The Best UK Credit Cards for Earning Air Miles
UK points-earning cards split cleanly into two camps. Airline-branded cards drop Avios or Virgin Points straight into your loyalty account, which is simple and frictionless but locks you in to one programme. Transferable-point cards, mostly Amex Membership Rewards, earn a flexible currency you can move to whichever airline is best for the booking you actually want. Most British collectors who're in it for the long haul end up holding one of each.
Three things to know before you start filling in application forms:
- Amex acceptance in the UK is fine at chains and in cities, patchy at smaller independent restaurants and shops. You always want a Visa or Mastercard sat alongside it.
- Section 75 protection, which makes the card issuer jointly liable on purchases between £100 and £30,000, only applies to credit cards. Not charge cards. Not debit cards. Not purchases under £100. Mind the gap.
- Amex sign-up bonuses require a clean 24-month gap from any previous card in the same family, so plan your applications years ahead if you intend to recycle bonuses.
Amex British Airways Premium Plus
The cornerstone card for committed BA flyers. £300 annual fee, 1.5 Avios per £1 on everyday spend and 3 Avios per £1 on BA spend. The real prize is the Companion Voucher earned after £15,000 of spend in a membership year. Use it well and a single voucher is worth a four-figure sum (see the dedicated guide).
Best for: households that spend £15k+/year on cards and will fly long-haul Business in the next 24 months.
Amex British Airways (free)
Same Avios-into-Executive-Club mechanic, no fee, but earns only 1 Avios per £1 and the Companion Voucher requires £20k of spend and is Economy-only. Sign-up bonus is small. Sensible as a permanent baseline card if you don't want to pay a fee, or as the on-ramp before stepping up to the Premium Plus.
Amex Preferred Rewards Gold
Earns Membership Rewards, which transfer 1:1 to Avios and to Virgin Points (among many others). Fee is £195 (waived the first year). The headline draw is the sign-up bonus — regularly 30,000 MR for £3,000 of spend in three months — plus two free airport lounge passes annually.
Best for: someone collecting their first big chunk of transferable points, or anyone who wants flexibility on which airline to redeem with.
Amex Platinum
Premium tier at £650/year. The card itself earns only 1 MR per £1, so it's not really a spending card, it's a bundle of perks: Priority Pass, Centurion Lounge access, hotel elite status (Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold), travel insurance, and a substantial sign-up bonus. Mathematically a winner if you genuinely use the lounges and statuses; a loss otherwise.
Barclaycard Avios Plus
£20/month (£240/year), 1.5 Avios per £1 on all spend, and the headline perk is an Upgrade Voucher after £10,000 of annual spend, redeemable to bump a BA reward booking up by one cabin. Crucially this is a Mastercard, so it's accepted essentially everywhere and carries Section 75 protection. The best Avios-earning Mastercard in the UK by some distance.
Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
£160/year. Earns 1.5 Virgin Points per £1, and unlocks a Reward Companion Voucher at £10,000 of spend (Economy / Premium) and a Upper Class companion option at £20,000. If you fly Virgin transatlantic at all, this card pays for itself the first time you use it.
HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard
£195/year and gated behind an HSBC Premier current account (which itself has eligibility hoops). Earns 1 Reward Point per £1, transferring at 1:0.4 to Avios. So effectively 0.4 Avios per £1, which sounds poor but stacks neatly on top of a Premier banking relationship people often hold for other reasons. Comes with airport lounge access and decent travel insurance.
Quick comparison
| Card | Fee | Earn (general) | Headline perk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amex BA Premium Plus | £300/yr | 1.5 Avios/£ | 241 voucher (Any-cabin) at £15k |
| Amex BA (free) | £0 | 1 Avios/£ | 241 voucher (Economy) at £20k |
| Amex Gold | £195/yr (1st free) | 1 MR/£ | 30k MR sign-up, 2 lounge passes |
| Amex Platinum | £650/yr | 1 MR/£ | Priority Pass, hotel status, big bonus |
| Barclaycard Avios Plus | £240/yr | 1.5 Avios/£ | Upgrade voucher at £10k |
| Virgin Reward+ | £160/yr | 1.5 VS/£ | Companion vouchers at £10k/£20k |
| HSBC Premier World Elite | £195/yr | 0.4 Avios/£ | Lounges + travel insurance |
Which one should I actually get?
A defensible starter portfolio for most UK readers looks like:
- One Amex card. Usually Amex Gold if it's your first, for the sign-up bonus
- One non-Amex backup, usually Barclaycard Avios Plus if you're Avios-focused, or the free Barclaycard Avios if you don't want the fee
- If you fly BA long-haul often, upgrade the Amex to BA Premium Plus after a year and start working towards a Companion Voucher
Card terms move constantly. Sign-up bonuses, fees and even earning rates have all changed multiple times in recent years. Always check current terms on the issuer's site before applying.