credit cards

hitman08

Is it worth getting those credit cards for airmiles if you go on holiday say for every once in 2-3 years or do you have to be a frequent flyer?

Also about those Tesco and Nectar credit cards they have all kinds. Out of each card which would be suitable if you buy stuff online only like home insurance, car insurance and other stuff?

chattychappy

Frankly you need to shove alot of spend through to get enough airmiles to be useful. Even then, bear in mind that availability may not suit you. Yep you might get enough Avios for a BA return London to Prague, but do you want to go out of Heathrow or would Easyjet out of Gatwick be more handy anyway?

I think they work best if you are a frequent flyer and you can combine the miles with miles you are accumulating through flying. Also if you have frequent flyer status (eg a gold card), then you will get priority for airmile bookings. With some schemes using airmiles for upgrades works out efficient, especially on long haul. As a rule of thumb you need to make at least a couple of long haul flights a year to get any useful frequent flyer status and probably not in the cheapest fare category.

Years ago I accumulated enough points on Amex to get a business class return on Air France from London to Asia. It took me 3 years before I get could get availability which worked for me. (I flew London to Saigon regularly on business, so wasn't that picky.) I had better luck with BMI miles accumulated via MBNA and combined with my other star alliance flying. But that stopped a while back.

That brings me to the next "scourge". CCs and airlines constantly fiddle with these schemes. Unless you accumulate rapidly, you are at the constant risk that the scheme will be changed just before you have enough miles to do what you want to do.

In conclusion, unless you do fly alot, I'd go with cash back deals, Tesco clubcard vouchers etc.

grumbler

hitman08 wrote: »

Is it worth getting those credit cards for airmiles if you go on holiday say for every once in 2-3 years or do you have to be a frequent flyer?

Also about those Tesco and Nectar credit cards they have all kinds. Out of each card which would be suitable if you buy stuff online only like home insurance, car insurance and other stuff?

I prefer hard cash to all these points and airmiles with restricted applicability.

• Cashback Credit Cards

Tesco 5pts/£4 spent is a marketing ploy as you get 4p/£4 with just a clubcard, without a credit card.

• Credit Card Rewards

blwilson1

I am considering taking out a credit card with airmiles in order to build them up over 4-6 years to book a long haul flight with eventually, however I am a teacher and am therefore only able to fly during the school holidays - do you think this will be difficult with reduced availability for flight bookings with airmiles? Am just wondering if the school holidays have the least availability? Any ideas?

chattychappy

Yes, peak times are more tricky. If you have particular airline in mind, it might be worth asking in the forums at https://www.flyertalk.com where people will have specific experience of the particular programmes.

Bear in mind that miles expire in some schemes - check this carefully. This may not be an issue if you are rolling up points in a CC scheme and can transfer them all at once.

Ballard

blwilson1 wrote: »

I am considering taking out a credit card with airmiles in order to build them up over 4-6 years to book a long haul flight with eventually, however I am a teacher and am therefore only able to fly during the school holidays - do you think this will be difficult with reduced availability for flight bookings with airmiles? Am just wondering if the school holidays have the least availability? Any ideas?

Avios (Airmiles) lost a lot of their appeal when the rules changes and you had to add taxes to non European flights. I haven't looked in ages but it simply wasn't worth using them outside of Europe last time I checked. I'm told that they're good if you use them to upgrade cabins on long haul though.

blwilson1

Thanks very much for the advice so far - can I also ask whether when flying, do you only build up airmiles from certain airlines or do they all allow you to build them up? I read online that airmiles last for 5 miles after the last airmiles were granted - is this correct?

MallyGirl

there are different schemes for different airlines. If you are putting a lot of spend through then it might be worth it. Availability is a challenge though - most flights are release for booking something like 13 month ahead so you need to set a reminder to check at that time if you are after particular dates.
Over the years we have flown 1st class to New York for the weekend for 10th wedding anniversary (before the taxes change), club to Barcelona for a music festival, upgraded on a return from New York, taken a trip to Sweden, bought a weekend inc hotel in Barcelona at Easter and are going club to New York with DD in October half term (but still have £500 of taxes to pay on this one).
OH used to travel for work so the BA miles were not all gained via CC.

guesswho2000

Ballard wrote: »

Avios (Airmiles) lost a lot of their appeal when the rules changes and you had to add taxes to non European flights. I haven't looked in ages but it simply wasn't worth using them outside of Europe last time I checked. I'm told that they're good if you use them to upgrade cabins on long haul though.

Disagree, yes their value on economy or long haul ex. UK flights diminished, but they're incredibly valuable on partner flights elsewhere, such as domestic flights in Australia or South America. But that's another matter.

In general, the 'airmiles' cards will obviously benefit those who fly more regularly. That's not to say infrequent flyers can't benefit from them - I'd recommend https://www.headforpoints.com as a starting point to read up, but there's value to be had from miles, and usually more so than from cashback (with a few exceptions). If you never fly, and never plan to (or at least never in the near future, miles are not a good 'investment' due to potential programme devaluations), then obviously there's zero value in airmiles!

EDIT: Living in the south I wasn't as harshly affected by the recent BA devaluation - Avios are now a lot less useful for those in the north, as BA have started charging extra for the connecting domestic segment to London, if applicable (which it is to most BA flights now).