Which of the FIVE special credit card sign-up bonuses currently available should you get?

It is very rare that we see as many credit and charge cards running ‘special’ sign-up bonuses at once as we see at the moment.

Whilst this is great news for you, it is also easy to get confused about what is available. I thought I’d do a quick summary today of the current offers and the closing dates.

For more information on how each card works and the benefits it brings, click through to our full review. This article purely looks at the sign-up bonuses.

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

What’s the deal? The sign-up bonus is increased to 50,000 Avios from 25,000 Avios

What do I need to spend? £3,000 in 90 days

When does the deal end?  30th May

What is the card fee? £20 per month, you can cancel at any point

Do I qualify for the bonus? You cannot have had either of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards in the past 24 months. Supplementary cards are OK. You cannot have had any other personal Barclaycard credit card in the past six months. Business cards are OK.

The representative APR is 80.1% APR variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 29.9% variable.

Our full Barclaycard Avios Plus credit card review is here.

You can apply here.

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

What’s the deal? The sign-up bonus is increased to 10,000 Avios from 5,000 Avios

What do I need to spend? £1,000 in 90 days

When does the deal end?  30th May

What is the card fee? The card is free

Do I qualify for the bonus? You cannot have had either of the Barclaycard Avios credit cards in the past 24 months. Supplementary cards are OK. You cannot have had any other personal Barclaycard credit card in the past six months. Business cards are OK.

The representative APR is 29.9% variable.

Our full Barclaycard Avios credit card review is here.

You can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

What’s the deal? The sign-up bonus is increased to 60,000 Membership Rewards points from 30,000 Membership Rewards points. These convert to Avios at 1:1 and to many other airline and hotel schemes. You also receive £200 to spend at Amex Travel.

What do I need to spend? £6,000 in six months

When does the deal end? 13th June

What is the card fee? £575, refundable pro-rata if you cancel

Do I qualify for the bonus? You cannot have had a personal Gold or Platinum American Express card in the past 24 months, or any other niche personal Amex card which also gives Membership Rewards points. Business cards and supplementary cards are OK. British Airways, Nectar and Marriott Bonvoy cards are OK. For clarity, having a British Airways American Express does NOT disqualify you.

The representative APR is 694.9% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 30.0% variable.

Our full Amex Platinum review is here.

You can apply here.

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

What’s the deal? The sign-up bonus is increased to 30,000 Virgin Points from 15,000 Virgin Points

What do I need to spend? You receive 15,000 Virgin Points with your first purchase and a further 15,000 Virgin Points when you spend £3,000 in 90 days

When does the deal end? 13th June

What is the card fee? £160 – this is a sunk cost which is not partially refunded if you cancel

Do I qualify for the bonus? You cannot have had a Virgin Atlantic-issued credit card in the previous six months. Supplementary cards are OK. Other Virgin Money cards are OK.

The representative APR is 69.7% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 26.9% variable.

Our full Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard review is here.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express card

What’s the deal? The sign-up bonus is increased to 40,000 Marriott Bonvoy points from 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. You will also receive a voucher for a free night at any Marriott Bonvoy hotel costing up to 25,000 points.

What do I need to spend? £3,000 in 90 days

When does the deal end? 30th May

What is the card fee? £75, refundable pro-rata if you cancel

Do I qualify for the bonus? You cannot have had a personal American Express card in the past 24 months. Business cards and supplementary cards are OK.

The representative APR is 53.7% variable, including the annual fee.  The representative APR on purchases is 30.0% variable.

Our full Marriott Bonvoy American Express review is here.

You can apply here.

Conclusion

There is a lot of choice here, which doesn’t always make things easy.

Study the rules carefully to see what you can get:

• If you have only had British Airways American Express cards from Amex in the past, you should qualify for 60,000 points bonus on The Platinum Card

• If you have never had a Barclaycard Avios card, and have not had any sort of Barclaycard in the past six months, you will qualify for the 50,000 Avios bonus on the Barclaycard Avios Plus card (or the 10,000 Avios bonus on the free Barclaycard Avios card – but the 50,000 Avios on Plus makes more sense)

• If you are totally maxed on the American Express and Barclaycard bonuses you can get, take a look at Virgin Atlantic Reward+. As a Mastercard, this is a good partner card to use alongside your American Express. Virgin Atlantic’s recent entry into SkyTeam gives you many new options for using your miles.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2025 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In 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:

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

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.

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers: