Query regarding best reward card for high spend

indierocker85

Hi everybody

I have a query, and I am hoping you can maybe help in some way

I currently own a business that invests a minimum of £10k a month on Google PPC advertising, we pay for this via the companies Visa debit card.

It was suggested to me I should maybe consider an "air miles or "rewards" style credit card. I have looked at the guide, but frankly I find them rather confusing.

I have spoke to my accountant and he has advised I can get a card, personally, and the company would owe me the money back, which is good, as it would mean I could use it for other spending as well.

My wife and I tend to travel at least once or twice a year, we normally use Manchester airport, as we live in the North, and thus are far away from London.

Any suggestions would be greatly received, as I like the idea of getting something back, simply for paying the bill with a different piece of plastic.

Thanks in advance, as I say, I did try the guide, but they didn't give much detail or specifics.

indierocker85

Can anybody help then?

Deadbeat

For the travel and spending levels you describe I think you would do well to look at the Amex Platinum (charge) card. The membership rewards points are exchangeable for Avios and a number of hotel loyalty rewards schemes. They also offer a concierge service and a variety of travel and entertainment related benefits.

I suspect I'm not allowed to recommend other websites here but a useful one for people who travel and spend a lot using various rewards cards is one that tells you how to head for points and it's a dot com.

Westminster

It depends what you want to achieve with your spending.

I selected the BA Amex card (there are two fee options and I went for the higher one) as I travel a fair bit on BA and put £10-20k per month of personal and company spending through it - I have many many avios as a result which suits me.

indierocker85

Deadbeat wrote: »

For the travel and spending levels you describe I think you would do well to look at the Amex Platinum (charge) card. The membership rewards points are exchangeable for Avios and a number of hotel loyalty rewards schemes. They also offer a concierge service and a variety of travel and entertainment related benefits.

I suspect I'm not allowed to recommend other websites here but a useful one for people who travel and spend a lot using various rewards cards is one that tells you how to head for points and it's a dot com.

Is that this one? https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/charge-cards/platinum-business-card/

indierocker85

Westminster wrote: »

It depends what you want to achieve with your spending.

I selected the BA Amex card (there are two fee options and I went for the higher one) as I travel a fair bit on BA and put £10-20k per month of personal and company spending through it - I have many many avios as a result which suits me.

See I will be spending high amounts, but I don't travel with BA, I haven't flown with them since I was about 12

ali2908

It really does depend on what you are looking to get out of the rewards be it, airline miles, hotel rewards or simply cash back.

As a start I personally would go for a personal Amex Gold card. The card is free in the first year, so no card fee and by spending on it you get Amex Reward points. These can then be transferred into lots of different hotel and airline programs so it allows you to be flexible and keep your options open.

Tried to include a direct URL but not able to as a new user....sorry!

This is a charge card rather than a credit card so balances MUST be paid in full every month.

I'd also make sure the companies/organisations you want to pay accept Amex before applying as not everyone does!

eskbanker

indierocker85 wrote: »

It was suggested to me I should maybe consider an "air miles or "rewards" style credit card. I have looked at the guide, but frankly I find them rather confusing.

[...]

Thanks in advance, as I say, I did try the guide, but they didn't give much detail or specifics.

Was it this guide that you're referring to: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/best-credit-card-rewards

If so, then it seems odd that you'd find it both confusing and lacking in detail at the same time - to me it's a typically well-structured guide giving clear recommendations according to the reader's requirements. To be honest it baffles me that it would confuse the owner of a company spending £120K+ on PPC advertising (and so would presumably be turning over at least six figures if not seven) who's also a ten-year MSE forum member with a couple of thousand posts so I wonder if you may have been reading something else instead!

lr1277

indierocker85 wrote: »

Is that this one? https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/charge-cards/platinum-business-card/

I wouldn't have thought so, as that is a business card, so would need to be applied for by your business. And all the bills paid by your business.

I think the idea is that you get a personal card; this is the personal equivalent of the above card:
https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/charge-cards/platinum-card/

Ben8282

There is nothing wrong with your idea assuming that you are able to obtain a credit card with a sufficiently high credit limit to permit the desired level of spending and your accountant has assured you that using your personal credit card tor pay the advertising bills on behalf of the company and then claiming the money back from the company is an acceptable practice. (Personally I find it a somewhat dubious practice. Using a personal card to cover the cost of your own travel and entertainment expenses and then claiming the expenses from the company is one thing; using a personal credit card to pay £10K+ bills such as this on behalf of the company is something else entirely).
As you don't appear to wish to travel with BA, perhaps avios are not the best reward for you. MBNA issue a selection of airline credit cards which may better suit your travel preferences, but if you are looking to travel with Ryanair or other such low cost carriers then you are out of luck.
The Amex charge card option that others have suggested is also good, perhaps preferable to ensure that you do actually pay in full each month rather than be tempted to take the money from the company for the cost of the advertising but allow debt to build up in your name. Just make sure that Amex is an acceptable means of payment for the advertising. A word of caution though. You may have difficulty getting Amex to accept this level of spending on the charge card until you have built up a solid payment history with them.

indierocker85

eskbanker wrote: »

Was it this guide that you're referring to: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/best-credit-card-rewards

If so, then it seems odd that you'd find it both confusing and lacking in detail at the same time - to me it's a typically well-structured guide giving clear recommendations according to the reader's requirements. To be honest it baffles me that it would confuse the owner of a company spending £120K+ on PPC advertising (and so would presumably be turning over at least six figures if not seven) who's also a ten-year MSE forum member with a couple of thousand posts so I wonder if you may have been reading something else instead!

In 9 or 10 years of using this forum and website, this is up there as being one of the most patronizing and unfriendly replies ever received, the prize is yours.