NEW! Barclays Launches Avios Earning Credit Cards!

In fantastic news for UK point collectors, Barclaycard has just launched two Avios earning credit cards. These are arguable the best non-Amex cards you can have for point collecting when you consider the earning rate/benefits of each card.

This is our experience using the points system and is not a recommendation of any financial product. There are other credit cards that can earn you travel points including American Express, IHG credit card, Tesco Credit Cards (by exchanging Clubcard points for Virgin points, hotel stays and more) & Virgin Atlantic credit card. If you use one of our referral links to an American Express card upon you being accepted us or someone who has submitted their link to us will receive points, this varies between 9,000 – 18,000 depending on the card you are referred you from.

What are the new Avios Earning Credit Cards?

In a similar fashion to the BA American Express cards, there are two options, one free and the other ‘Plus’ or premium version with a monthly fee of £20.

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard (Free)

This card has a representative APR of 23.9% variable with no monthly fee & an illustrative £1,200 credit limit. The APR on purchases is 23.9% variable.

• 5,000 Avios sign-up bonus (if you are new to Barclaycard & spend £1,000 in 3 months.) If you intregued to see what you can do with 5,000 Avios see our post here – https://pointsuncovered.com/avios/where-can-i-fly-to-for-5000-avios-points/
• No Annual Fee
• 1 Avios per £1 on eligble purchases
• Avios upgrade voucher when you spend £20,000 in 12 months
• Get up to five months of Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple News+ and Apple Arcade for free with your new Barclaycard

Application link/more details – https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/credit-cards/avios

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard (£20 a month)

This card has a representative APR of 72.4% variable based on a £20 monthly fee and an illustrative £1,200 credit limit. The APR on purchases is 23.9% variable.

• 25,000 Avios sign-up bonus (if you are new to Barclaycard & spend £3,000 in 3 months.) If you intregued to see what you can do with 25,000 Avios see our post here – https://pointsuncovered.com/american-express/where-can-i-fly-to-for-25000-avios-points/
• £20 monthly fee (£240 annually)
• 1.5 Avios per £1 on eligble purchases
• Avios upgrade voucher when you spend £10,000 in 12 months
• Get up to five months of Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple News+ and Apple Arcade for free with your new Barclaycard
• You can ‘downgrade’ to the free card at anytime in the Barclays app.

Application link/more details – https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/personal/credit-cards/avios-plus

Am I eligible for the sign-up bonus?

As long as you don’t currently hold and haven’t held a Barclaycard within the previous 6 months you will be eligible for the sign-up bonus. If you are an existing customer you aren’t eligible for the above sign-up bonus but you will be able to get a smaller bonus. Click through here to see how – https://pointsuncovered.com/barclays/how-to-change-your-existing-barclaycard-to-an-avios-barclaycard/

The Avios Upgrade Voucher From The Barclays Avios Earning Credit Cards

Of particular interest, particularly if you are a solo traveller is the Avios Upgrade Voucher. This is earned at £20,000 spend on the free card & £10,000 on the paid version (within a 12 month period.) Here are the key details…

Regardless of what card you hold the voucher is valid 24 months from the date of issue. You must start your travel within these 24 months NOT just book by.

• The voucher entitles you to a cabin upgrade for two passengers on a one-way journey. Or alternatively one passenger on a return or one-way trip. The normal ‘taxes & fees’ or RFS costs applicable to the cabin class you upgrade to will be due.
  
  You can redeem your Avios Upgrade Voucher for journeys consisting of multiple sectors, however where an upgrade is not available for all sectors and you choose to redeem your Cabin Upgrade Voucher, you will not be entitled to reuse or partially use the Cabin Upgrade Voucher for future bookings.
  
• You can’t pool vouchers across British Airways Executive Club Household Accounts. The voucher must be redeemed personally by the Member who earned the Cabin Upgrade Voucher. However the person booking doesn’t need to be the person flying.
  
  If you are a couple and both earn a voucher you will need to book two one-ways to upgrade a return flight. This can also be done if you earn 2 vouchers in consecutive years as up to 2 Avios Upgrade Vouchers can be used per booking.
  
• The upgrade voucher will allow you to upgrade your booking by one cabin class. For example, Economy to Business within Europe, Economy to Premium Economy long-haul or Premium Economy to Business long-haul. You can’t use it to upgrade from business (Club World) to First.
  
• Your booking needs to be Avios only, so no cash bookings or Avios + cash.
  
• The voucher must be used at the time of booking and cannot be retrospectively added to an existing booking. You can’t use the voucher in conjunction with any non-Barclays issues voucher e.g. you can’t use a 2-4-1 voucher at the same. You can however use in conjunction with a 2nd Avios upgrade voucher from a second year of the credit card OR from utilising Avios Rewards on your Barclays Premier account.
  
• If you cancel, similar to how the 2-4-1 voucher works, you will get your upgrade voucher back. Just make sure you cancel at least 24 hours before your flight. The expiry date will remain the same.

You can read the full details on the website here – https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/executive-club/collecting-avios/personalbanking/cabin-upgrade-terms

What option is best?

Our personal option is that the Plus version (£20 a month) makes the most sense for us due to…

1. The increased earning rate on the card
2. An upgrade voucher at £10,000 spend rather than £20,000
3. The 25,000 Avios sign-up bonus (worth £250 if you value Avios at 1p, see how to value your own Avios here)

Number 3 means for a lot of people it may be worth getting the Plus version simply for the increased sign-up bonus. Once you’ve hit the spending target you can always downgrade to the free version via the Barclays app… Think of it this way if it takes you the full 3 months to get the sign-up bonus you are in effect paying £60 for 20,000 Avios. (20,000 as the free card has a 5,000 Avios sign-up bonus.) This would leave you £140 up if you value Avios at 1p or £100 if you decide to convert your Avios into Nectar.

Barclays Avios Earning Credit Cards Conclusion

Overall the core product looks good BUT with the decreased sign-up bonus for existing cardholders, it might be a better option to cancel and wait 6 months to get the higher bonus! What do you make of the New Avios Earning Credit Cards from Barclays? Will you be getting one?