Card Eligibility Discrepancy

D3xt3r5L4b

Taylorette said:

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Taylorette said:

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Taylorette said:

Thanks for your input, all. Then I guess it's worth a shot. Now to decide whether the £25 Amex Platinum Cashback is worth it over the fee-free Cashback Everyday.

Depends how much you spend per annum.

£10k or more is the marker to go for the paid card.
If you spend less take the free one. 

Having looked at the past year's spending, which is more accurate than previous years due to a change in circumstances but also not typical due to the pandemic, it seems as though I'd likely be right around £10k. So probably wise to go for the free card to be on the safe side.

Have a look here for more detailed breakdown:
https://youtu.be/9_8k-pqoZvc

That was really helpful in getting my head around how the cashback on both cards actually pans out over the years. Thank you. I'm going to wait a short while before applying so if I am accepted I can make the most of the initial 5% rate around Christmas. 

Taking the paid card is worth it for the first year. Especially if you get a referral and you get £25 credited to your account following a £1+ spend thus eliminating the fee for the first year as well (theoretically making it free) and earning a higher rate than the actual free card.

Or you can get £10 for being referred for the free card - but taking the paid one and countering the fee with the referral bonus is more beneficial. 

Taylorette

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Taylorette said:

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Taylorette said:

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Taylorette said:

Thanks for your input, all. Then I guess it's worth a shot. Now to decide whether the £25 Amex Platinum Cashback is worth it over the fee-free Cashback Everyday.

Depends how much you spend per annum.

£10k or more is the marker to go for the paid card.
If you spend less take the free one. 

Having looked at the past year's spending, which is more accurate than previous years due to a change in circumstances but also not typical due to the pandemic, it seems as though I'd likely be right around £10k. So probably wise to go for the free card to be on the safe side.

Have a look here for more detailed breakdown:
https://youtu.be/9_8k-pqoZvc

That was really helpful in getting my head around how the cashback on both cards actually pans out over the years. Thank you. I'm going to wait a short while before applying so if I am accepted I can make the most of the initial 5% rate around Christmas. 

Taking the paid card is worth it for the first year. Especially if you get a referral and you get £25 credited to your account following a £1+ spend thus eliminating the fee for the first year as well (theoretically making it free) and earning a higher rate than the actual free card.

Or you can get £10 for being referred for the free card - but taking the paid one and countering the fee with the referral bonus is more beneficial. 

And as the guy in the video kindly worked out for me, as long as you spend at least £5k a year the cashback on the paid card breaks even with the free one, so it seems like a no-brainer to take the paid option and have that extra .25% cashback should you break the £10k tier in future. 

Taylorette

For those who were interested...

I did a bit of research and discovered that the large purchases I will be making in January (and, therefore, was holding off applying for the Amex card in order to make full use of the initial 5% cashback) are from establishments that don't accept Amex, so there wasn't really much point in delaying the application. I've just applied for the Platinum Cashback Card and was approved. Now figuring out what I'll be needing to buy soon in order to maximise the bonus cashback offer, as well as shuffling outgoings to make sure I always break even with the free card.

Thanks to everyone who helped. I would never have applied for Amex based on what eligibility calculators were telling me, as well as generally being told "you need a card for those with bad credit" everywhere I turned. Now to get a decent Visa/Mastercard backup for those purchases where Amex isn't accepted.

D3xt3r5L4b

Taylorette said:

For those who were interested...

I did a bit of research and discovered that the large purchases I will be making in January (and, therefore, was holding off applying for the Amex card in order to make full use of the initial 5% cashback) are from establishments that don't accept Amex, so there wasn't really much point in delaying the application. I've just applied for the Platinum Cashback Card and was approved. Now figuring out what I'll be needing to buy soon in order to maximise the bonus cashback offer, as well as shuffling outgoings to make sure I always break even with the free card.

Thanks to everyone who helped. I would never have applied for Amex based on what eligibility calculators were telling me, as well as generally being told "you need a card for those with bad credit" everywhere I turned. Now to get a decent Visa/Mastercard backup for those purchases where Amex isn't accepted.

You’re limited on cashback cards in the form of Visa and MasterCard. 

Barclays Rewards is one offering 0.25% cashback.

Others include the likes of “branded” cards like Amazon, John Lewis, Virgin Atlantic etc. that reward you with points/vouchers from their brand.

Taylorette

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Taylorette said:

For those who were interested...

I did a bit of research and discovered that the large purchases I will be making in January (and, therefore, was holding off applying for the Amex card in order to make full use of the initial 5% cashback) are from establishments that don't accept Amex, so there wasn't really much point in delaying the application. I've just applied for the Platinum Cashback Card and was approved. Now figuring out what I'll be needing to buy soon in order to maximise the bonus cashback offer, as well as shuffling outgoings to make sure I always break even with the free card.

Thanks to everyone who helped. I would never have applied for Amex based on what eligibility calculators were telling me, as well as generally being told "you need a card for those with bad credit" everywhere I turned. Now to get a decent Visa/Mastercard backup for those purchases where Amex isn't accepted.

You’re limited on cashback cards in the form of Visa and MasterCard. 

Barclays Rewards is one offering 0.25% cashback.

Others include the likes of “branded” cards like Amazon, John Lewis, Virgin Atlantic etc. that reward you with points/vouchers from their brand.

I've looked into the branded options today and the only one I'd use would be Amazon, but not enough to currently justify having a card solely for that benefit. Given that I've just been approved for Amex, would I be okay to apply for Barclays straight away? 

D3xt3r5L4b

Taylorette said:

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Taylorette said:

For those who were interested...

I did a bit of research and discovered that the large purchases I will be making in January (and, therefore, was holding off applying for the Amex card in order to make full use of the initial 5% cashback) are from establishments that don't accept Amex, so there wasn't really much point in delaying the application. I've just applied for the Platinum Cashback Card and was approved. Now figuring out what I'll be needing to buy soon in order to maximise the bonus cashback offer, as well as shuffling outgoings to make sure I always break even with the free card.

Thanks to everyone who helped. I would never have applied for Amex based on what eligibility calculators were telling me, as well as generally being told "you need a card for those with bad credit" everywhere I turned. Now to get a decent Visa/Mastercard backup for those purchases where Amex isn't accepted.

You’re limited on cashback cards in the form of Visa and MasterCard. 

Barclays Rewards is one offering 0.25% cashback.

Others include the likes of “branded” cards like Amazon, John Lewis, Virgin Atlantic etc. that reward you with points/vouchers from their brand.

I've looked into the branded options today and the only one I'd use would be Amazon, but not enough to currently justify having a card solely for that benefit. Given that I've just been approved for Amex, would I be okay to apply for Barclays straight away? 

Yes. Barclaycard have an eligibility checker.

Taylorette

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Taylorette said:

D3xt3r5L4b said:

Taylorette said:

For those who were interested...

I did a bit of research and discovered that the large purchases I will be making in January (and, therefore, was holding off applying for the Amex card in order to make full use of the initial 5% cashback) are from establishments that don't accept Amex, so there wasn't really much point in delaying the application. I've just applied for the Platinum Cashback Card and was approved. Now figuring out what I'll be needing to buy soon in order to maximise the bonus cashback offer, as well as shuffling outgoings to make sure I always break even with the free card.

Thanks to everyone who helped. I would never have applied for Amex based on what eligibility calculators were telling me, as well as generally being told "you need a card for those with bad credit" everywhere I turned. Now to get a decent Visa/Mastercard backup for those purchases where Amex isn't accepted.

You’re limited on cashback cards in the form of Visa and MasterCard. 

Barclays Rewards is one offering 0.25% cashback.

Others include the likes of “branded” cards like Amazon, John Lewis, Virgin Atlantic etc. that reward you with points/vouchers from their brand.

I've looked into the branded options today and the only one I'd use would be Amazon, but not enough to currently justify having a card solely for that benefit. Given that I've just been approved for Amex, would I be okay to apply for Barclays straight away? 

Yes. Barclaycard have an eligibility checker.

I've just run through their eligibility checker and can't say their wording is particularly great: "There's a good chance you may be accepted". Thankfully, they give a rating further down - 8/10. 

I'm surprised cards like this aren't being highlighted on sites like MSE; it only seems to be Amex and the "branded" cards. Barclays not paying for it to be pushed?

[Deleted User]

Correct. Aggregators only show the cards put forward by lenders and their prominence is determined by the amount being paid.