Closure of Creation Marriott Rewards Credit Card

BigBlueSky

I've just had a letter day informing me that the above card is going to be cancelled at the beginning of December.

Has anyone else had one of these letters yet ?

Thanks

WillPS

I don't hold it but word on the street is that Creation are leaving the UK credit card market altogether.

The Marriott card hasn't been available for many years and Marriott now have a branded American Express card (actually a relaunch of the card they inherited with their purchase of Starwood a few years back).

Dickster_2

BigBlueSky said:

I've just had a letter day informing me that the above card is going to be cancelled at the beginning of December.

Has anyone else had one of these letters yet ?

Thanks

Yep, just had it too. Would be good if they would explain why. Creation really are a strange outfit

john1002

I’ve got three cards with them and all closing due to me using them with curve although letter says nothing about this, in fact is unsigned and gives no reason.

to be fair only used it for premium elite status with IHG.

TheMightySwordfish

Did you happen to use it with Curve? Seems they have thrown their toys out of the pram because it could be used to exploit their points system. 

https://www.headforpoints.com/2021/10/01/creation-cancel-credit-cards-used-with-curve-card/

BigBlueSky

Yes, I used it for a single transaction of £15 via Curve to an online store to test it out.  Nothing since.  I hadn't realised that was not permitted or frowned upon.

TheMightySwordfish

Think a lot have been caught up in this.

Marchitiello

This was bound to happen as the previous Branding contract came to an end… With the merger with Starwood, they inherited the Amex deal. The same has happened to the Previous Barclaycard IHG once Creation got that deal. What is more telling however is that they have not offered a product swap to the OP (unless it was not just missed from the post) like they did for ASDA cardholders which were given a Creation Cashback card. As we all know Creation website only show the IHG card, but you cannot actually apply online.. some earlier reports talked about still being possible to apply over the phone, but it would be interesting to hear from some more recent experience. If they are instead not accepting more application, I guess it is indeed probable that they will exit the UK CC market altogether.  This would open up potential deals with Amex or maybe a new player like Chase UK (that already offers branded IHG and Hyatt cards in USA).

Deeroc

I have just been informed that Creation plan to terminate their agreement with Marriott in February 2025.  I have been using this credit card for many years accruing points to allow me free nights at the Marriott Hotel group.
I am now researching a replacement credit card which gains points but for every spend.  Anything of interest appears to have a hefty annual fee.
Has anyone got any recommendations

WillPS

Deeroc said:

I have just been informed that Creation plan to terminate their agreement with Marriott in February 2025.  I have been using this credit card for many years accruing points to allow me free nights at the Marriott Hotel group.
I am now researching a replacement credit card which gains points but for every spend.  Anything of interest appears to have a hefty annual fee.
Has anyone got any recommendations

I'm surprised it's limped on this long to be honest.

The only hotel rewards credit card accepting sign ups is the Marriott Amex, which as you say carries a fee and only really makes sense if you value Marriott status highly.

Hilton have a debit card from Currensea, but again it has a fee and it isn't very lucrative.

Virgin Atlantic rewards can be transferred to Hilton or IHG, but the conversion rate doesn't really end up making much sense.

Clubcard points can be exchanged for Hotels.com rewards at twice face value (for the time being at least), but again the effective earning rate on the Tesco Bank credit card is pretty poor. 

Finally there's Nectar, which has a very decent Amex (albeit with a £30 annual fee). You can use these points against Nectar Hotels (which is a rebadged version of Booking.com). The effective earn rate there is 1%. You also have the option of using the Nectar points against purchases at Argos or Sainsburys (including fuel, so long as the station has a manned kiosk).

I wish I had better news to share, but unfortunately the market for this type of reward is very weak.

gt94sss2

Deeroc said:

I have just been informed that Creation plan to terminate their agreement with Marriott in February 2025.  I have been using this credit card for many years accruing points to allow me free nights at the Marriott Hotel group.
I am now researching a replacement credit card which gains points but for every spend.  Anything of interest appears to have a hefty annual fee.
Has anyone got any recommendations

Have you seen https://www.headforpoints.com/best-uk-avios-airline-hotel-credit-cards/ ?