AMEX Gold vs Amex Nectar?

Jlawson118

I've had the AMEX Gold charge card since November 2017. And as of September 2020 I've had their Nectar credit card on the side.

Before last year's Gold Card change, I used to typically spend £15k within the year for the 10k bonus points, and then once I'd met the threshold, I'd spend on my Nectar CC months leading up to my Gold renewal each November and switch back to Gold.

But I use a lot of Nectar brands such as Sainsburys, Esso, Argos etc. Using that card pretty frequently over the last few years, I've accumulated a high amount of Nectar points, that I can find more things to do with than the Membership Rewards points. In fact before now, I've converted many MRP into Nectar using the Avios trick.

Up until now it's worked well for accumulating both sets of points, until the Gold change last year.

Obviously down to the nitty gritty, we're getting rewarded less for our spend with Gold, but being charged more per year for the privilege. Now the extra airport lounge passes per year won't go amiss, but when doing the maths, we're getting less bonus points per year with the new system. I probably will meet most of the thresholds within the year, but I am also taking into mind that I am cutting my expenditure down this year too so it'll take me up to my renewal.

I'm starting to think I'll be best off shutting one of the accounts down, and it's more than likely going to be Nectar. Ideally I'd love to shut both of them down and go Platinum but for the yearly fee vs the benefits it just doesn't seem worth it for me

But I'm wondering which is the best value for earnings? And which card gives you more bang for your buck out of the two?

MrFrugalFever

What is your purpose of usage?

For example, I utilise the Barclaycard Avios CC so I can get Avios points, cabin upgrade voucher, reward flights and the option to convert to nectar to spend in varying retailers.

I would consider the reasons why you utilise the AMEX card(s) and whether an alternative rewards card works better for you.

WillPS

On earnings rate alone, and assuming all of it ends up spent as Nectar points at face value, the Nectar card is clearly the winner.

1 MR = 1 Avios = 1.33 Nectar points (or 0.66p if used at face value) per £ 
2 Nectar points (or 1p if used at face value) per £ is clearly a better deal

The Nectar card also has a massively lower annual fee (£25 instead of £160).

Unless you value those lounge passes at £135, I don't see why you'd keep the Gold card over the Nectar one.

TwiceNightly

At £5k spend per year on the Gold card I think you hit the same Nectar level as the Nectar card?

Nectar £5k = 10000 Nectar points
Gold £5k = 7500MR = 7500 Avios = 10000 Nectar points

Then you're looking at the Annual Fee of £160, so for that you get:
Higher point earning potential when booking with Amex or airlines (up to 3x points)
£10 per month Deliveroo credit
4x Airport lounge passes
Upgraded car rental with Avis and Hertz, no additional driver fee with both
Room credit and upgrades on some hotels (expensive hotels)

I haven't included the upgraded Travel and Purchase protection benefits. If you think those benefits above are worth the £135 difference in fee then the Gold could work out for you. If you use Deliveroo twice a month that's £120 of it back a year.

WillPS

TwiceNightly said:

At £5k spend per year on the Gold card I think you hit the same Nectar level as the Nectar card?

Only if you spend in exact £5k chunks.

TwiceNightly said:

£10 per month Deliveroo credit

2 x £5 credits, can't be stacked