Flybe closes its UK Mastercard credit card to new applicants

Flybe has pulled its credit card from the market for new applicants.

Has the curse of Head for Points struck again?  At a credit card conference in February I explained why – from the point of view of the issuer – the Hilton Honors Visa card had the worst balance between sign-up bonus and long-term rewards of any card on the market.  Within a week, Hilton had pulled it.

This Tuesday, I gave over a full article to the Flybe credit card and why I didn’t find it very exciting.  You agreed in your comments.  Yesterday Flybe pulled the card from the market.  The marketing page is still on the website but at the bottom it says “We are no longer accepting new applicants.”

I am assuming it was nothing to do with me.  This is actually good news if it means a more rewarding, possibly Avios-driven, Flybe-branded credit card will appear in the future.

And should we buy the airline?

Following another dismal trading statement last week, the market capitalisation of Flybe had dropped to just £24m yesterday morning.  There is, of course, a lot of debt in there as well which explains the low figure.

However, £24m is worrying low.  It is a strange state of affairs that, if we had a whip around amongst Head for Points readers, we could buy the airline.  We have enough London-based investment bankers, entrepreneurs and hedgies amongst the readership to get the money together.

I should probably clarify for the purposes of Stock Exchange rules, since I spent 16 years in my previous life putting together deals like this, that I have no intention of doing so 🙂 but it simply goes to show what a parlous state the airline is in.

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 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

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

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

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

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.)