7,200 Avios for Samsung Galaxy Tablet

Tesco Direct are offering up to 3,000 bonus Tesco Clubcard points when you purchase a Samsung Galaxy Note 16GB 10.1 inch White for £349. 3,000 Clubcard points can be converted to 7,200 Avios.

 

 

There are three different Samsung Galaxy tablets available through this deal with differing bonus points.

• 
  Samsung Galaxy Note 16GB 10.1 inch White for £349 with 3,000 bonus clubcard points


• 
  Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 16GB 10.1 inch White for £249 with 2,000 bonus clubcard points


• 
  Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 8GB 7 inch White for £149 with 1,000 bonus clubcard points

I will work through the three deals to see which offers the best Avios value. I will assume that Tesco clubcard points will be converted into Avios on the ratio 1 clubcard point equal to 2.4 Avios. It is worth mentioning though  that Tesco do run bonus conversions from time to time (last one being six months ago). This means you will earn significantly more Avios for your Tesco clubcard points if you convert during a bonus period making these deals more lucrative. Unfortunately there is no way to predict when a conversion bonus will start or how much bonus will be offered.

The Samsung Galaxy Note offers 7,200 Avios for £349 (1 Avios = 4.8 pence).

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 16GB offers 4,800 Avios for £249 (1 Avios = 5.2 pence).

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 8GB offers 2,400 Avios for £149 (1 Avios = 6.2 pence).

How much you value Avios depends on your redemption goal(s). I always suggest you work out what you want to redeem points for before you start to collect them. My personal valuation is 1 Avios equal to 1 pence. This makes this deal not worth it for me. However, if I wanted to buy a Samsung Tablet then I could view the Avios as a build-in discount. For example, if I bought the Samsung Galaxy Note I would see it as £349 – £72 (the value of the Avios to me) meaning its actual cost is £277.

If you were super serious at collecting Avios then you could look into the buying and reselling route. This is where you buy the product and immediately resell on an auction site, such as eBay. You need to calculate the probable resell costs, such as listing fees and postage. Then determine whether the amount you will recoup through the resale minus the additional resell fees will offset the initial outlay plus the Avios earned. This is very complicated and requires significant upfront funding and involves a high degree of risk. I do not condone this behaviour and do not participate in it myself.

Don’t forget to check TopCashBack and Quidco (see my referrals link on both sides of this page – if you sign up through my link I will earn a commission once you earn a certain amount of cashback) to see if there are any additional cashback deals available for Tesco Direct.

7,200 Avios for Samsung Galaxy Tablet

Free Three-Month National Art Pass!

The Telegraph is offering a free three-month National Art Pass. Sign up via this link. You only need to provide your name and address. No credit card details are required. The pass will expire after three months at which point you could chose to take out a paid membership but there is no obligation to do so.

The National Art Pass grants fee entry to more than 200 art galleries, museums, historic houses and castles across the United Kingdom that would usually charge an entry fee. It also gives half-price entry to major exhibitions, including at the British Museum, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Tate and the Victoria & Albert Museum. The National Art Pass is run by the Art Fund, which raises money to help UK  museums and galleries.

This offer is available on a single or double basis (both adults must live at same address) The passes will be sent to you in the post within 10 working days. They will be valid until 31 July 2013.

Remember you do not have to enter any card details to take advantage of this offer. It is completely free!

Visit www.artfund.org/telegraph and register your details before midnight on Friday 12 April 2013.

This offer is only valid for UK residents aged 18 or over. It is not available to current National Art Pass holders. There is a limit of one free pass per household and per email address.

 

Free Three-Month National Art Pass!

480 Bonus Avios for Furby Party Rockers

Tesco Direct are offering 200 bonus Tesco Clubcard points when you buy a £20 Furby Party Rocker toy. There are a choice of four Furby Party Rockers; purple, dark blue, light blue and pink. Tesco Clubcard points can be converted into Avios at a standard ratio of 1 Clubcard point is equal to 2.4 Avios. Tesco have regular bonus conversion periods which can increase this ratio significantly.

£20 Furby Party Rocker = 2 Clubcard points plus 200 bonus = 202 Clubcard points

202 Clubcard points = 484 Avios = £20

1 Avios = 4.1 pence

This is not worth doing for the Avios but useful if you want to buy a Furby Party Rocker toy already.  If you value Avios at one pence each point then the bonus points are equal to a £4.80 discount.

480 Bonus Avios for Furby Party Rockers

Free & Instant Platinum Status with Le Club Accorhotels! Act Now!

Another public link has been found by Loyalty Lobby offering instant Le Club Accorhotels Platinum status. You need to stay over 60 nights at Le Club Accorhotels to earn Platinum status the normal way. If you sign up via this link then you will automatically be granted Platinum status. There is no need to even stay one night!

Le Club Accorhotels is the loyalty program for a brand of hotels.

• Sofitel


• Pullman


• MGallery


• Novotel


• Suite Novotel


• Mercure


• ibis


• hotelF1


• Thalassa sea & spa

Platinum status offers the following benefits:

• Double Le Club points for each stay


• Room upgrade  - if available


• 4pm checkout – if available


• Complimentary drink


• Complimentary welcome gift


• Priority check-in desk

None of those benefits are life-changing and you may have no intention of staying at a Le Club property but you should still sign up for Platinum status. Why? Because you can status match. This is the process of asking another hotel chain to “match” your status with Le Club in the hope of luring you away. If you have Platinum status then the other hotel chain thinks you are a regular hotel stayer and definitely the sort of client who’s loyalty is worth claiming. Some hotel chains will instantly match you to their equivalent status (Club Carlson, for example) or they may ask you to complete a challenge, such as stay 5 times within 90 days (Starwood, for example). Either way, once you have status with one hotel loyalty program it is much easier to acquire status with other hotel loyalty programs.

If you do want to take advantage of this link then act now! These public links do not last very long. If the link is already dead when you read this do not despair too much. These links tend to appear every 3-4 months and be assured I will let you know as soon as another link is available.

 

 

Free & Instant Platinum Status with Le Club Accorhotels! Act Now!

New 30,000 Points Bonus for American Express Platinum

 

American Express Platinum

Card Type:  American Express Charge Card

Issuer:  American Express

Sign-Up Bonus:   30,000

If you are referred by an existing American Express Cardholder the bonus rises to 35,000 membership points. Email me at email@georgethetravelmonkey.com if you want a referral. You cannot receive cashback and a referral. You must decide which is the better offer for you. I will earn 18,000 membership reward points.

Spending Requirement: £2,000 within first 3 months

Annual Fee:   £450

Points-Earning Ability:

•  1 membership point earned per £1 spent
  

Cash-Back:  offers £50.10 and  offers £50

Additional Benefits:

• Complimentary access to over 1,000 airport lounges


• Comprehensive travel insurance


• 24/7 Platinum Global Assist


• Elite tier membership with Starwood, Accor, Carlson, Hertz and Avis

T&Cs:

• Sign up miles not available to those who have held any American Express Charge Cards in the past 6 months.


• Household income requirement of £40,000

Review:

American Express membership points can be converted into Avios, Virgin Atlantic, Club Carlson, Hilton HHonors, Starwood Preferred Guest, and a few more airline and hotel partners. Therefore they are very useful for both their versatility and, if American Express run one of their occasional transfer bonuses, their value.

This card has a quite staggering £450 annual fee. On the plus side, the card comes with travel insurance for you and your family, free priority pass membership for worldwide airport lounge access, and elite status at various hotel and car rental companies. These benefits are only really useful if you travel frequently. You won’t find a more complete list of travel benefits than the American Express Platinum card.

30,00 Membership Rewards is a good sign up bonus. However, in the recent past it has been as high as 50,000 and as low as zero. So, whether 30,000 is enough points for you to pull the trigger on an application depends on whether you can wait and if you like a bit of gamble. Because there is no way to know whether the next sign up bonus will be higher or dramatically lower. I would value 30,000 membership points are around £300 but as always before you commit to a loyalty scheme know what you want to use the points for and how much you personally value those points.

American Express Platinum

 

If you haven´t already then you can Join Top CashBack. I will receive a £10 referral credit after you have earned £10 cashback through TopCashBack. Alternatively, you can have a friend recommend you through their TopCashBack account. There is no fee for using TopCashBack.

If you haven´t already then you can Join Quidco. I will receive a £2.50 referral credit after you have earned £5 cashback through the Quidco. You can also have a friend recommend you through their Quidco account. Quidco take the first £5 cashback you earn through their website each year as a fee. There is no fee if you have not earned at least £5 cashback.

New 30,000 Points Bonus for American Express Platinum

March Flash Sale at GHA Discovery Hotels - Up to 40% Off

Global Hotel Allince (GHA) is an upmarket family of hotels is having a March Flash Sale for the next 3 days. Most hotels are available at a 20% discount to their Best Available Rate with a few hotels offering a much larger discount.

Here is a list of GHA hotels:

• Anantara Hotels & Resorts


• The Doyle Collection


• First Hotels


• Kempinski Hotels


• The Leela Hotels, Palaces and Resorts


• Lungarno Collection


• Marco Polo Hotels


• Mokara Hotels & Spas


• Omni Hotels & Resorts


• Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts


• ParkRoyal Hotels & Resorts


• Shaza Hotels


• Tangram Hotels


• Tivoli Hotels & Resorts

Use promotional code GHAFLASH0313.

If you were quick enough to grab free platinum status with GHA then this offer could be very attractive.

March Flash Sale at GHA Discovery Hotels - Up to 40% Off

Free £10 Voucher for any UK Rail Travel

You earn the free £10 voucher just visit http://www.redspottedhanky.com/telegraph  and enter code  GjATel13 under the Personal Details page in the Sunday Telegraph section then click update. You should recieve a confirmation email within 72 hours.

You will earn a free £10 voucher that can be used for any UK rail travel, including Heathrow Express, but excluding Eurostar. There are no limits on this deal other than you must use it by 22 September 2013. There is no minimum spend or time restrictions. This is an excellent deal. There is a limited 30,000 vouchers available so register yourself now. If you haven’t got a redspottedhanky then simply register for an account and the Sunday Telegraph section appears on the registration page.

RedSpottedHanky is also a Tesco Clubcard partner. £10 Tesco Clubcard voucher can be converted into £20 RedSpottedHanky voucher to be used on any UK train travel.

You can also earn cashback through Quidco at 2% (for the next 12 hours) and TopCashBack at 1.51% (ends tomorrow)

Free £10 Voucher for any UK Rail Travel

Double Miles on Every Virgin Atlantic Little Red Flight

Virgin Atlantic have launched Virgin Atlantic Little Red, their UK domestic service offering flights from Manchester, Edinburgh and Aberdeen to London and back the other way. It is designed to connect the UK outer regions with their London transatlantic service and compete directly with British Airways after their takeover of BMI.

The flights will launch on 31 March in Manchester, 5 April in Edinburgh and 9 April in Aberdeen, with 26 flights per day between London Heathrow and the new destinations.

Virgin Atlantic have a loyalty program called Flying Club. Flying Club members will earn double miles on every Virgin Atlantic Little Red flight taken between 31 March 2013 and 30 June 2013. Full details are available here.

If you are not yet a member, you can join Virgin Atlantic Flying Club for free.

I can refer you to Virgin’s Flying Club. You will receive 3,000 bonus miles when you take your first flight with Virgin Atlantic. Please email me at email@georgethetravelmonkey.com. For full disclosure, I will receive 2,000 bonus miles if you fly economy class, 5,000 bonus miles if you fly premium economy and 10,000 miles if you fly upper class. Full details can be found here.

Or alternatively you can join the Flying Club without a referral and earn 1,500 bonus miles when you fly on a Little Red flight before 30 June 2013. Click here for further details.

To understand the value of Virgin Flying Club miles you can play about with the Flying Club calculator.

A quick example, an economy redemption return between London to New York costs 35,000 miles plus £300 odd in taxes and charges.

Double Miles on Every Virgin Atlantic Little Red Flight

Earn 1,000 Bonus Starwood Starpoints on Sheraton Club Stays

Book a Sheraton Club level room before 31 May 2013 and earn 1,000 Bonus Starwood Starpoints per stay.

A Club Level room offers:

• Complimentary breakfast


• Complimentary internet access


• Refreshments through the day

Sheraton is part the Starwood family of hotels. Starwood has a loyalty program called Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) and the currency is Starpoints.

The Starwood hotel family includes the following brands:

• Sheraton


• Meridien


• Loft


• The Luxury Collection


• Westin


• Four Points


• St Regis


• W Hotels

You can also earn Starpoints through their UK American Express credit card. I have further details here.

Starwood Preferred Guest has 7 categories of hotel.

At the lowest end, a category 1 hotel costs 2,000 Starpoints for a free weekend night and 3,000 Starpoints for a free night during the week.  The Four Points by Sheraton in Zagreb, Croatia is an example of a category 1 hotel.

At the highest end, a category 7 hotel costs 35,000 Starpoints for a free night in a standard room in high season. The W Hotel in Paris, France is an example of a category 7 hotel.

Starwood also recently launched a tie-up with Delta Airlines offering reciprocal status benefits. If you have status with Starwood you receive status benefits with Delta and vice versa. If you are an American Express Platinum cardmember then you have automatic Gold status with the Starwood Preferred Guest program. Further details and how to register can be found here.

Earn 1,000 Bonus Starwood Starpoints on Sheraton Club Stays

Hilton HHonors will launch a new promotion called The Daily Grand Promotion. It will start on 1 April 2013 and finish on 30 June 2013.

Each weeknight will earn 1000 bonus points and each weekend will earn 2000 bonus points for weekend nights.  There is no limit to the total amount of Bonus Points earned during the Promotion Period.

A weekend night is defined as Friday, Saturday and Sunday unless you are staying in a hotel in Middle East and Egypt where it is defined as Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

All Hilton hotels will participate in this promotion.

The Hilton Brands are:

•  Waldorf Astoria


• Conrad


• Hilton


• Doubletree


• Embassy


• Hilton Garden Inn


• Hampton Inn


• Homewood Suites


• Home2 Suites


• Hilton Grand Vacations

You must register for the promotion prior to your first check-in. You can register here.

Bonus Points earned on Base Points do not count toward tier qualification and it could take up to six to eight weeks from completion of your stay for points to appear in your HHonors account.

I have not focused on hotel reward programs on this blog but I will look to do a spotlight on the major programs over the coming weeks.

If you are not a member of Hilton HHonors, and perhaps more so if you are, you should be aware there has been a dramatic change in the program that many have seen as a change for the worse. Most top level awards for hotels in major cities such as New York and London have been substantially increased requiring many more Hilton HHonors points for a redemption. I would highly recommend investigating how you redeem any points before you consider investigating extra time, effort and money in a reward program. However, if you’ve got some stays already planned at Hilton branded hotels for the period this promotion covers then certainly sign up straight away and worry about redemptions later.

Buy any 2 HP Ink Cartridges and get 1,200 Avios

The Tesco Ink Cartridge deal is back!

The promotion is buy any 2 HP ink cartridges and earn 500 bonus Tesco Clubcard points. 500 Tesco Clubcard points can be converted into 1,200 Avios, at standard rate. There have been conversion bonuses in the past which increase the Avios value of Tesco Clubcard points. So, if you have no immediate need for Avios then always hold Tesco Clubcard vouchers and wait for a bonus.

The cheapest two options are HP 364 Printer Ink Cartridge – Yellow (CB320EE) and HP 364 Printer Ink Cartridge – Magenta which both cost £7.99.

£15.98 for 1,200 Avios (1 Avios = 1.3 pence)

There is free delivery for any order above £10.

This is above my Avios valuation of 1 Avios = 1 pence. However, if you have a specific redemption goal in mind where you can get higher value for your Avios then you effectively buying them at a discount. You may be able to resell the cartridges on eBay and recoup some of your outlay. You could even wait for a free listing offer for eBay to minimise your costs. The problem with the cheapest cartridges is they are unusual colours that may effect your ability to resell and the resale value.

The cheapest standard black ink cartridge is HP No.364 Photosmart (Black) Ink Cartridge (Yield 250 Pages) with Vivera Ink Blister for £9.50. £19.00 for 1,200 Avios (1 Avios = 1.6 pence)

If you chose this option you should have your resale strategy in place beforehand.

 

HT to FlyerTalk

Buy any 2 HP Ink Cartridges and get 1,200 Avios

384 Avios for Michael Buble's To Be Loved

Tesco Direct are offering an extra 150 Clubcard points for buying To Be Loved by Michael Buble for £10. There is free delivery for all DVDs, Blu-Rays and CDs.

160 Clubcard points (1o points for purchase with 150 bonus) = 384 Avios (1 Avios = 2.6 pence)

This is above my personal Avios valuation of 1 Avios = 1 pence. However, if you would like to pre-order this CD for yourself or as a gift then the Avios should be very welcome.

 

 offers 3.03% cashback 

 offer 3% cashback

384 Avios for Michael Buble's To Be Loved

£20 off your next Euro Traveller flight with British Airways

British Airways have joined with Lloyds TSB to offer £20 off an economy seat within Europe. There are, as always, a few restrictions to be aware of.

 

• You must book between 1 March and 12 April 2013


• Travel between 1 April and 30 June 2013


• There is a minimum spend requirement of £100 per person


• This promotion is valid for return flights only and both the outbound and inbound flights must be booked in the same booking


• The Promotional Code is valid from all UK airports but cannot be used for internal domestic flights, or on City Flyer. The promotion does not apply to travel on any BA franchisee or oneworld alliance airline, or any flight operated by a codeshare partner


• The following selling classes only are eligible for the discount Y,B,H,K,M,L,S,V,N,Q,O

 

This promotion is aimed at Lloyds TSB credit card customers with the code appearing on their customer’s bank statements. The term and conditions only state an “Eligible Participant” is a resident of the United Kingdom and aged 18 years or over. It does not appear to be an exclusive offer only for Lloyds TSB credit cardholders. So, if you are not, the code is LTSBMARZH.

 

Enter the promotional code here

 

You can check the lowest economy return fares for European flights with British Airways here.

From a quick search there are few options around the magic £100 minimum spend requirement.

 

• Amsterdam £106 return


• Catania £100 return


• Dublin £101 return


• Innsbuck £100 return


• Madrid £105 return

 

 offers 3.03% cashback for flights AND hotel

 offer 0.5% cashback for longhaul flights

HT to MilesMania

£20 off your next Euro Traveller flight with British Airways

10% Off British Airways Flights!

British Airways have launched a 10% discount spring offer for long-haul World Traveller (economy) and World Traveller Plus (premium economy) seats.

• Bookings must be made between 7 March 2013 and 18 March 2013


• Outbound travel must be between 16 April 2013 and 31 May 2013


• Booking must be made on British Airways metal


• Promotional is only valid for travel in World Traveller and World Traveller Plus


• This offer is only available to UK residents


• Flights must depart from the UK

You must enter promotional code UK-SPRING in the marked box on the price quote page of the booking form. The 10% discount should be applied straight away or an error message will appear to tell you why it can’t be applied (i.e. what you’re doing wrong).  offers 3.03% for flights AND hotel  offer 0.5% for longhaul flights hattip to frequentflyerbonuses

10% Off British Airways Flights!

Summer Series at Somerset House with American Express

As an American Express cardholder you may have received a promotional email which reads,

“From 12 March 2013, [American Express] Cardmembers can book tickets for one of this year’s must-see events of the festival season. Summer Series at Somerset House with American Express brings the most exciting and innovative artists to the spectacular courtyard of one of Britain’s most iconic open air venues.”

 

Here is the line up for Summer Series at Somerset House with American Express.

• Alex Clare


• Band of Horses


• Lianne La Havas


• Richard Hawley


• First Aid Kit


• Of Monsters and Men


• Tom Odell


• Jessie Ware


• Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros


• Goldfrapp


• Basement Jaxx

 

Tickets go on general sale on Friday 15 March 2013.

 

I have a post on the other benefits available to American Express cardholders here.

If you are not an American Express cardholder and are interested in becoming one then I have a list of American Express card reviews focused on their travel rewards benefits.

American Express Platinum

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

American Express Starwood Preferred Guest

British Airways Credit Card (no fee)

British Airways Premium Plus (with fee)

Lloyds TSB Duo Avios Credit Card

Lloyds TSB Premier Avios Duo

Summer Series at Somerset House with American Express

513 Avios for Monopoly Limited Edition!

Tesco Direct are offering 200 bonus Tesco Clubcard points when you buy Monopoly Limited Edition.

From the Tesco Direct website, “Monopoly fans around the world vote in early 2013 to introduce a brand new token into the game, and in return, retire one of the current, beloved tokens. Before this game-changing vote, and for a limited time only, Monopoly Limited edition is a special edition of the Monopoly game. It includes the 8 current tokens and the 5 potential new playing pieces, to make a unique Monopoly experience. Each token in Monopoly Limited edition, including 5 limited edition tokens, comes in a luxurious, gold colour. Age range 8 years+. Not suitable for children under 36 months.”

• Special edition of the Monopoly game that includes the eight current tokens and the five potential new playing pieces to make up a unique Monopoly experience


• 5 new limited Edition tokens


• Each token comes in a luxurious, gold colour

200 bonus Tesco Clubcard points can be converted at the standard rate to 480 Avios plus you earn 14 Clubcard points for the purchase itself making the final total 513 Avios. The cost of the product is £14.97, assuming you select the FREE click & collect option.

513 Avios for £14.97 equals (1 Avios = 2.9p)

This is above my valuation of Avios so from a points-earning perspective this is a bad deal. However, if you want the latest addition of Monopoly with the lovely new cat piece then it’s certainly something to consider. I would value the Avios earned from the purchase at around £5.13. So, you could consider the “real” price of this product as around £10.

 

 offers 2.02% cashback for gifts 

 offer 2% cashback for toys

 

 

513 Avios for Monopoly Limited Edition!

Luxury Easter and Summer Sale at British Airways

British Airways have launched a luxury Easter and Summer sale. It covers flights and holidays in Club Europe/Club World (Business class) and First Class. You must book by 12 March 2013. Flights available from UK airports: Aberdeen, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, London Heathrow, London City, Manchester and Newcastle. There are some important terms and conditions of the sale:

1. Bookings in Club Europe, Club World and First are non refundable, non changeable and non transferable


2. Travel to Europe is available for selected outbound travel dates between 23 March 2013 and 31 August 2013


3. Travel to Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City and Sao Paulo is available for selected outbound travel dates between 26 March 2013 and 6 April 2013, and 24 July 2013 and 31 August 2013


4. Travel to Abu Dhabi, Amman, Bahrain, Beirut, Doha, Dubai and Muscat is available for selected outbound travel dates between 23 March 2013 and 6 April 2013 and 1 June 2013 and 31 August 2013


5. Travel to all other destinations is available for selected outbound travel dates between 23 March 2013 and 6 April 2013 and 24 July 2013 and 31 August 2013


6. For travel in First and Club World to all longhaul destinations, the maximum length of stay is 6 weeks (42 days) from the date of outbound travel


7. All Club World and First bookings to Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City and Sao Paulo, must be made a minimum of 28 days before date of outbound departure


8. Stop-overs are not permitted


9. Regional connections to London are available from £149 return including taxes, fees and carrier charges for travel in Club World and First, and £135 return including taxes, fees and carrier charges for travel in Club Europe


10. Travel to Riyadh is not valid for Hajj/Umrah travel

 

Remember  offers 3.03% cashback for flights and holiday and  offer 3% cashback for flights and hotel and 0.5% cashback for long haul flights only

If you haven´t already then you can Join Top CashBack. I will receive a £10 referral credit after you have earned £10 cashback through TopCashBack. Alternatively, you can have a friend recommend you through their TopCashBack account. There is no fee for using TopCashBack.

If you haven´t already then you can Join Quidco. I will receive a £2.50 referral credit after you have earned £5 cashback through the Quidco. You can also have a friend recommend you through their Quidco account. Quidco take the first £5 cashback you earn through their website each year as a fee. There is no fee if you have not earned at least £5 cashback.

Luxury Easter and Summer Sale at British Airways

Foursquare Amex Offers - March 2013

Two new Foursquare American Express cashback offers have launched on 1 March 2013. They are:

Fenwick spend £50 get £25 back until end of March 2013

Debenhams spend £50 get £25 back until end of March 2013

Only the Pi a Hut and Shell offers remain active from February.

Visit my February post for more information on Foursquare and American Express.

Foursquare Amex Offers - March 2013

Credit Card Update - March 2013

I have updated my best travel credit card page to reflect recent changes in the sign up bonuses for the American Express Platinum, British Airways Premium Plus and British Airways Credit Card. Unfortunately all bonuses have reduced, with the American Express Platinum disappearing altogether.

Here is the new updated recommendations:

 

Best For Large Spenders with a Fee

British Airways Premium Plus

• 18,000 Avios after £3,000 spend within 3 months


• 
  2-4-1 companion voucher after £10,000 annual spend


• 1.5 Avios per £1


• £150 annual fee

 

Best for Large Spenders with no Fee

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

• 20,000 Membership Reward points after £2,000 spend within 3 months


• 2 points per £1 on travel, supermarket and foreign spending, with 1 points per £1 on everything else


• Annual fee waived for the first year, then £175 thereafter

 

Best for Lower Spenders with Fee

Priority Club Rewards Black Visa

• 20,000 Priority Club points after first purchase in 90 days


• 2 Priority Club points per £1 and 4 Priority Club points at IHG properties


• Instant Platinum status with Priority Club


• £99 annual fee

 

Best for Lower Spenders with no Fee

Hilton HHonors Platinum Visa

• Free night at Hilton Group property after £750 spend in 90 days


• Instant Silver status with Hilton HHonors


• Gold status with Hilton HHonors after £10,000 spend in a year


• 2 Hilton Hhonors points per £1

 

Best Overall Card

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

• 20,000 Membership Reward points after £2,000 spend within 3 months


• 2 points per £1 on travel, supermarket and foreign spending, with 1 points per £1 on everything else


• No annual fee for first year, then £175

 

I receive no commission for any credit card I discuss. I only provide information I believe to be correct and useful to the reader. If you wish me to refer you for either the American Express Platinum or Preferred Gold then email me at email@georgethetravelmonkey.com. I will receive American Express Membership Points for this referral but you will receive a higher sign up bonus. Always consider applying via or  as cashback can be worth more than a referral.

 

If you haven´t already then you can Join Top CashBack. I will receive a £10 referral credit after you have earned £10 cashback through TopCashBack. Alternatively, you can have a friend recommend you through their TopCashBack account. There is no fee for using TopCashBack.

If you haven´t already then you can Join Quidco. I will receive a £2.50 referral credit after you have earned £5 cashback through the Quidco. You can also have a friend recommend you through their Quidco account. Quidco take the first £5 cashback you earn through their website each year as a fee. There is no fee if you have not earned at least £5 cashback.

Credit Card Update - March 2013