Which CCs to ditch?

poddle911

Hi all,

Just seen a similar thread and thought I'd seek some advice about my situation:

My partner and I have around £16k of credit card which we've been bouncing around between our cards. Currently most of it is on his (his choice!) and I'd like to tidy up my credit rating a bit.

I've worked out I have about £22k available credit, excluding overdrafts (with an equivalent salary) as follows:

Barclaycard limit 2000
Natwest Classic limit 4500
Capital One limit 2000 / balance of £1000 @ 0% until Aug 2010
Sainsburys limit 5000 (purchase rate 11.9%)
Tesco limit 3000 / balance £2800 @ 0% until July 2010
Virgin limit 5900 / balance £1000 @ 0.9% until June 2010

I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by closing down cards and not being able to transfer balances when my promotional rates end, so I'd be grateful if anyone has advice on which providers tend to offer repeat promotions etc

I'm not planning to apply for any credit in the foreseeable future (have mortgage, mobile phone and car insurance in place too) so should I just keep them all and hold out for some good deals?

Thanks in advance!

Any

I am not aware of NatWets giving any good repeat deals.
Also do you have the Sainsburys one for extra points because you shop there for points or just for the sake of it?

What is the Barclaycard for? Which one is it? What is the interest like? Not too sure about Barclaycard...

Once the Virgin is paid off keep that one. They have constantly some repeat deals.

Tesco - I have it for 2 years now and never got any repeat offer from them. But do you have it for points? (I do).

poddle911

Thanks Any, I think I'd at least like to get rid of one - probably the NatWest although it's quite a high limit.

I like to have one to use for everyday spending so the Sainsbury's is good for that and interest isn't too bad (although I aim to pay off in full every month) and I do food shop at Sains.

I got the Tesco card for my hols as it was 0% on purchases for 12 months so great for flights and hotels etc

And as you say the Virgin is great for BTs, so maybe I'll keep them all except the NatWest - it's a start

Iand1

Hi All, Natwest gave me a repeat offer on Saturday of 6 months 0% with a 3% fee.

I didn't take them up on this, and told them I would ring back next month to see if there were any other offers, if not I will close the account and then reapply later if I need it.

CannyJock

poddle911 wrote: »

Barclaycard limit 2000
Natwest Classic limit 4500
Capital One limit 2000 / balance of £1000 @ 0% until Aug 2010
Sainsburys limit 5000 (purchase rate 11.9%)
Tesco limit 3000 / balance £2800 @ 0% until July 2010
Virgin limit 5900 / balance £1000 @ 0.9% until June 2010

Had a repeat deal with Natwest a while ago, currently looking for another one. Generally good experience with RBS cards, just got a 0% 12 month repeat on Ulster card earlier this month. Phone them each month and see what they say.

Barclaycard do existing customer LOB deals as a fall-back incase your June/July 0% promos end with nothing better.

Sainsbury's I'd cancel (HBOS) - normally people cancel and reapply for another card from the same stable. A decent 0% purchase card would net your more than the Nectar points (worth 1% on Sainsbury's spend and 0.1% elsewhere).

Virgin card (MBNA) is worth keeping after the 0% ends - possible repeat deals and option to transfer credit limit to another MBNA backed card.

poddle911

Thanks CannyJock, I hoped you'd reply - super helpful as usual. The only thing about Sainsbury's is that they do seem to offer good LOBs, but if I've got £2k available on Barclaycard then I should be okay. Good incentive to clear the rest before then!

Iand1 - Interesting about Natwest; last time I rang them they offered me 3.9% for 6 months plus 3% fee, no thanks!