Card Loyalty and 'prestige'

Stompa

Fahim wrote:

The Virgin Atlantic Black American Express card looks GORGEOUS!!! I will apply for that card after a couple of months....only downside is £115 annual fee.

A card would have to have some very serious benefits to justify paying a fee.

Phil

Jags wrote:

I work in the luxury car trade, and have seen the vastly improved level of customer service this bank gives, as many customers simply hand you the card in payment for their new £75k car, and you do need to be seriously wealthy before they would invite you to apply. If it's good enough for the Queen of England...

You get a nice free diary too, with pages that take ink well so you can write on them with your fountain pen, though the new one comes with a biro...

Stompa

Phil wrote:

You get a nice free diary too, with pages that take ink well so you can write on them with your fountain pen, though the new one comes with a biro...

If you try plugging some values in here:

https://www.coutts.com/secure/step1b.asp

it doesn't look as if you have to be particularly rich to be considered as a client - though of course that's not the same as being accepted.

Keeval

Fahim wrote:

The Virgin Atlantic Black American Express card looks GORGEOUS!!! I will apply for that card after a couple of months....only downside is £115 annual fee.

OMG - have you seen the APR!!

Virgin Atlantic
Rates

Then of course, there's the introductory balance transfer rate of 0% p.a. for 6 months from the date your account is opened (2% handling fee applies), and 18.9% p.a. (variable) on card purchases, with a typical rate of 37.1% APR (variable).

Fahim_2

Thats considering the annual fee...

amcluesent

>you have to be particularly rich to be considered as a client<

£100K minimum income before the web-site thinks you might be worthy.

tomstickland

I apply and use cards based on their properties. What they look like is of no great interest to me.
To use a bad card because it looks good strikes me as a bit pathetic.

There was a poster on another forum who started a thread along the lines of "I want an interesting looking credit card". So maybe some people get all excited about unimportant details.

I know an attitude of wishing to impress by having a presitgious card is pathetic and plays right into the credit card companys hands but its a tough habit to break, the same as wishing to have a decent mobile phone on a contract not PAYG etc.

This is why people like myself are in debt, low self esteem maybe.

Personally I don't care what people who think these things are important think because I don't think they're important.

I use whatever card suits my needs and I use a cheap PAYG phone which I really like. My disposable income is high enough that I could buy some stupid expensive phone, but what happens if I lose it, plus it really won't make my life any better.

CopperPlate_2

tomstickland wrote:

Personally I don't care what people who think these things are important think because I don't think they're important.

I had to re-read this about three times before I understood it. Sorry, it's getting late and I really should be in my bed...

I have to say I like the poster who, on another thread, said they used the ASDA credit card in John Lewis and the John Lewis credit card in ASDA. A sort of reverse snobbery there

Stompa

amcluesent wrote:

£100K minimum income before the web-site thinks you might be worthy.

Not true.

Annual income: £0-25k
Liquid assets: £200k-300k
Fixed assets: £0-1m

gets you past the first hurdle.

MoneyMagnet

I don't care what my card looks like - I'm more interested in how much money it can save/make me. (Although I do quite like the sound of that pink & lilac one that was mentioned - my favourite colours! )

tomstickland wrote:

Personally I don't care what people who think these things are important think because I don't think they're important.

Agreed!