March 2023, Virgin Atlantic joined the SkyTeam alliance. This allows you to redeem Virgin Points on many other airlines including Delta, Air France, KLM, Vietnam Airlines, Korean Air and many more.

Note that you can ONLY manage your account via the Virgin Money app or with paper statements. There is no ability to manage your account via a website.

Conclusion

The Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard is one of the best free airline or hotel Visa or Mastercard credit cards on the market for day to day spending.

It is only beaten by the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard, which offers 1 Avios per £1 spent.

Whilst there is no sign-up bonus, the real strength is the on-going earning rate. 0.75 Virgin Points for every £1 you spend is a very good return.

The bonus of 15,000 Virgin Points on the £160 paid card means that you may want to consider paying the fee and getting that one instead for the first year, downgrading later.  You can apply for the paid card here.

Note that the application process is a little odd. You must go through the ‘Check Eligibility’ process first, although the data you supply is carried across to the application form so it isn’t much more effort.

The application form for the Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard credit card can be found here.

(Want to earn more miles and points from credit cards?  Click here to visit our dedicated airline and hotel travel credit cards page or use the ‘Credit Cards’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

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.

It is part of our series of articles looking at the major UK loyalty credit cards and discussing whether of not they are worth applying for. These posts are linked to the relevant sections of the ‘Credit Cards‘ area of the menu bar. Our other UK airline and hotel credit card reviews can be found here.

Key link: Tesco Bank Mastercard application form

Key facts: No annual fee

The representative APR is 24.9% variable.

Reward credit cards generally have high interest rates and are not suitable for anyone who does not pay off their full balance each month. If you do not clear your balance, you should look for a non-rewards credit card with a low interest rate.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

About the Tesco credit card

The Tesco Bank Mastercard is issued by Tesco Bank, which is now wholly owned by Tesco following its acquisition of Royal Bank of Scotland’s stake a few years ago.

What is the Tesco credit card sign-up bonus?

There is no sign-up bonus on the card.

Any other benefits?

The core version of the Tesco Bank Mastercard offers 0% interest on balance transfers for 22 months, albeit with a 2.75% fee.

What do I earn per £1 spent on the card?

You earn 1 Clubcard point for every £8 spent on the card on a ‘per transaction’ basis.

It is important that you understand what ‘per transaction’ means. At the most extreme, if you bought 100 items at £7.99 in separate transactions, you would earn zero Clubcard points. A £15.99 transaction would only earn one point, whilst a £16.00 transaction would earn two points.

You earn 1 point per £4 spent in Tesco.

How does that convert to Avios or Virgin Points?

You will NOT be converting your Tesco Clubcard points to Avios. The partnership with Avios ended in January 2021.

Luckily, if you want to earn Avios points from a Visa or Mastercard, you still can. In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two excellent Avios credit cards with big sign-up bonuses:

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

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can still convert your Clubcard points to Virgin Points although this isn’t the best way to earn them.

1 Clubcard point is worth 2 Virgin Points so every £1 spent on the card gets you up to 0.25 Virgin Points.  This rate is doubled for spending at Tesco. Your actual earning rate will be lower due to the way transactions are rounded down to the nearest £8.

You will receive a statement once a quarter containing your Clubcard vouchers, and you can convert these online to Virgin Points or redeem them for any of Tesco’s other Clubcard partner deals. You can even spend the vouchers in-store at Tesco at their face value, although this is a poor use of them.

If your goal is Virgin Points, do NOT get the Tesco Clubcard credit card. Get the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard instead which earns 0.75 Virgin Points per £1. This is triple the number of Virgin Points per £1 spent.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

A generous earning rate for a free card at 0.75 points per £1 Read our full review

Any other quirks?

Your Tesco credit card doubles up as a standard Tesco Clubcard.

It is perfectly acceptable to hand over your Tesco credit card in a Tesco store and ask them to swipe it as a Clubcard. You can then pay for your shopping on a more lucrative credit card!

What is a Virgin Point worth?

We value Virgin Points in line with Avios, at 1p each. Where British Airways and Virgin Atlantic compete, mileage costs and taxes are close enough to justify this.

Virgin Points are relatively worthless in small quantities, however, if your aim is free flights due to Virgin Atlantic’s lack of short haul options. Whilst you can redeem for many non-flight items via the Virgin Red app, the value you get is low at around 0.5p per point.

One key benefit of Tesco Clubcard points is that you do not have to convert to Virgin Points, of course. Unlike the dedicated Virgin Atlantic credit cards, you have the option to convert to Virgin Points, but there is also the flexibility to use them for any other good Tesco deals that come along.

I used to use a large pile of vouchers to pay a regular Safestore bill and then moved on to using them for Uber.  When those deals died I moved back to Avios – and have now moved across to Virgin Points – but it was good to have the choice.

Is this a good card to use when travelling?

No. As Tesco Bank adds a 3% foreign exchange fee, you might want to get a separate free credit card to use abroad.

Unfortunately there are no credit cards with 0% foreign exchange fees worldwide which earn airline or hotel points. (The Virgin Atlantic credit cards have 0% FX fees in the Eurozone.) 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 Tesco card) 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.

Conclusion

With no sign-up bonus, there is no reason to get the Tesco Bank Mastercard for a quick points boost.

Assuming you convert your Clubcard vouchers to Virgin Points, the earning rate of 0.25 Virgin Points per £1 is not attractive.

You could be earning 0.75 Virgin Points per £1 with the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard.  Our review of the free Virgin Atlantic credit card is here.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

A generous earning rate for a free card at 0.75 points per £1 Read our full review

Whilst there is some value in the greater flexibility offered by the Tesco Clubcard Mastercard, due to its wider range of redemption options, this is not enough to justify accepting 0.25 Virgin Points per £1 when you could be getting 0.75 per £1 on Virgin’s own card.

Even the occasional conversion bonuses of 10%-20% to Virgin Points from Tesco Clubcard not go anywhere near justifying the gap.

The application form for the Tesco Bank Mastercard can be found here.

(Want to earn more miles and points from credit cards?  Click here to visit our dedicated airline and hotel travel credit cards page or use the ‘Credit Cards’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

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.

In January 2021, Avios and Nectar launched a new partnership. You can now transfer Nectar points into Avios – and vice versa – which means that this credit card is of interest to Avios collectors.

It is part of our series of articles looking at the major UK loyalty credit cards and discussing whether of not they are worth applying for.  These posts are linked to the relevant sections of the ‘Credit Cards Offers‘ area in the menu bar. Our other UK airline and hotel credit card reviews can be found here.

Key information

Key link: American Express Nectar application form

Key facts: No fee for Year 1, £30 annual fee from Year 2

The representative APR from year 2 is 37.8% variable.  The representative APR on purchases, and in the first year, is 31.0% variable.

Reward credit cards generally have high interest rates and are not suitable for anyone who does not pay off their full balance each month. If you do not clear your balance, you should look for a non-rewards credit card with a low interest rate.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

About the Nectar American Express card

The Nectar American Express credit card is issued directly by American Express.  The Nectar loyalty scheme is used by numerous UK retailers including Sainsbury’s, Argos and eBay.

What is the Nectar Amex sign-up bonus?

The Nectar American Express card has a generous sign-up bonus. It offers 20,000 Nectar points which are worth £100 when spent with any Nectar partner.

More relevant for HfP readers is that 20,000 Nectar points convert into 12,500 Avios. This page of ba.com explains how to convert points between the two schemes.

You need to spend £2,000 within three months to receive the bonus.

What are the rules for qualifying for the Amex Nectar sign-up bonus?

The bonus is only available to customers who have not held a personal American Express card in the previous 24 months.  This article looks at which Amex sign-up bonuses you may still be eligible for.

You will definitely receive the bonus if you are only a supplementary cardholder on someone else’s American Express card. As far as Amex is concerned, that card belongs to the primarily cardholder and does not make you an ‘existing cardholder’.

If you do not qualify for the bonus, you can still apply. You still receive the other card benefits including ‘no fee in the first year’.

What is the Nectar Amex annual fee?

The American Express Nectar credit card comes with a £30 annual fee. For the first year, however, the card is free. This gives you 12 months to decide if you can spend enough on the card to justify keeping it long term. If not, you can cancel within the first year and will have paid nothing.

What do I earn per £1 spent on the card?

You earn 2 Nectar points per £1 of general spend. This is effectively 1% cashback if you use the points at Sainsbury’s, Argos or eBay.

2 Nectar points per £1 converts into 1.25 Avios per £1.

This is on top of the standard points you earn at Sainsbury’s and other Nectar partners.  This means that your total Nectar earning when shopping at Sainsbury’s is 3 points per £1 if you use this card – two points come from the credit card and one point comes from your usual in-store Nectar earning.

How does this compare with the British Airways American Express cards?

When converted to Avios, 2 Nectar points are worth 1.25 Avios.

This means that the £30 Nectar American Express card is more generous than the free British Airways American Express card or the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard (1 Avios per £1 and a smaller sign-up bonus).

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

It is less generous than the British Airways Premium Plus credit card or the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Both of these cards earn 1.5 Avios per £1, have a larger sign-up bonus and come with an annual voucher if you spend £10,000. However, the cards carry a, respectively, £250 and £240 annual fee.

How does the Nectar Amex compare to a cashback credit card?

My default comparison card is the Lloyds Bank Cashback credit card.  It is free for life and offers 0.25% cashback on your first £4,000 of annual spend and 0.5% thereafter.

For the first year, when the Nectar American Express credit card is free, the Nectar Amex is substantially better than this. You would be receiving 2 Nectar points per £1, worth 1% in shopping vouchers or 1.25 Avios.

From Year 2, when you will be paying a £30 annual fee, you need to look at how much you are spending on the card. As long as you are spending £5,000+, your return will be better overall – even after accounting for the fee – than using cards such as the John Lewis or Marks & Spencer credit cards.

Is the Nectar Amex a good card to use when travelling?

Not really.  As American Express adds a 3% foreign exchange fee, you might want to get a separate free credit card to use abroad.

Unfortunately there are no credit cards with 0% foreign exchange fees worldwide which earn airline or hotel points. (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 Amex charges) 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.

What more should I know?

You can apply for the card with a minimum personal income of just £20,000.

Conclusion

For day-to-day spending, the Nectar American Express credit card is a good deal, effectively giving you 1% cashback or 1.25 Avios per £1 spent.

It is, ironically, far better for earning Avios than the free British Airways American Express card and the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard. Both of these cards offer annual vouchers for hitting spending targets, however, which add value.

If you are starting out with Avios, you may want to get the Nectar American Express first and then progress to the £250 British Airways Premium Plus American Express. By taking this route you would still qualify for the generous Avios bonus on the BAPP card, which you would not get if you were upgrading from the free BA Amex. You should also look at the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard with its 25,000 Avios bonus.

The £30 fee means that – after the first FREE year – you need to be spending £5,000+ to justify the fee. For the first free year, though, the 20,000 Nectar points (12,500 Avios) sign-up bonus means that you will certainly come out on top.

(Want to earn more miles and points from credit cards?  Click here to visit our dedicated airline and hotel travel credit cards page or use the ‘Credit Cards’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

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.

It is part of our series of articles looking at the major UK loyalty credit cards and discussing whether of not they are worth applying for.  These posts are linked to the relevant sections of the ‘Credit Cards‘ area in the menu bar. Our other UK airline and hotel credit card reviews can be found here.

Key link: Marriott Bonvoy American Express application form

Key facts: £95 annual fee

The representative APR is 54.8% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 31.0% variable.

Reward credit cards generally have high interest rates and are not suitable for anyone who does not pay off their full balance each month. If you do not clear your balance, you should look for a non-rewards credit card with a low interest rate.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

About the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card

The Marriott Bonvoy American Express card is issued directly by American Express.  The Marriott Bonvoy loyalty scheme covers 31 hotel brands including Marriott, Renaissance, Sheraton, Westin, W, Aloft, Luxury Collection etc.

What is the Marriott Amex sign-up bonus?

The sign-up bonus on the card is 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. This is worth 6,667 Avios or other airline miles if converted.

The points are also good for one free night in many mid-market and budget Marriott hotels.

Bonvoy points convert 3:1 into 40+ different airline schemes.

What are the rules for qualifying for the sign-up bonus?

The bonus is only available to customers who have not held a personal American Express card in the previous 24 months.

You WILL receive the sign-up bonus if you have a Corporate or Business American Express card via your job.  Amex is only interested in any personal cards you have had.

You will definitely receive the bonus if you are only a supplementary cardholder on someone else’s American Express card. As far as Amex is concerned, that card belongs to the primarily cardholder and does not make you an ‘existing cardholder’.

If you do not qualify for the bonus, you can still apply.  You still receive the other card benefits outlined below including, importantly, the 15 elite night credits.

What are the benefits of the Marriott Bonvoy Amex?

Get 15 elite night credits:

All cardholders get 15 elite nights credits, annually, in Marriott Bonvoy.  This will automatically get you free Silver Elite status.  This has few real benefits except for a 10% bonus on base points earned from Marriott hotel stays.

Much more interestingly, it means that you are 15 nights closer to earning Gold Elite, Platinum Elite or Titanium Elite status.  This is where the card has real value. If you were currently doing, say, 35 nights at Marriott hotels per year, you would be crazy not to get this card in order to hit the 50 nights required for Platinum Elite.

Officially, new cardmembers will receive their 15 elite night credits within 60 days of applying.  In subsequent years, the 15 elite nights will be credited by 1st March.

Unofficially, new cardmembers are receiving their 15 elite night credits within a few days of signing up. As an existing cardholder, I received my 15 nights for 2023 in the first week of January.

Get Gold Elite status for spending £15,000:

Spend £15,000 per year on the card and you will receive Gold Elite status in Marriott Bonvoy. The benefits of this are modest, though, and you can get Gold Elite for free simply by taking out an American Express Platinum card. 

You would also receive Gold Elite status by staying just 10 nights, once you add in the 15 elite night credits that come with the card.

Get a free night for spending £25,000:

Spend £25,000 per year and you receive a voucher for a free hotel night. However, this can only be used at hotels costing up to 25,000 points which basically knocks out any expensive and / or aspirational hotels. Given the huge amount of spending required to trigger the free night, this restriction makes little sense.

(If the free night was valid anywhere, I might be prepared to go for it. A free night a year at the Gritti Palace in Venice is not a bad way to spend your time and is not a bad return on £25,000 of spend. You won’t find anything too luxurious up to 25,000 points.)

You will be allowed to top up the 25,000 points free night voucher with up to 15,000 points from your Bonvoy account allowing you to book a room costing up to 40,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.

What is the Marriott Bonvoy Amex annual fee?

There is a £95 annual fee.

Until at least 29th February 2024, you receive a pro-rata refund if you cancel. This benefit will be removed at some point after that date – the exact date is not yet known.

What do I earn per £1 spent on the card?

The earnings rate on the card is 2 Marriott Bonvoy points per £1.

You will receive triple points (6 per £1) when using the card at any Marriott hotel.

What is a Marriott Bonvoy point worth?

Based on my recent hotel redemptions, I am happy to say that you should be able to get 0.5p per point without much trouble and, on an expensive night, far more – click for a longer article on this topic.

This means that you should be able to get £100 of value from the 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points you will receive as a sign-up bonus.

The airline conversion rate is also generous. 60,000 points is worth 25,000 miles with most of their airline partners, including Avios and Virgin Flying Club. This puts a floor under their value – if you assume airline miles are worth 1p then this gives you a floor value of 0.42p per Bonvoy point given the conversion ratio above.

If you live in London, Marriott Bonvoy has a private suite at the O2 Arena and makes seats with full hospitality available for points redemption for many concerts.  The Marriott Moments site shows you some of the other great experiences you can bid for with points.

How does the Marriott Bonvoy Amex compare to a cashback credit card?

The majority of UK credit cards offering ‘retail rewards’ – those from Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsburys, John Lewis etc – give you 0.1% to 0.25% back on what you spend.

For an average spender, the Marriott Bonvoy American Express credit card offers only average value.  If you manage to redeem for free hotel nights at 0.5p+ per point of value, you are getting 1.0% of your spending in rewards BUT you are paying a £95 annual fee.

The real value comes if:

• you are happy to pay the £95 fee primarily to get the 15 elite night credits and the 2 points per £1 is just the icing on top

• you know you can redeem your Bonvoy points at peak times to get far more than my 0.5p target (I got 1.2p per point over Christmas 2020 in the UAE)

• you are a high spender, so the £95 annual fee doesn’t make a big difference to your return

• you spend a lot at Marriott hotels to benefit from 6 points per £1

Is the Marriott Bonvoy Amex a good card to use when travelling?

Not really.  As American Express adds a 3% foreign exchange fee, you might want to get a separate free credit card to use abroad.

Unfortunately there are no credit cards with 0% foreign exchange fees worldwide which earn airline or hotel points. (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 Amex charges) 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.

If someone else is refunding your expenses – which means you don’t care about the 3% FX fee – it is certainly a good card to use at Marriott Bonvoy hotels.  You will earn 6 points per £1 spent.

It is a GREAT card to use at Marriott hotels in the UK. You will earn 6 points per £1 which is effectively a 3% return on your spending.

Other points to note

It is worth remembering that Marriott Bonvoy offers transfers to 40+ different airlines. For many of these airlines, the Marriott Bonvoy credit card is the only way for a UK resident to earn in that programme via card spend.

You can apply for the card with a minimum personal income of just £20,000.

American Express has been running regular cashback promotions with Marriott across its UK credit cards. The offers to holders of the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card are usually better than those offered on other cards, and could on their own justify the £95 annual card fee.

How else can you earn Marriott Bonvoy points from a credit card?

There are two interesting options, one of which is initially free.

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card offers 20,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up and is free for the first year. These convert to 30,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.

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

The American Express Platinum credit card usually offers 40,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up. These convert to 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.

You also receive Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status with The Platinum Card. It has a £650 fee, refunded pro-rata if you cancel.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Conclusion

The sign-up bonus on the Marriott Bonvoy American Express is good. You will receive 20,000 points, which also converts to 6,667 airline miles or roughly £100 of free hotel rooms.

Whilst this sounds OK, the £95 annual fee reduces the value. You can cancel the card after earning the bonus for a pro-rata refund of the annual fee although this feature will be removed at some point after 29th February 2024 (exact date TBC).

The on-going earning rate is average.  If you are committed to transferring to a specific airline then you may be better off with a dedicated airline card.  However, if you transfer to qualifying airlines in batches of 60,000 to generate the 5,000 bonus miles then you are getting 0.825 airline miles per £1. The Marriott Bonvoy American Express also gives you flexibility to transfer to many different airlines or to redeem for hotel rooms.

If you are seeking airline miles with an airline which does not otherwise have a UK card partner, this card could be a good choice. For many airlines, eg Air Canada Aeroplan, the Marriott Bonvoy Amex is the only way to earn miles via a credit card at a respectable rate.

For anyone keen to earn or retain Marriott Bonvoy elite status, you should get the card. You receive an easy 15 elite night credits each year.

The application form for the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card can be found here.

(Want to earn more miles and points from credit cards?  Click here to visit our dedicated airline and hotel travel credit cards page or use the ‘Credit Cards’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

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.

It is part of our series of articles looking at the major UK loyalty credit cards and discussing whether or not they are worth applying for. These articles are linked to the relevant sections of the ‘Credit Cards‘ area in the menu bar. Our other UK airline and hotel credit card reviews can be found here.

Key link: HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard application form

Key facts: £195 annual fee, card only available to HSBC Premier current account holders

The representative APR is 59.3% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 18.9% variable.

Reward credit cards generally have high interest rates and are not suitable for anyone who does not pay off their full balance each month. If you do not clear your balance, you should look for a non-rewards credit card with a low interest rate.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

About the HSBC Premier World Elite card

The HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard is issued by HSBC.

There are two versions of the card. This review covers the more generous premium version. There is also a free version called the HSBC Premier Mastercard which I review here.  You cannot have both versions of the card at the same time.

It is a bit of an oddity amongst all of the other credit cards covered in this series for two reasons.

The first is that the airline and hotel rewards programme is a sideshow to the rest of the card.

The second is that the card can only be obtained if you have a HSBC Premier bank account.

HSBC Premier has tough eligibility criteria.  See here and scroll down to see the criteria.

As well as opening a HSBC Premier current account, you must ALSO have £50,000 invested with HSBC, either in a savings account or via an investment product.

Alternatively, if you earn over £75,000, you qualify if you just have a HSBC mortgage or any investment or insurance product. The minimum investment in an ‘investment product’ is just £100. You can see the range of HSBC investment funds here.

What is the HSBC Premier World Elite sign-up bonus?

The sign-up bonus is VERY impressive.

You can earn up to 40,000 Avios or other airline miles or hotel points in your first year.

You will receive 40,000 HSBC points, which convert into 20,000 Avios or other airline miles or hotel points if you spend £2,000 within your first three months.

You will receive an additional 40,000 points, worth an extra 20,000 Avios, if you spend a total of £12,000 in your first year. These will not arrive in your account until after your 12 months of membership irrespective of how quickly you hit the spending target. This means that you are committed to paying the annual fee for the 2nd year to receive the second part of the bonus.

There is an airport lounge access benefit

You will receive free, unlimited, access via the Priority Pass scheme to 1,300 airport lounges.

No free guests are allowed into the lounges. However, you can get a supplementary card for your HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard for a £60 annual fee and the holder can access lounges with it.

The HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard is not clearly better than American Express Platinum if you want a card with airport lounge access. It is cheaper (£255 for the HSBC card with one supplementary card vs £650 for Amex Platinum) but the Amex Platinum package has far more benefits – Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium, MeliaRewards Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Eurostar lounge access, £300 per year of dining credit, £100 per year of Harvey Nichols credit etc (see my American Express Platinum review for details).

If you have children, note that there is no way of getting a child into an airport lounge for free with this card. You are forced to pay the £20 guest charge, because obviously a child cannot be made a supplementary cardholder on your credit card account. With the Priority Pass issued by American Express Platinum, children can get into lounges for free – you get two cards and each is allowed one free guest.

There is also a range of benefits available to you as part of Mastercard’s general UK World Elite package.  I discussed the Mastercard UK World Elite benefits in this (old) article.  You access them via this special UK Mastercard website.

What is the HSBC Premier World Elite annual fee?

£195.

There is no fee for the HSBC Premier bank account which you also need to hold, as long as you meet the eligibility criteria above. If you currently pay for a ‘packaged’ current account with another bank you may save money by moving across.

What do I earn per £1 spent on the card?

HSBC Premier World Elite rewards scheme gives 2 points for every £1 spent in the UK and 4 points for every £1 spent abroad. Each point is worth 0.5 airline miles or hotel points. This means that you earn 1 mile per £1 for UK spend and 2 miles per £1 for foreign spend.

You can transfer your HSBC Premier points into the following airline schemes:

• Asia Miles
• British Airways Executive Club
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
• Finnair Plus
• Flying Blue (Air France KLM)
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• TAP Miles&Go

There are also hotel partners:

• IHG One Rewards
• Wyndham Rewards

Do HSBC Premier points expire?

Yes.

There is a ‘hard’ three year expiry. By ‘hard’, I mean that your points will expire three years after they were earned, irrespective of whether you are still earning. It is different to the Avios / Marriott etc expiry rules where, as long as your account is active, the expiry rules don’t apply.

Don’t start building up a points pot for retirement because you will be in for a nasty surprise.

What are HSBC Premier credit card points worth?

We wrote a full article on what HSBC Premier credit card points are worth, which you can read here.

Airline miles are the most valuable option, well ahead of shopping vouchers or cases of wine. Those are your only options.

At 2 HSBC points per £1 spent, worth 1 airline mile, you are getting roughly 1% back on UK spending and 2% back on overseas spending.

Is this the best way of earning Avios from a Visa or Mastercard?

No.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two Avios earning credit cards with big sign-up bonuses.

The free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard earns 1 Avios per £1 (apply here) which is the same as the £195 HSBC World Elite card – so why pay £195?

The £240 Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard earns 1.5 Avios per £1 (apply here) which is 50% more than the £195 HSBC Premier World Elite 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

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

More importantly, the two Barclaycard Avios Mastercard credit cards come with an annual British Airways upgrade voucher when you hit a spend target. The HSBC Premier cards offer no annual spend vouchers or bonuses.

The only reason to justify the HSBC Premier World Elite card over the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard is if you are willing to trade off a lower mileage earning rate in return for the flexibility to convert to multiple airline and hotel loyalty schemes.

What is an Avios point worth?

This article outlines our view of what an Avios point is worth, based on your typical redemption patterns, should you be thinking of converting your HSBC points to Avios.

I typically work off a conservative 1p per point – this ensure that I never make a bad decision when deciding whether to take part in a promotion or not.

How does this compare to a cashback credit card?

The majority of UK credit cards offering ‘retail rewards’ – those from Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsburys, John Lewis etc – give you 0.1% to 0.25% back on what you spend.

For an average spender, the HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard offers far more value as long as you believe that you can justify the £195 annual fee. This means that you need to place a lot of value on the Priority Pass airport lounge membership.

Unless you are spending £50,000 on your credit cards annually, paying £195 purely to receive 1 Avios point per £1 does not make sense.

For the first year, however, it is a different story. Earning 40,000 Avios or other miles as a combined sign-up and first year bonus – as long as you can hit the £12,000 spending target – makes the £390 outlay (£195 x 2 years) decent value.

IMPORTANT – if you are just considering getting the card for one year, remember that you don’t receive the 2nd part of the bonus until your first 12 months is over. You should anticipate having to pay the fee for the second year, which is not refundable.

Is this a good card to use when travelling?

Yes, to the extent that you receive double points for foreign spending.

However as HSBC adds a 3% foreign exchange fee, you might want to get a separate free credit card to use abroad.

Unfortunately there are no credit cards with 0% foreign exchange fees worldwide which earn airline or hotel points. (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 HSBC charges) 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.

How else can you earn miles from a UK card?

Here are three good alternatives to the HSBC Premier card for the airlines it covers.

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card offers 20,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up and is free for the first year.  As well as Avios, these convert 1:1 into Asia Miles, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, Finnair Plus, Flying Blue and Qantas Frequent Flyer, and 3:2 into Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.

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

The American Express Platinum credit card usually offers 40,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up.  As well as Avios, these convert 1:1 into Asia Miles, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, Finnair Plus, Flying Blue and Qantas Frequent Flyer, and 3:2 into Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.  It has a £650 fee, refunded pro-rata if you cancel.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

The Marriott Bonvoy American Express credit card usually offers 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for signing up. These convert to 6,667 miles in 40+ different airlines including Avios. It has a £75 fee, refunded pro-rata if you cancel.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

Conclusion

A sign-up bonus of 40,000 airline miles or hotel points – even with a £195 annual fee (which must be paid for two years) and £12,000 spend target – deserves to be looked at closely.

Unless you are already a HSBC Premier customer, however, you need to weigh up whether you really want to move your banking over to HSBC for a benefit lasting only two years.  I think most people would struggle to justify the £195 fee for the third and subsequent years.

If your goal is to earn Avios, you will get a better earning rate from the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard.

The application form for the HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard can be found here.

(Want to earn more miles and points from credit cards?  Click here to visit our dedicated airline and hotel travel credit cards page or use the ‘Credit Cards’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

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.

It is part of our series of articles looking at the major UK loyalty credit cards and discussing whether or not they are worth applying for. These articles are linked to the relevant sections of the ‘Credit Cards‘ area of the menu bar. Our other UK airline and hotel credit card reviews can be found here.

Key link: HSBC Premier Mastercard application form

Key facts: No annual fee, card only available to HSBC Premier current account holders

The representative APR is 23.9% variable.

Reward credit cards generally have high interest rates and are not suitable for anyone who does not pay off their full balance each month. If you do not clear your balance, you should look for a non-rewards credit card with a low interest rate.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

About the HSBC Premier credit card

The HSBC Premier Mastercard is issued by HSBC.

There are two versions of the card. This review covers the free version. There is also a more generous, premium version called the HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard which I review here.  You cannot have both versions of the card at the same time.

It is a bit of an oddity amongst all of the other credit cards covered in this series because the card can only be obtained if you have a HSBC Premier bank account. HSBC Premier has tough eligibility criteria.  See here and scroll down for the criteria.

As well as opening a HSBC Premier current account, you must ALSO have £50,000 invested with HSBC, either in a savings account or via an ‘investment product’.

Alternatively, if you earn over £75,000, you qualify if you just have a HSBC mortgage or any investment or insurance product. The minimum investment in an ‘investment product’ is just £100. You can see the range of HSBC investment funds here.

What is the HSBC Premier Mastercard sign-up bonus?

The card has no sign-up bonus.

Any other benefits?

The HSBC Premier bank account and credit card, between them, offer a range of financial and insurance benefits – see the website for details.  These vary but have included 0% interest on balance transfers for 18 months from account opening (2.99% fee) and 0% interest on purchases for nine months from account opening.

Other benefits include:

• the ability to buy airport lounge access via Priority Pass for £24 per visit per person
• two years extended warranty on selected household items

What is the HSBC Premier Mastercard annual fee?

There is no annual fee.

There is also no fee for the HSBC Premier bank account, as long as you meet the eligibility criteria above. If you currently pay for a ‘packaged’ current account with another bank you may save money by moving across.

What do I earn per £1 spent on the card?

The HSBC Premier rewards scheme gives 1 point for every £1 spent in the UK and 2 points for every £1 spent abroad. Each point is worth 0.5 airline miles or hotel points. You are therefore getting 0.5 miles or points per £1 spent in the UK and 1 mile per £1 spent abroad.

You can transfer your HSBC Premier points into the following airline schemes:

• Asia Miles
• British Airways Executive Club
• Emirates Skywards
• Etihad Guest
• EVA Air MileageLands
• Finnair Plus
• Flying Blue (Air France KLM)
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• TAP Miles&Go

There are also hotel partners:

• IHG One Rewards
• Wyndham Rewards

Do HSBC Premier points expire?

Yes.

There is a ‘hard’ three year expiry. By ‘hard’, I mean that your points will expire three years after they were earned, irrespective of whether you are still earning. It is different to the Avios / Marriott etc expiry rules where, as long as your account is active, the expiry rules don’t apply.

Don’t start building up a points pot for retirement because you will be in for a nasty surprise.

What are HSBC Premier credit card points worth?

We wrote a full article on what HSBC Premier credit card points are worth, which you can read here.

Airline miles are the most valuable option, well ahead of shopping vouchers or cases of wine. Those are your only options.

At 1 HSBC point per £1 spent, worth 0.5 airline miles, you are getting roughly 0.5% back on UK spending and 1% back on overseas spending.

Is this the best way of earning Avios from a Visa or Mastercard?

No.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two Avios earning credit cards with big sign-up bonuses. The free card earns 1 Avios per £1 (apply here) which is twice as much as the free HSBC Premier credit card. The paid card earns 1.5 Avios per £1 (apply here).

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

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

How does this compare to a cashback credit card?

The majority of UK credit cards offering ‘retail rewards’ – those from Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsburys, John Lewis etc – give you 0.1% to 0.25% back on what you spend.

For an average spender, the HSBC Premier Mastercard offers at least twice the value. If you believe that you can get 1p or more from your Avios points then HSBC points are worth 0.5p each, so a 0.5% return on your spending. The ability to transfer to other airlines and two hotel schemes as a back-up adds extra value.

The problem for HSBC is that the new free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard is twice as good as their card. You get 1 Avios per £1 which we would value at 1p.

Is this a good card to use when travelling?

As the HSBC Premier Mastercard adds a 3% foreign exchange fee, you might want to get a separate free credit card to use abroad.

Unfortunately there are no credit cards with 0% foreign exchange fees worldwide which earn airline or hotel points. (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 HSBC charges) 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.

How else can you earn miles from a UK card?

Here are three good alternatives to the HSBC Premier card for the airlines it covers:

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card offers 20,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up and is free for the first year.  As well as Avios, these convert 1:1 into Asia Miles, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, Finnair Plus, Flying Blue and Qantas Frequent Flyer, and 3:2 into Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.

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

The American Express Platinum credit card usually offers 40,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up.  As well as Avios, these convert 1:1 into Asia Miles, Emirates Skywards, Etihad Guest, Finnair Plus, Flying Blue and Qantas Frequent Flyer, and 3:2 into Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.  It has a £650 fee, refunded pro-rata if you cancel.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

The Marriott Bonvoy American Express credit card usually offers 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for signing up. These convert to 6,667 miles in 40+ different airlines including Avios. It has a £75 fee, refunded pro-rata if you cancel.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

Conclusion

Since Barclaycard launched the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard (apply here, review here) earning 1 Avios per £1, the HSBC Premier Mastercard has little value to the Avios collector.

If you collect points with HSBC’s other partners, it is the only Visa or Mastercard in the UK which allows you to earn miles in these programmes and it is worth jumping in. Unfortunately, the tough eligibility criteria for HSBC Premier mean only some Head for Points readers can apply.

The application form for the HSBC Premier Mastercard can be found here.

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.

(Want to earn more miles and points from credit cards?  Click here to visit our dedicated airline and hotel travel credit cards page or use the ‘Credit Cards’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

It is part of our series of articles looking at the major UK loyalty credit cards and discussing whether or not they are worth applying for. These articles are linked to the relevant sections of the ‘Credit Cards‘ area in the menu bar. Our other UK airline and hotel credit card reviews can be found here.

Key link: British Airways American Express Premium Plus application form

Key facts: £250 annual fee

The representative APR is 113.1% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 31.0% variable.

Reward credit cards generally have high interest rates and are not suitable for anyone who does not pay off their full balance each month. If you do not clear your balance, you should look for a non-rewards credit card with a low interest rate.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

About the BA Premium Plus card

The British Airways American Express Premium Plus card is issued directly by American Express. This analysis is focused on the paid version of the card – I reviewed the free British Airways American Express credit card in a separate article.

What is the BA Premium Plus sign-up bonus?

You receive 25,000 Avios when you spend £3,000 within three months.

What are the rules for qualifying for the sign-up bonus?

The BA Premium Plus sign-up bonus is only available to customers who have not held a British Airways or British Airways Premium Plus American Express card in the previous 24 months.

You will definitely receive the bonus if you are only a supplementary cardholder on someone else’s American Express card. As far as Amex is concerned, that card belongs to the primarily cardholder and does not make you an ‘existing cardholder’.

If you do not qualify for the bonus, you can still apply.  You still receive the other card benefits including the 2-4-1 companion voucher.

Any other benefits?

Very much so!  When you spend £10,000 in a card year, you receive a companion voucher entitling you to book two Avios redemption flights for the miles of one. This voucher is valid for two years.

The voucher can be used on:

• British Airways
• Iberia
• Aer Lingus

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.

If you are a solo traveller, you can use the voucher to get a 50% discount on the Avios required for a flight for one person.

I attempted to calculate the value of the British Airways American Express companion voucher in this article.

On British Airways, vouchers get you access to a wider pool of Club World long-haul business class seats than other Avios members. This should make them substantially easier to redeem for Club World flights.

Note that taxes and charges are due at the standard rate on all tickets booked with a companion voucher. The discount only applies to the Avios element.

What is the BA Premium Plus Amex annual fee?

The BA American Express Premium Plus card has an annual fee of £250.

You will receive a pro-rata refund of your annual fee if you cancel. Amex will be removing the ability to obtain a pro-rata refund at some point after 29th February 2024 but until then (the exact date is not yet known) you can cancel for a refund of your unused months.

What do I earn per £1 spent on the card?

You receive 1.5 Avios per £1 spent on the card.

You receive double Avios (3 per £1) when booking flights or holidays directly with British Airways.

What is an Avios point worth?

How long is a piece of string!

This article is my best attempt to calculate the value of an Avios point. You should target 1p to 1.75p per point.

Is the BA Premium Plus Amex a good card to use when travelling?

As Amex adds a 3% foreign exchange fee, you might want to get a separate free credit card to use abroad.

Unfortunately there are no credit cards with 0% foreign exchange fees worldwide which earn airline or hotel points. (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 Amex charges) and withdraws the money from your bank account. You can find out more about Currensea by clicking here. Currensea is free so there is no risk in giving it a try.

Other points to note about the BA Premium Plus Amex

If you have the Premium Plus card, you can downgrade to the free version at any time and get a pro-rata refund. You may want to do this if you have triggered your 2-4-1 voucher but not yet redeemed it, and do not want to continue paying the annual fee.

This ability to get a pro-rate fee refund when downgrading will be removed at some point after 29th February 2024 but the exact date is not yet know.

You can apply for the card with a minimum personal income of just £35,000. This is low for a premium credit card.

Is this card better than the £240 Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard?

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched a premium Avios Mastercard (apply here) with a generous sign-up bonus:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

This is fundamentally the same package as the Premium Plus American Express card. The fee is virtually the same and you earn 1.5 Avios per £1. Both have a 25,000 Avios bonus. Both trigger a voucher after £10,000 of annual spend. Mastercard is accepted more widely than American Express.

The key difference is the annual voucher. The Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard gives you an annual upgrade voucher for an Avios flight on British Airways. You can upgrade a return flight for one person or one leg of a return flight for two people. Read our Barclaycard Avios Plus review for the full terms.

For most couples, the British Airways Premium Plus American Express will be more valuable than Barclaycard Avios Plus. The 2-4-1 voucher is more valuable than an upgrade voucher.

Importantly, remember that even if you do get the British Airways Premium Plus American Express card, nothing stops you also getting Barclaycard Avios Plus and then cancelling it once you have the 25,000 Avios bonus. If your credit card spending is high enough, you may want to get and keep both cards.

What is best Visa or Mastercard to use alongside the British Airways Premium Plus American Express?

American Express is widely accepted, but not everywhere takes it.

We recommend the brand new FREE Barclaycard Avios Rewards Mastercard to use where American Express is not accepted:

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can apply for the Barclaycard Avios Rewards Mastercard here.

How else can you earn Avios points from an Amex card?

Don’t forget the less obvious options.

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card offers 20,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up and is FREE for the first year. These convert to 20,000 Avios points.

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

The American Express Platinum credit card usually offers 40,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up. These convert to 40,000 Avios points. It has a £650 fee, refunded pro-rata if you cancel.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Conclusion

The sign-up bonus of 25,000 Avios is an excellent offer especially as the card fee is refundable pro-rata if you choose to cancel during the year.

The higher sign-up bonus – plus the 50% higher earning rate on your spending – makes the Premium Plus card better than the free BA Amex card, at least for the first year. Remember that the 2-4-1 voucher on the free card can only be used on Economy flights, however.

In terms of on-going earning, 1.5 Avios points and the 2-4-1 voucher when you spend £10,000 make the most valuable package on the market for your long-term spending as long as you are confident of hitting the £10,000 target. If you won’t spend £10,000 on the card each year then the value of the Avios earned will not cover the annual fee.

Solo travellers can also now benefit from the 2-4-1 now that British Airways has started allowing vouchers to be used for a 50% discount on one ticket. If you are a solo traveller, you should also consider the upgrade voucher that comes with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard.

The application form for the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card can be found here.

(Want to earn more miles and points from credit cards?  Click here to visit our dedicated airline and hotel travel credit cards page or use the ‘Credit Cards’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

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.

It is part of our series of articles looking at the major UK loyalty credit cards and discussing whether or not they are worth applying for. These articles are linked to the relevant sections of the ‘Credit Cards‘ area in the menu bar. Our other UK airline and hotel credit card reviews can be found here.

Key link: British Airways American Express (BA Amex) application form

Key facts: No annual fee

The representative APR is 31.0% variable.

Reward credit cards generally have high interest rates and are not suitable for anyone who does not pay off their full balance each month. If you do not clear your balance, you should look for a non-rewards credit card with a low interest rate.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

About the free British Airways American Express card

The British Airways American Express card is issued directly by American Express. This analysis is focused on the free version of the card – I review the British Airways Premium Plus American Express card here.

What is the BA Amex sign-up bonus?

You receive 5,000 Avios when you spend £1,000 within three months.

What are the rules for qualifying for the sign-up bonus?

The bonus is only available to customers who have not held a personal American Express card in the previous 24 months.

You WILL receive the sign-up bonus if you have a Corporate or Business American Express card via your job.  Amex is only interested in any personal cards you have had.

You will definitely receive the bonus if you are only a supplementary cardholder on someone else’s American Express card.  As far as Amex is concerned, that card belongs to the primarily cardholder and does not make you an ‘existing cardholder’.

If you do not qualify for the bonus, you can still apply.  You still receive the other card benefits including the 2-4-1 voucher.

Don’t qualify for the bonus? You may qualify for the BA Premium Plus American Express bonus

It is important to note that the bonus rules are less strict on the paid-for British Airways Premium Plus American Express card.

Instead of ‘you can’t have had a personal Amex card in the last 24 months’, the Premium Plus card rule is ‘you can’t have had either of the British Airways Amex cards in the last 24 months’.

This opens the door to existing or recent holders of the Gold, Platinum, Marriott and Nectar American Express cards to get the bonus on the BA Premium Plus card.

Nothing stops you trading down to the free BA Amex – and getting a pro-rata fee refund – once you have triggered the bonus on the Premium Plus card. You can apply for the British Airways Premium Plus American Express here and our full BA Premium Plus review is here.

Any other benefits with the BA Amex?

When you spend £12,000, you receive a 2-4-1 companion voucher entitling you to book two Avios redemption flights for the miles of one. This voucher is valid for one year.

If you are a solo traveller, the 2-4-1 voucher can also be used to get a 50% discount on the Avios required for a reward ticket for one person.

The voucher can be used on:

• British Airways
• Aer Lingus
• Iberia

2-4-1 companion vouchers issued on the free BA Amex are only redeemable in Economy Class. If you want to redeem your 2-4-1 voucher in World Traveller Plus, Business / Club or First, you have no choice but to get the Premium Plus card.

Remember that full taxes and charges must be paid when you use your companion voucher. The discount only applies to the Avios element of your ticket.

What is the annual fee?

The basic British Airways American Express card is free.

What do I earn per £1 spent on the BA Amex card?

You receive 1 Avios per £1 spent on the card.

You do NOT receive bonus Avios when booking British Airways flights.  This benefit is only available with the Premium Plus card.

What is an Avios point worth?

How long is a piece of string!

This article is my best attempt to calculate the value of an Avios point.

Other points to note about the free British Airways American Express card

If you have the free British Airways card, you can upgrade to the Premium Plus fee-paying version at any time. However, you will not receive another sign-up bonus.  Any spend you have done towards the 2-4-1 voucher to date will be carried over and your membership year remains the same.

You can apply for the card with a minimum personal income of just £20,000.

Is the BA Amex a good card to use when travelling?

As the BA Amex adds a 3% foreign exchange fee, you might want to get a separate free credit card to use abroad.

Unfortunately there are no credit cards with 0% foreign exchange fees worldwide which earn airline or hotel points. (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 Amex charges) and withdraws the money from your bank account. You can find out more about Currensea by clicking here. Currensea is free so there is no risk in giving it a try.

Is this card better than the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard?

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched a free Avios Mastercard (apply here) with a generous sign-up bonus.

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

This is fundamentally the same package as the free British Airways American Express card. You earn 1 Avios per £1. Both have a 5,000 Avios bonus. Both have an annual voucher for hitting a spending target. Mastercard is accepted more widely than American Express.

The key difference is the annual voucher. Barclaycard Avios Mastercard gives you an annual upgrade voucher for an Avios flight on British Airways when you spend £20,000. You can upgrade a return flight for one person or one leg of a return flight for two people. Read our Barclaycard Avios Mastercard review for the full terms.

You need to think about which option is best for you:

• Can you put £12,000 per year through the free British Airways American Express to earn a 2-4-1 Avios voucher, which can only be used in Economy?

• Can you put £20,000 per year through the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard to earn an upgrade voucher, good for one person return or two people one-way?

Here’s the key thing to remember. Because American Express is not accepted everywhere, you will need to get the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard anyway if you want to earn Avios on all of your shopping. Does it really make sense to have the free Barclaycard and the free American Express?

Of course, nothing stops you getting both the American Express and Barclaycard cards purely for the sign up bonuses and then cancelling one later if you choose. Both cards are free.

How else can you earn Avios points from an Amex card?

Don’t forget these less-obvious options.

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card offers 20,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up and is free for the first year. These convert to 20,000 Avios points.

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

The American Express Platinum credit card usually offers 40,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up. These convert to 40,000 Avios points. It has a £650 fee, refunded pro-rata if you cancel.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Conclusion

5,000 Avios for getting the British Airways American Express is a good bonus for a free credit card.

In terms of on-going earning rates, 1 point per £1 is decent. However, not receiving double points on BA spending (as offered by the Premium Plus card) is unattractive for anyone with substantial British Airways or BA Holidays expenditure.

Before you apply, remember that any 2-4-1 companion voucher that you earn will only be valid on Economy redemption flights. If you do not want to redeem your Avios for Economy tickets, you should consider the Premium Plus card instead or one of the two Barclaycard Avios Mastercards here.

The application form for the free British Airways American Express card can be found here.

(Want to earn more miles and points from credit cards?  Click here to visit our dedicated airline and hotel travel credit cards page or use the ‘Credit Cards’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

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.

It is part of our series of articles looking at the major UK loyalty credit cards and discussing whether or not they are worth applying for. These articles are linked to the relevant sections of the ‘Credit Cards‘ area in the menu bar. Our other UK airline and hotel credit card reviews can be found here.

Key link: Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard application form

Key facts: £20 per month annual fee, added to your monthly statement

The representative APR is 80.1% APR variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 29.9% variable.

Reward credit cards generally have high interest rates and are not suitable for anyone who does not pay off their full balance each month. If you do not clear your balance, you should look for a non-rewards credit card with a low interest rate.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

About the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard credit card

The Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard credit card is issued directly by Barclaycard. This analysis is focused on the £20 per month version of the card – I review the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard credit card (with a smaller 5,000 Avios bonus) here.

You are 100% OK to apply for this card if you already have a British Airways American Express card. Indeed, Barclaycard knows that a lot of people – at least initially – will choose to use their Mastercard alongside a BA Amex, at places where American Express is not accepted.

What is the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard sign-up bonus?

You receive 25,000 Avios when you spend £3,000 within three months.

This is a substantially better deal than the 5,000 Avios bonus which comes with the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard. Even if you believe, long term, that the free card may be better for you, you may want to get the paid card purely for the bonus and then downgrade.

What are the rules for qualifying for the sign-up bonus?

The sign-up bonus is available to everyone unless ….

• you have had either of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards in the previous 24 months (in this case, you can apply again but will not receive a bonus) or

• you have had ANY Barclaycard credit card, Avios or non-Avios, including the ‘closed to new applicants’ Hilton Honors credit card, in the previous six months (in this case, you cannot apply at all)

You WILL receive the sign-up bonus if you have a British Airways American Express card as this is nothing to do with Barclaycard.

You will definitely receive the bonus if you are only a supplementary cardholder on someone else’s Barclaycard Avios credit card.  As far as Barclaycard is concerned, that card belongs to the primarily cardholder and does not make you an ‘existing cardholder’.

You WILL receive the sign-up bonus if you currently or recently had a Barclaycard small business credit card, such as Barclaycard Select. These do not count.

Any other benefits with the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard?

When you spend £10,000 in a card year, you will receive an Avios upgrade voucher. This voucher is valid for two years.

We wrote an article here which explains how the Barclaycard Avios upgrade voucher works.

Put simply – and I strongly recommend you read our full article linked above – the voucher lets you book an Avios flight paying only the Avios of the class below.

Book a Club World business class flight on Avios, for example, and you only pay the Avios required for World Traveller Plus premium economy. The usual Club World taxes and charges must be paid.

The voucher can be used to either:

• upgrade a return flight for one person, making this a great product for solo travellers, or

• upgrade one leg of a return flight for two people

The official rules for using the upgrade voucher are on this page of ba.com.

It is important to note that you cannot choose which combination of Avios and cash are used when redeeming a Barclaycard upgrade voucher. You will always be given the ‘most Avios, least cash’ option, which is not great value on short haul redemptions. It is generally the best option on long haul redemptions.

You can take 7,000 Avios instead of the voucher

From April 2023, it has been possible to take a one-off bonus of 7,000 Avios instead of the upgrade voucher. You can select your choice in the Barclaycard app and it is possible to swap from year to year, or indeed during the year if your current voucher has not yet been issued.

Most people will get far more than 7,000 Avios-worth of value from the upgrade voucher but you do now have the option of taking a lump sum instead.

There is an airport lounge benefits too

Cardholders can buy passes for any airport lounge in the DragonPass network – including the excellent Plaza Premium lounge in BA’s Heathrow Terminal 5 – for the heavily discounted price of just £18.50 per person per visit.

If you have both a Barclays Premier current account with Barclays Avios Rewards and the Barclaycard Avios Plus credit card, you will receive four free airport lounge passes each year via DragonPass.

What is the annual fee?

The Barclaycard Avios Plus credit card has a monthly fee of £20, so £240 per year. It is billed monthly and added to your card statement.

What do I earn per £1 spent on the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard?

You receive 1.5 Avios per £1 spent on the card.

This is the same rate as you receive with the £250 per year British Airways Premium Plus American Express credit card, and is very generous compared to similar Visa or Mastercard reward credit cards.

The maximum amount of Avios you can earn per month is 4x your monthly credit limit. This is highly unlikely to be an issue for you, since it would require spending your entire credit limit every few days and then paying it off immediately.

What is an Avios point worth?

How long is a piece of string!

This article is my best attempt to calculate the value of an Avios point.

If you assume that the ‘worst case’ scenario for spending Avios is turning them into Nectar points (1 Avios = 1.33 Nectar points, convert here) then you are getting back 1p for every £1 you spend. This would make the Barclaycard Avios Plus card the most rewarding Visa or Mastercard credit card in the UK.

Can you swap between the two Barclaycard Avios credit cards?

If you have the Barclaycard Avios Plus card, you can use the Barclaycard app to downgrade to the free card once you have triggered your Avios upgrade voucher or have banked the sign-up bonus.

Any spend you have done towards the annual Avios upgrade voucher to date will NOT be carried over. It resets to nil. It therefore makes sense to only upgrade once you have triggered the upgrade voucher in your current year.

You can also do this in reverse. If you have the free Barclaycard Avios card, you can upgrade to the Plus version at any time. Your spend to date towards the upgrade voucher will reset to nil if you have not already triggered it. You will not receive another sign-up bonus.

Is the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard a good card to use when travelling?

As Barclaycard adds a 3% foreign exchange fee, you might want to get a separate free credit card to use abroad.

Unfortunately there are no credit cards with 0% foreign exchange fees worldwide which earn airline or hotel points. (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 Barclaycard charges) and withdraws the money from your bank account. You can find out more about Currensea by clicking here. Currensea is free so there is no risk in giving it a try.

Is this card ‘better’ than the £250 British Airways Premium Plus American Express card?

‘It depends’ is the slightly frustrating answer.

However, irrespective of which card you stick with long-term, you should get both and pick up both sign-up bonuses!

The Barclaycard and Amex products are very similar – £240 vs £250 fee, a 25,000 Avios bonus, a 1.5 Avios per £1 earning rate and an annual voucher valid for two years when you spend £10,000.

The key difference is how the annual voucher works:

• the British Airways Premium Plus Amex comes with a 2-4-1 companion voucher, letting you book two Avios flights (any cabin) for the Avios of one ticket, or one ticket for ‘half Avios’. You still pay the full taxes and charges on both tickets. The voucher can be used on Aer Lingus and Iberia as well as British Airways.

• the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard comes with an Avios upgrade voucher, letting you upgrade a return Avios booking by one class for one person or a one-way Avios booking for two people. First Class is excluded. It is only valid on British Airways flights.

The British Airways Premium Plus American Express voucher is likely to be the most valuable option for most people. It’s not that simple though:

• American Express is not accepted everywhere, so even if you get the Premium Plus card you are likely to want the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard to use occasionally

• if you have high enough annual credit card spending, you may want to get both cards and earn both the Amex 2-4-1 companion voucher and the Barclaycard Avios upgrade voucher each year

• because both cards let you earn a sign-up bonus again after a two year gap, you may want to jump between the cards every 24 months

Irrespective of your long term plans, however, you should seriously think about getting the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard purely for the sign up bonus. You may decide to keep it after all, or swap to the free version later.

What other cards have large Avios sign-up bonuses?

Don’t forget these less obvious options

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card offers 20,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up and is free for the first year. These convert to 20,000 Avios points.

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

The American Express Platinum credit card offers 40,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up. These convert to 40,000 Avios points. It has a £650 fee.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Conclusion

25,000 Avios for getting the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard credit card is an excellent bonus for a credit card which costs just £20 per month.

In terms of on-going earning rates, 1.5 Avios per £1 is excellent compared to most other Visa or Mastercard credit cards. It matches the 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 rate on the Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard and no other non-Amex card on the market comes close.

Whether the card works better for you than the British Airways Premium Plus American Express will depend on your circumstances, but it is highly likely that you will want one of the two Barclaycard Avios credit cards in your purse or wallet.

The application form for the free Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard credit card can be found here.

(Want to earn more miles and points from credit cards?  Click here to visit our dedicated airline and hotel travel credit cards page or use the ‘Credit Cards’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

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.

It is part of our series of articles looking at the major UK loyalty credit cards and discussing whether or not they are worth applying for. These articles are linked to the relevant sections of the ‘Credit Cards‘ area in the menu bar. Our other UK airline and hotel credit card reviews can be found here.

Key link: Barclaycard Avios Mastercard application form

Key facts: No annual fee

The representative APR is 29.9% variable.

Reward credit cards generally have high interest rates and are not suitable for anyone who does not pay off their full balance each month. If you do not clear your balance, you should look for a non-rewards credit card with a low interest rate.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

About the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard credit card

The Barclaycard Avios Mastercard credit card is issued directly by Barclaycard. This analysis is focused on the free version of the card – I review the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard credit card here.

You are 100% OK to apply for this card if you already have a British Airways American Express card. Indeed, Barclaycard knows that a lot of people – at least initially – will choose to use their Mastercard alongside a BA Amex, at places where American Express is not accepted.

What is the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard sign-up bonus?

You receive 5,000 Avios when you spend £1,000 within three months.

You should note that the premium card – the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard – comes with a far larger bonus of 25,000 Avios if you spend £3,000 within three months. As long as you can meet the spending target, you may want to apply for the Plus card and then downgrade once you have triggered the sign-up bonus.

What are the rules for qualifying for the sign-up bonus?

The sign-up bonus is available to everyone unless ….

• you have had either of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards in the previous 24 months (in this case, you can apply again but will not receive a bonus) or

• you have had ANY Barclaycard credit card, Avios or non-Avios, including the ‘closed to new applicants’ Hilton Honors credit card, in the previous six months (in this case, you cannot apply at all)

You WILL receive the sign-up bonus if you have a British Airways American Express card, as this is nothing to do with Barclaycard.

You will definitely receive the bonus if you are only a supplementary cardholder on someone else’s Barclaycard Avios credit card.  As far as Barclaycard is concerned, that card belongs to the primarily cardholder and does not make you an ‘existing cardholder’.

Any other benefits with the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard?

When you spend £20,000 in a card year, you will receive an Avios upgrade voucher. This voucher is valid for two years.

We wrote an article here which explains how the Barclaycard Avios upgrade voucher works.

Put simply – and I strongly recommend you read our full article linked above – the voucher lets you book an Avios flight paying only the Avios of the class below.

Book a Club World business class flight on Avios, for example, and you only pay the Avios required for World Traveller Plus premium economy. The usual Club World taxes and charges must be paid.

The voucher can be used to either:

• upgrade a return flight for one person, making this a great product for solo travellers, or

• upgrade one leg of a return flight for two people

The official rules for using the upgrade voucher are on this page of ba.com.

It is important to note that you cannot choose which combination of Avios and cash are used when redeeming a Barclaycard upgrade voucher. You will always be given the ‘most Avios, least cash’ option, which is not great value on short haul redemptions. It is generally the best option on long haul redemptions.

You can take 7,000 Avios instead of the voucher

From April 2023, it has been possible to take a one-off bonus of 7,000 Avios instead of the upgrade voucher. You can select your choice in the Barclaycard app and it is possible to swap from year to year, or indeed during the year if your current voucher has not yet been issued.

Most people will get far more than 7,000 Avios-worth of value from the upgrade voucher but you do now have the option of taking a lump sum instead.

What is the annual fee?

The basic Barclaycard Avios Mastercard credit card is free.

What do I earn per £1 spent on the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard?

You receive 1 Avios per £1 spent on the card.

This is the same rate as you receive with the free British Airways American Express credit card, and is very generous compared to similar Visa or Mastercard reward credit cards.

The maximum amount of Avios you can earn per month is 4x your monthly credit limit. This is highly unlikely to be an issue for you, since it would require spending your entire credit limit every few days and then paying it off immediately.

What is an Avios point worth?

How long is a piece of string!

This article is my best attempt to calculate the value of an Avios point.

If you assume that the ‘worst case’ scenario for spending Avios is turning them into Nectar points (1 Avios = 1.33 Nectar points, convert here) then you are getting back 0.66p for every £1 you spend. This would make the free Barclaycard Avios card the most rewarding free Visa or Mastercard credit card in the UK.

Can you swap between the two Barclaycard Avios credit cards?

If you have the free Barclaycard Avios credit card, you can upgrade to the Plus fee-paying version at any time via the Barclaycard app. However, you will not receive another sign-up bonus.

More importantly, any spend you have done towards the annual Avios upgrade voucher to date will NOT be carried over. It resets to nil. It therefore makes sense to only upgrade once you have triggered the upgrade voucher in your current year.

You can also do this in reverse – if you have the Plus card, you can use the Barclaycard app to downgrade to the free card once you have triggered your Avios upgrade voucher or have banked the sign-up bonus.

It is possible to earn more than one upgrade voucher in a year if you upgrade or downgrade your card, since the spend counter resets at that point.

Is the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard a good card to use when travelling?

As Barclaycard adds a 3% foreign exchange fee, you might want to get a separate free credit card to use abroad.

Unfortunately there are no credit cards with 0% foreign exchange fees worldwide which earn airline or hotel points. (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 Barclaycard charges) and withdraws the money from your bank account. You can find out more about Currensea by clicking here. Currensea is free so there is no risk in giving it a try.

Is this card ‘better’ than the free British Airways American Express card?

Yes. For most people, the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard is a better choice than the free British Airways American Express card.

Let’s start with the obvious reason first.

If you get the free BA Amex card, you will still need to get a Barclaycard Avios Mastercard to use in places where American Express is not accepted. Why not just get the free Barclaycard Avios card and use that exclusively?

Whilst the free BA Amex credit card comes with a 2-4-1 companion voucher when you spend £12,000 per year, the voucher is heavily restricted. It is only valid for Economy flights and is only valid for one year.

If you are interested in the 2-4-1 companion voucher, you should have the paid-for British Airways Premium Plus American Express card instead. This comes with a 2-4-1 voucher which is valid in ALL travel classes – not just Economy – and is valid for two years, not one year. It triggers at the lower spend threshold of £10,000.

In summary:

• if you’re not interested in the British Airways American Express 2-4-1 voucher, perhaps because you are a low spender, you should forget the free BA Amex and focus solely on using the free ‘accepted everywhere’ Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

• if you are interested in the BA Amex 2-4-1 voucher, you should forget the free BA Amex and get the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card instead, because of the two year expiry date and the ability to use it in all travel classes

What other cards have large Avios sign-up bonuses?

Don’t forget these less obvious options:

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card offers 20,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up and is free for the first year. These convert to 20,000 Avios points.

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

The American Express Platinum credit card usually offers 40,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up. These convert to 40,000 Avios points. It has a £650 fee, refunded pro-rata if you cancel.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Conclusion

5,000 Avios for getting the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard credit card is a good bonus for a free credit card.

Before you apply, you should consider whether the paid-for version of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard – Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard – is a better deal, at least in the short term, given the 25,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

The application form for the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard credit card can be found here.

(Want to earn more miles and points from credit cards?  Click here to visit our dedicated airline and hotel travel credit cards page or use the ‘Credit Cards’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

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.

It is part of our series of articles looking at the major UK loyalty credit cards and discussing whether or not they are worth applying for. These articles are linked to the relevant sections of the ‘Credit Cards‘ area in the menu bar. Our other UK airline and hotel credit card reviews can be found here.

Key link:  American Express Rewards credit card application page

Key facts: No annual fee

The representative APR is 31.0% variable.

Reward credit cards generally have high interest rates and are not suitable for anyone who does not pay off their full balance each month. If you do not clear your balance, you should look for a non-rewards credit card with a low interest rate.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

About the Amex Rewards credit card

The American Express Rewards credit card is free – not just free in the first year, but permanently free.

You earn Membership Rewards points on your spending.

This is an excellent card for anyone who currently has an Amex Gold or The Platinum Card and is thinking of cancelling it due to the annual fee. Whilst you wouldn’t qualify for a sign-up bonus, getting a free American Express Rewards credit card would keep your Membership Rewards points balance active.

If you don’t do this, you would need to spend or transfer all of your Membership Rewards points before closing your Preferred Rewards Gold or Platinum card.

What is the Amex Rewards sign-up bonus?

American Express Rewards offers a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend £2,000 within three months.

Membership Rewards points can be converted 1 to 1 into Avios.  Click here for our article on what other reward programmes are Membership Rewards transfer partners.

This means that you can receive 10,000 Avios points for free by applying, spending enough to trigger the sign-up bonus and then transferring the points to British Airways.

What are the rules for qualifying for the sign-up bonus?

The bonus is only available to customers who have not held a personal American Express card in the previous 24 months.

You WILL receive the sign-up bonus if you have a Corporate or Business American Express card via your job and you receive Membership Rewards points from it.  Amex is only looking at any personal cards you own or have recently owned.

You will definitely receive the bonus if you are only a supplementary cardholder on someone else’s American Express card. As far as Amex is concerned, that card belongs to the primarily cardholder and does not make you an ‘existing cardholder’.

If you do not qualify for the bonus, you can still apply for the card.

Any other benefits?

No.

What is the Amex Rewards credit card annual fee?

There is no fee for the American Express Rewards credit card.

What do I earn per £1 spent on the card?

You receive 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on the card.

Unlike American Express Preferred Rewards Gold, there is no bonus for foreign spend or airline spend.

What is a Membership Rewards point worth?

Anything from ‘quite a bit’ to ‘a lot’ is the answer.  I wrote this lengthy article on what American Express Membership Rewards points are worth.

Realistically, Membership Rewards points are worth at least 0.66p. This is because you can convert 1 point into 1.33 Nectar points via the Avios partnership. 1.33 Nectar points are worth 0.66p when spent at Sainsbury’s, Argos or eBay.

I value airline miles at 0.75p – 1p each (this is conservative) so that is your valuation if you transfer to an airline programme.

Some of the hotel programmes also offer good value. You can choose from Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy and Radisson Rewards.

You can take a look at the full list of Membership Rewards options here.

Is Amex Rewards a good card to use when travelling?

As Amex adds a 3% foreign exchange fee, you might want to get a separate free credit card to use abroad.

Unfortunately there are no credit cards with 0% foreign exchange fees worldwide which earn airline or hotel points. (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 Amex charges) and withdraws the money from your bank account. You can find out more about Currensea by clicking here. Currensea is free so there is no risk in giving it a try.

Other points to note

You can apply for the card with a minimum personal income of just £20,000.

Conclusion

The American Express Rewards credit card is, in itself, a decent deal.

However, for one year, it would make more sense to take out the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card:

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

This has a far bigger sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points which is the most generous incentive available on a free UK charge or credit card.  You also receive four FREE airport lounge passes.  When your free year is up, you could switch to an American Express Rewards credit card.

For day to day spending on a free card, 1 point per £1 is a good return – although Amex Gold beats it due to double points on foreign and airline spend, and the annual spend bonus of up to 12,500 points.

The best reason for getting the Amex Rewards credit card is to protect your Membership Rewards points if you are planning to cancel an Amex Gold or Amex Platinum card.

The application form for the free American Express Rewards credit card can be found here.

(Want to earn more miles and points from credit cards?  Click here to visit our dedicated airline and hotel travel credit cards page or use the ‘Credit Cards’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

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.

Is Amex Platinum worth the £650 fee? We look at the card benefits below.

This review is part of our series of articles looking at the major UK loyalty credit cards and discussing whether or not they are worth applying for. These articles are linked to the relevant sections of the ‘Credit Cards‘ area of the menu bar. Our other UK airline and hotel credit card reviews can be found here.

Key link: American Express Platinum application page

Key facts: £650 annual fee

The representative APR is 704.6% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 31.0% variable.

Reward credit cards generally have high interest rates and are not suitable for anyone who does not pay off their full balance each month. If you do not clear your balance, you should look for a non-rewards credit card with a low interest rate.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

About The Platinum Card

The American Express Platinum credit card is issued directly by American Express.

Note that The Platinum Card is no longer a charge card. In August 2022 it swapped to being a standard credit card. This means that you no longer have to pay off your balance in full at the end of each month, although you will pay interest if you don’t.

What is The Platinum Card sign-up bonus?

You receive 40,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend £6,000 within three months.

Membership Rewards points can be converted 1 to 1 into Avios, so you would receive 40,000 Avios per points. Click here to see what other reward programmes are Membership Rewards transfer partners.

What are the rules for qualifying for the sign-up bonus?

The bonus is only available to customers who have not held a personal American Express card which issues Membership Rewards points in the previous 24 months.  This would include Green, Gold, Platinum and the American Express Rewards credit card.

You are OK if you currently or recently only had a British Airways, Marriott or Nectar American Express card.  All that matters is that you have not held a card offering Membership Rewards points.

You will receive the sign-up bonus if you have a Corporate or Business American Express card via your job and you receive Membership Rewards points from it.

You will definitely receive the bonus if you are only a supplementary cardholder on someone else’s American Express card. As far as Amex is concerned, that card belongs to the primarily cardholder and does not make you an ‘existing cardholder’.

If you do not qualify for the bonus, you can still apply.  You still receive the other card benefits, which are substantial.

Any other benefits with Amex Platinum?

The card has substantial benefits – easily the best package of any UK loyalty card.

• You receive travel insurance for yourself and your family. You can insure one other family group by giving the head of that household the free supplementary card on your account. Some benefits require you to pay for your trip with an American Express card, but the core medical benefit is automatic. There is an age limit of 70 on the travel insurance.  For legal reasons, you need to opt-in to the travel insurance benefit by ticking the relevant box on the application form.

• You receive full car hire insurance, with no requirement to pay with your Platinum card

• You and your supplementary cardholder will each receive a Priority Pass card. This gets the cardholder plus a guest into 1,300 airport lounges across the world for free, including the Aspire lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5 reviewed here and the pleasant Plaza Premium Lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5. As you get two Priority Pass cards, each of which allows a free guest, you can get a family of four into a lounge – as I do on a regular basis.

• You can also get into Amex’s own network of high quality ‘Centurion’ airport lounges for free. The first European ‘Centurion’ lounge opened at Heathrow Terminal 3 in 2021 as we covered here.

• You will receive permanent status in various hotel schemes:

• Gold in Marriott Bonvoy
• Premium in Radisson Rewards
• Gold in Hilton Honors
• Gold in MeliaRewards

• Other benefits include Eurostar lounge access in London, Brussels and Paris whatever your class of travel. (The Amex website does not mention Brussels but it does work there.) You also receive lounge access when flying with Delta although any guests must pay $29.

• You receive £150 per year to spend in over 160 UK restaurants. The spend can be cumulative and spread across different restaurants.

• You receive £150 per year to spend in over 1,200 international restaurants. The spend can be cumulative and spread across different restaurants.

• You receive £100 of Harvey Nichols credit each year. This is split into £50 from January to June and £50 from July to December. It is valid online or instore. There is no minimum spend – if you buy just £50 of items, you will not pay a penny.

• There is also an exclusive hotel booking scheme called ‘Fine Hotels & Resorts’ which offers valuable additional benefits on your stays. If you are a regular visitor at five star hotels then you can recoup your entire membership fee via FHR bookings. I wrote more about Fine Hotels & Resorts here – for me, the guaranteed 4pm check-out on every stay is invaluable, especially for weekend breaks.

What is the annual fee on American Express Platinum?

£650.

You will receive a pro-rata refund of your annual fee if you cancel. Amex will be removing the ability to obtain a pro-rata refund at some point after 29th February 2024 but until then you can cancel for a refund of your unused months. The exact date when the rule will change is not yet known.

The Priority Pass airport lounge card is cancelled immediately if you close your Platinum card. However, the hotel status cards will continue to work until they expire naturally.

If you are self employed, remember that you could offset the card fee against tax as long as you used it exclusively for business-related expenses.

What do I earn per £1 spent on the card?

You receive 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on the card. This is equivalent to 1 Avios or other airline mile per £1 if you choose to transfer them.

What is a Membership Rewards point worth?

Anything from ‘quite a bit’ to ‘a lot’ is the answer!  This article looks at the best use of American Express Membership Rewards points and what they are worth.

Realistically, Membership Rewards points are worth at least 0.66p. This is because you can convert 1 point into 1.33 Nectar points via the new Avios partnership. 1.33 Nectar points are worth 0.66p when spent at Sainsbury’s, Argos or eBay.

I value airline miles at 0.75p – 1p each (this is conservative) so that is your valuation if you transfer to an airline programme.

Some of the hotel programmes also offer good value. You can choose from Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy and Radisson Rewards.

Historically there were occasional transfer bonuses of 20%-30% to various airlines, including British Airways and Virgin Flying Club, although we have not seen any for the last few years.  If you see reports of American Express transfer bonuses to Avios, they are almost certainly discussing cards issued outside the UK.

You can take a look at the full list of Membership Rewards options here.

Is The Platinum Card a good card to use when travelling?

As Amex adds a 3% foreign exchange fee, you might want to get a separate free credit card to use abroad.

Unfortunately there are no credit cards with 0% foreign exchange fees worldwide which earn airline or hotel points. (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 Amex charges) and withdraws the money from your bank account. You can find out more about Currensea by clicking here. Currensea is free so there is no risk in giving it a try.

Is there a minimum income for Amex Platinum?

You can apply for the card with a minimum personal income of just £35,000.

Conclusion: Is Amex Platinum worth the £650 annual fee?

Whether or not the American Express Platinum fee represents value for money long-term depends on how many of the card benefits you will use. I have had a Platinum card since 1999 and can justify the cost based on how we use the travel benefits, especially the travel insurance, car hire insurance and the Fine Hotels & Resorts programme.

It is very easy to give the card a trial for a year to see if it works for you. The sign-up bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points plus £300 of dining credit and £100 of Harvey Nichols credit means that you can’t help but come out on top for the first year.

Remember that the sign-up bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points is the largest bonus of any personal points card on the market. It would convert into 40,000 Avios or Virgin Points for example. If you converted the Avios points into Nectar points, you would have £265-worth.

For on-going spending, 1 point per £1 is not outstanding. A lot of American Express Platinum cardholders keep the card for its benefits but put their spending on other cards.

The application form for The Platinum Card can be found here.

(Want to earn more miles and points from credit cards?  Click here to visit our dedicated airline and hotel travel credit cards page or use the ‘Credit Cards’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

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.

It is part of our series of articles looking at the major UK loyalty credit cards and discussing whether or not they are worth applying for. These articles are linked to the relevant sections of the ‘Credit Cards‘ area in the menu bar. Our other UK airline and hotel credit card reviews can be found here.

Key link: American Express Preferred Rewards Gold application page

Key facts: No annual fee in year 1 and £195 thereafter. You can cancel at any point.

The representative APR is 88.8% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases, and in the first year which has no fee, is 31.0% variable.

Reward credit cards generally have high interest rates and are not suitable for anyone who does not pay off their full balance each month. If you do not clear your balance, you should look for a non-rewards credit card with a low interest rate instead.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

What is the Amex Gold sign-up bonus?

Amex Gold offers 20,000 Membership Rewards points when you spend £3,000 within three months. This is the most generous sign-up bonus available on any free UK loyalty credit card – albeit that Amex Gold is only free for the first year.

Membership Rewards points can be converted 1 to 1 into Avios. Click here to see what other airline and hotel programmes are Membership Rewards transfer partners.

This means that you can receive 20,000 Avios points for free by applying for this card, spending enough to trigger the sign-up bonus and then transferring the points to British Airways.

What are the rules for qualifying for the sign-up bonus?

The bonus is only available to customers who have not held a personal American Express card in the previous 24 months. 

You will receive the sign-up bonus if you have a Corporate or Business American Express card via your job and you receive Membership Rewards points from it.

You will definitely receive the bonus if you are only a supplementary cardholder on someone else’s American Express card. As far as Amex is concerned, that card belongs to the primarily cardholder and does not make you an ‘existing cardholder’.

If you do not qualify for the bonus, you can still apply.  You still receive the other card benefits outlined below, including the four free airport lounge passes, £120 of Deliveroo credit and ‘no fee in the first year’.

Any other benefits with Amex Gold?

Four airport lounge passes:

You receive four free airport lounge passes each membership year with American Express Preferred Rewards Gold, valid at any airport lounge in the Priority Pass network. Heathrow (including the Aspire lounge in Terminal 5), Gatwick, Luton and Stansted – amongst many others – have participating lounges as do most major airports worldwide. After your four free visits, you can make further lounge visits for a £24 charge.

£120 of Deliveroo credit:

You receive £120 of Deliveroo credit each year.

This arrives in the form of 2 x £5 credits each month. You receive £5 cashback each time a Deliveroo order for £5+ is charged to your Gold card, up to £10 of credit per month.

Up to 12,500 bonus points each year:

You will receive up to 12,500 bonus Membership Rewards points each membership year based on your total spending. The first 2,500 points arrive after £5,000 of spending and a further 2,500 points are earned after each incremental £5,000, up to a total of 12,500 points.

Other benefits:

You will receive a 10% discount and free additional driver on Hertz bookings. You will receive Preferred Plus status in the Avis car rental programme.

There are 350 4-5 star hotels worldwide which offer a $75 in-hotel credit and an upgrade when booked by an Amex Gold cardholder via the American Express travel service.

What is the Amex Gold annual fee?

There is no fee for the first year of Amex Gold.

For future years, there is a fee of £195. I would personally struggle to justify that fee in light of the benefits unless I was making heavy use of the $75 hotel credits, the airport lounge passes and the Deliveroo credit.

You can apply for the card with a minimum personal income of just £20,000.

What do I earn per £1 spent on the card?

You receive 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on the card.

Foreign currency transactions and flight tickets bought directly from the airline earn 2 points per £1. This is a valuable extra benefit for anyone who buys a lot of flights.

Much of the time, but not always, airline transactions which are paid for in a foreign currency earn 3 points per £1 as the offers double up.

Travel bookings made via the American Express Travel website, and paid for online, earn an impressive 3 points per £1.

What is a Membership Rewards point worth?

Anything from ‘quite a bit’ to ‘a lot’ is the answer.  I wrote this lengthy article on what American Express Membership Rewards points are worth.

Realistically, Membership Rewards points are worth at least 0.66p. This is because you can convert 1 point into 1.33 Nectar points via the Avios partnership. 1.33 Nectar points are worth 0.66p when spent at Sainsbury’s, Argos or eBay.

I tend to value airline miles at 0.75p – 1p each (this is conservative) so that is your valuation if you transfer to an airline programme.

Some of the hotel programmes also offer good value. Your options are Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy and Radisson Rewards. Club Eurostar is also a decent deal given that Eurostar ticket prices have risen sharply since the pandemic.

You can take a look at the full list of Membership Rewards options here. If you are strategic you should be able to get 1p per point of value when you use them.

Is Amex Gold a good card to use when travelling?

Yes, to the extent that you receive double Membership Rewards points when using the card abroad.

However, because Amex adds a 3% foreign exchange fee, you might want to get a separate free credit card to use abroad. 

Unfortunately there are no credit cards with 0% foreign exchange fees worldwide which earn airline or hotel points. (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 Amex charges) and withdraws the money from your bank account. You can find out more about Currensea by clicking here. Currensea is free so there is no risk in giving it a try.

Conclusion – is Amex Gold worth it?

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is our recommended ‘first’ miles and points card for someone who is new to all this.

The sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points is EASILY the most generous incentive available on a free UK loyalty credit card.

I recommend signing up and giving the card a try, if only for the first free year.

As well as the bonus, the four free airport lounge passes and £120 of Deliveroo credit are well worth having.

For day to day spending, 1 point per £1 is middling, although the 12,500 bonus points you can earn each year based on your spending increase your average ‘points per pound’ rate sharply.

Because American Express Membership Rewards points can be transferred to so many partners, you have time to learn more about which airline and hotel programmes would work best for you. In time, you might move on to a dedicated airline or hotel credit card.

The application form for Amex Gold can be found here.

(Want to earn more miles and points from credit cards?  Click here to visit our dedicated airline and hotel travel credit cards page or use the ‘Credit Cards’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

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.

Head for Points is primarily about earning airline miles or hotel loyalty points, and earning points via your credit card spend is an important part of that.  Our UK airline and hotel credit card reviews can be found here.

It is important to take the occasional reality check, though. It is pointless (sic) collecting airline miles from a credit card if you could get a substantially better deal with a cashback credit card instead.

With that in mind, this article looks at the Amex cashback offering. This consists of two different Platinum Cashback credit cards.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

Reward credit cards generally have high interest rates and are not suitable for anyone who does not pay off their full balance each month. If you do not clear your balance, you should look for a non-rewards credit card with a low interest rate.

Key legal information

American Express Platinum Cashback Everyday

The representative APR is 31.0% variable.

Apply here

American Express Platinum Cashback

The representative APR is 36.7% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 31.0% variable.

Apply here

Which card is best for me?

As with all the credit cards we look at, you need to think separately about the sign-up bonus and the day-to-day return on your spending. There are actually two separate questions to consider:

“Is it worth getting the Amex Cashback cards just to benefit from the sign-up bonus?

and

“Is Amex Cashback a card I want to keep in my wallet for the long-term?”

What are the annual fees?

You can choose between a paid card and a less generous free card:

• the standard Cashback card comes with a £25 annual fee
• the Cashback Everyday card is free

What is the sign-up bonus?

Both cards have the usual generous American Express sign-up bonuses:

• the Amex Platinum Cashback card pays you 5% back on your spending in the first three months, to a maximum spend of £2,500 (so capped at £125 back)

• the Amex Platinum Cashback Everyday card pays you 5% back on your spending in the first three months, to a maximum spend of £2,000 (so capped at £100 back)

However, unless you are planning on spending over £10,000 per year on the card, I would not necessarily be tempted by the extra £25. As I will show, the free card is better in the long term for most people.

How much cashback do I earn?

The standard Cashback card (£25 fee) pays you cashback at the following rate:

• in year 1, 5% cashback on all your spending in the first three months, up to £2,500 of purchases
• 0.75% back if you spend under £10,000 from month 4 to month 12 (and annually thereafter)
• 1.25% back on your spend over £10,000 from month 4 to month 12 (and annually thereafter)

The Cashback Everyday card (free) has a tiered system:

• in Year 1, 5% cashback on all your spending in the first three months, up to £2,000 of purchases
• 0.5% on the first £10,000 of spend from month 4 to month 12 (but you get nothing if you spend under £3,000)
• 1% back on your spend over £10,000

Cashback is paid in a lump sum at the end of each card year.

In reality, you will receive less than the headline rate. American Express rounds down the commission on each transaction to the nearest 1p. For example, if you spend £3.99 on the Cashback Everyday card, Amex works out the commission at 0.5% (1.995p) and rounds it down to the nearest penny (1p). Your £3.99 transaction has earned you 1p rather than the 1.995p that the headline 0.5% cashback rate suggests.

Which is the best Amex cashback card to get?

Time for a quick bit of maths.

The break-even point for getting the £25 card is £10,000 of spending per year.

For modest spenders (ie those who would spend under £10,000 per year) you are better off with the free Platinum Cashback Everyday card.

For example:

• spend £9,000 per year and you will receive £45 on the free Platinum Cashback Everyday and £42.50 on the Platinum Cashback card after adjusting for the £25 fee – the free card wins

• spend £11,000 per year and you will receive £60 on the free Platinum Cashback Everyday and £62.50 on the Platinum Cashback card after adjusting for the £25 fee – the paid card wins

But, but, but ….

Here is the amusing thing. If you would be happy accepting Sainsbury’s, Argos or eBay credit instead of cash, you would be better off getting neither of these cards and applying for the free British Airways American Express card or the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard.

Both of these cards earn 1 Avios point per £1 spent. 1 Avios converts into 1.33 Nectar points, worth 0.66p.

Going back to our two examples above:

• spend £9,000 per year on the free British Airways American Express card or the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and you’d receive 9,000 Avios which convert into 12,000 Nectar points, worth £60 to spend in Sainsbury’s, Argos or eBay

• spend £11,000 per year on the free British Airways American Express card or the Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and you’d receive 11,000 Avios which convert into 14,666 Nectar points, worth £73 to spend in Sainsbury’s, Argos or eBay

Both of these examples beat the cashback you receive from the American Express Platinum Cashback cards, although Nectar points are clearly not as flexible as cash.

In addition, the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard has the added benefit of being more widely accepted than an American Express card.

What are the rules for getting the sign-up bonus on an Amex cashback card?

Most HfP readers will not qualify for the sign-up bonus, unfortunately.

The bonus is only available to customers who have not held a personal American Express card in the previous 24 months.  This article looks at which Amex sign-up bonuses you may still be eligible for.

You will definitely receive the bonus if you are only a supplementary cardholder on someone else’s American Express card. As far as Amex is concerned, that card belongs to the primarily cardholder and does not make you an ‘existing cardholder’.

If you do not qualify for the bonus, you can still apply.  You still receive the other card benefits.

What more should I know about the Amex cashback cards?

You do not receive your cashback month by month. Instead, it is paid onto your Amex statement at the end of each card year.

This makes it more difficult to cancel the cashback card with the £25 annual fee, because you will be tied in to paying the fee for the following year.

You can apply for the card with a minimum personal income of just £20,000.

What alternative cards are worth a look?

The American Express Platinum Cashback cards are the highest paying cashback cards currently available in the UK.

However, American Express is not accepted everywhere, and you will need a Visa or Mastercard as a fall-back option.

Here are some typical earning rates for general spending, although you may earn more for spending at the company which issues the card:

• the John Lewis Partnership card pays 0.25% in vouchers
• the Barclaycard Rewards card pays 0.25% in cash and has 0% FX fees
• the Lloyds Bank Cashback card pays 0.25% to 0.5% in cash
• the Marks & Spencer card pays 0.2% in vouchers
• the Sainsbury’s Nectar card pays 0.1% in Nectar points

As we mentioned above, the best Visa / Mastercard solution is the free Barclaycard Avios Mastercard. Convert your Avios to Nectar and you are getting 0.66% back in Nectar points.

Where do I apply?

The application form for the Amex Platinum Cashback credit card (£25 fee) is here.

The application form for the Amex Platinum Cashback Everyday credit card (no fee) is here.

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.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

Key link: American Express Business Gold charge card application page

Why Amex Business Gold?

The American Express Business Gold charge card is issued directly by American Express.

The card is aimed mainly at small businesses and sole traders.  The criteria for applying are fairly lenient:

• You have a permanent UK home address
• The business has a UK bank account
• The business has no County Court Judgements against it
• You are over 18

There are no turnover or profitability requirements for the company itself but you must have a minimum personal income of £20,000.  There is no longer any requirement to have been in business for one year – you can now apply as soon as you have a bank account.

Note that the American Express Business Gold card is a charge card, not a credit card. You MUST clear your balance in full at the end of each month.

What is the Amex Business Gold sign-up bonus?

You will receive 20,000 American Express Membership Rewards points when you spend £3,000 within three months. This is a very generous incentive. 

The card is also free for the first year.  The annual fee for the following years is £195.

Membership Rewards points can be converted into a range of goodies.  The most valuable options are converting into frequent flyer miles (including Avios points and Virgin Flying Club) at a ratio of 1:1.  This means that the sign-up bonus is worth 20,000 Avios points or 20,000 Virgin Points.

Amex points also convert into Hilton Honors (at 1:2), Marriott Bonvoy (at 2:3) and Radisson Rewards at 1:3.

There are also a lot of non-travel redemptions including High Street, Amazon and iTunes gift cards.

Membership Rewards points are awarded to the individual and NOT to the company so you can spend them however you wish.

Do you qualify for the sign-up bonus?

American Express states on the Gold Business website that “You will not be eligible for any Welcome Bonus award if you currently hold or have held any Membership Rewards [ie Platinum, Gold or Green American Express card] enrolled American Express Card in the past 13 months.” This includes personal and business cards.

For clarity, you will definitely receive the sign-up bonus if you already have a British Airways, Marriott Bonvoy, Nectar or Platinum Cashback American Express card.

Is there a bonus for regular spending?

Yes, although it will only benefit high spenders.

You will receive an additional 10,000 bonus Membership Rewards points whenever you spend £20,000 in a calendar quarter (Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sep, Oct-Dec).

If you spent exactly £20,000 in a quarter, you would have earned 30,000 points in total. This comprises 10,000 bonus points and 20,000 base points. 1.5 points per £1 spent is a very good return.

Any other benefits?

You receive £100 credit per year to spend with Dell. No minimum spend applies but the credit is split into two parts. You can earn £50 cashback between January and June and £50 cashback between July and December.

You can apply for up to 20 complimentary Amex business cards for your employees.

You will receive one consolidated statement showing the spend on your card and all of the supplementary cards.  All of the Membership Rewards points earned on your employee cards will flow into your personal account.

Depending on when in your monthly cycle you make a payment, you will effectively receive up to 54 days free credit on your spending.

American Express statements provide more underlying transaction detail for flights and certain other transactions than Visa or Mastercard statements, making it easier to reconcile transactions.

What is the Amex Gold Business annual fee?

There is no fee for the first year.

For future years, there is a fee of £195. This should be a tax deductible business expense.

What do I earn per £1 spent on the card?

You receive 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on the card.

What is a Membership Rewards point worth?

Anything from ‘not a lot’ to ‘a lot’ is the answer!   This article outlines my view on the most valuable American Express Membership Rewards transfer options.

Your fallback position is to convert the points into Avios at 1:1 and then into Nectar points at 1:1.33. With a Nectar point worth 0.5p each, this means your American Express points are worth at least 0.66p in Nectar credit to spend at Sainsbury’s, Argos, eBay.co.uk and other partners. This makes your 20,000 points sign-up bonus worth at least £133.

I tend to value airline miles at 0.75p – 1p each (this is conservative) so that is your valuation if you transfer to an airline programme.

Some of the hotel programmes also offer good value. Your options are Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy and Radisson Rewards.

You can take a look at the full list of American Express Membership Rewards redemption options here.

You’ll need a small business Visa or Mastercard as well

The only major issue with Amex business cards, including American Express Business Gold, is the lack of acceptance by some suppliers.

Realistically, you will need to have a Visa or Mastercard as well to ensure that you can always get a card accepted.  For limited companies, I recommend the Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa credit card.  It has a very generous earning rate of 1 Avios per £1

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

If you are a sole trader, you do not qualify for the Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa. I recommend the generous Barclaycard Select Cashback card instead:

Barclaycard Select Cashback credit card

1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review

The Head for Points verdict:

If you are a sole trader or own a small business, even a service company, then the American Express Business Gold card is well worth a look. 

The 20,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up are a generous incentive, and with no fee for the first year you have nothing to lose.

If you can put £20,000 per quarter through the card to earn the 10,000 bonus Membership Rewards points, you will be getting an exceptionally strong return on your spending.

How to apply

The official Amex Business Gold website, which contains full details and the application form, is here.

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.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

Key link: American Express Business Platinum charge card application page

Why Amex Platinum Business?

The American Express Business Platinum charge card is issued directly by American Express.

The Amex business cards are aimed mainly at small businesses and sole traders. The criteria for applying are fairly lenient – whilst this is a Platinum card, the terms are identical to the Business Gold card:

• The business has a UK bank account
• The business has no County Court Judgements against it
• You are over 18
• You have a permanent UK home address

There are no turnover or profitability requirements for the company itself but you must have a minimum personal income of £35,000.  There is no longer any requirement to have been in business for one year – you can now apply as soon as you have a bank account.

Note that the American Express Business Platinum card is a charge card, not a credit card. You MUST clear your balance in full at the end of each month.

What is the Amex Business Platinum sign-up bonus?

You will receive 40,000 American Express Membership Rewards points when you spend £6,000 within three months. This is a very generous incentive as long as you are confident of meeting the spending target.

Do you qualify for the sign-up bonus?

American Express states on the Business Platinum website that “You will not be eligible for any Welcome Bonus award if you currently hold or have held any Membership Rewards [ie Platinum, Gold or Green American Express card] enrolled American Express Card in the past 13 months.” This includes personal and business cards.

For clarity, you will definitely receive the sign-up bonus if you already have a British Airways, Marriott Bonvoy, Nectar or Platinum Cashback American Express card.

What can you do with 40,000 Membership Rewards points?

Membership Rewards points can be converted into a range of goodies. The most valuable options are converting into frequent flyer miles (including Avios and Virgin Flying Club) at a ratio of 1:1. This means that the sign-up bonus is worth 40,000 Avios points or 40,000 Virgin Points.

Amex points also convert into Hilton Honors (at 1:2), Marriott Bonvoy (at 2:3) and Radisson Rewards at 1:3.

There are also a lot of non-travel redemptions including High Street, Amazon and iTunes gift cards.

Membership Rewards points are awarded to the individual and NOT to the company so you can spend them however you wish.

Any other benefits?

As usual, American Express adds a lot of bells and whistles to the Platinum Business card:

You receive £200 per year to spend at Amex Travel. The only condition is that the £200 is spent in one transaction. For most people this is almost as good as £200 of cash.

You receive £150 credit per year to spend with Dell. No minimum spend applies but the credit is split into two parts. You can earn £75 cashback between January and June and £75 cashback between July and December.

You will receive a free Priority Pass card.  Priority Pass is a network of 1,300 airport lounges across the world, including eight in London Heathrow.  This includes the Aspire lounge and the Plaza Premium lounge in BA’s Heathrow Terminal 5.  Your Priority Pass allows an unlimited number of free visits to their lounges.  You can also bring in a guest for free.

You can also give a Priority Pass card to a second person.  If this is your partner or spouse, you would both be able to get into the lounge for free and each bring in a free guest.  Additional guests, such as your children, would be charged at £20 each.

You will receive comprehensive travel insurance.  This is a very valuable benefit because of the high level of coverage available – you can take a look at the policy document here (PDF).  Unlike the personal Platinum Amex card, which was weaker coverage, the insurance available on the Business product remains gold plated, in my opinion.  There is NO EXCESS to pay at any time and you are covered up to the age of 80.

You will receive Gold status in the Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty scheme.  This will give added benefits at Marriott, Renaissance, Sheraton, Westin, W, aloft, St Regis, The Ritz-Carlton, The Luxury Collection etc properties – 31 brands in total.

You will receive Premium status in the Radisson Rewards hotel loyalty scheme.  This will give added benefits at Radisson Blu / RED, Park Plaza and Park Inn hotels.

You will receive Gold status in the Hilton Honors hotel loyalty scheme.  This is the best mid-tier hotel status to have, because you get free breakfast with it.  You will get benefits at Hilton, Waldorf Astoria, Hampton, Curio etc.

You will receive Gold status in the MeliaRewards hotel loyalty scheme.  You will get benefits at Melia and INNSiDE hotels, with benefits including three 20% discount vouchers each year and ‘2 for 1’ breakfast.

You receive a free digital subscription to The Times and The Sunday Times.  This is worth over £300, and if you currently pay for this it is a huge incentive to take out the card.

You receive £300 per year to spend with recruitment website Indeed. 100% of your spend with Indeed will be paid pack, up to £75 per calendar quarter.

You can access the Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts Programme.  This offers genuine added value benefits at a large number of luxury hotels across the world.  These include a GUARANTEED 4pm check-out, free breakfast, an upgrade if available at check-in and typically a $100 credit towards on-property spending.

There are also benefits with Avis Preferred and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards but these are, in all honesty, no better than deals that are generally available.

What is the annual fee?

The annual fee for American Express Business Platinum is £650. This is billed with your first statement and then annually thereafter.

The fee should be tax deductible as a business expense.

It is worth factoring in the value of the £200 Amex Travel credit and the £150 of annual Dell credit when deciding whether the fee makes sense, on top of the value you get from the ‘soft’ benefits such as hotel status and airport lounge access.

The fee is refundable, pro-rata, if you decide to cancel at any point.  Once you have banked your 40,000 Membership Rewards points bonus, you may want to reconsider if you are getting full value from all of the benefits.

You will receive one consolidated statement showing the spend on your card and any complimentary cards issued to employees. All of the Membership Rewards points earned on the complimentary cards will flow into your personal account.

Depending on when in your monthly cycle you make a payment, you will effectively receive up to 54 days free credit on your spending.

American Express statements provide more underlying transaction detail for flights and certain other transactions than Visa or Mastercard statements, making it easier to reconcile transactions.

What do I earn per £1 spent on the card?

You receive 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on the card.

There is an extra bonus for high spenders. You will receive 10,000 bonus Membership Rewards points (2 per £1) in every month where you spend over £10,000.

This bonus would make Business Platinum the most valuable travel rewards card on the market. Someone who spent exactly £10,000 in a calendar month would receive 20,000 points in total, so 2 points per £1 spent.

What is a Membership Rewards point worth?

Anything from ‘not a lot’ to ‘a lot’ is the answer!  This article shows you which American Express Membership Rewards transfer options are the most valuable.

Your fallback position is to convert the points into Avios at 1:1 and then into Nectar points at 1:1.33. With a Nectar point worth 0.5p each, this means your American Express points are worth at least 0.66p in Nectar credit to spend at Sainsbury’s, Argos, eBay.co.uk and other partners. This makes your sign-up bonus worth a minimum of £266.

I tend to value airline miles at 0.75p – 1p each (this is conservative) so that is your valuation if you transfer to an airline programme. The usual transfer ratio to airlines is 1:1.

You can take a look at the full list of American Express Membership Rewards options here.

You’ll need a small business Visa or Mastercard as well

The only major issue with Amex business cards, including American Express Business Platinum, is the lack of acceptance by some suppliers.

Realistically, you will need to have a Visa or Mastercard as well to ensure that you can always get a card accepted.  For limited companies, I recommend the Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa credit card.  It has a generous earning rate of 1 Avios per £1 and no FX fees on foreign spend.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

If you are a sole trader, you do not qualify for the Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa. I recommend the generous Barclaycard Select Cashback card instead:

Barclaycard Select Cashback credit card

1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review

The Head for Points verdict:

If you are a sole trader or own a small business, even a service company, then the American Express Business Platinum card is well worth a look.

The 40,000 Membership Rewards points for signing up are an impressive incentive and the £200 of annual Amex Travel credit, comprehensive travel insurance, Priority Pass and hotel status cards add a lot of value.

How to apply

The official Amex Business Platinum website, which contains full details and the application form, is here.

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.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

What Avios SME credit cards are out there?

There are four credit or charge cards which allow you to earn Avios from spending by your small business.   These are:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

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

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus 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

Our latest review of the Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa credit card (10,000 Avios sign-up bonus) is here.

Our latest review of American Express Business Platinum is here.  This card has a bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points.  You qualify for the bonus as long as you haven’t had any personal or business Platinum, Gold or Green Amex cards in the past 13 months.  You can apply here.

There is also American Express Business Gold.  This offers a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points which is impressive for a ‘free for a year’ card.  Our full review of Amex Business Gold is here.  You can apply here.

In this article I want to look at the British Airways Accelerating Business American Express card, a card which lets you earn Avios and British Airways On Business points. 

What is the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card?

The British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card (BA Amex Business) was launched in late 2019 as a new product for the small business market.

In September 2021 it was relaunched with new benefits. The sign-up bonus switched to Avios from On Business points and an Avios-based annual spend bonus was introduced.

Here’s the legal stuff

Application page:  you can apply and find further details on the BA Amex Business website here

The representative APR is 108.4% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 28.5% variable.

There is an annual fee of £250, which is tax deductible.

You can claim a pro-rata refund on the annual fee until at least 29th February 2024. Amex is changing its policy on pro-rata fee refunds for its credit cards (charge cards are not impacted) at some point after that date – the exact day is still unknown.

There is a minimum income requirement of £20,000. This is based on your personal income as the applicant, and not the profits of your business.

What is the sign-up bonus on the BA Accelerating Business credit card?

You receive an impressive bonus of 30,000 Avios when you spend £5,000 in your first three months.

To qualify for the bonus, you cannot have held any American Express Business card in the previous 12 months. This includes Accelerating Business, Business Platinum and Business Gold.

You are totally fine to receive the bonus if you hold a personal American Express card. For clarity, this includes the personal British Airways American Express cards – you will still get the bonus on BA Accelerating Business if you have a personal BA Amex.

What is the earning rate on the BA Accelerating Business credit card?

There are two ways to earn points with the BA Amex Business card:

• You earn 1.5 Avios for every £1 you spend, plus

• You earn 100% more On Business points for every £1 you spend with British Airways using the card.  For most small businesses, this means you will receive an extra 1 On Business points per £1, ie 2 per £1 spent vs the standard 1 point per £1 spent.

What are On Business points?

On Business is the British Airways loyalty scheme for small businesses.  I summarise the key points further on, but to avoid cluttering this article, please read my full review of British Airways On Business here.

The key thing you need to remember is that you can earn BOTH Avios and On Business points when you fly with British Airways.

Is there an annual spending bonus?

Yes.  You can earn up to 30,000 Avios per calendar year as a spend bonus.

You receive 10,000 Avios for hitting £20,000 of qualifying spend with additional 10,000 Avios bonuses for hitting £40,000 and £60,000.

This means that someone who spends exactly £20,000 would receive a total of 40,000 Avios (30,000 base Avios and 10,000 bonus Avios) which is an excellent 2 Avios per £1 spent.

Note that, unlike most other American Express bonuses, this is based on calendar year and not card year spending.

Are there any other benefits?

You get typical American Express credit card benefits:

• Up to 56 days to pay
• Complimentary cards for your employees
• Travel inconvenience cover (with higher payouts if you or your baggage is delayed on a British Airways flight)
• Travel accident protection
• Purchase protection
• Refund protection

See this page of the American Express website for full details of these benefits.

Does the BA Amex Business card charge FX fees?

Yes. 2.99% is added to all foreign currency transactions.

What sort of business can apply for the BA Accelerating Business credit card?

There are very few requirements to get BA Amex Business.  To quote:

• The business has a current UK Bank or Building Society account
• You/The business have/has no County Court Judgements for non-payment of debt
• You are aged 18 or over
• You have a permanent UK home address
• You will pay the annual Cardmembership fee of £250

If you do not currently have a British Airways On Business account, one will be opened for you when you apply for the card. The usual rule about having to be VAT registered is waived.

Does BA Amex Business offer real value?

The British Airways Accelerating Business sign-up bonus:

Frankly, getting the card for the first year is a no-brainer given the sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios.

As long as you qualify for the bonus and are confident of spending £5,000 within three months, this is a good deal.

The British Airways Accelerating Business general earning rate:

1.5 Avios per £1 is clearly a generous earning rate.  It matches what you receive on the British Airways Premium Plus American Express personal card and the Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard personal card, which have similar identical annual fees.

The British Airways Accelerating Business BA flights earning rate:

For most companies, the extra 100% On Business points earned when booking British Airways flights on the card is worth 1 On Business points per £1.  This is worth the equivalent of an extra one to two Avios per £1 spent.

If you spend a substantial sum on British Airways flights each year, this adds real value to the card package.

The British Airways Accelerating Business annual spend bonus:

If you can spend £20,000 to £60,000 per year on the card, the annual spend bonus makes the card an excellent deal.

Spend £60,000, for example, and your annual earnings would be 120,000 Avios. This represents 90,000 base Avios at 1.5 Avios per £1 and 30,000 Avios from the annual spend bonus. In the first year, you would get an extra 60,000 Avios from the sign-up bonus.

How does Accelerating Business compare with the alternatives?

Is BA Amex Business better than the American Express Business Gold Card?

Yes. The 30,000 Avios offered on the Accelerating Business card is better than the 20,000 Membership Rewards points offered on Business Gold, which converts into 20,000 Avios.

Longer term, low spenders may find Business Gold more suitable. Business Gold is free in the first year (vs £250 for the BA card) and £125 thereafter.  The earning rate is lower – 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent vs 1.5 Avios, but Membership Rewards points can be transferred to many different airline and hotel programmes, not just Avios.  There is no annual bonus on Business Gold.

If you would spend over £20,000 per year on the card, however, the British Airways Accelerating Business Card looks better.  You trigger the first annual spend bonus and the difference in annual earning (1.5 Avios vs 1 Membership Rewards point) starts to outweigh the fee difference.

For clarity, American Express Business Gold is a charge card and you must repay your balance in full each month.  BA Accelerating Business is a credit card.

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Is BA Amex Business better than the Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa?

For the first year, with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios, Accelerating Business is clearly the best deal.

Longer term, the Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa has a lower fee (£99 per year) and is accepted in more places than American Express.  The earning rate is lower, however, at 1 Avios per £1 spent.

Note that Capital On Tap does not accept sole traders. You must be a limited company or limited partnership to apply.

You can, of course, apply for both Capital On Tap Business Rewards and British Airways Accelerating Business. The Capital On Tap Visa will be useful wherever your American Express is not accepted.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

Conclusion

The British Airways Accelerating Business credit card is an impressive product.

If you qualify for the sign-up bonus and can easily spend £5,000 within three months, you should apply and pick up 30,000 Avios.

Whether the card works for you long term will depend on how much you spend, given the ability to earn 30,000 Avios per year in annual spend bonuses.

There are reasons why American Express Business Gold (no fee in year 1, transferable points) or Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa (£99 fee, 1 Avios per £1 spent, wider acceptance) may be better after the first year. One-man bands may want to use the personal British Airways Premium Plus American Express card (2-4-1 voucher, same fee) or Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard (upgrade voucher, similar fee).

Accelerating Business may, of course, work for you long term and will certainly work for you in the first year given the bonus.  You can find full details, and apply, on the BA Amex Business website here.

(Want to earn more miles and points from credit cards?  Click here to visit our dedicated airline and hotel travel credit cards page or use the ‘Credit Cards’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

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.

Capital On Tap – a small UK payments card company which I admit you may never have heard of – runs the only small business Visa credit card which can earn you Avios points.

With their Business Rewards card, you earn 1 Capital On Tap point (worth 1p cashback or 1 Avios) per £1 you spend.

As an added benefit, this is the ONLY Avios-earning credit card in the UK which does not charge foreign exchange fees when used abroad.

In this article I will explain all you need to know about the Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa card and who can apply. The application form is here. There is an exclusive higher sign-up bonus for our readers.

Who is Capital On Tap?

Whilst you may not have heard of Capital On Tap, it already has 120,000 customers across its existing ‘no rewards’ payment card and the Avios products.  This card, launched in 2018, was its first move into the rewards market.

You can find full details on their website here. 

Your interest rate is based on your business profile and can be as low as 1.19% per month.  The representative interest rate for marketing purposes is 34.3% APR variable.

This article was updated on 1st January 2024, and all of the information is correct as of that date. Ignore the original publication date shown.

Who can apply for the Capital On Tap Business Rewards card?

The Capital On Tap Business Rewards card is the only way to indirectly earn Avios via a small business Visa or Mastercard credit card. 

The Capital On Tap card is aimed at limited companies and LLPs.  It is not currently accepting unlimited partnerships or sole traders.

If you do NOT have a limited company, our recommended choice for a business Visa or Mastercard credit card is Barclaycard Select Cashback. It is free for life and you get 1% cashback on all of your spending. Our review of the Barclaycard Select Cashback credit card is here and you can apply here.

A minimum turnover of £24,000 is required.

How does the Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa card work?

We have an exclusive reader offer on the Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa card.

You will receive a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Capital On Tap points when you spend £5,000 in your first three months, which converts into £100 cashback or 10,000 Avios.

You receive an additional 500 points for applying via our link, giving you a total of 10,500 Capital On Tap points.

The bonus arrives at the end of your fourth billing period, irrespective of how quickly you spend the £5,000.

Going forward, you earn 1 Capital On Tap point (worth 1p of cashback or 1 Avios) per £1 spent.

There is an annual fee is £99 which is tax deductible.

There are other benefits too:

• Unlimited free supplementary cards for your staff

• a credit limit of up to £250,000

• up to 56 days to pay before interest is incurred

• the card works with Apple Pay and Google Pay

• accounting integrations with Sage, QuickBooks, Xero and more

• no FX fees and no ATM fees 

Capital On Tap Business Rewards is the ONLY Avios-earning payment card which does not charge foreign exchange fees.

Another positive point is that Avios transfers from Capital On Tap are INSTANTANEOUS.  Log in to Capital On Tap, request a transfer of some or all of your available Capital On Tap points to Avios, log in to your British Airways Executive Club account and they will be there.

Is it worth getting the Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa?

If you have any sort of limited company which would allow you to qualify for the card, I think you need to have a serious look at Capital On Tap.

For the first year, it is a good deal, especially with our HfP offer. You are getting 10,500 Capital On Tap points, worth £105 or 10,500 Avios, as a sign-up bonus in return for an annual fee of £99. The bonus is triggered when you spend £5,000 within your first three months.

You also need to remember:

• the £99 annual fee is a tax deductible expense so the net cost to you will be lower

• the card has no FX fees

• 1 Avios per £1 is a great return from a small business Visa or Mastercard

But don’t forget …..

Capital On Tap points can be converted into cashback as well as Avios.  You can choose to take 1p of cash instead of 1 Avios.

If you don’t value Avios at more than 1p (and in most scenarios an Avios point is worth more than 1p as this article shows) then take your Capital On Tap points as cashback instead.

The cashback option also gives you a fallback in case Avios devalues or your travel plans change.  However, if you took cashback it would be taxable as business income.

Points and miles have no cash or taxable value – this is a long-held HMRC rule.

Conclusion

If the Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa card sound interesting for your business, you can find out more and apply on their website here.

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.