New to Credit Cards - Totally confused!

TAS095

I'm new to credit cards, so am totally confused as to which one is best for what I need.

I have no balance transfer but have been advised that I could benefit from airmiles. I'm also recently a single mum so need to manage my finances very carefully.

What I'm looking for... (I might have to get two cards for this but am not sure)

1. For larger payments eg., car insurance, would like to spread the cost of £420 across 12 months, but rather than pay the high interest rate charged by the insurer is there a card I can put this on and pay of the amount over 10 months (to ensure paid before end of term)

2. To earn airmiles - for regular use such as petrol, shopping, etc (would pay the full amount off monthly to prevent interest charges)

I've tried looking on this site, but there's so much info I'm getting extremely confused and my panic button has been triggered! Is there somewhere on this site that asks you to input your requirements eg., balance transfer amount, what you intend to use the card for eg., large payments, regular shops. Whether you want to pay balance monthly or divide large amount across period of time eg., 6-12 mths. What type of awards your looking for etc, etc, etc, and would list appropriate cards, this would be a really useful feature.

Can anyone help, I really don't want to give up at this point as I need to get control back in my life.

Thank you :j

TAS095

silvercar

1. You need to look for a card with a 0% introductionary offer that lasts 1 year.

2. BA miles - British Airmiles american express, if you can build up a lot of miles. They often have into offers of miles.
Tesco credit card has extra tesco points that can be converted to air miles.

TAS095

Hello Silvercar,

Thank you for your advise, with regards to the 1yr intro offer, where do I go to find the cards that offer this.

Finally, with the BA Amex, do the miles expire after a certain time or do they just collect? Also you mentioned 'They often have into offers of miles' what does this mean exactly?

Thank you again for your response.

R

TAS095

silvercar

Should have said intro offers, to encourage take up.

I keep getting an offer of 18000 bonus miles, but that is on the card that you pay for.

TAS095

Hello Silvercar,

Thank you again for your help, have a good evening.

R

TAS095

Kyresa

You may find you have problems if you are "new to credit" as you say you are. The lenders have no credit history for you.

You may find applying to Capital One and living with that card for 6 months - 1 year will build you some history and allow you to move to the airmiles etc cards with high limits.

agrinnall

Have you got a particular reason for wanting airmiles? Or is it just that other people talk about that as a benefit? To be honest, unless you are intending to use the type of airline that offers airmiles anyway you are likely to find it cheaper to use a budget airline and get a credit card that offers cashback instead. Many people who accumulate enough airmiles for decent flights do so when they fly for business and/or use their credit card for expenses. For 'normal' personal use it'll take you forever to spend enough to get airmiles for a long haul flight.