Amex declined too often - need a new credit card

Merryb

My Amex card is not accepted by too many places so I am looking for a new or 2nd card. I did a search on MSE and nearly all the answers came  back as AMEX cards...??? does anyone have any credit cards that they think are particularly worthwhile? I am not looking to transfera balance,  I just want either rewards or cashback etc

thanks

jlfrs01

I use an M&S Rewards card, it's not only 18 month interest free on spends but gives points for each £1 spent. I've got a Barclaycard too but I've stopped using it - the points are pretty stingey I think. Other options to consider are Tesco, John Lewis and Sainsbury's all of which will give points.

WillPS

Barclaycard Free Avios card. 1 Avios per £ spent, which can be converted to Nectar points at a rate of 1:1.33 - giving you an effective cashback rate of 0.66% if you redeem the points at face value at Sainsburys, Argos or Ebay.

Unless you're really in to Virgin Atlantic, no other non-Amex comes close IMHO - at best you're looking at 0.25%-0.5% reward rates.

If you'd consider debit cards too then Chase (regulated current account) and Algbra (less regulated emoney) have 1% cashback offers.

CliveOfIndia

As per the previous posters, there are several out there.  This article might give you some ideas: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/best-credit-card-rewards/#supermarket

For the supermarket-branded cards, it makes sense to tailor your choice depending on where you usually shop.  M&S points or Tesco Clubcard points can be handy (especially if you save them up for a big Christmas shop, for example), but they're probably of little value to you if you can't/don't want to shop there anyway.

Merryb said:

My Amex card is not accepted by too many places

An interesting snippet from that same article:

"While customers paying interest is a big source of income for the card company, it's not the only one.

The second is the retailer. When you pay on a credit card, the card company gets a small percentage of what you spend from the shop/restaurant and this will often cover the cashback.

It's worth noting that Amex tends to charge retailers more than they pay when you use a Mastercard or Visa, which is one of the reasons some smaller companies don't accept it."

I guess that may explain why Amex is perhaps not as widely-accepted as Visa/Mastercard.

daivid

If you spend a lot there are some non-amex cards that give decent cash-back but charge a fee.

Marchitiello

Interestingly Amex just sent around a survey about general acceptance.

I know we all have different spending habit but I  find myself spending 85/90% of my card expenditure on Amex (basically excluding DDs), while the 10-15% made up mostly of forex spend (3% fee with Amex), kids school meal top up (pay360 does not accept Amex but ParentsPay does), and the occasional parking session. If Amex removed Forex fees, my spending with them would be closer to 95/97%.

I am fully invested in Travel Rewards (mostly Avios but keep an healthy balance of Amex MR behind in case I need it for another airline) and thus my back up card is mostly Barclaycard Avios and Chase Debit card for forex spend. 

safe_hands2

I've posted similar recently. Amex only makes up just over half my spend. Decided I'm going to switch to just using Halifax cashback card after this year. 0.25% and 0.5% on spend over £4000 and will just be easy to use one card without having to keep checking all the time.

inthezeroroom

Seriously, it it really worth the bother for 0.25%/0.5% cashback? I’m genuinely curious what people think about this. I’m a CC skeptic nowadays having made all the mistakes, been sucked in by all the points and cashback offers (and they used to be way better than they are today), and so I just want to know why anyone would waste time scrabbling after 0.25% cashback.

WillPS

inthezeroroom said:

Seriously, it it really worth the bother for 0.25%/0.5% cashback? I’m genuinely curious what people think about this. I’m a CC skeptic nowadays having made all the mistakes, been sucked in by all the points and cashback offers (and they used to be way better than they are today), and so I just want to know why anyone would waste time scrabbling after 0.25% cashback.

I find it hard to get excited about less than 0.5%, which is why the free Avios Barclaycard (at effectively 0.66%, for me) is a great product for me.

FWIW most of my Mastercard spend is on Perks at Work, who don't accept Amex, but provide gift cards with cashback equivalent to 5-10% back, dwarfing what paying directly with an Amex would achieve.

safe_hands2

inthezeroroom said:

Seriously, it it really worth the bother for 0.25%/0.5% cashback? I’m genuinely curious what people think about this. I’m a CC skeptic nowadays having made all the mistakes, been sucked in by all the points and cashback offers (and they used to be way better than they are today), and so I just want to know why anyone would waste time scrabbling after 0.25% cashback.

I think it's just I've got used to making money back on all spending and, whilst it's not a great amount, it adds up with other things like Top Cashback, work scheme, etc. I don't think it's scrabbling. I like using a credit card for all my spend so why not make a bit of money back at the same time.

daivid

It may not be much but once set up there is no effort involved, plus in many cases an introductory offer covers the initial effort of applying.