Bits: did you win our IHG competition?, M&S off Gate 365, Amex / Harvey Nichols promo

News in brief:

Did you win our IHG Rewards Club competition?

Thank you to everyone who entered our IHG Rewards Club competition last week.  There was a fantastic response and IHG was very impressed by the level of interest.

The winner was Jean H.  Well done Jean.  I have the codes you need to add the 50,000 points to your IHG account and I will be emailing them to you later.

Don’t forget that the IHG Winter Sale continues until 7th February.

You can save up to 30% on stays at 600 InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo hotels across Europe.  The sale rates are valid for sale until 29th February 2016 and full details of the IHG Winter Sale can be found at this special website.

Marks & Spencer leaves Gate 365 and the Avios e-store

M&S is no longer available on the British Airways shopping portal, Gate 365, or the Avios e-store.  This means that you can no longer earn Avios points for starting your M&S shopping at one of those site.

Oddly, M&S is still available on TopCashback albeit with a minimum non-food spend of £100.  Remember that TopCashback is still offering a bonus of 500 Avios if you sign up this week.  Thanks to Helen.

£20 cashback when you spend £100 at Harvey Nichols

Finally, Harvey Nichols is offering £20 cashback on a £100 American Express spend.

You need to go into the ‘Offers’ tab of your online Amex statement to register, where it should hopefully be showing.  It is NOT on the cardmemberoffers.co.uk site yet so you cannot register via that route.

Lloyds, MBNA, TSB and Barclays Amex cardholders can register via the Amex Connect site.

The offer runs until 6th March and is restricted to the first 15,000 to sign up.

A less glamorous but more practical offer for ASK pizza restaurants is also available to most people!

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 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 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