Is getting an Amex card going to be a pain?

Mr87

ozaz said:

I don't think you should have Amex as your only credit card. I have two credit cards. One is an Amex which I use where it's accepted, and another is a non-Amex credit card which has fee-free non-GBP spending. I use this when Amex isn't accepted and when puchasing things in other currencies.

I do this. Just Google who accepts Amex and there's a website dedicated to it. If you do your main food shop in any of the major supermarkets they all accept (as far as I know).. 1% starts to stack up on that. Plus you usually get a sign up bonus of 5% cashback for (I think) the first £2k of spend / first 3 months, whichever expires first. Well worth it. I looked into the alternative rewards schemes and IMO most were far too complicated to work out if they were worthwhile. I think if you do alot of travelling they can work out... Life's too short! 

Speedbird676

The only major retailer I've found that don't accept it, and it surprised me, was B&Q.

Likewise, I've been to many small local shops expecting that they won't accept it and they do.

Ken2000

Thanks all for the replies so far. Would it be safe to say that in most cases, it would make more sense to pay with a credit card (and pay it off each month)? I'm thinking that if I had a cashback Amex and a Starling Debit Card, that would cover me for pretty much every situation I can think of.

afis1904

Yeah, generally it's almost always better to use a credit card for everyday spend and pay it off fully even if your spend is quite low. 
It's always good to carry at least two cards with you in case of any IT meltdowns. There's also a good argument for a second current account for the same reason.

ozaz

Ken2000 said:

Thanks all for the replies so far. Would it be safe to say that in most cases, it would make more sense to pay with a credit card (and pay it off each month)? I'm thinking that if I had a cashback Amex and a Starling Debit Card, that would cover me for pretty much every situation I can think of.

more sense to pay with a credit card (and pay it off each month)?
Totally depends on you. If you want to use a credit card for reward point or cashback accumulation then yes you should put as much as possible of your spending through it (and of course not spend more than you would otherwise have spent and pay off in full). Lots of people do this. I personally prefer debit card spending (spending what I already have) for the majority of my spending. But I still use credit cards primarily for section 75 protection (so on purchases over £100).

cover me for pretty much every situation I can think of
Amex + Starling (Mastercard) would enable you to spend anywhere and would give you fee-free international spending (via Starling). But it wouldn't give you section 75 protection for purchases over £100 where Amex isn't accepted.

Ken2000

ozaz said:

Ken2000 said:

Thanks all for the replies so far. Would it be safe to say that in most cases, it would make more sense to pay with a credit card (and pay it off each month)? I'm thinking that if I had a cashback Amex and a Starling Debit Card, that would cover me for pretty much every situation I can think of.

more sense to pay with a credit card (and pay it off each month)?
Totally depends on you. If you want to use a credit card for reward point or cashback accumulation then yes you should put as much as possible of your spending through it (and of course not spend more than you would otherwise have spent and pay off in full). Lots of people do this. I personally prefer debit card spending (spending what I already have) for the majority of my spending. But I still use credit cards primarily for section 75 protection (so on purchases over £100).

cover me for pretty much every situation I can think of
Amex + Starling (Mastercard) would enable you to spend anywhere and would give you fee-free international spending (via Starling). But it wouldn't give you section 75 protection for purchases over £100 where Amex isn't accepted.

I suppose the simplest solution would be to have another credit card for those rare scenarios where I'm after protection but need to use a Mastercard or Visa credit card.

blue.peter

Ken2000 said:

Thanks all for the replies so far. Would it be safe to say that in most cases, it would make more sense to pay with a credit card (and pay it off each month)? I'm thinking that if I had a cashback Amex and a Starling Debit Card, that would cover me for pretty much every situation I can think of.

That's what I do. I keep a minimal amount of cash available in my wallet and bank accounts, put pretty much all of my spending* on credit cards, and pay them off in full each month. The bulk of my credit card spending is on my AmEx card, solely because it gives me cashback. Every October, they give me about £70-£80. (£75 equates to £10,000 credit card expenditure.)

* Food, whisky, clothes, books, music, concert tickets, meals out, hotels, trains, car fuel and servicing, one-off charitable donations... everything.

Mr87

blue.peter said:

* Food, whisky, clothes, books, music, concert tickets, meals out, hotels, trains, car fuel and servicing, one-off charitable donations... everything.

@blue.peter In that order? 😁

blue.peter

Mr87 said:

blue.peter said:

* Food, whisky, clothes, books, music, concert tickets, meals out, hotels, trains, car fuel and servicing, one-off charitable donations... everything.

@blue.peter In that order? 😁

There is no significance to the order in which I listed things.

ozaz

Ken2000 said:

ozaz said:

Ken2000 said:

Thanks all for the replies so far. Would it be safe to say that in most cases, it would make more sense to pay with a credit card (and pay it off each month)? I'm thinking that if I had a cashback Amex and a Starling Debit Card, that would cover me for pretty much every situation I can think of.

more sense to pay with a credit card (and pay it off each month)?
Totally depends on you. If you want to use a credit card for reward point or cashback accumulation then yes you should put as much as possible of your spending through it (and of course not spend more than you would otherwise have spent and pay off in full). Lots of people do this. I personally prefer debit card spending (spending what I already have) for the majority of my spending. But I still use credit cards primarily for section 75 protection (so on purchases over £100).

cover me for pretty much every situation I can think of
Amex + Starling (Mastercard) would enable you to spend anywhere and would give you fee-free international spending (via Starling). But it wouldn't give you section 75 protection for purchases over £100 where Amex isn't accepted.

I suppose the simplest solution would be to have another credit card for those rare scenarios where I'm after protection but need to use a Mastercard or Visa credit card.

From a simplicity point of view you should decide how many banks / credit card companies you want to have accounts with. You could perhaps have Amex + Starling + a traditional bank who would provide a backup current account and backup credit card. If you're ok with 3 providers that's what I would do.

But if you want less providers and you could perhaps drop Starling and and just use a traditional bank which provides both your only current account and a back up credit card, or you could perhaps drop Amex and just use a Visa/Mastercard credit card from a traditional bank as your only credit card.