Maximising card rewards

RiderOnTheStorm

I spend between £200 and £350 a month on fuel (my employer reimburses me). I currently use my debit card for this but thought about applying for a credit card so I can benefit from any rewards dished out by card companies. Which card is best for me to build up rewards?

I generally fill my car at a supermarket so was thinking of a Nectar or Tesco card but other card deals offer other points or customer only offers.

I will always pay the credit card off within the time limits as I generally process my mileage claims within 3 weeks. 

la531983

If your normal day to day spending amounts to less than 1150 a month then get a Chase card, it's not a credit card but it does currently do 1% on all transactions. New customers may have this unlimited to start with but it's now up to the first £1500 per calendar month for me. 

PRAISETHESUN

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

Who ever you decide on, make sure to do an eligibility checker before you make a full application! Also I'd recommend having a buffer to cover the unlikely event that your employer fails to reimburse you in a timely manner - ultimately it is you who will be responsible for paying off the card by the due date after all

jbrassy

I was also going to suggest Chase. However, if you want a credit card rather than a debit card and/or you're a high spender, the American Express Platinum card is also a good option. It has a £25 annual fee, but pays 0.75% cashback on the first £10,000 of spending and 1.25% cashback on any spending above £10,000 over the course of a year.

There is also the option of accumulating Avios points to redeem on BA flights. If that interests you, I would consult the Head for Points website: https://www.headforpoints.com/

WillPS

jbrassy said:

I was also going to suggest Chase. However, if you want a credit card rather than a debit card and/or you're a high spender, the American Express Platinum card is also a good option. It has a £25 annual fee, but pays 0.75% cashback on the first £10,000 of spending and 1.25% cashback on any spending above £10,000 over the course of a year.

Unless you want cash or spend £20k+ annually then this is a very poor earning option. Nectar Amex is a better deal; no fee in first year, bigger reward and flat rate 1% ongoing.

A couple of cards MSE always miss and worth a look:

• Barclaycard Avios Mastercard (free version) - convert em to Nectar and the equivalent rate is a flat 0.66%, which is unbeatable for a non-Amex card
• Natwest/RBS Reward Credit card - 1% at supermarkets, 0.25% elsewhere
  You need to have a Natwest or RBS Reward Current Account for this to make sense, otherwise there's a £24 annual fee which wipes it out for most. The Reward Current Account is an easy £3/month itself tho.
  

lr1277

jbrassy said:

I was also going to suggest Chase. However, if you want a credit card rather than a debit card and/or you're a high spender, the American Express Platinum card is also a good option. It has a £25 annual fee, but pays 0.75% cashback on the first £10,000 of spending and 1.25% cashback on any spending above £10,000 over the course of a year.

There is also the option of accumulating Avios points to redeem on BA flights. If that interests you, I would consult the Head for Points website: https://www.headforpoints.com/

Sorry to clarify post by @jbrassy but here are your amex options:

Platinum card - £575 yearly fee. Maybe useful if you trave a lot especially by flying and staying in hotels

Platinum Cashback credit card - £25 annual fee and cashback as suggested above. New member offer of 5% cashback on first £2.5k spent so potentially £125 cashback on first £2.5k.

Platinum Cashback Everyday card - no fee but lower earning rate than other cashback card. New member offer of 5% cashback on first £2k spent. So potentially £100 cashback initially.

Edited: to tidy up a few inccuracies.

2nd edit: before applying, check any places where you intended to use your Amex card takes Amex. I have noticed the big chains take Amex but not sure about the small independents.

DullGreyGuy

lr1277 said:

Platinum card - £575 yearly fee. Maybe useful if you trave a lot especially by flying and staying in hotels

Platinum Cashback credit card - £25 annual fee and cashback as suggested above. New member offer of 5% cashback on first £2.5k spent so potentially £125 cashback on first £2.5k.

Platinum Cashback Everyday card - no fee but lower earning rate than other cashback card. New member offer of 5% cashback on first £2k spent. So potentially £100 cashback initially.

Edited: to tidy up a few inccuracies.

2nd edit: before applying, check any places where you intended to use your Amex card takes Amex. I have noticed the big chains take Amex but not sure about the small independents.

You miss the Gold card for some reason?

Platinum Card isnt just for those that travel a lot but those that want access to lounges or stay at chains like the Four Seasons or Shangri-La rather than Holiday Inn.

Where we are big chains take AmEx and many small new independents do too because they're using Zettle, Dojo, SumUp or other alternative card processing options. Its more the small chains or old shops that are more hit and miss using traditional card machines and often with old mindsets that AmEx is 5 percentage points or more more expensive than Mastercard etc (its more expensive still but nothing close to what it used to be)

Absolutely check where you go though, markets round here all use these card readers and some wont take cash at all. Travel a mile to a more traditional market and cash is your only option. 

WillPS

This discussion is wild. OP wants some rewards on <£500 of employment related spend which they can expense.

Somehow we are now discussing the merits of a card with a non-refundable £575 annual fee.

DullGreyGuy

WillPS said:

Somehow we are now discussing the merits of a card with a non-refundable £575 annual fee.

It's not a card I'd recommend in this thread but lack of spending in itself doesn't automatically make it a bad buy. A colleague, who strongly disagrees with any form of credit, ultimately decided to get one because they were paying much more than £575 per year for Lounge access on their weekly trips whereas the card comes with a version of Priority Pass for the card holder and first secondary card holder that allows both unlimited access to airport lounges plus a guest each. On top of that both cardholders can access the Eurostar lounge (which was the occasional fallback) which you cannot get into any other way than a first class ticket.

On top of that there are various free events and rebates (some require spend on the card) but for him the card had already paid for itself. 

Sometimes thinking is a little mono-dimensional here, that price alone is king and value not something to be considered.

WillPS

DullGreyGuy said:

WillPS said:

Somehow we are now discussing the merits of a card with a non-refundable £575 annual fee.

It's not a card I'd recommend in this thread but lack of spending in itself doesn't automatically make it a bad buy. A colleague, who strongly disagrees with any form of credit, ultimately decided to get one because they were paying much more than £575 per year for Lounge access on their weekly trips whereas the card comes with a version of Priority Pass for the card holder and first secondary card holder that allows both unlimited access to airport lounges plus a guest each. On top of that both cardholders can access the Eurostar lounge (which was the occasional fallback) which you cannot get into any other way than a first class ticket.

On top of that there are various free events and rebates (some require spend on the card) but for him the card had already paid for itself. 

Sometimes thinking is a little mono-dimensional here, that price alone is king and value not something to be considered.

Totally agree it's a great product - just not at all appropriate for the vast majority of people and I see nothing from the OP to indicate it might be useful for them.

lr1277

DullGreyGuy said:

lr1277 said:

Platinum card - £575 yearly fee. Maybe useful if you trave a lot especially by flying and staying in hotels

Platinum Cashback credit card - £25 annual fee and cashback as suggested above. New member offer of 5% cashback on first £2.5k spent so potentially £125 cashback on first £2.5k.

Platinum Cashback Everyday card - no fee but lower earning rate than other cashback card. New member offer of 5% cashback on first £2k spent. So potentially £100 cashback initially.

Edited: to tidy up a few inccuracies.

2nd edit: before applying, check any places where you intended to use your Amex card takes Amex. I have noticed the big chains take Amex but not sure about the small independents.

You miss the Gold card for some reason?

Platinum Card isnt just for those that travel a lot but those that want access to lounges or stay at chains like the Four Seasons or Shangri-La rather than Holiday Inn.

Where we are big chains take AmEx and many small new independents do too because they're using Zettle, Dojo, SumUp or other alternative card processing options. Its more the small chains or old shops that are more hit and miss using traditional card machines and often with old mindsets that AmEx is 5 percentage points or more more expensive than Mastercard etc (its more expensive still but nothing close to what it used to be)

Absolutely check where you go though, markets round here all use these card readers and some wont take cash at all. Travel a mile to a more traditional market and cash is your only option. 

Sorry I mis-wrote (if there is such a term).

When Jbrassy wrote about the Platinum card and the £25 fee, I knew what was meant was the Platinum Cashback card and not the straight Platinum card. I am not saying the OP couldn't have worked it out, but if they didn't know and looked into it, they might have gotten confused initially.

So I laid out the three types of Platinum cards.

Apologies for not being clearer with my message.