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‘Credit Cards Offers’ updated for August 2013

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UPDATE – DECEMBER 2021:  This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.  We produce a monthly directory of the top UK travel credit card offers – please click HERE or use the ‘Credit Card Offers’ menu above.  Thank you.

I have updated the ‘Credit Card Offers‘ page at the top of the site for August.

It has been a relatively quiet month. The negatives outweighed the positive – no new bonuses were launched during July, whilst the British Airways American Express cards dropped back to their ‘usual’ level of bonus. This is 3,000 Avios for the free card and 18,000 Avios for the £150 annual fee card.

Last call for the Miles & More bonus

Until 31st August, the sign-up bonus for the Miles & More credit card is increased from 1,500 miles to 6,500 miles. Frankly, even 6,500 miles is far from great. However, the card does stop your Miles & More miles from expiring and it worth getting for that reason.

The home page for the M&M card is here and my review is here.

UK Rewards credit and charge cards

Here is my advice on the best cards currently available if you are thinking of ‘churning’ the contents of your wallet:

What are the best loyalty credit cards currently available?

1. American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

This is currently an outstanding deal, which is showing no signs of going away. No fee for the first year and 20,000 Membership Rewards points (see here for what 20,000 MR points can get you – 20,000 Avios points for a start!)  My full review of the card is here. The Amex home page is here.

2. American Express Platinum

The card now offers 30,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 30,000 Avios amongst other things.

You receive a pro-rata refund on the £450 fee when you cancel the card and you will retain most of the benefits – Starwood Gold, Carlson Gold, Accor Platinum, Cathay Pacific Gold (= BA Silver) for the rest of the year even after you cancel!

You can learn more about this offer in this post here. My full review of the card is here. Amex’s own home page is here.

3. Hilton HHonors Platinum Visa

You receive a free night in any Hilton Group property for spending £750. That could be worth £250 if spent wisely at a Conrad or Waldorf-Astoria branded property. My full review of the card is here.

4. Lloyds TSB Premier Duo and Duo Avios cards

This is good deal and is much improved on the previous promotion.  However, Lloyds is being VERY nasty in arbitrarily deciding if you made the spending target or not, which is why I do not recommend it wholeheartedly.

The free (‘Duo’) cards give you 15,000 Avios points for signing-up. The £50 fee ‘Premier Duo’ cards give you 20,000 Avios. You need to spend £500 per month for the first three months on the American Express card to receive the bonus and please read this post very carefully before applying and decide if you want to play Lloyds at their game.

5. IHG Rewards Club Black Visa

If you are used to having Platinum status for your Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn Express, Indigo, InterContinental etc stays, you will probably have noticed by now that you are very unlikely to requalify in 2013. The incredibly harsh new regime – which means only base points and not bonuses count for status – will see 80%+ of Platinum cardholders drop away, I imagine.

The IHG Rewards Club Black Visa comes with Platinum status as a free perk. There is an annual fee of £99 but if you do enough stays at Priority Club hotels then it is a decent deal.

Full details on all of these cards, including links to the application forms, are on the ‘Credit Card Offers’ page.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus. 

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

Nectar American Express

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

American Express Platinum card Amex

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers.

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Amex Platinum Business American Express

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express card

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

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending:

Barclaycard Select Cashback Credit Card

1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review

Category

General

Comments (15)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • The Lady says:
    7 Aug7 August 08:10

    What’s the deal with taking out these cards for a second time?

    I assume you don’t get the bonus if you’ve ever previously held the card?

    Or is there a “statute of limitations” type thing whereby after a couple of years of the original card being cancelled, you can reapply and receive the bonus?

    Does it make any difference if you apply at a new address/different email?

    • Sir Stamford says:
      7 Aug7 August 08:50

      For AMEX cards, as a general rule, you need to wait for 6 months before you can apply again to get the bonus. There are exceptions e.g. if you have previously had a BA Credit card, you don’t have to wait to apply for a Membership Rewards based card. For the other cards, check the small prints as they may be restrictions on receiving the advertised bonus if you have previously held a card with them.

      Applying with a new home address should make no difference since the application will be based on your credit file which links your current and previous home addresses together. (You will still be using the same name, DOB etc, won’t you?)

      By the way, “statute of limitations” is usually only relevant for breaches of law/disputes.

      Sir Stamford

  • Rob says:
    7 Aug7 August 08:12

    Good spot! Sorry, that was a typo. Now corrected.

  • Yozza1977 says:
    7 Aug7 August 11:32

    May be a stupid question – Is it possible to have 2 BAPP Amex cards in one persons name to generate 2 x 241 per year? Obvioulsy you wouldn’t eligible for the sign up bonus.

    • Rob says:
      7 Aug7 August 11:37

      No. The only thing you can do, assuming you have a partner who you always travel with, is to get another BA Amex in their name and then – if you do most of the spending – get a supplementary card on that account for yourself.

      We do this, my wife has a BAPP and so do I.

      • Yozza1977 says:
        7 Aug7 August 19:19

        Thanks Raffles. I do that already but when we book 4 seats with 2x241s we are put on separate PNRS and was looking for a way around it, as only one of us have status.

      • Martin says:
        7 Aug7 August 22:53

        Can you refer your partner/spouse to get the sign up bonus even though you live at the same address?

  • Brian says:
    7 Aug7 August 22:55

    I’ve just noticed that the Preferred Rewards Gold Card has a sign-up bonus of 20,000 points, which can be transferred to a number of loyalty programmes. That represents 20,000 Avios, BUT – since you can also transfer them to SPG, is there anything to stop you doing so, and then transferring the SPG points across to Avios to get the 5,000 Avios bonus?

    Thanks.

  • Squire says:
    8 Aug8 August 04:06

    If one were to get a platinum amex with a supplementary cardholder, do they both get the cathay gold (BA silver), or just the named card holder?

  • ups says:
    10 Aug10 August 19:47

    Perhaps a bit OT – what do you think of a retention offer of double MR points on the Amex Gold card for 6 months on all spend? The previous year spend was 25k. They insisted that it is double of whatever you earn on the card, not double of base points. So travel and foreign spend would earn 4x and not 3x. The 6 months can be started anytime, so thinking of keeping it for the next high spend period…

    I wouldn’t have minded getting an offer of say spend 1k get 10k in 3 months but that wasn’t offered. Only other option was 50 quid statement credit.

    • Rob says:
      10 Aug10 August 21:15

      Well, if Avios are your goal, a free BA Amex is 1 per £1 and this would be your ‘no fee’ alternative.

      You would be on, lets say, a weighted average of 2.5 per £1.

      If you value Avios at 1p then you’re on a winner if you spend more than £8k (as £8k would 12k more Avios than the BA free Amex and at 1p per Avios value is the level which covers the £125 Gold fee).

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