Four easy ways to hit your credit card sign-up bonus spending target

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There are plenty of Head for Points readers currently chasing a spending target on their American Express card. Why? Because they want to trigger a lucrative sign-up bonus in order to book a flight before the Avios devaluation takes place on April 28th.

This article discusses cards you could get and still trigger a sign-up bonus before April 28th. Time is ticking away – your window is a lot tighter than it was when that piece was published three weeks ago. Unless you can hit your spending target within 1-2 weeks it is probably already too late to get a British Airways American Express.

Here is a reminder of four ways to push your spend towards the target if you think you may fall short:

American Express gift cards

As I wrote last week, Amex is currently selling its gift cards with no fees via a special promotional code. Until 31st March, you can order up to £500-worth per transaction. You can charge it to your BA / Gold / Platinum American Express card (it will go through as a purchase) and you can then spend it at your leisure during 2015.

Supermarket gift vouchers

The easiest ideas are often the ones you forget. If you are running a little short on your spending, just buy £xxx-worth of gift vouchers or gift cards for your usual supermarket. This brings forward spending that you would do anyway and doesn’t cost you anything.

If you buy your petrol from your supermarket, even better – it means you will be able to spend the gift vouchers more quickly.

Ordering foreign currency and travellers cheques from Amex

As I wrote here, ordering foreign currency from the Amex travelmoneynow website is treated as a purchase. Ignore what your card rules or the Amex website says contrary to this, I promise you it will go through as a purchase.

The currency needs to be delivered to your home or office, however, as Amex only has offices at Birmingham International Airport.

Details of Amex’s foreign exchange rates can be found here.

If you are not travelling, one option used to be to order Sterling Travellers Cheques. There is a 1.5% fee for this but that is relatively modest if it gets you to your spending target. However, in the last couple of years a few major banks have stopped accepting them as deposits – HSBC pulled out last June. Do not do this unless you are 100% sure that you can redeem them.

Use Paypal if a retailer accepts it but does not accept American Express

Some online retailers do not take American Express but do accept Paypal. In most cases (some retailers block Amex access to Paypal), you can select to pay with Paypal and use your Amex card through that. More information in this post.

It is, of course, also possible to send a payment to a friend or relative via Paypal, charged to your Amex. There will be a 3%+ charge for this. You need to be VERY careful if you do this, as Paypal operates under tough money laundering restrictions. Any signs of suspicious transactions will lead to your funds being frozen.

If you are a long-term Paypal user and / or have your personal bank account verified with them and / or have your Amex card ‘verified’ then, realistically, sending a few hundred pounds this way should not be a problem. You would be foolish to push your luck though.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Susan says:

23 Feb23 February 11:09

Lots of interesting options – I’m boring and just buy Amazon gift vouchers then use these during the year for normal purchases / birthdays /Christmas.
James says:

23 Feb23 February 13:06

Slightly noob question and it’s stated in Raffles’ post, but can someone confirm that if I buy more than £500 of Euro in cash (i.e. not TC’s) on my BA Premium, it’s treated as a purchase?
- TimS says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 14:43
  
  Assuming you are buying it from the Amex travelmoneynow website then yes.
  
  If you are buying it from another regular forex site, no. Then it would be treated as a cash advance.
  - James says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 15:25
    
    Yes, via Amex travelmoney, thanks for the confirmation!
Pug106 says:

23 Feb23 February 15:10

So, if I find out whether Lloyds take TCs, I could potentially buy £1,000 worth and pay them into bank account. Could someone confirm for me please?

TIA
James67 says:

23 Feb23 February 15:19

Currency route probably not an option for first time applicants. When I tried this a couple of years back I was unsuccessful, a call to CS reveayled I did not have a cash facility which was necessary, and that as a new card holder I had to apply for it but I had to wait 6 months. If I apply for it on my BA card will it then come automatically with any new cards I apply for? If it is necessay to apply for cash facility on each card then this is not a means to hit spending targets
James67 says:

23 Feb23 February 15:38

I have hit £1000 targets in one go several times by crediting my property managment fee account for a whole year In advance. With instant access savings rates as they are I didn’t lode much and hitting the target was painless.
Singing Dwarf says:

23 Feb23 February 15:42

Raffles – have you ever considered an article on the travel insurance aspect when booking flights and/or hotels through points redemptions?

Most travel insurance policies will not cover you for a flight that we booked through a points redemption – although the hotel would be covered, if it was paid for in currency rather than rewards points. If the hotel too were paid for using rewards points, that would not be covered either, in the event that you had to cancel the trip due to illness, etc.

I appreciate that some rewards tickets can be cancelled or rebooked – with fees and usually at least 24 hours in advance. If one were to miss the flight, due to a motorway closure or similar, one would potentially forfeit the points used to book the flights and/or hotel – standard travel insurance not covering the value of, or the points themselves – even if the event leading to the delay was covered by the policy.

There are some insurance providers who will cover points – or at least some of their value. They may even be interested in offering a small commission 😉
- mark2 says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 16:23
  
  If you have a LLoyds Platinum current account which costs £17 per month you get travel insurance up to age 80. Insurance of Avios is included.
  You also get AA Breakdown, mobile phone insurance, card protection etc.
  - Worzel says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 16:41
    
    Mark,
    Avios, phone, AA, cards, etc(?) appear to be protected.
    However, the travel insurance appears to be restricted to Europe and the UK and travel/medical insurance up to age is provided only without any medical condition?
    - Worzel says:
      
      23 Feb23 February 16:47
      
      Correction:
      …travel/medical insurance up to age “80” is provided only without any medical condition?
      - Worzel says:
        
        23 Feb23 February 18:00
        
        Mark,
        Thank you for your polite correction-apologies to you and other readers, Worz.
- Rob says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 16:40
  
  It would make a great article but the truth is I don’t know much about it. The idea of trawling through the small print of 20 travel insurance policies, most of which won’t mention miles one way or the other, is not great!
  
  Even with Amex Platinum, it is not fully clear if paying the taxes with your Platinum would satisfy the condition to have fully paid for your flight with the card – although I’m sure it would have come up by now if they caused trouble.
  
  As you say, the ability to cancel BA reward flights up to 24 hours before departure and most hotel redemptions up to the date of travel means that you don’t carry much risk.
  - Jonathan says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 16:55
    
    The Amex gold flight delay terms have updated this: flight has to be fully paid on the card in cash, OR paid by air miles, with the air miles generated from MR transfers from the card. Taxes have to still be paid on the card.
    - Worzel says:
      
      23 Feb23 February 17:14
      
      Lots of “wriggle room” there Jonathan1
grex9101 says:

23 Feb23 February 17:48

Could someone advise on the “fiddliness” of the Amex Gift Cards?

I seem to recall someone saying that they don’t have a chip&pin, so how do retailers process them?
I was considering buying some for a birthday present, as they had asked for gift vouchers and an Amex gift card would mean not being tied to one chain, but if it’s going to be an utter faff every time they try to use them, is there any point?
- mark2 says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 19:02
  
  You swipe the card instead of sticking it in the slot and it prints out a slip for you to print. Many cards from USA have not got a chip so it does not cause a problem usually. Just swipe; don’t even mention it to the cashier.
  It is better if you buy something for less than the card value or pay the difference in cash before using the card.
- Waribai says:
  
  24 Feb24 February 10:13
  
  Bear in mind though that some retailers will refuse them
  - grex9101 says:
    
    24 Feb24 February 12:05
    
    Seems like too much hassle to be worth bothering with., Thanks guys.
Alan says:

23 Feb23 February 17:52

Another noob question, if You use a £100 gift card for £50 worth of petrol you keep the card for next time for another £50 worth and if you go over you pay the difference ? Just thinking how much hassle I am going to get from the other half if I tell her she’s going to paying for petrol via gift cards for the next year!
- mark2 says:
  
  23 Feb23 February 19:04
  
  Certainly Tesco petrol stations and instore are fine . It is better if you spend less than the amount left on the card and put any change onto Amazon.
  - mark2 says:
    
    23 Feb23 February 19:04
    
    But, I would not ask my wife to do it.
    - Alan says:
      
      23 Feb23 February 19:28
      
      Do the gifts cards work in the ‘pay at pump’ machines? Which are great time saver if you roll up at peak !
      - Alan says:
        
        23 Feb23 February 19:39
        
        *time
      - mark2 says:
        
        23 Feb23 February 19:46
        
        I have never used one; can you scan a card. How does the FuelSave work?