I dont want Balance Transfers - just a great card!

darkvader

Evening all,

Pretty much every comparison site or thread talks about best transfer rates when it comes to the best card. Unfortunately, other than a few articles there isnt a lot detailed for those who have good credit scores, no balances due and looking for a Credit Card that gives back a lot

I am looking for
1. A credit card that gives the best offers back to you - points, cash backs etc etc
2. I have ZERO overdue and been that way for over 6 years now. So I dont care about the APR as I pay in full monthly
3. I currently have a Tesco and Amex Preferred Gold Card
4. The Amex charge will be £125 a year so Im getting rid of it and hence looking for options
5. I know there is Santander 1-2-3 and Amex Cash back, Amex BA Card (free and chargeable) and a few others which are pretty worthless
6. Income is over £50000k and we dont spend a penny on Fuel - only groceries and shopping plus travel etc
7. Average spend per year is about £12000 factoring everything

Is there anywhere I can go or anyone on here who can tell me what cards are out there? Or is this a really small market and hence not too much of a choice?

Thanks
DV

Money_Man

darkvader wrote: »

Evening all,

Pretty much every comparison site or thread talks about best transfer rates when it comes to the best card. Unfortunately, other than a few articles there isnt a lot detailed for those who have good credit scores, no balances due and looking for a Credit Card that gives back a lot

I am looking for
1. A credit card that gives the best offers back to you - points, cash backs etc etc
2. I have ZERO overdue and been that way for over 6 years now. So I dont care about the APR as I pay in full monthly
3. I currently have a Tesco and Amex Preferred Gold Card
4. The Amex charge will be £125 a year so Im getting rid of it and hence looking for options
5. I know there is Santander 1-2-3 and Amex Cash back, Amex BA Card (free and chargeable) and a few others which are pretty worthless
6. Income is over £50000k and we dont spend a penny on Fuel - only groceries and shopping plus travel etc
7. Average spend per year is about £12000 factoring everything

Is there anywhere I can go or anyone on here who can tell me what cards are out there? Or is this a really small market and hence not too much of a choice?

Thanks
DV

pretty sure there is a section somewhere on here for best cards with added value benefits - have you considered air miles? perhaps the Virgin Atlantic card?

jason1231972

With your history, you could probably take your pick of near enough any card...but I find them all the same, to be honest (beyond benefits like 0% spend/balance transfer, which you don't appear to want or need).

I think the M&S credit card (underwritten by HSBC) might have a points/loyalty/cashback thing going on right now. I just got accepted for one of those recently, but I chose it for the 0% purchases for 15 months, rather than anything else.

Otherwise, there's these (some charge fees, some don't):

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/credit-cards/cashback/

joedenise

I think I'd be looking for a good cashback card as you spend quite a bit on the card each year and pay it off each month.

Denise

darkvader

Money_Man wrote: »

pretty sure there is a section somewhere on here for best cards with added value benefits - have you considered air miles? perhaps the Virgin Atlantic card?

But isnt it limited to just Virgin Atlantic - BA covers a wider geography for the places we visit

Denise - Thats exactly what I am after so me thinks paying £25 for the Amex Platinum Cashback is worth it because I get a lot more in return. Honestly, the Tesco Card is really not great value, just have it as an option to non Amex places

To the rest - thanks, I am still hunting

DV

izools

I would suggest the Capital One Aspire / Aspire Elite (the best one varies depending on spend - if you're defo running £1,000 through the account, Aspire Elite is best).

5% cashback for the first three months, 2% cashback thereafter - much wider (i.e. universal) acceptance than AMEX

The Aspire (non elite) is better long term as the annual fee for the elite will make it a worse deal in year 2 moving forwards.

izools

Also - although this might technically be a sub-prime card, you won't find a better deal for £3,300 of your annual spend than than this - 3% cashback upto £100 cashback PA... forever. An excellent card for day to day expenditure.

aleph_0

izools wrote: »

I would suggest the Capital One Aspire / Aspire Elite (the best one varies depending on spend - if you're defo running £1,000 through the account, Aspire Elite is best).

5% cashback for the first three months, 2% cashback thereafter - much wider (i.e. universal) acceptance than AMEX

The Aspire (non elite) is better long term as the annual fee for the elite will make it a worse deal in year 2 moving forwards.

Are you sure? The Aspire Elite, after the first 99 days (5% capped at £200), one earns [from the website]:
"1% cashback on all subsequent purchases up to the next £15,000, then 2%".

Martin's article:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/cashback-credit-cards#intro
Estimates £20k/year spend as the point where the second card becomes optimal. (OP - Martin also has an article which is pretty complete in listing other reward cards, I think some miles can be good if you can get a partner journey, or similar, but in general, are worth around 1%).

OP: I would say that treating the clubcard as giving at least 0.5% (since each point is truly worth at least 2p when doubled up/in rewards) is reasonable. Given this, I agree that the Amex as your primary card would be the best strategy, retaining the clubcard mastercard as backup.

If you want to abandon the clubcard, you could take out the aqua mentioned above (3% on £3.3k/year, but they've been giving low limits), and/or the Capital one, to be your backup card instead.

joedenise

I also use a Tesco credit card. Had it for years so I get better points than the current offerings. Put most of my spending on it for the points and use the vouchers to get Eurotunnel trips for our holidays to France.

Used to get extra points when had E-on as the best utility supplier in the area so could get at least 3 trips a year on the tunnel. Now that I've had to change utility supplier I only get 1.5 (and have to make up the difference with cash!).

Denise

darkvader

Thanks guys,

I will keep my Tesco Credit Card and its a toss up between Amex Platinum Cash back for £25 or, dont kill me, the BA Amex Card for £150 annually.
Yes its crazy to pay that amount but calculating the amount we spend, it will easily give me, at a bare min, 2 return tickets across Europe plus a yearly companion ticket. As we travel quite a bit, I may just go for it as it makes a whole lot of sense right now

DV

bigadaj

darkvader wrote: »

Thanks guys,

I will keep my Tesco Credit Card and its a toss up between Amex Platinum Cash back for £25 or, dont kill me, the BA Amex Card for £150 annually.
Yes its crazy to pay that amount but calculating the amount we spend, it will easily give me, at a bare min, 2 return tickets across Europe plus a yearly companion ticket. As we travel quite a bit, I may just go for it as it makes a whole lot of sense right now

DV

One comment on the flight rewards is that I've seen some reports of difficulties in redeeming when and where you want. Might be worth a look or. Question on flyer talk to gauge any opinion.