AMEX Cashback vs Membership Rewards? (Which is worth more?)

Jlawson118

I've been seeing a lot more American Express adverts on the TV a lot lately, mostly the cashback card and the other benefits that they offer.

I do currently have the Barclaycard Freedom Rewards, in which I've been able to exchange my points for £25 iTunes vouchers twice now, although after more trouble with the language barrier in their call centres, I'm starting to think that enough is enough. I'm also starting to think that points aren't really worth it as such, I think something like cashback would work out better for me and I could save it up. I used to claim Cashback with Lloyds Bank although they were only ever selected retailers, in which about 80% of them I'd never even heard of in my life. But from places I did earn it back, I used to save it into a savings account and build it up.

Aside from the cashback card, they obviously have their Membership Rewards card, (the green card being the one I compared) and there's not much of a difference apart from you earn points rather than cashback. With its annual fee of £60 per year.

But for one point per £1, if I spent an average of £1000 per month, that'd get me 12,000 points in a year. Yet 100,000 can give you a £500 Currys PC World voucher. But 100k would take me just over 8 years to do. And 60 x 8 = £480. So I might as well just save that £60 per year rather than pay the membership fee. Although for 40,000 points, that gets you a return flight to Dubai with Virgin Atlantic. To me, that's worth more than a £500 Currys Voucher :rotfl:

Now I know this is probably more suitable for somebody who has a larger monthly spend then. Usually I do spend just short of £1000 a month sometimes, well towards the end of last year became very expensive but it's calmed down a bit now, and I'm trying to budget a little better, my bill is due next week and I'm at about £500 because I've eased off.

However, I'm looking at the benefits of this. I wouldn't mind earning either points or cashback, but included with this, I took out a quote on mobile phone insurance and holiday insurance with AMEX and they suit me really quite well, as well as I hear they have brilliant customer service.

My friend wants us to go abroad in a few months time, probably to Italy and so for the past few weeks, I've been looking into these two different card options due to the travel cover as standard, yesterday I applied for the cash-back one but I'm wondering if it was the right choice. I did get an 90% approval on the MSE website, and 85% on the AMEX website. Although I'm just awaiting a response.

Jlawson118

I just came across a Money Supermarket only offer of a reward card for AMEX with no annual fee..is there a reason this is not available outside of MoneySupermarket?

newuser86

Most people get the Amex for the bonus offers and then use them for airmiles. The Amex gold for example offers 20k bonus miles sign up when spending 2k in three months. Or with a referral 22k.
Most people will take out the card, complete the bonus and cancel the card, then sign up after 6 months and do it all again (Amex allows 6 months between sign up offers)
The gold card is free for the first year so is a no brainer for me.

I would advise having two cards an Amex but also a credit card that offers some type of reward.

bengalknights

The amex membership rewards is worth the most imo as you tend to get more rewards for spending and can use them on various flights and hotels.

Jlawson118

newuser86 wrote: »

Most people get the Amex for the bonus offers and then use them for airmiles. The Amex gold for example offers 20k bonus miles sign up when spending 2k in three months. Or with a referral 22k.
Most people will take out the card, complete the bonus and cancel the card, then sign up after 6 months and do it all again (Amex allows 6 months between sign up offers)
The gold card is free for the first year so is a no brainer for me.

I would advise having two cards an Amex but also a credit card that offers some type of reward.

Yeah I was using the Lloyds Avios card last year and realised a lot of places don't accept AMEX so I was planning to use either my debit cards or my First Direct Gold Card for those places, until one day when I get the Clarity card from Halifax..

I just phoned AMEX asking if I could cancel my application to apply for this no annual fee reward card, and she told me it got rejected anyway. So I'm assuming this means I can't apply for another until six month's time?

I am over 18, never had history of debt etc..

Candyapple

Jlawson118 wrote: »

Yeah I was using the Lloyds Avios card last year and realised a lot of places don't accept AMEX so I was planning to use either my debit cards or my First Direct Gold Card for those places, until one day when I get the Clarity card from Halifax..

I just phoned AMEX asking if I could cancel my application to apply for this no annual fee reward card, and she told me it got rejected anyway. So I'm assuming this means I can't apply for another until six month's time?

I am over 18, never had history of debt etc..

1. I'm pretty sure Amex have a minimum income of £20k for the Gold card, it used to be on their website somewhere, so you would fail on that given that you are only earning £13k, and also, isn't your status still student?

2. You are under 21 if I remember? I remember a few years ago the criteria was you needed to be at least 21 for the Gold card, not sure if they've changed this now or just removed it from their website.

3. You have already made lots of applications for credit elsewhere, lots of searches = you look desperate to lenders.

4. Not sure about the time limit parameters for being able to apply again, best off calling them and asking.

Jlawson118

Candyapple wrote: »

1. I'm pretty sure Amex have a minimum income of £20k for the Gold card, it used to be on their website somewhere, so you would fail on that given that you are only earning £13k, and also, isn't your status still student?

2. You are under 21 if I remember? I remember a few years ago the criteria was you needed to be at least 21 for the Gold card, not sure if they've changed this now or just removed it from their website.

3. You have already made lots of applications for credit elsewhere, lots of searches = you look desperate to lenders.

4. Not sure about the time limit parameters for being able to apply again, best off calling them and asking.

My income has significantly changed since recently getting a job, I applied for the cashback card and all I've seen on there is that you have to be 18 or over, I'm 20 although I will be 21 in July. My last credit search was quite over six months ago. I think the waiting time is six months, I remember wanting to get my hands on one back when I was nearly 19 being as curious as I was back then, but then called them cancelling the application, and he told me it would have automatically been rejected anyway for six months due to a previous application. I'm not sure if the rules have changed much since then but I doubt it.

I'm not overly fussed anyway, I just saw it as a good way or earning some cashback and saving it up

concernedSaver

I'm pretty sure Amex have a minimum income of £20k for the Gold card

Not anymore.

Charge cards and credit cards are two quite different products, though. I wouldn't be surprised if they assess your application with two completely different sets of criteria.

theburningcat

How much do you plan to put through it in a given year?
Will any be foreign currency (Amex charged 3% on all of their cards - more than any cashback etc.?)
Do the retailers you want to buy from accept Amex?
Are you prepared to invest time to figure out how best to use the points (vouchers, statement credit etc. offer a poor rate) or do you want something easy?
What would Amex's customer service be worth to you?

Jlawson118

theburningcat wrote: »

How much do you plan to put through it in a given year?
Will any be foreign currency (Amex charged 3% on all of their cards - more than any cashback etc.?)
Do the retailers you want to buy from accept Amex?
Are you prepared to invest time to figure out how best to use the points (vouchers, statement credit etc. offer a poor rate) or do you want something easy?
What would Amex's customer service be worth to you?

1. On average I usually spend between £500 - £1000 in any given month. Sometimes this can be more, sometimes it can be less, so on average, perhaps £10,000 per year. But I'm not 100% on that one.

2. I probably won't really be using it for foreign currency. I'm hoping to be accepted for the Halifax Clarity card before I travel for it's free transactions.

3. Most places I shop at do accept AMEX. I used to have the Lloyds Avios card and the only times I had to use the Mastercard card opposed to the AMEX one, was just local, independent places really, which was quite rare. Though for these occasions, I do have my debit cards and also a Gold card with First Direct which is a Visa. Again, if I get accepted for the Clarity card with Halifax, then I'll probably get rid of my FD Gold.

4. I'll probably accumulate my points. Say the 10,000 points is worth £50 on Amazon (which I think it is), and I have this by Christmas or a birthday and I'm strapped for cash until payday or something, I could redeem a voucher for it. I mentioned above that I have the Barclaycard Freedom Rewards card and I spend a lot on iTunes, so I use that for iTunes vouchers. I'm not overly fussy about interest rates as I always pay my bills on time. I never spend more than what I have in the bank (Apart from I did a little before Christmas this time around but I knew I was getting paid)

5. Customer service is hugely important to me. I bank with First Direct and one of the main things keeping me with them is their amazing customer service. I called AMEX this morning regarding my application, and could tell that the guy was kind of sticking to a script but he was nice, polite and enthusiastic. That's all you ever need from a company

theburningcat

That's quite a collection

If you want to use the cashback towards retail stuff (i.e. not travel) then I would probably recommend the Platinum Cashback Card. At £10k per year, I believe the free one will work out better for you.

Membership Rewards offers poor conversion to vouchers, stuff and cash (~0.45%). I would only recommend the MR and Avios cards if you want to use the cashback towards travel (probably via Avios or Virgin) and you have the time and motivation to work out how those schemes could fit in to your travels.

As for customer service, Amex have been flawless in my experience. The website and apps are great too. And there are various only offers that cover a bunch of retailers - this alone saves me ~£200pa. Gold and Platinum charge card holders tend to get the best choice but I believe they all have a selection. I also give a lot of weight to customer service and bank with FD - Amex's service is even better.

My recommendation for you would be the Platinum Cashback Everyday card. If you want to avoid FX fees and spread out your applications, you could get a Revolut card in the interim.

If you do decide to go for one of the charge cards, I'd love the opportunity to refer you - but I don't think it's the best option for you unless you travel a lot and want to figure out how to make the points work in your favour.