Barclaycard Avios credit cards review

You can earn points without an American Express.

I’m an advocate of using a cashback or reward card for your spending, and most of the time the best bet is going to be an American Express credit card (at least for the welcome bonus) or the PayPal debit card.

But there are two credit cards from Barclaycard which might be worth a look if you want to earn airline points rather than money to your account.

Here’s how they work and my take on whether they’re worth getting.

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What are the Barclaycard Avios credit cards?

There are two cards available: a free version and a paid option. Both are Mastercards, and as mentioned will earn you Avios points, but at different rates.

New Barclaycard customers can get a welcome bonus if they spend a certain amount in the first three months, and there’s a rare increased boost to this until early January 2026 which also includes free Apple TV.

There’s also a cabin upgrade voucher for British Airways flights once you hit another spending level, which you can alternatively trade in for points.

You are able to request a supplementary card, meaning your household’s spending can all go towards hitting these thresholds.

Here’s more about each card, with analysis further down the article. Remember to use the eligibility checker first before making an application.

How much do you earn on spending?

Depending on the card you choose you’ll earn either 1 Avios or 1.5 Avios per £1 spent. It’s actually rounded up or down to the nearest full pound. So spend £1.49 and you’ll get points just for the first £1. Spend £1.51 and you’ll get points for a spend of £2.

These cards aren’t cashback cards. Instead you are earning Avios points, which are usually airline loyalty points. Though most commonly associated with British Airways, they can also be used on partner airlines such as Iberia, Quantas and Qatar. You can also swap them for hotel stays, car hire, wine and Nectar points.

Personally I like to compare them to other cashback cards with a “real world” redemption value. With Avios this involves switching them to Nectar points, and that puts one Avios at 0.5p Nectar.

So the free card will earn you the equivalent of 0.5% back on spending, the paid card will earn 0.75% back.

It’s hard to give a value to Avios points if you’re using them towards flights. The excellent Head for Points site say they’re worth roughly 1p, but this can vary massively and doesn’t always take into account extra charges levied on Avios earning cards.

How do the signup bonuses work?

As you’ll see from the tables above, the bonuses are rewarded once you hit certain spending thresholds in the first three months. If you spend even 1p less in that time you won’t get the bonus.

Eligibility

Though anyone can apply for these new cards, the welcome bonus is only for anyone who’s not had any Barclaycard in the last six months. This means existing cardholders will have to cancel their card and wait six months before applying. As mentioned earlier, always check your chances of acceptance first.

Value

If we use the 0.5p value for converting your Avios points to Nectar points, the bonuses are worth the following:

CARD	BONUS POINTS	ADDITIONAL POINTS EARNED ON QUALIFYING SPEND	TOTAL POINTS	VALUE AS NECTAR POINTS
Barclaycard Avios	5,000	1000	6000	£30
Barclaycard Avios Plus	25,000	4500	29,500	£147.50
Additional bonus on Plus card until January 2026	10,000	4500	14,500	£72.50

So with the temporarily boosted welcome offer, you’d receive £220 in Nectar points

However, don’t forget to factor in the fee on the Barclaycard Avios Plus. If you keep it for just three months then you’ll need to deduct £60. If you have it for six months for the extra bonus, that’s £120.

Though it’s worth bearing in mind you’d still receive all full total of points since the fee is paid separately.

Barclaycard Avios vs other cashback cards

So how does it compare to other cards? I’ve shared below how the bonus and ongoing earnings compare to other cashback.

Welcome bonuses compared

As you can see from the table below, the Barclaycard Avios has the edge over the similar British Airways Premium Plus Amex due to the slightly lower fee, though this makes little difference if you cancel after getting the bonus.

However when you factor in the fee in year one (even if you cancel after three months), the Amex Preferred Reward Gold card is the biggest earner from a welcome bonus.

However as I wrote recently, if you want to get multiple Amex welcome bonuses you might be better off with a different first card.

Card	Bonus	Fee
Barclaycard Avios Plus (Mastercard)	25,000 Avios points (worth £125 in Nectar points)	£240
British Airways Premium Plus American Express credit card	25,000 Avios points (worth £125 in Nectar points)	£250
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card	20,000 Amex Membership points (worth £100 in Nectar/gift cards)	£0 (£195 in year two)
Nectar American Express credit card	20,000 Nectar points (worth £100 in Nectar points)	£0 (£25 in year two)
American Express Cashback credit card	5% on first £2,500 spend (worth up to £125)	£30
Barclaycard Avios (Mastercard)	5,000 Avios points (worth £25 in Nectar points)	£0

Ongoing cashback compared

When it comes to ongoing cashback, though you earn more points from the Barclaycard Avios Plus (and BA Premium Plus Amex) than most other cards, it can be beaten. Plus you can’t ignore that annual fee.

With that in mind, I think the best one for ongoing cashback, after you’ve triggered any bonus, is the PayPal debit card.

Here’s more about the best cashback and reward credit cards.

Card	Issuer	Equivalent rate
PayPal debit	Mastercard	1%
Lloyds Ultra	Visa	1% in year one (then 0.25%)
Nectar American Express credit card	Amex	1% (2 Nectar per £1)
American Express Platinum Cashback credit card	Amex	0.75% (1.25% after £10k spend each year)
Barclaycard Avios Plus	Mastercard	0.75% (1.5 Avios per £1)
British Airways Premium Plus American Express credit card	Amex	0.75% (1.5 Avios per £1)
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card	Amex	0.5% – 0.75% (1 Amex Membership per £1 plus bonuses)
Barclaycard Avios	Mastercard	0.5% (1 Avios per £1)
Barclaycard Rewards	Visa	0.25%

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Mastercard vs Amex

But you’re probably thinking, isn’t the fact the cards are Mastercard a huge advantage over the American Express cards?

True, Mastercard-issued cards will be accepted in far more places than any Amex cards. This could mean it’s easier for you to meet the welcome bonus and earn more points along the way.

From that point of view, it’s easy to argue that the Barclaycard Avios cards are better choices. However, don’t forget that the PayPal’s debit card will pay 1% and that too is Mastercard.

Is the upgrade voucher worth it?

Of course, one reason you might consider keeping the card beyond the welcome bonus is the upgrade voucher.

If you spend above a set threshold every 12 months (starting when you opened the card) you’ll get a voucher that entitles you to pay the price of the cabin below you book with British Airways (so not technically an upgrade).

On the free card it’s a huge £20,000 spend to get the British Airways upgrade voucher, so it’s really not worth it However, it reduces to a £10,000 spend on the Plus card.

This spend would also earn you 15,000 points, which is the equivalent of £75 if converted to Nectar points. But factor in the £20 annual fee, and assuming it takes you 12 months to hit this spend, you’re actually laying out £165 in order to get the upgrade voucher.

So are these vouchers worth it? Potentially. It depends on where you are travelling and the cost of extra taxes you have to pay on top (you’ll pay taxes for the upgraded cabin, not the one below).

Short haul flights probably aren’t going to be worth it. Long haul maybe. But you also need to have enough Avios points to pay in full for your flight (you can’t part pay and use this voucher). So research how many you’d need for this.

And I’d also consider whether you’d actually be fine flying economy and having the choice of which airline you fly and when and having the points and money in Nectar points to spend as you wish. Or better still, use a higher paying cashback card that’s worth even more than those points.

I think for most people this isn’t going to be worth it, unless you are earning lots of Avios points and saving them for the intention of flying. Obviously do the maths for your own spending.