What to do after 1st year with Amex rewards card?

daivid

I've had the everyday platinum a year now and received £160 cashback with £100 of that accumulated in the bonus period. From now on I'm likely to only get £70ish cashback each year. Changing to a different Amex card will only help slightly as I wouldn't get any of the new cardholder bonuses. What do others do in this situation? Use a non Amex card for 2 years then start again? I could use Chase debit for everyday spends then a .25% cashback credit card when I want the payment protection on bigger spends.

WillPS

daivid said:

I've had the everyday platinum a year now and received £160 cashback with £100 of that accumulated in the bonus period. From now on I'm likely to only get £70ish cashback each year. Changing to a different Amex card will only help slightly as I wouldn't get any of the new cardholder bonuses. What do others do in this situation? Use a non Amex card for 2 years then start again? I could use Chase debit for everyday spends then a .25% cashback credit card when I want the payment protection on bigger spends.

You can get the bonus with the BA Platinum Plus card - has a chunky fee but you can make a fair bit if you wait for a sign up bonus - fees are refunded pro-rata. You can convert the Avios earned in to Nectar points to spend at Ebay, Argos or Sainsburys.

You're not eligible for the Platinum Card bonus since you've held an MR earning card in the last 2 years (your Amex Rewards card), and all the other cards bar anyone who's held any personal Amex in the last 2 years.

If I were you, I'd go for the BA PP card next time there's a sign up bonus (keep an eye on the Head for Points blog), earn the sign up bonus then cancel all your Amex's and start the clock on a new sign up bonus - next time go for Nectar or Marriott first, then Platinum Card or BAPP, then finally whichever card you didn't get the previous time. Then start the 2 year clock again.

In terms of non-Amex rewards earning options - Chase is hard to beat unless you spend a lot more than £1500/month. Barclaycard's free Avios card is a market leader for a 'use anywhere' Mastercard - it earns the equivalent of 0.66% if you convert the earned Avios in to Nectar points then spend them at face value at Ebay, Argos or Sainsburys.