best credit card for air miles?

Mr_Incredible

HSBC just dumped me off their premier account because I don't mortgage with them anymore. Previousely a requisite also of being a premier customer is that you only have their credit card.

Well if I no longer have premier status then I don't suppose I need to stick with only their credit card, sooo..

Given that I like far flung holidays, which credit card gives best air miles if paid off in full every month?

Herbalus

Have a read of this:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/airline-credit-cards

Give you some reading to do on your long flights to far flung places.

pingles

American Express will probably have the most generous of both introductory signups and points accruals.

Amex Platinum charge card historically has had up to 50,000 MR points (transferrable to Avios, Virgin club and more) for initial spend but only earns 1 MR per £1 after. At the moment I think its only 30,000MR so may be worth waiting. It has a high annual fee but you can change once you hit the reward and you'll get a pro-rata refund.

The Preferred Rewards Gold card will give a smaller initial bonus (20,000MR) but £1 = 2MR for travel and supermarkets- depending on your spend that could be lucrative after the bonus.

However, I think a lot of people really rate the British Airways Premium Plus for rewards (I'm likely to switch my spend to this in the new year). You get a decent introductory bonus but if you're spend is with BA your £1 = 3 avios. More importantly, if you spend over £10,000 in a year that then doubles again for Avios award bookings- you'll get a voucher that lets you take a companion for just the additional taxes.

So it depends on where you're spending, how much you're spending, and who you want to redeem with (and of course if you're happy paying an annual fee).

[Deleted User]

This is kind of a broad question and there are a few factors to consider:

1) As above, are you willing to pay an annual fee? Many aren't and will forever be doomed to the periphery of travel rewards. MSE articles almost always push the fee-free cards but if you know what you're doing the ones with fees are usually more lucrative.

2) How much spending can you realistically put through credit cards (responsibly) in a year?

3) Who are your preferred airlines - are you currently a member of any frequent flyer programs?

4) Are you willing to take the !!!! a bit with sign-up bonuses (i.e. open card, spend the required amount to trigger the bonus and close card after a couple of months?) to maximise your rewards potential?

If yes, then, in rough order of benefit to effort:

Amex Gold charge card (£2k spend for big sign up bonus and fee free for first year)

Amex SPG (£1k for bigger sign up bonus - offer ends soon - £75 annual fee)

Amex BA Premium Card (1.5 Avios per pound spend (3 with BA), good sign up bonus, spend £10k in a year for companion voucher (can be very valuable if you don't waste it on something silly) but £150 a year annual fee - you have to spend money to save money!

You will notice a pattern above - with a few occasional exceptions such as the recent American Airlines MBNA card deal - Amex offer by far the best rewards cards on the UK market. Most Visa/BC (couple of exceptions) are pants and you're better off with a cashback card.

If you clear the £10k for the BA voucher then you can start picking off other ones like the BC Hilton Visa (excellent deal if you redeem the free night somewhere fancy like the Waldorf Astoria in London), Lloyds Avios Duo etc. While talking about the Lloyds Duo - don't confuse the companion voucher Lloyds offer with the BA one. The Lloyds one is worth much less as it can only be used on economy flights - only really making it worthwhile for short haul Euro destinations.

As ever (!) happy to refer for the Amex Gold or SPG for bonus points all round (if you are accepted!)