Reward cards : Best one for Airline tickets/Rewards when you have £20K of spends planned

incesticde

Hi all,

 I did try searching for an answer but got lots of search results and none seemed relevant.

I am going to be spending at least £20K on a new kitchen and what not, I can pay by credit card (even AmEx) so want to maximise my rewards, I am initially thinking of getting the American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card but just thought I'd check with the MSE hive mind to see if there was a better option?

So with the following caveats in mind, what would you recommend?

(i) I will be making the purchases over the net six months or so and there is a good chance it'll be more than £20K
(ii) I will not be calling in the rewards for over a year, so if (for example) i was to get an American Express Preferred Rewards Gold would I need to pay the fee in the second year to keep the rewards active?
(iii) I will be using the rewards for Airline tickets (to either America or Asia) 

Thanks in advance for your help

lr1277

So I suppose my questions/points are:

Do you have a preferred airline or hotel group? If not, Amex points can be sent to many airlines and/or hotel groups, but not all. You should check Amex's partners to see if they meet your needs.

What is your credit file and salary like? No black marks on your credit file? No missed payments? Reasonable salary? Would your salary support a 20k debt? Though to be honest, I don't know what kind of salary would be required for any debt level.

If you get a fee paying Amex, you can always drop down to one card (whose name I cannot remember) but there is no fee, but you earn MR points, so you can keep your account active. Have a browse of the Headforpoints site for more details about this specific point and just general information about gaining points for spending.

If choosing Amex, ensure your suppliers take Amex.

If you are not aware, Barclaycard have 2 new Avios based cards. One is fee paying and the other is not. I think they are Mastercard so you will have a greater acceptance compared to Amex. But as the card only generate avios points, you are tied to BA and their worldwide partners. So as far as I am aware, no hotel chains.

If building up points, some peope pay their council tax bill and/or utility bills with their credit cards. If you are inclined to do this, check with your council and utilties whether they will take card payments and from which type of card ie every card type or every card type except Amex.

A few users on the headforpoints site have found hotels.com to have better rates than hotel sites. But that might be for cash transactions that don't involve any points. Something for you to investigate as you have over a year before you travel. I suppose another advantage with hotels.com is that you are not tied to a particular hotel chain. Horses for courses.

Some thoughts for you to be getting on with.

lr1277

Since I wrote that post, Avios or BA have teamed up with Qatar Airways' rewards scheme. I am led to believe the Qatar scheme does link to hotel rewards schemes. Apparently the exchange rate between Avios and Qatar Rewards is not very good, but it may work for you. Again more details on HeadforPoints.

penners324

Amex platinum everyday cashback credit card.

5% cashback for the first 3 nonths

WillPS

penners324 said:

Amex platinum everyday cashback credit card.

5% cashback for the first 3 nonths

You'd be lucky if £100 got you a Ryanair return...

The OP is clearly not looking for a cashback reward.

dcfc67

With AMEX you can convert your points into Avios as you receive them.

Also after a year the annual fee is refunded pro rata if you cancel.

The_Urbanite

I’d put it all on an Eidoo card. 

jbrassy

penners324 said:

Amex platinum everyday cashback credit card.

5% cashback for the first 3 nonths

The 5% cashback is capped at £100 if you get the free card, or £125 if you get the £25 annual fee card.

The best place to look is probably the Head For Points website. I know there are Avios/BA cards where if you spend more than £20k in a year, you get a companion voucher (i.e. buy one get one free) to use on BA flights which will be worth a lot more than £100, especially if you fly long haul in business class.

Like was said above though, you might not get a £20k limit to start with, depends on your credit history, salary, etc.

dcfc67

A quick look on MSE homepage under reward credit cards shows that AMEX Gold offers best rewards for Avios.

Think you can add a partner then just before the year is up refer them for a card of their own cancel yours (both get a reward) then get her to add you.

After 2 years you can apply again and get a reward

Voyager2002

Firstly, will you travel alone or with someone? If the latter, the companion voucher would be valuable to you, and to get it you need to choose the appropriate Amex Avios card. Obviously this ties you to BA and partner airlines. Otherwise, and particularly if you might prefer not to use an airline that accepts Avios the Amex that you have chosen is probably the best fee-free bet.

At the end of the year, once you have paid for your kitchen, apply for a different and fee-free Amex card. Once it has been approved you can cancel your preferred rewards gold card and so avoid paying the fee for the second year while keeping your points.

dcfc67

Virgin also do a fee free card. (Mastercard) 0.75 points per £1 spend.
Free upgrade or companion ticket on a 20K spend in year one.
Could work to have both cards.

Virgin fly to you destinations