Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Can you re-apply for the Lloyds Avios card via TSB and get a second sign-up bonus?

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Assuming that their advertising campaign has worked, UK readers will be in no doubt that Lloyds Bank has split off 600 of its branches to form a new bank, TSB (albeit using a brand that Lloyds acquired some years ago).

Since November 2011, Lloyds TSB, as it was, has been the issuer of the official avios.com credit card.  They were also the issuer of the Air Miles credit card for a period, since winning the contract from NatWest.

I had assumed that the ‘new’ Lloyds Bank would become the issuer of the Avios credit cards. 

It seems I was wrong, as you can see from this picture:

TSB Avios cards

Now, the small print says:

The TSB Avios American Express Card is issued and administered by TSB pursuant to a licence from American Express”

And TSB, legally, is not part of Lloyds Bank anymore.  It actually uses the banking licence of the old Bank of Scotland (now Lloyds TSB Scotland).  Lloyds Bank uses a different banking licence.

This is important because the Avios credit cards have a strict ‘one sign-up bonus EVER’ rule.  However, is the TSB card actually a ‘new’ card?  It is issued by TSB, not Lloyds.  Can you therefore get another sign-up bonus by applying for this card, if you have already had and cancelled the Lloyds version?

The answer, of course, is “we don’t know”.  However, I am tempted to apply for one as an experiment and see what happens.  The alternative is to wait until TSB is sold off next year, although by then I get a feeling that they will not be offering the Avios cards any longer.


How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

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

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

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

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

Run your own business?

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

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

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

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

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

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

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Comments (36)

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

  • Sideysid says:

    I have only had 2 dealings with Lloyds in the past and I have only been declined twice in my life on accounts and cards – both with Lloyds. This was once for a student account when I was at university, (quite some time ago – I won’t say how long…) in which they declined me – understandable I suppose.

    I have too applied for the Lloyds Duo for the avios bonus and was once again declined, despite having a flawless credit report and have a decent earning household. On closer examination, (playing around with MSE’s credit card checker) it maybe due to a recent move earlier in year, eithier that or they just don’t like me.

    But seeing the increasing number of complaints I see here and other forums, I suspect that was a blessing in disguise. Their CS seems to need re-training from the ground up and will this change with TSB? Unlikely. So for this reason and your ridiculous rules for hitting targets Mr Lloyds, I’m out…(even if you didn’t want me anyway)

  • Phillip says:

    Apologies if I am missing the obvious but for those who already have the LTSB cards, will they be automatically moved over to the TSB version or will they have to re-apply while the existing cards are turned into some sort of basic Lloyds Bank Card? Because I feel this might make a difference to what sort of bonuses might be offered. If people have to re-apply, they may not bring out any particularly lucrative bonuses to start with. If on the other hand existing cardholders get moved over then any new promotions might be lucrative in order to attract new customers?

    • Rob says:

      Good question. Not sure anyone knows. If you have a Lloyds or TSB other account then that may influence it, otherwise I would imagine Lloyds keeps them all.

  • sandgrounder says:

    OT, for those who have the paid card, when did Lloyds charge the annual fee? I was expecting it to show up on the first statement, but after three months I have still not been charged.

  • Dave says:

    Lloyds TSB Scotland actually had no connection to Bank of Scotland.

    Lloyds TSB Scotland was originally TSB Bank Scotland PLC, as the pre-merger TSB had a separate company to TSB in England and Wales.

    So the route was:
    TSB Bank Scotland PLC -> Lloyds TSB Scotland PLC -> TSB Bank PLC (which was originally the name for the England and Wales division).

  • Sam says:

    Ref: Phillip

    Those with Avios Credit Cards from Lloyds TSB who are being moved to TSB (like me) will automatically have them changed to TSB Avios Cards according to a letter I received.

    Which made me wonder if I should cancel them before my account become a TSB account, and then apply for a TSB Avios card (with Avios bonus).

  • Alex says:

    Ref Sam and Phillip.
    I’ve got the Lloyds TSB Avios Duo credit cards and I also have a current account and kids savings account. They all used to be on the one Lloyds TSB website but now all the accounts are on the new TSB website with the exception of Avios credit cards which now only shows on Lloyds TSB website. The log in details for both sites are the same as is the layout. Only difference is name and colour.

  • Clive J says:

    I don’t have a Lloyds Duo card but am considering applying for a TSB version. After reading their adverts in the papers this week I am absolutely convinced there won’t be any problems and their customer service will be impeccable 😉

  • Matt says:

    I don’t understand how Lloyds customer service for current accounts is generally good yet for credit cards is so shockingly bad.

    I also think they don’t like high earners or those that pay in full as a rule, I think they may reject potential applicants over profitability more than other providers.

    TSB will just use Lloyds IT, credit scoring and systems for the forseeable future so will be Lloyds by another name

    • John says:

      In my experience, Lloyds CS is horrible for current accounts too. I only have their accounts as they are giving me 4% interest (soon to reduce to 3%, but still the best available)

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