What are the best credit card deals for February 2018? – plus a news round-up

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UPDATE – DECEMBER 2021: This article is now out of date, but don’t worry.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.

It is time for our regular round up of what is coming and what is going in the world of UK airline and hotel credit card sign-up deals.

Our directory of the 15 main UK travel credit cards can be found by clicking the ‘Credit Cards’ tab at the top of the site or – for email, Flipboard, Apple News or mobile readers – by clicking here.

What is new?

The market continues to be very static since MBNA culled its line up in October.

We have covered two major bits of credit card news in the last month:

There are rumours coming from the Brighton call centre in comments to callers – but denied by the Amex press office – that aggressive changes are on the way to American Express sign-up bonus rules. Whether you will in future have to wait one year, two years or until the planet is engulfed by an exploding sun before you can get the bonus again on the same card is not clear. The little we know is in this article.

The Curve Card launched its public version (it was theoretically only available to self-employed people before). This turned out, surprisingly, to be a debit card that recharged all your purchases to a Visa or Mastercard credit card. This has huge potential for earning points when paying HMRC, council tax etc. Curve is free and, even better, they will pay you £5 for trying it out if you use a referral code. Full details, and a referral code, are in this article.

What else is going on?

Not a huge amount:

There is still no word on the new Virgin Atlantic credit card. We expect them to be back in the market with a new non-Amex product within the next few weeks. Virgin Money will be the issuer.

HSBC Premier is giving away a free hotel night if you move your current account over to them. This would allow you to take out the HSBC Premier World Elite credit card which is the most generous Avios Mastercard or Visa product. Details are in this HfP article.

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.

Alan says:

6 Feb6 February 12:57

Has sadly been like this for years (in fact the earnings rate on Gold use to be even higher!) – with the lack of competition cf the USA and the low interchange fee environment I can’t see it changing much anytime soon.
JohnW says:

6 Feb6 February 13:31

With regards to the 10k bonus for spending £15k on the Gold card… do you only receive this bonus as and when you renew after 12 months? Or do you receive the bonus straight away?
- Dave says:
  
  6 Feb6 February 13:44
  
  30 days after renewal typically.
  - JohnW says:
    
    6 Feb6 February 13:46
    
    Ok, thanks. Good man.
David says:

6 Feb6 February 13:46

Do Amex PRG supplementary cardholders also get two free lounge passes? The website is unclear, but I think the phrase ‘share the benefits’ implies that they won’t get additional passes.
- Polly says:
  
  6 Feb6 February 14:09
  
  Yes, just 2.
MrZee says:

6 Feb6 February 15:29

Above info is brilliant thanks all. I got the companion credit card links from above but I cant find Marks comments from yesterday re amex strategy. Can someone please send a link/copy and paste?
mark2 says:

6 Feb6 February 15:37

https://headforpoints.com/2018/02/05/tesco-clubcard-to-avios-virgin-flying-club-deals/comment-page-1/#comment-234282
- Genghis says:
  
  6 Feb6 February 16:08
  
  Do you get credit checked from Amex for each application? Not sure if a credit check on the Gold/Plat credit cards is worth 5k MRs. I normally look for at least £100 of benefits for each credit check.
  - Jeff says:
    
    6 Feb6 February 16:47
    
    Why so high?
    - Genghis says:
      
      6 Feb6 February 16:58
      
      Because of the options available. I receive MSE’s emails saying “free £30 with M&S card” etc but ignore. What are other people’s minimums?
  - mark2 says:
    
    6 Feb6 February 16:48
    
    I have no idea. Being old I am extremely unlikely to borrow money again except credit cards. We seem to get accepted despite having very little income.
  - TGLoyalty says:
    
    7 Feb7 February 00:10
    
    From what I can tell I haven’t been credit checked for a while by AMEX despite applying/cancelling various cards
    
    Might well change now I’ve posted this though lol
- MrZee says:
  
  12 Feb12 February 20:33
  
  thanks!!!
Alex W says:

6 Feb6 February 19:42

I currently hold the Plat card. Have heard about getting bonus MRs for applying for supplementary cards. Is this targeted or general? Is there a special link?
- mark2 says:
  
  6 Feb6 February 20:02
  
  You usually get 5,000 MR for Platinum supplementaries, although it is not advertised (had it last week). Remember that 2nd and subsequent supps cost £170 so best not to order them on initial application.
  - Polly says:
    
    6 Feb6 February 22:48
    
    Would we get to for the green supp? Even if its free…was not aware…
    - Polly says:
      
      6 Feb6 February 22:49
      
      Meant 5k!
    - mark2 says:
      
      6 Feb6 February 23:42
      
      not for Gold, so not for green
    - Alan says:
      
      7 Feb7 February 08:17
      
      Has the 3000 MR points for Gold supplementary cards ended then?
      By Gold and supplementary I am meaning a second card (for spouse etc) on the Gold Charge card.
      
      Thought I should clarify as I’ve been confused by the accompanying Gold credit card recently!
Go says:

6 Feb6 February 22:24

If you do the gold to platinum upgrade to secure the bonus points can you subsequently downgrade to gold again? If so will you be bearded as in the first year of gold and hence no £140 fee or will the full fee kick in from day one
- Go says:
  
  6 Feb6 February 22:25
  
  Regarded
  - Polly says:
    
    6 Feb6 February 22:46
    
    Full fee charged at that point, but you will have credit from the plat fee if you have been charged it in that time.
Harry says:

6 Feb6 February 23:12

Not sure what the position was with the self employed curve, but is the new consumer curve debit card of any use as a deposit/guarantee card when trying to rent a car?
- Bob says:
  
  6 Feb6 February 23:48
  
  Probably no. It also has problems with fuel pumps.
- Rob says:
  
  7 Feb7 February 08:23
  
  Yes. That is one reason to switch, and actually the reason they give on their website.