Metal Credit Cards

jamsandwich1

What is the best value metal credit card in the UK? e.g. are there any with no annual fees, etc?

jbrassy

The only metal credit card I know of in the UK is the Amex Platinum charge card which has an annual fee of £575. The only reason I can see for getting this card is if you do a lot of travel (which you probably won't be right now). 

Another option I can think of is getting a metal Curve card and linking your credit cards to it. This is £14.99 a month and a lot of the features you can for free or a lot cheaper with other providers, so it's probably not worth it.

dr_adidas01

jamsandwich1 said:

What is the best value metal credit card in the UK? e.g. are there any with no annual fees, etc?

Depends on what you consider value there are a few metal cards on the market none of which are fee free.

Monzo White Metal Card £15 have to have for 6 Months Minimum

Curve Metal which is £14.99 a month which I got for free as an Investor.

Revolut Metal Card £12.99 a month.

Then there's the Amex Platinum Charge card which I have and the annual fee is £575, which for me I don't mind paying as its used a lot.

Sandtree

For completeness there is also the AmEx Centurion card but unless you are a public figure you need to have held an AmEx Platinum card for a number of years and spend big on it before you are "invited" to apply for the Centurion. Exact requirements are never published but most think its over £10-15k per month with a focus on travel or luxury retailers

funkycredit

dr_adidas01 said:

jamsandwich1 said:

What is the best value metal credit card in the UK? e.g. are there any with no annual fees, etc?

Depends on what you consider value there are a few metal cards on the market none of which are fee free.

Monzo White Metal Card £15 have to have for 6 Months Minimum

Curve Metal which is £14.99 a month which I got for free as an Investor.

Revolut Metal Card £12.99 a month.

Then there's the Amex Platinum Charge card which I have and the annual fee is £575, which for me I don't mind paying as its used a lot.

I've got the Amex platinum everyday (no fee), the gold credit card (£140 fee) plus the green card (charge) and can't decide which is the best Amex card. 

I was debating closing them all and getting the metal card like yours but can't get my head around the travel benefits. 

Could I be cheeky and ask how it's beneficial please? I do go away around 12-16 times a year - certainly once a month (or used to before I voted leave). 

Sandtree

funkycredit said:
Could I be cheeky and ask how it's beneficial please? 

Most benefits are at "cardholder" level and you can give one free additional Platinum card to someone else (obviously you are responsible for their spending) but that does mean for example with the Priority Pass you can both gain access and both bring in 1 guest

PriorityPass - unlimited access to applicable airport lounges for each cardholder plus a guest each
AmEx Centurion Lounge Access - as above
Plaza Premium Airport Lounges - as above
Delta Lounges - only if flying Delta and can bring in a spouse and child as a guests per cardholder
Eurostar Lounge Access - no guest

Gold status with various hotel groups like Hilton, Marriot, Raddisson which can give you benefits like upgraded rooms, free early/late check in, free breakfast, free welcome gift etc

Gold status with Avis and Hertz which gives you free upgrades, free late return etc

They have their own travel agency you can use that run certain special schemes like Fine Hotels & Resorts where you may get free spa credit or meals or room upgrades etc. Sometimes they work out really good, other times they arent good prices.

Travel insurance - reasonable cover but last time I checked travel does have to be booked using the Amex card (they are ok if you book one or two elements using another card because the merchant doesnt accept amex)

MR points - you know about them, Platinium sometimes gets different bonuses

Restaurants/Events etc - they are typically good at getting seats at hard to get into places, though it does vary a little on the person that you speak to, and claim to have some specially reserved seats at well known fine dinning places etc so sold out doesnt necessarily mean no.

Similar to the above they sometimes put on their own special events, the ones for Platinum in the UK tend to be London based and the ones we've been to were generally good - some are free and others arent but are cheap for what you get. Having seen what the USA does, and especially for their Centurion cards, the UK ones are very minor. 


If you travel a fair amount, like accessing lounges and stay in the relevant hotels then it can be a good buy even if you dont like the fancy stuff. If you do like higher end travel or going to the occasional champagne event in London then its an interesting proposition even if not on paper a great financial one.

funkycredit

Thank you. That's really helpful. 

Sadly, I'm a northerner so other than using Leeds Bradford for short haul - we go Manchester for our long haul jollies and their lounges are pants - so much so we tend to use Frankie & Bennies cos at least it's better than the Manc lounges. 

Maybe I'm better off with what I've got. 😢

Sandtree

It covers the return too but that does devalue it significantly if you dont like the Manchester or Leeds lounges where Priority Pass is accepted. 

funkycredit

Yea I get you, I might look into it again once things start getting back to normal. I'm just hoping the 2 free gold based passes are carried forward, but I'll probably keep it and pay the fee when it's due in a couple of months. 

Where we go also affects usage of the priority pass lounges; example Jamaica & Cuba - both are pretty basic but we go there a lot and it might not seem good value for the fee charged. 

Maybe we'll just have to start holidaying somewhere new! But thanks for explaining the benefits. Appreciated. 

Stompa

Is there some advantage to a metal card over a plastic one?

ilikewatch2

Stompa said:

Is there some advantage to a metal card over a plastic one?

I find them far more robust when clearing stubborn ice from my windscreen - I've split/cracked several plastic cards doing this but never had a problem with a metal card.