Best cash back card for paying £2500 lump sum

I already have an joint Amex platinum cash back card, but looking to get another cash back card to pay for ESTAS's and a £2500 lump sum which is for a British Airways booked surprise trip to NY for my wife.

After I've paid the £2500+ bill off, I won't really use the new card much, if at all. With all the conditions and terms of a new card, my brain is fried :sad:

What do you think the current best cash back card would be for me in this respect?

Thanks :)
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  • dj1471
    dj1471 Posts: 1,968
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    Assuming you're going to pay the card off in full I'd go for the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold card. You get points rather than cash but there are plenty of good redemption options. You get two free airport lounge visits which you can use during your trip and a huge 20,000 point bonus when you spend £2k.

    Some more info here:
    https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/cashback-credit-cards#amexgold

    If applying get a referral from someone on the referrers forum for more bonus points:
    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5557448&page=11
  • SuperHan
    SuperHan Posts: 2,269
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    For the ESTAs, you'd be better with a foreign spending card, such as the MBNA Everyday or Halifax Clarity (or Santander Zero amongst others), which would give you Mastercard/VISA forex rates and no loading fees.
  • Times_Are_Hard
    Times_Are_Hard Posts: 17
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    edited 6 January 2018 at 1:57PM
    thanks for helping

    If AMEX website says "you will not be eligible for any welcome bonus award if you currently hold or have held membership rewards enrolled American express card in the past six months", then I'm not eligible as I already have AMEX platinum cash back card?
  • dj1471
    dj1471 Posts: 1,968
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    If AMEX website says "you will not be eligible for any welcome bonus award if you currently hold or have held membership rewards enrolled American express card in the past six months", then I'm not eligible as I already have AMEX platinum cash back card?
    That card pays cashback and isn't enrolled in membership rewards (this is the points-based scheme). I switched from the Platinum Cashback to Gold and got all the bonuses.
  • eskbanker
    eskbanker Posts: 30,225
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    SuperHan wrote: »
    For the ESTAs, you'd be better with a foreign spending card, such as the MBNA Everyday or Halifax Clarity (or Santander Zero amongst others), which would give you Mastercard/VISA forex rates and no loading fees.
    ....but given that a pair of ESTAs comes to the grand total of $28, the saving is somewhat unlikely to be life-changing!

    Although of course having such a card is useful for spending while there, which is likely to be a tad more than $28 :)
  • I need to pay for the ESTA's without my wife knowing, so hopefully I can pay with the AMEX preferred rewards gold card.
    The official ESTA website says payment by PayPal, credit or debit card, but the AMEX preferred rewards gold card is a charge card, not debit/credit card.
  • newuser86
    newuser86 Posts: 312
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    It counts as a credit card so should work. You can also link it to your PayPal account
  • Thanks for the replies.

    When other forum users send messages of offering to use their referral link and mentioning about giving us money etc, I'm new to this, so what is the guarantee they actually will?
  • newuser86
    newuser86 Posts: 312
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    I replied to this question on the amex referral board.

    In essence there's nothing to stop people not paying ... Myself and a few others I have seen highlight the successful referrals within their posts.
  • As I already have an Amex platinum card, I won't get the 20,000 point bonus when spending £2k, I just spoke to Amex.
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