IHG Rewards Club Visa

planteria

i settled with Hilton some time ago, and, perhaps mistakenly, tend to choose Hilton wherever i'm staying...
unfortunately, i found the HHonors card support to be poor in the end, and chose to earn Cashback (with CapOne, as backup to Amex) instead of any hotel points...
that said i might finish up moving my good Barclaycard limit across to a rewards card, as when my current BT runs out it'd be a shame not to use it.

guesswho2000

planteria wrote: »

i settled with Hilton some time ago, and, perhaps mistakenly, tend to choose Hilton wherever i'm staying...
unfortunately, i found the HHonors card support to be poor in the end, and chose to earn Cashback (with CapOne, as backup to Amex) instead of any hotel points...
that said i might finish up moving my good Barclaycard limit across to a rewards card, as when my current BT runs out it'd be a shame not to use it.

If you give them a call, they may switch you to their Barclaycard Cashback, Amex/Visa combo paying 1%/0.5% respectively, no annual fee.

It's not currently advertised, but was offered to my OH when she called to cancel her Platinum card. Following this, I called on the off chance and they switched my Freedom Rewards over to it too.

I still have the Hilton card, I got it for the free night and rang to cancel once it was redeemed, but they gave me 0% on purchases for 12 months, so I'll keep it until that's up. I, too, tend to choose Hilton, but as a gold, other than the bonus points from spend, the card isn't of much benefit to me.

planteria

i find Gold gets me upgraded fairly consistently. a couple of Hilton hotels in London seem to treat me like a King whenever i stay:)

unfortunately, despite enjoying my Gold status, i never received the Free Night Certificate. i was promised it was on the way, over & over again, and then they said it had already been issued and had expired. and wouldn't discuss it further, despite many attempts. dire service. i was looking to go back to an HHonors Visa, but with that experience in mind, i stuck to Cashback.

SLZ

Heng_Leng wrote: »

Seems pretty poor value to me
Free internet and possible room upgrade?!

The gold Amex looks much better value IMHO

Depends whether you stay in IHG hotels or not?

While I'd admit that for those that stay infrequently at any hotel, getting a loyalty card is a waste of time and cashback would be better but if you do stay at hotels frequently then they're worth it, at least in the short term with sign up bonuses.

I currently hold a Hilton HHonors card, I got 10,000 HHonors as a welcome bonus, Gold status and I earn 2 HHonors per €/78p spent, it's better than the UK card in that I get Gold rather than Silver status, I also hold it as I stay in Hilton properties all the time so it's worth it based on the rewards I earn.

I also hold an Emirates Skywards Elite and Lufthansa card as they're the airlines I fly the most often, Lufthansa in Europe and Emirates in Asia and the Middle East. Again the benefits of these cards are worth it as I'm a frequent flyer which wouldn't apply to someone that doesn't fly.

Only get an airline or hotel credit card if you fly/stay with them frequently as for infrequent flights/stays, they just aren't worth it likewise if you book from Expedia or Hotels.com

System

I previously had a Hilton Honors Visa for the free night then ditched it.

I have an airline card which as has some good offers (points and % rate) but being Amex is useful for Amex's various shopping offers plus can be used at Costco. Also use it for swiping at prepaid hotels and car rentals as it's not forex free.

Obviously, it's not the Lloyds/TSB Avios one as I've managed to avoid British (London) Airways for a number of years

Roger1

SLZ wrote: »

I currently hold a Hilton HHonors card, I got 10,000 HHonors as a welcome bonus, Gold status and I earn 2 HHonors per €/78p spent, it's better than the UK card in that I get Gold rather than Silver status ...

That would be a German credit card from DKB with an annual fee of €48? Not easily available to UK-based applicants.

It could be a good deal for someone wanting Honors gold status but unwilling to charge £10,000 a year to the UK card with its poor earning rate.

Have you any advice to UK-based customers who would like to apply? Start by opening a DKB bank account, I guess.

SLZ

Roger1 wrote: »

That would be a German credit card from DKB with an annual fee of €48? Not easily available to UK-based applicants.

It could be a good deal for someone wanting Honors gold status but unwilling to charge £10,000 a year to the UK card with its poor earning rate.

Have you any advice to UK-based customers who would like to apply? Start by opening a DKB bank account, I guess.

It's rather easy to obtain, it's just whether you know about the card and German accounts.

As it's a DKB issued card it would be advisable to get a DKB-Cash account as you'll need to provide ID documents for the CC which you don't need to do if you hold a DKB account already.

If you prefer another German bank, Commerzbank offer Comdirect which is the online only subsidiary of Commerzbank which overall appears to be a better product, only downside is that you'll need to provide ID documents twice, once for Comdirect and once for DKB to get the Hilton card.

Once you hold a German bank account you can then go on and apply for not only the HHonors Card but Air Berlin (One World) and Lufthansa (Star Alliance) credit cards, should you want either of them.

Roger1

SLZ wrote: »

Once you hold a German bank account you can then go on and apply for not only the HHonors Card but Air Berlin (One World) and Lufthansa (Star Alliance) credit cards, should you want either of them.

Thanks.

I do have a DKB account but have hardly used it. The HHonors card looks attractive so perhaps I should use the DKB account more.

There's a Miles & More AmEx/MC card available in the UK from MBNA - fee-free. It has an enhanced opening bonus of 11,500 miles. It expires today!
http://www.miles-and-more.com/online/portal/mam/uk/earn/credit_card/offer?nodeid=2554150&

System

Are Lufthansa points equal in value to those of other star alliance partners?

Roger1 wrote: »

Thanks.

I do have a DKB account but have hardly used it. The HHonors card looks attractive so perhaps I should use the DKB account more.

There's a Miles & More AmEx/MC card available in the UK from MBNA - fee-free. It has an enhanced opening bonus of 11,500 miles. It expires today!
http://www.miles-and-more.com/online/portal/mam/uk/earn/credit_card/offer?nodeid=2554150&

SLZ

Roger1 wrote: »

Thanks.

I do have a DKB account but have hardly used it. The HHonors card looks attractive so perhaps I should use the DKB account more.

There's a Miles & More AmEx/MC card available in the UK from MBNA - fee-free. It has an enhanced opening bonus of 11,500 miles. It expires today!
http://www.miles-and-more.com/online/portal/mam/uk/earn/credit_card/offer?nodeid=2554150&

In all honesty you don't need to use the DKB account to apply, you can apply having not used the account and get an okay credit limit, they're not the best when it comes to credit limits but it's better than nothing

I got 1.500€ credit limit when I first opened my Lufthansa CC account, not high but not exactly low either. Interest also varies from card to card, the Hilton is 8.90% pa and Lufthansa is 10% pa, likewise it's 1.75% on Hilton and Lufthansa White/Blue cards and 1.25% on Lufthansa Gold for Exchange Load/FX fees which in both instances, is a lot cheaper than UK cards.

I saw that but I'm not going to apply personally, my German card is enough