Marks & Spencer's card question

sondheimsoc

Hi
After looking at MSE for ideas, I have been thinking about taking out an M & S credit card. I see on their site that for £10 a month you can join their Premium Club; I wondered if anyone knew about it or had a view on the value of doing that?
Thanks
Lynne

never-in-doubt

lynnechapman wrote: »

Hi
After looking at MSE for ideas, I have been thinking about taking out an M & S credit card. I see on their site that for £10 a month you can join their Premium Club; I wondered if anyone knew about it or had a view on the value of doing that?
Thanks
Lynne

Haven't got any experience but read these - interesting!

1. http://money.marksandspencer.com/premium-club/more-information/

2. http://money.marksandspencer.com/pdf/premiumclubtandcs.pdf

3. http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/bargains-and-rip-offs/article.html?in_article_id=487043&in_page_id=5

Hope that sheds some light on things for you - link 3 is a goody :T

eponline

I think with things like this, it depends on your personal circumstances and how likely you are to use the benefits. I actually signed up for this as it makes perfect sense value wise to me.

The travel insurance more than meets my needs and is something I would have bought anyway.

The drinks vouchers are acually pretty good - you get 10 pounds a month worth of drinks, so if there's an M&S near you this pretty much pays for itself - I give some of the vouchers to my wife too as anyone can actually use them.

And I was actually pretty impressed with the first 'gift' they sent me, which was a nice pair of sunglasses which I think sell for about 15 pounds in the shop.

Personally I'd rather sign up for something like this where I actually get some enjoyment from the benefits, over the packaged bank accounts out there which also offer travel insurance - most of the benefits of those accounts tend to be a bit naff in my personal view - oh and this is cheaper too!

unitebizfk

yeah, i signed up and it actually performs well by now i think, but the still depends on your specific situation.

katies_mum

I`ve just been sent an e`mail about this and it looks pretty good. Can anyone please tell me about the Travel Insurance Excess (we normally pay for nil excess on our Annual Policies and went with Insure and Go last year as M & S were too expensive to continue with - if its about £50 or so then it would be worth it for us to do this). Also the drinks vouchers sound great as it costs a fortune on a Saturday for us all to `do coffee`.
Thanks to anyone who can help

[Deleted User]

Considering their travel insurance costs around £85 for the year, and the "Premium Club" costs £120 for the year, the ultimate questions are:

1) Were you going to buy worldwide multi-trip travel insurance anyway? (Or maybe you could buy the insurance cheaper elsewhere...)
2) Are the other benefits (some M&S cafe coupons and a pair of sunglasses) worth £35 a year to you?

I reckon, for most people, it's a snobbery thing. "I'm in the premium club..." - like people who hold "gold" storecards - which is of course just a way to make their customers think they're special so they spend more.

Lemoncurd

I've just received an email about this and think we'd at least cover costs with it.

How do the drinks vouchers work?
We probably spend £10+ a month in M&S cafes but never spend £2.50 on a single drink - presumably you wouldn't get £2.50 off your entire purchase, do they just deduct the price of one drink?

We'd make use of the travel insurance.

What other 'treats' have people received?

My husband is actually the cardholder but intends to get an extra card for me so I don't have to keep dragging him to M&S every time we want to buy something. Would the triple points still work on an additional card on the same account?

jmj_3

Although a regular M&S customer, I dithered about joining their premium club. It seemed rather expensive at £15p.c.m. (£180 p.a.) for slightly vague benefits. I think the answer is, only join if you will recoup the cost of the subscription.

The benefits are:
48 vouchers (worth approx. £2.50) to get a free hot drink (Only be influenced by this if you do actually have a tea/coffee when you go to M&S normally so the savings will offset membership costs)

Triple points on purchases using your M&S credit card - again consider how much you spend on this card. Maybe track how much you received in rewards in last 12 months & calculate what you would have received as a premuim club member.

Free travel insurance - this was the main reason I joined, but do check how much you'd be paying for equivalent insurance & also check that insurance suits your purposes. No benefit if you already have this provided on your bank account etc.

On my birthday I got a £10 off voucher to use against a puchase from Per Una (or male equivalent) + voucher to get afternoon tea for two (2 cups of tea, 2 scones with jam & cream + a pack of sandwiches). This would be a nice treat for most people but I'm actually not a fan of scones & my friend is on a gluten free diet - so it wasn't the 'special treat' it should have been. This probably highlights the main problem with the card... the gifts/benefits are only excellent if they suit you.

In the summer I got £10 voucher to use towards beach stuff. ( I paid £5 to get £15 beach towel...although I didn't really need this... so it possibly encourages you to spend money you wouldn't otherwise!) You've got to remember you're paying £15p.c.m.for this 'free gift'.

I've now got 2 x £10 vouchers to use against clothing or homeware. I won't have any problems using these by end of October, but doubt I would have bought any items in M&S at the moment, so again it will be nice to go & choose something, but I'll only be doing it because I don't won't to fofeit these vouchers.

On balance, I'm not sure it has proved to be value for money for me personally, but if you regularly go to the M&S cafe for tea & coffee or spend a lot in M&S on your M&S credit card, worth considering.