Stoozing for gifts?

[Deleted User]

I had a look at this forum and the blog that Martin did that went with it, which led me to think about the free gifts that come with opening a credit card.

I had a look on Money Supermarket and I was able to find the BMI card which offers 4,000 destination miles if you spend £250 on the card with in the first 90 days of opening it.

So say if I saw something I wanted to buy for £250 bought it on the BMI card then paid the £250 off by my debit card the day after I would just end up with 4,000 free miles?

Thanks for help.

Cora.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

CoraHarrison wrote: »

So say if I saw something I wanted to buy for £250 bought it on the BMI card then paid the £250 off by my debit card the day after I would just end up with 4,000 free miles?

Plus the item that you bought. You would still have that too.

Do you already collect BMI miles? Are 4000 on their own any use to anyone? How easy is it to redeem them? All things to consider.

[Deleted User]

Sorry you get 20,000 free miles which is enough for two free tickets to anywhere in zone 1: UK, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Republic of Ireland, Switzerland.

Unsure on how easy they would be to retrieve, but what have you got to loose?

[Deleted User]

Looked at the blog and Martin showed me this one:

New Amazon credit card holders will instantly get a free £10 Amazon gift certificate when successfully apply.

The card offers twelve months 0% on balance transfers, for a 2.5% one-off fee. While not market leading (see Balance Transfer guide) it isn't bad, though never ever use the card for both spending and balance transfers, as this breaks the golden rule and could be costly.

does this mean that I could open the account, spend the free £10 and then close the account. No spend required?

sweetilemon

M&S are good for getting vouchers back.

lisyloo

does this mean that I could open the account, spend the free £10 and then close the account. No spend required?

Yes it does.
But be aware that the credit check and the credit itself can affect your ability to get other credit.
So if you genuinely need a mortgage/loan then you need to bear in mind that going after this £10 could negatively affect your credit rating for a few months. It will be on your record for SIX years.
It may also affect your chance of getting future credit withe the bank that operates the card as well if they don't like how you've operated it. You will have cost them more than £10 in order to approve your application and do the assocaited work and taken up some of their allocated reserves for no benefit.
There is also the chance of id theft or fraud.
Personally I wouldn't do it for £10 because my credit record and identity are important to me, but it's a personal choice.
There's also marketing coms, spam and unwanted snail mail if your details are sold on.

But essentially yes. If you aren't bothered about the cons then there is a free £10 (in the form of Amazon credit).