The best Air Mile credit cards
An air mile reward credit card can help you cut the cost of a holiday.
Whenever you spend on the card you rack up miles or points associated with certain frequent flyer reward schemes.
These can then be converted into free flights (with just the taxes and charges to pay on top), upgrades or other useful holiday discounts on things like hotels or car hire.
British Airways Executive Club members, for example, need to build up Avios, while Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club members need to earn Flying Club Miles to bag discounts with the airline.
A good way to boost your points total is with an an air mile reward credit card. We've rounded up the best available right now.
British Airways American Express
The British Airways American Express is a card that allows you to build up Avios.
With it you can earn one Avios for every £1 you spend. As a bonus offer you can get 9,000 Avios when you spend £1,000 within the first three months of taking the card out.
Plus each year you are able to spend £20,000 you will get a companion voucher, which will be valid for 12 months. You just have to pay the taxes and fees for each ticket on top.
If you like the sound of this one you will need to have a household income of £20,000 and no history of bad debt to apply.
The representative APR on this card is 15.9%.
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
For an annual fee of £150 you can get much more with the British Airways American Express Premium Plus.
Premium cardholders can earn 1.5 Avios for every £1 spend on the card. That's 50% more than the fee-free British Airways American Express credit card offers.
The Premium card also enables you to rack up three Avios for every £1 spend with British Airways or BA Holidays.
As an introductory offer you get a huge 25,000 bonus Avios when you spend £3,000 in your first three months with the card.
Plus you can get a complimentary companion ticket if you spend £10,000 or more each year, which is valid for 24 months.
But again you will need to have a household income of £20,000 and no history of bad debt to apply.
The representative APR for the Premium is a whopping 56.4%.
Flybe
Flybe has revamped its credit card offering with the launch of its new Spend&Fly loyalty programme. When you reach certain spending thresholds, you qualify for a different class of free flight.
Sepnd £4,000 and you get a Just Fly or Get More return flight within the UK, £5,500 and an All In return flight within the UK, £6,000 and you get a Just Fly or Get More return flight within the EU or £7,500 for an All In European return flight.
Other perks of the card include discounts on airport parking, 10% off Avis car rental, commission-free travel money and exclusive discounts on hotels.
The representative APR with the Flybe card is 18.9%.
Lloyds Bank Avios Rewards
Another way to collect Avios is with the Lloyds Bank Avios Rewards cards. You get two cards, a MasterCard and an American Express. You get 1.25 Avios for every £5 spent on the MasterCard and for every £1 spent on the American Express.
You also get double Avios on all spending on the American Express in the first six months.
If you manage to spend £7,000 on the cards in a single year you'll get a flight upgrade voucher too.
However there is a £24 annual fee to consider. The representative APR is 23.7%.
TSB Avios Credit Card
TSB also offers the chance to collect Avios in the form of its Avios Credit Card.
As with Lloyds, you actually get two cards. You earn one Avios for every £5 spent on the MasterCard or for every £1 spent on the American Express.
The representative APR is 17.9%.
Virgin Atlantic White
Virgin Atlantic's White Credit Card Account is a fee-free air mile reward account that comes with one American Express card and one Visa card.
You earn one Flying Club Mile for every £1 spend on the Amex card and one Flying Club Mile for every £2 spend on the Visa.
With your first card purchase, you'll get a bonus of 3,000 Flying Club Miles.
Flying Club Miles can be used to get money off or free Virgin Atlantic flights (plus taxes and charges), cabin upgrades (which is where the account really comes into its own) and companion tickets.
The representative APR on the account is 17.9%.
Virgin Atlantic Black
The Virgin Atlantic Black Credit Card Account offers double the benefits for an annual fee of £140.
With this account you get two Flying Club Miles for every £1 spent on the Amex and one Flying Club Mile for every £1 spent on the Visa.
As soon as you make a purchase on either of the cards you will get 18,500 Flying Club Miles.
The representative APR is 52%.
Etihad Guest
If you're a regular flyer with Abu Dhabi's national airline, Etihad Airways, the Etihad Guest Credit Card Account (powered by MBNA) could be rewarding.
The account comes with an Amex and a Visa card to rack up points with.
You can earn 1.5 Etihad Guest Miles for every £1 spend on the Amex and 1.5 for every £2 spend on the Visa.
The cards can collect triple Etihad Guest Miles when you purchase first class Etihad flights or double them up when you purchase a business class Etihad flight during the first three months.
You get 5,000 bonus miles when you make a purchase within the first 30 days, another 5,000 miles when you spend £1,000 on the card within 60 days and a further 10,000 miles when you spend £4,000 within 180 days of taking out the card.
The representative APR is 18.9%.
Emirates Skyward
Emirates has a similar reward scheme to Etihad and there are two sets of credit cards that allow you to collect Skywards Miles. The fee-free option is the Emirates Skywards cards.
Again, you get an Amex and a Visa, with one Skywards Mile for every £1 spent on the Amex and one for every £2 spent on the Visa.
You'll earn 5,000 Miles with your first purchase and a further 7,000 Miles if you spend £1,000 on the card in the first 90 days.
The representative APR is 17.9%.
American Airlines Advantage
If you frequently fly transatlantic, then American Airlines' fee-free AAdvantage Amex and Visa combo might help.
You earn 1.5 Advantage Mile for every £1 spent on the Amex and 1.5 for every £2 spent on the Visa.
You'll earn 5,000 Miles with your first purchase. You get a further 10,000 Miles if you spend £1,500 in the first 90 days with the card.
The representative APR is 17.9%.
Compare air miles credit cards
This article is regularly updated with the latest deals.
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