Best credit card for single big purchase?

born_again

>£5k is a LOT of money.<

Especially when they walk away with the ring & you still have to pay for it.

daveyjp

I'd always consider second hand for jewellery.  

Mark up on new is huge and of course there's 20% vat.

Voyager2002

WillPS said:

As zx81 notes a lot will depend on your credit worthiness, but if the jeweller accepts Amex, and you're eligible (check their eligibility checker), I'd personally consider the Amex Platinum Card (not Platinum Cashback).

Spend £6k, gets 66,000 membership rewards points and a £200 credit to be used with Amex Travel (could use it to book a nice hotel for your engagement?). The membership rewards points are flexible and can be exchanged for a number of travel loyalty schemes. If that doesn't interest you, change them in to Avios then change those Avios in to Nectar points and you'll end up with £528 worth of Nectar to spend at Sainsbury's, Argos or Ebay.

There is a ridiculous annual fee of £575, but this will be refunded pro-rata when you cancel, so the aim is - hit the target as quickly as possible, buy the ring, top the spending up to £6000 (either by shopping or by buying gift cards for places you would shop anyway - Amazon, supermarkets etc), get the points converted and the travel credit used ASAP then cancel. Should be doable inside a month. Effectively you will have paid £48 for a £200 travel agent credit and £528 worth of Nectar points.

You can also register for a load of hotel statuses (including Hilton Gold, which gets you free breakfast) and will last a good while after you cancel.

All good advice, but the rush to spend the MR points and then cancel the card could prove stressful, and obviously there is a fair amount to go wrong.

You can keep the points (and so use them at your leisure) by applying for one of the free cards that Amex offer. As soon as you have the free card you can cancel the expensive one and your points balance remains unchanged.

TripleH

As a money saving alternative, I did a ring making course and made an engagement ring for my wife.

Yes, it's not going to be expensive (worth scrap value, but then the rings you buy will only be worth scrap second hand).

The course cost less than £100 including the ring, but as well as being unique, it is personal to us.

That we'd been married 7 years before I made the ring is by the by.

To me it sounds better saying "my husband made my engagement ring" than "my husband bought my engagement ring".

If you still want to buy an expensive ring, why not make your wedding bands?

I know of someone who spent a lot on their wedding, marriage lasted months. They had to delay getting married again because they were still paying for the first wedding.

Jasonh2015

Marchitiello said:

Jasonh2015 said:

If it’s your 1st credit card it’s unlikely you’ll get “The Platinum Card” with a £5k limit. They have no preset limit, but a fresh £5k charge on a new applicant if you did get approved would most likely get declined. 

It’s also a charge card, not a credit card, so the balance is due in full. And they like a long credit history as well. I was approved 2 years odd after having their Cash back credit card. 

There’s a link below about rewards cards if you haven’t already seen it. 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/best-credit-card-rewards/

For new applicants, “The Platinum Card” is now a credit card (existing cardholders can retain the Chargecard product)

Wow that was done quietly, I completely missed that, 473.9% apr, that's crazy. 

Makes he wonder, the only reason people have it is because of the no pre set limit. If anything, that's a downgrade

artyboy

Jasonh2015 said:

Marchitiello said:

Jasonh2015 said:

If it’s your 1st credit card it’s unlikely you’ll get “The Platinum Card” with a £5k limit. They have no preset limit, but a fresh £5k charge on a new applicant if you did get approved would most likely get declined. 

It’s also a charge card, not a credit card, so the balance is due in full. And they like a long credit history as well. I was approved 2 years odd after having their Cash back credit card. 

There’s a link below about rewards cards if you haven’t already seen it. 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/best-credit-card-rewards/

For new applicants, “The Platinum Card” is now a credit card (existing cardholders can retain the Chargecard product)

Wow that was done quietly, I completely missed that, 473.9% apr, that's crazy. 

Makes he wonder, the only reason people have it is because of the no pre set limit. If anything, that's a downgrade

Personally I think the whole credit/charge point is a red herring. Amex tend to give big limits and increase them regularly (mine's about £40k and I know people on here that have mentioned larger still...). I'd rather have that than an unclear charge card where I'd feel I'd need to call them if I did want to make a big purchase. And frankly, what on earth am I going to buy in one go on a card for 40k? Not too many car dealerships I know that accept it, but maybe I'm just not extravagant enough!

As for the APR, that's also a red herring because of the standard requirement to calculate based on a £1200 limit and including the fee. And you really wouldn't have an Amex if you weren't going to pay it off in full each month!

But once you get past that, there are actually quite a lot of travel related benefits that suit frequent fliers, and especially those with families - there's a pretty good review of it on the Head for Points website. For starters, it will get 4 people into airport lounges under the priority pass scheme. Plus it grants hotel elite status with a few chains, and as mentioned there are always fairly chunky money back offers.

Before lockdown, when I was travelling a lot, I did consider switching to it from my current Platinum cashback card - but the world has changed and its value proposition has diminished for me. And interestingly, once you've got past the initial signup bonus, you'd be better off putting your normal spend on the cashback card instead.

WillPS

born_again said:

Jasonh2015 said:

If it’s your 1st credit card it’s unlikely you’ll get “The Platinum Card” with a £5k limit. They have no preset limit, but a fresh £5k charge on a new applicant if you did get approved would most likely get declined. 

It’s also a charge card, not a credit card, so the balance is due in full. And they like a long credit history as well. I was approved 2 years odd after having their Cash back credit card. 

There’s a link below about rewards cards if you haven’t already seen it. 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/best-credit-card-rewards/

Charge Cards do not have S75 protection. So would rule out what the OP wants.

That'd be true, but The Platinum Card is no longer issued as Charge Card, it is a Credit Card with full S75 protection.

Incidentally, I've never needed to invoke S75 with Amex because their own chargeback scheme is so good (although I'm sure it'd be less good if I only bought £100 on the Amex and paid for the rest another way, but then this is not what the OP is asking for).

daveyjp said:

I'd always consider second hand for jewellery.  

Mark up on new is huge and of course there's 20% vat.

The OP isn't asking for advice on that tho, they're asking for a way to maximise the benefit from a ~£5k purchase.