Natwest Advantage Gold

Zideq

Having just opened a joint account at Natwest we were advised to open an Advantage Gold account because of the benefits package. Just wondering on peoples opinions of this account bearing in mind that it cost £12a month.

theclaud

All the Golden Advantages belong to Nat West, I'm afraid. £12 per month from the enormous amount of people who hold this lousy account is a lot of money. Get rid of it immediately, and either switch back to an ordinary current account, or read MSE's Current Accounts article and switch banks altogether...

Zideq

Could you explain why it is such a lousy account?

benjus

I got persuaded to change to one of these a few years ago, back when the charge as £6 per month (I think). Most (probably all) of the "benefits" are available for less elsewhere. For example, one of the few benefits I actually used was to get a year's extra warranty on electrical goods, but this is available on the Nationwide credit card for free.

When they put the charge up to £9 I switched back to a standard current account, then switched banks. I suggest you do the same.

GaryS

Just take a look at the "benefits" and see how many of them you will actually use for your £144 per year.

MBN

I used to have an Advantage Gold account too (£9 per month), and the only benefit was a cheaper plane ticket, which I once got through the Advantage Travel Service. After 4 months, I realised that, apart from the travel service, the other benefits were of no use to me, and I also heard about the 'refer a friend, get £40 each' offer from Lloyds, so I switched, and my husband and I got £40 each!

I think it really depends on your circumstances. If you travel and visit a lot, then the account may be the right option for you (they had some discounts - e.g. £10 off for a ticket to Woburn Safari, if I remember correctly). In my case, since I don't travel that much, I thought the 'advantages' were not worth £9 a month.

I've read somewhere on this forum that this account is good for those who want to get a mortgage (if you are an Advantage Gold customer, you get a better deal). I don't have a mortgage, therefore I can't comment on this.

I am really sorry that I cannot give you a clear cut advice. This account was no good for me, but it could be perfect for you. It's up to you to decide.

amandathepanda

You get free 5 star travel insurance, mobile phone cover,commission free travel cheques and currency,discounted personal loans and home insurance,discounted holidays. The best thing to do is go through the pack that you will receive and weigh up the benefits against the cost, I use it mainly for the travel insurance which is good.
You can try it and if you don't like it there is a 90 day money back guarantee.

lisyloo

As others have said you need to weigh up the cost of the benefits you would be likely to use and see whether it's worth it.

Personally I have never gone for these because (for example) my employer provides a free travel insurance policy (because we travel a lot at work).
So in my case it wouldn't be worth it.

My feeling is for many people it's not worth it because they forget and might (for example) get another travel policy anyway.

But you have to work it out for your own personal situation.

Are you going to use the benefits or are you a disorganised person who will put it in the draw and forget you've got it.

For some people the advantages can be large (like elderly people for whom travel insurance is expensive) but it's entirely individual so I'm afraid you have to weigh it up yourself.