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Amex Nectar Credit Card - renew or replace?
Shoxt3r
Posts: 171 Forumite
in Credit cards
Hi there,
The anniversary of my American Express Nectar Credit Card is coming up soon (the first year) and I'm due to have to pay the annual fee of £25.00. We've had some benefit of the card as we shop with Sainsbury's for our weekly shop and I estimate that we've gained about 20,000 points over the course of the year (plus the Welcome Bonus of 20,000 for spending the required £2,000 in the first 3 months of membership). This probably includes some bonuses which we got through Nectar itself too and is just based on the "Nectar Credit Card" listings in the Nectar Activity page but all told it's probably about £200 worth of value?
In short, I don't want to pay the annual fee and was only attracted to the the Amex Nectar Credit Card because Sainsbury's had cut their rewards on their own Sainsbury's Bank rewards - we've got significantly more back by using Amex and definitely more for our spending than the Freedom Rewards Barclaycard that we used to use regularly.
The pain of having to ask whether a shop accepts Amex is grating quite a bit though so I just wondered if there was a better option? Friends have suggested that we cancel and reapply by adding my wife as the main cardholder to avoid the fee, but would that work if we linked it to my account for the Direct Debit?
Thanks in advance!
The anniversary of my American Express Nectar Credit Card is coming up soon (the first year) and I'm due to have to pay the annual fee of £25.00. We've had some benefit of the card as we shop with Sainsbury's for our weekly shop and I estimate that we've gained about 20,000 points over the course of the year (plus the Welcome Bonus of 20,000 for spending the required £2,000 in the first 3 months of membership). This probably includes some bonuses which we got through Nectar itself too and is just based on the "Nectar Credit Card" listings in the Nectar Activity page but all told it's probably about £200 worth of value?
In short, I don't want to pay the annual fee and was only attracted to the the Amex Nectar Credit Card because Sainsbury's had cut their rewards on their own Sainsbury's Bank rewards - we've got significantly more back by using Amex and definitely more for our spending than the Freedom Rewards Barclaycard that we used to use regularly.
The pain of having to ask whether a shop accepts Amex is grating quite a bit though so I just wondered if there was a better option? Friends have suggested that we cancel and reapply by adding my wife as the main cardholder to avoid the fee, but would that work if we linked it to my account for the Direct Debit?
Thanks in advance!
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Comments
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How much do you spend in total on the Amex every year?If less than £7500, you're better off with the no annual fee Rewards Credit Card. 1 MR per £, 1 MR = 1 Avios, 1 Avios = 1.33 Nectar points, that works out at a flat rate of 0.66%. (Don't convert the MR straight to Nectar as you'll only get 1 Nectar point, so effectively 0.5% rewards.)The free Barclaycard Avios card yields the same 0.66% if you convert the 1 Avios per £ to Nectar points, this is issued as a Mastercard, so is accepted almost everywhere nowadays. You might be able to change your existing Barclaycard Freedom Rewards card to their Avios card without a new credit search via the app.Spend of £7500 on either card and that would yield just shy of £50 worth of Nectar pointsSpend of £7500 on the Nectar card would give you £75 worth of Nectar, but minus the £25 annual fee gives you the same £50. Each pound over £7500 would tip the scales in favour of the Nectar card.One final option - if your spend is heavily concentrated at Sainsburys, and you bank with RBS or Natwest, consider the 'Reward card' they offer which gives a flat 1% at all supermarkets. There is an annual fee which is waived so long as you hold the matching Reward Current Account.You could take one of these Mastercard options in addition to an Amex for situations Amex isn't accepted, or you could then cancel the Amex. If you did so, after 2 years you'd be eligible for another sign up bonus (presuming the rules aren't changed between now and then).By the way, don't ask if they accept Amex - just try it. No embarrassment in seeing 'card not supported' or similar and then grabbing another card, and staff are very used to it.4
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Don't ask if a shop accepts Amex, just use it. If it fails then you know they don't1
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^^ That's what I do - use the card and switch to another one if it gets declined. Most of the time the staff don't even notice!
But as for your question: Credit cards are tied to individuals - there are no "joint" CC products in the UK. So cancelling your card and then your wife taking out a card in her name will be perfectly okay, assuming she is eligible for it. The issue might come with the DD - usually the account funding the DD will need to be in the same name as the card holder. It's okay if it is a joint account, but a sole account in your name might not work. You'd probably need to try it and see what happens.
And if you're worried that they will see your name on the DD account and somehow realise that you are the same person who recently cancelled a card and are trying to game the system by opening a card in your wife's name, don't be. I doubt their systems are that smart, and even if they are, they won't care.1 -
If you and your wife choose to get another Amex for her, please be aware Amex are tightening up on current accounts that don’t have the same name as the account holder. Joint current accounts are fine.
This based on posts on Headforpoints website.
I can’t remember the action they take, but Amex will write to your wife laying out the consequences if she doesn’t pay from her current account or a joint current where she is one of the account holders.
Also Amex only count the individual’s income and not the household income, again from Headforpoints.
Edited to clarify bank account to current account.1 -
WillPS said:By the way, don't ask if they accept Amex - just try it. No embarrassment in seeing 'card not supported' or similar and then grabbing another card, and staff are very used to it.Cashmygiro said:Don't ask if a shop accepts Amex, just use it. If it fails then you know they don'tNeither of you might be uncomfortable with this approach but others can be. Family who use Amex regularly (along with retailers) get slightly embarrassed as it doesn't usually say 'rejected' but asks to try Chip and Pin then Swipe - it looks like that card is being refused for lack of funds. They now always use their non-Amex debit/credit card if it ambiguous but are still caught out in places such as Costa coffee or Starbucks that vary by location.1
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[Deleted User] said:WillPS said:By the way, don't ask if they accept Amex - just try it. No embarrassment in seeing 'card not supported' or similar and then grabbing another card, and staff are very used to it.Cashmygiro said:Don't ask if a shop accepts Amex, just use it. If it fails then you know they don'tNeither of you might be uncomfortable with this approach but others can be. Family who use Amex regularly (along with retailers) get slightly embarrassed as it doesn't usually say 'rejected' but asks to try Chip and Pin then Swipe - it looks like that card is being refused for lack of funds. They now always use their non-Amex debit/credit card if it ambiguous but are still caught out in places such as Costa coffee or Starbucks that vary by location.
I used to work many years in retail and people who work in retail don't give two hoots about your card declining. They certainly don't gossip about it while they are on their tea break.3 -
Thank you all for your replies.
I've been doing some research and it seems that ditching the Amex may be the best bet - we've had a good run of gaining points with it but I begrudge paying £25 for the annual fee. Also switching the main cardholder to my wife seems complicated/impossible.
I had a look on the MSE recommendations and there seem to be a lot less rewards-based cards than there ever has been - guess a case of banks/businesses tightening up. The main ones were Asda (we're unlikely to switch supermarket for a card) or Amex. I'm noticing that less businesses seem to be accepting Amex too (or maybe it just feels that way based on where we shop?) so really we just want a reliable card we can use all the time and get some reward from it.
As Avios cards have the option to convert to Nectar the best option for us appears to be the Barclaycard Avios. The current Freedom Rewards card really doesn't offer much in terms of points conversion (we've maybe racked up about £250 worth over the last few years, including the welcome bonus) and I've noticed a massive decline in the number of businesses they have signed up to get vouchers than a few years ago.
Thanks again everyone!1 -
Great choice on the Avios Mastercard. You can set up auto conversion to Nectar points within the BA Exec Club (it's deliberately hidden away and fiddly, but it will work!), I do this as I have no intention of using Avios for anything else.
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WillPS said:Great choice on the Avios Mastercard. You can set up auto conversion to Nectar points within the BA Exec Club (it's deliberately hidden away and fiddly, but it will work!), I do this as I have no intention of using Avios for anything else.0
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Cashmygiro said:[Deleted User] said:WillPS said:By the way, don't ask if they accept Amex - just try it. No embarrassment in seeing 'card not supported' or similar and then grabbing another card, and staff are very used to it.Cashmygiro said:Don't ask if a shop accepts Amex, just use it. If it fails then you know they don'tNeither of you might be uncomfortable with this approach but others can be. Family who use Amex regularly (along with retailers) get slightly embarrassed as it doesn't usually say 'rejected' but asks to try Chip and Pin then Swipe - it looks like that card is being refused for lack of funds. They now always use their non-Amex debit/credit card if it ambiguous but are still caught out in places such as Costa coffee or Starbucks that vary by location.
I used to work many years in retail and people who work in retail don't give two hoots about your card declining. They certainly don't gossip about it while they are on their tea break.
It usually doesn't just decline - it's going through various actions that waste time and also highlight it's a failed payment method. There have also been instances where contactless Amex doesn't work but Chip n Pin Amex does.
Visa/Mastercard (on the other hand) work practically everywhere...
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