What is the best REWARDS type credit card?

coffee_king

Hey all I have been using the Tesco Clubcard Mastercard for some time now, as it was a great way of adding additional points to my Tesco clubcard. But I've recently moved house and dont use Tesco Supermarkets anymore. Couple this together with the reduction in exchanging (what was) 4 times the points for money off vouchers for restaurants now only being worth 3 times the amount and I just dont think its worth using this card anymore. So my question is what alternatives are there out there as there doesnt seem to be a section on the main website outside of the forum. A couple of things to note:- a) EVERYTHING myself and my partner buy goes on a credit card and gets paid off at the end of each month. b) My partners expenses go on the card too. c) Our statements can vary from £1000-£3000 per month. d) I do not want a CASHBACK type card, I want a REWARDS type card. (Holidays, Restaurant Vouchers, Gift Cards, Money Off, Hotels etc) e) I do not want a rewards type card that offers free flights (As you can get flights soooo cheaply these days) Any suggestions? Thanks!

coffee_king

I am sorry but I do not know why the above is all sitting as one long paragraph, I spaced it out with proper paragraphs and even tried to edit it, but it wont change it.
There must be a problem with the forum today.
Regards

planteria

i use Amex, CapitalOne and EggMoney for Cashback, backed up by Barclaycard and Santander deals.
and collect clubcard points with the Tesco Finest card.
Amex is the best cashback deal to be had, for sure.

planteria

if you want Nectar points, the Sainsburys Gold Mastercard, i suppose?

Scrounger

planteria wrote: »

Amex is the best cashback deal to be had, for sure.

Maybe true for big spenders but not for everybody...

eg a qualifying Halifax Reward Clarity CC pays 1.67% cashback on a £300/month spend (whilst the maximum regular cashback on Amex is only 1.25% max for > £7,500 spend/year).

Notwithstanding, the OP says he doesn't want cashback!

Scrounger

boots_babe

Just wondering, why is it that you're dead against the idea of a cashback card?

I can't say I have looked into this recently, but I'm sure in the past I've always determined that the best 'value' to be had in terms of accruing freebies, has always been from a straight cashback card (barring any initial signup offers I guess).

You sound fairly similar to us, absolutely every purchase goes onto our credit card, and we have around £3k per month which is always paid in full. So ideal opportunity to accrue some sort of freebies.

I'd be fairly surprised if a rewards type card would be better value than just a straightforward cashback card? But will be happy to be shown different in which case I will need to change what I have now.

Any

I know what you mean you want rewards and not cashback... I find rewards much more fun and usually payout is more then once a year.
Do you like M&S at all? I have M&S credit card- 1 point for every £1 spend at M&S and 1 point for £2 spend elsewhere. 100 points = £1 so it is 1% or 0,5% reward rate.
They also send out special offers for collecting extra points and sometimes 10 or 20% off vouchers...
Also their customer service is second to none.
My points add up really fast.. Just got £26 vouchers in post on Thursday so going to get new shoes next week!!:-)

Any

boots_babe wrote: »

Just wondering, why is it that you're dead against the idea of a cashback card?

I can't say I have looked into this recently, but I'm sure in the past I've always determined that the best 'value' to be had in terms of accruing freebies, has always been from a straight cashback card (barring any initial signup offers I guess).

You sound fairly similar to us, absolutely every purchase goes onto our credit card, and we have around £3k per month which is always paid in full. So ideal opportunity to accrue some sort of freebies.

I'd be fairly surprised if a rewards type card would be better value than just a straightforward cashback card? But will be happy to be shown different in which case I will need to change what I have now.

I suppose that with cashback you kind of feel that the cash just goes with all your other cash in family and it doesn't feel as much a treat.. It's psychological think... I think I might be addicted to my M&S card!!

Orrin

Any wrote: »

Do you like M&S at all? I have M&S credit card- 1 point for every £1 spend at M&S and 1 point for £2 spend elsewhere. 100 points = £1 so it is 1% or 0,5% reward rate.

I have an Amazon card which pays points at the same rate as this, though as was pointed out already you can probably get more on a pure cashback card.

Any

Orrin wrote: »

I have an Amazon card which pays points at the same rate as this, though as was pointed out already you can probably get more on a pure cashback card.

Yes I belive few cards have about this rate of pay.. It's about choosing the rewards you like.
You can probably collect more on pure cashback, but... Boooooring:-))) only in my opinion of course.

boots_babe

I'm pretty surprised at the strong feelings against pure cashback cards. I thought we were all MSErs on here so surely, regardless of whether it is cash, or a rewards scheme, it's best to go for the highest value available?

I also don't see gaining cashback as less fun - if anything it is surely a lot more fun, as once it is paid, you can spend it on ANY treat you like, not just one from a restricted list

Just to say, I am not against rewards cards as they do have their place, I have used them in the past where appropriate e.g. last Sept we bought a settee from M&S. I did some calculations and worked out that it was worth getting an M&S card and paying the extra for the premium club membership, as I would receive far more back in M&S points rewards than I paid out for the premium membership, and overall it was better value than a cashback card for that one-off purchase. After 3 months they sent the rewards vouchers over and I closed the card to minimise what I had to pay for the premium club.

I still remember the good old days when 2% cashback cards were the norm, I just hope the current cashback rates don't continue to dwindle even further