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Apologies for application issues with Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

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Yesterday we ran three articles on the brand new, and very exciting, Barclaycard Avios Mastercard credit cards.

As soon as we’d published them, the Barclaycard application website collapsed. At the time of writing (10pm) it is still not fully functioning. It may or may not be working when you read this.

I’m sorry for the inconvenience. We are in close contact with Barclaycard and as soon as everything is good to go we will let you know.

HFP-Barclaycard-Avios-Plus-Card

Are you an existing Barclaycard holder?

In our article yesterday we said that existing Barclaycard holders would need to cancel their card and wait six months if they wanted the sign-up bonus on the new card.

It turns out that Barclaycard has a Plan B for existing cardholders which will go live in a few days. We should be able to share full details soon, but basically there will be a route which will allow you to get the Avios cards and receive a bonus. It will be a smaller bonus than the one given to new customers, but it will be better than nothing. We will run an article on this as soon as the process is live.

For everyone else …. we’ll let you know as soon as applications are open.

If you want to try again now, in case it got fixed overnight, you can apply for the free Barclaycard Avios credit card (5,000 Avios bonus) here. You can apply for the Barclaycard Avios Plus credit card (25,000 Avios bonus) here.

If you missed our content yesterday, the first of our three articles on the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards is here.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year 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.

Category

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Comments (291)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Manny_D says:
    1 Mar1 March 11:35

    Just swapped my existing Rewards card to the Avios card from the app. Seems the option is now live.

  • Philip says:
    1 Mar1 March 11:35

    Update: My email has arrived.

  • Whiskerxx says:
    1 Mar1 March 11:39

    Where is the upgrade article?

  • Robert says:
    1 Mar1 March 11:44

    May have missed it but it would be great if 1) the benefits of Mastercard WC Elite were covered off in an article, as I am not certain if this includes access to lounges on a paid for basis, or this includes free access to lounges with a guest for up to x-visits per annum. 2) is there a deadline to sign-up and receive the 25k avios bonus?

  • Johnny says:
    1 Mar1 March 11:49

    Im an existing barclaycard holder but when you go in the barclays app, you can actually change card type without affecting credit score/same credit limit. I was offered 1000 avios for 1K spend on the free card and 5000 avios for 3K spend on paid card. Still better than nothing. I wait for a week if the offer improves.

    • Daniel says:
      1 Mar1 March 11:57

      Oh wow you were actually able to do it in the app. I’ve been a Barclaycard customer for years £30k credit limit and all it displays is nothing to offer you.

    • SamG says:
      1 Mar1 March 11:58

      saw a comment from Rob that this is the deal (or cancel and wait 6 months)

    • Ian says:
      1 Mar1 March 12:00

      I’ve just been able to do it in the app. Three alternatives were offered, including both Avios cards.

    • Cranzle says:
      1 Mar1 March 12:25

      When switching from an existing Barclaycard, does it ask for any income declaration etc?

      • Ian says:
        1 Mar1 March 12:30

        No, there’s no application process as such, as your existing credit limit is retained.

  • James H says:
    1 Mar1 March 12:02

    I successfully applied for the Black card approx 0400 hrs this morning (1 March) on my way to work on the train. Application process was very quick and simple – no problems at all.

  • 2ilent8cho says:
    1 Mar1 March 12:26

    No options available when I go to change card on the app, annoying some can and some cannot.

    • Ian says:
      1 Mar1 March 12:36

      Maybe they’re releasing availability in batches to prevent their systems being overwhelmed again.

  • Russel says:
    1 Mar1 March 12:37

    A friend applied for the new Avios card. He is a UK resident but not UK national. He was told he would get an answer in 5 days. Do Barclaycard have an issue with non Uk nationals applying for cards even though he lives and works here?
    Thank you

    • Oliver says:
      1 Mar1 March 12:54

      I was in a similar situation like your friend when I applied my first Amex card years ago, they contacted me and wanted my proof of ID and address, but all other Amex cards I applied after, they would still show that, but no ID etc. requests anymore, card would just arrive in a few days. It depends on your friend’s credit file and information in the UK, it just means they need the team to do a manual check and decision.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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