New CC for everyday spending

[craigb84]

I've had a little search but there really isn't much out there with decent rewards.

So, I'm after a new card to handle my everyday purchases. I have no other cards/ debts but the idea is to get something out of my spending as opposed to just using my debit card all the time (which also has limited protection online).

We're talking things like fuel, shopping, well....everything. Because I have no debt I figured I should keep my credit rating up by spending on a card and paying it off in full every month.

Natwest YourPoints (my current bank) info seems limited with what they can really offer.

Do I consider a cash back card instead?

[V8mate]

You're right; the market is empty for reward cards. My wife uses her CC for everything and then clears it all each payday, so I did a similar research exercise for her a couple of months ago.

I'm hoping that Santander's 123(?) card will provoke some competitive responses from other banks.

[addey]

I've literally just this morning signed up for the Santander 123 card - 3% cashback on petrol (up to £300 per month), 2% cashback on department stores, and 1% cashback on supermarkets. We currently use Egg cards for all our monthly spending which gives 1% for everything so the Santander card should give us a better return (although it does carry a £24 a year fee).

I've looked at other options in the past (air miles, nectar points etc.) but cashback is just easier as you don't have to worry about keeping track of what points you've accumulated, then working out how to actually use them!

[V8mate]

addey said:

I've literally just this morning signed up for the Santander 123 card - 3% cashback on petrol (up to £300 per month), 2% cashback on department stores, and 1% cashback on supermarkets. We currently use Egg cards for all our monthly spending which gives 1% for everything so the Santander card should give us a better return (although it does carry a £24 a year fee).

And bonus caps!

[miln0039]

British Airways American Express is my everyday CC of choice. I spend, get airmiles anyway. If I spend enough in one year I get a whole extra flight FREE when I buy another (often using the miles I've earnt!).

If you like to travel I would wholly reccommend it as I find the afterservice provided by Amex very good too.

[fat80b]

miln0039 said:

British Airways American Express is my everyday CC of choice. I spend, get airmiles anyway. If I spend enough in one year I get a whole extra flight FREE when I buy another (often using the miles I've earnt!).

If you like to travel I would wholly reccommend it as I find the afterservice provided by Amex very good too.

Similar deal - I use the Virgin Atlantic card in the same way.
I like the miles card as it focuses the mind on the big reward (i.e. a holiday) rather than a few measly quid back once a year although I often doubt whether or not you are better off with miles as opposed to cashback.... probably not

The good things about the Virgin card (better than BA) in my opinion are that :

a) it is easier to spend the Virgin Miles (in that they actually discount the flight as opposed to BA where thousands of miles seem to save a mere tenner)

b) Virgin now give you both an Amex and a Visa card linked to the same a/c which means that when Amex isn't accepted, it is no longer the problem it once was.

Bob

[miln0039]

fat80b said:

b) Virgin now give you both an Amex and a Visa card linked to the same a/c which means that when Amex isn't accepted, it is no longer the problem it once was.

Hmmm, this is one thing I would quite like changed!!!! Do Virgin offer the companion flight voucher scheme out of interest?

I'd be tempted to switch in some ways for the visa payments option alone, but I do enjoy the flexibility of the BA network which means I can earn points on flight to Europe and not just to the US & beyond (which I don't do quite as often).

[fat80b]

miln0039 said:

Hmmm, this is one thing I would quite like changed!!!! Do Virgin offer the companion flight voucher scheme out of interest?

Yes they do - I only have the silver card and you need to spend 10K in a year to get a companion seat. I have mine for this year waiting to be used

miln0039 said:

I'd be tempted to switch in some ways for the visa payments option alone, but I do enjoy the flexibility of the BA network which means I can earn points on flight to Europe and not just to the US & beyond (which I don't do quite as often).

For me, it all comes down to where you go most of the time. I collect both BA and Virgin almost equally.

Europe wide, Virgin partner with BMI so you can collect in Europe, but it definitely is not as easy as BA.

Bizarrely, I think most of my BA airmiles have come from Cathay flights over the years as in Europe, I mostly fly ryanscare / SleazyJet.

Bob

[Beardy10]

I'd agree that you really need both BA and Virgin if you can. I've found int he past both have been useless for rewards flights when the other has actually been quite good. It used to be the case that BA released all it's airmiles flights a year in advance so if you were organsised you could get what you wanted....Virgin on the other hand release them during the year and watch what demand is like. I've got Virgin flights in the past like this...it's worth phoning in and asking if they might release more flights rather than just checking online.

Definitely the best "rewards" you can get especially with a companion voucher.

[theboss]

I use BA Amex as has been mentioned and also Barclaycard which is handy for several reasons:

1) I have it on an indefinite (not promotional) 6.7% rate which is handy if I do ever need to whack something on it and defer payment for a month or two and:

2) their online service is better than any other card providers I know of. In particular you can categorise transactions which makes for very good analysis of spending and also recalling transactions from 6+ months ago. When I do my expenses every quarter I just select date range 3 months, category 'business' and export to .CSV where it slots straight into my expenses spreadsheet. Job done.

[Composite Guru]

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

I have a Tesco card.
I buy a lot in there and elsewhere, and they in return give me back about £150 a year in vouchers.

I use this to buy the Christmas Booze.

I do this but use the deals and get 3/4x the amount back.

I would never spend them in the shop.

[OllyM]

miln0039 said:

Do Virgin offer the companion flight voucher scheme out of interest?

They do, but it's hopeless compared to the BA scheme. You can only get a companion flight using the voucher when you book a full price fare with cash, which you're very unlikely to do!

The BA scheme is much better because you redeem your companion flight on miles bookings.