rewards credit cards
Discussion
quite hard to compare like for like with rewards credit cards. I did have everything pointing at Avios points previously, but not convinced that scheme is really that great so I am having a rethink. I did have tesco clubcard credit card which auto-converted to avios but not even sure that's the best way of accruing avios! Nectar credit cards appear to require spending in store rather than have a reward for spend anywhere... etc. Maybe there are card-hopping experts out there who can advise? Thanks
swerni said:
It really depends on what you want.
Cash back, airmiles, rewards.
It does and it doesn't. My point is that I don't really care which. What I do care about is which gives the best value. Ultimately they all boil down to the same thing: you spend money on the card and you either get actual money back or you get tokens you can use as money. Some will give better value than others, and it's quite hard to compare like for like, because they're all different. It strikes me that cashback is the simplest and probably (although not definitely) the poorest value. I'd imagine (again, I'm not sure) that the best value ones are where you can only redeem the reward for a particular type of thing - and if that's the case then that's what i want to know so I can determine if that thing is of interest. I mean flights, yes, everyone buys those. Avios however have transpired IMHO to be a really sCash back, airmiles, rewards.
t deal as you can't offset against flight taxes and the flight availability is shocking. It's often cheaper and easier to just go to the market for flights and just not use the points. I ended up exchanging a ton of accrued avios points for champagne last year as i was getting married - which was great, but I am not sure it was that great value. I think they are all pretty similar, its really up to which benefit you find most useful.
I used to fly Virgin business a lot and have a black Amex for business expenses. Most years get a companion flight and enough miles to for 2 tickets anywhere in upper class. I always seem to have a few hundred thousand miles in my account, because its so difficult to spend them. Also stay in hilton hotel every week on business and have their points/miles into the Virgin account, which helps build them up each month
To spend miles on upgrade flights it seems you need to book flights nearly a year in advance on many routes, and of course you have to pay the tax.
Cashing the miles in for vouchers against holidays is another way to spend them, but Virgin dropped the points to pounds value down a few years back, otherwise that was a good way to get say £1-2k off a Virgin booked holiday. You could pay for the holiday with miles and cash using the same VM Amex and get miles back again....
I have Avios too, accumulated from the few flights per year on BA, never managed to do much with those yet......
Hilton points i have found very useful and easier to spend, have had many nights in nice hotels on holiday over the last 10 years or so ive been collecting them
I used to fly Virgin business a lot and have a black Amex for business expenses. Most years get a companion flight and enough miles to for 2 tickets anywhere in upper class. I always seem to have a few hundred thousand miles in my account, because its so difficult to spend them. Also stay in hilton hotel every week on business and have their points/miles into the Virgin account, which helps build them up each month
To spend miles on upgrade flights it seems you need to book flights nearly a year in advance on many routes, and of course you have to pay the tax.
Cashing the miles in for vouchers against holidays is another way to spend them, but Virgin dropped the points to pounds value down a few years back, otherwise that was a good way to get say £1-2k off a Virgin booked holiday. You could pay for the holiday with miles and cash using the same VM Amex and get miles back again....
I have Avios too, accumulated from the few flights per year on BA, never managed to do much with those yet......
Hilton points i have found very useful and easier to spend, have had many nights in nice hotels on holiday over the last 10 years or so ive been collecting them
Blown2CV said:
It strikes me that cashback is the simplest and probably (although not definitely) the poorest value.
I'm pretty sure that the 1.25% Amex platinum cashback is the best value, even if you convert the avios/airmiles/clubcard points etc. into a monetary value. Then there's the fact that you can spend cash however you want, and not be shoehorned into taking a holiday on specific dates etc. Also Amex have some decent offers which you can automatically load onto your card from time to time.Shaoxter said:
Blown2CV said:
It strikes me that cashback is the simplest and probably (although not definitely) the poorest value.
I'm pretty sure that the 1.25% Amex platinum cashback is the best value, even if you convert the avios/airmiles/clubcard points etc. into a monetary value. Then there's the fact that you can spend cash however you want, and not be shoehorned into taking a holiday on specific dates etc. Also Amex have some decent offers which you can automatically load onto your card from time to time.Blown2CV said:
Shaoxter said:
Blown2CV said:
It strikes me that cashback is the simplest and probably (although not definitely) the poorest value.
I'm pretty sure that the 1.25% Amex platinum cashback is the best value, even if you convert the avios/airmiles/clubcard points etc. into a monetary value. Then there's the fact that you can spend cash however you want, and not be shoehorned into taking a holiday on specific dates etc. Also Amex have some decent offers which you can automatically load onto your card from time to time.I have the following:
BA Amex Premium card: First£10,000 of spend per year (to get the companion voucher) then stop using it
Amex Platinum Cashback: Use after I've got the companion voucher. 1.25% cashback, plus 2.5% for one month when you spend over £10k in the year.
Santander World Card: 3% cashback first £150 per month of spend on petrol, trains, and London transport; also for use in places where they don't accept Amex.
I don't think of Avios as a way of getting free or cheaper flights - more as a way of getting nicer ones. I'm flying business/first for all my hols this year - something I couldn't really justify paying for, but very welcome nonetheless.
Now, hotel points ARE worth having - I got $800 worth of free stay in New York last weekend on the back of some Hyatt points.
BA Amex Premium card: First£10,000 of spend per year (to get the companion voucher) then stop using it
Amex Platinum Cashback: Use after I've got the companion voucher. 1.25% cashback, plus 2.5% for one month when you spend over £10k in the year.
Santander World Card: 3% cashback first £150 per month of spend on petrol, trains, and London transport; also for use in places where they don't accept Amex.
I don't think of Avios as a way of getting free or cheaper flights - more as a way of getting nicer ones. I'm flying business/first for all my hols this year - something I couldn't really justify paying for, but very welcome nonetheless.
Now, hotel points ARE worth having - I got $800 worth of free stay in New York last weekend on the back of some Hyatt points.
brickwall said:
I have the following:
BA Amex Premium card: First£10,000 of spend per year (to get the companion voucher) then stop using it
Amex Platinum Cashback: Use after I've got the companion voucher. 1.25% cashback, plus 2.5% for one month when you spend over £10k in the year.
Santander World Card: 3% cashback first £150 per month of spend on petrol, trains, and London transport; also for use in places where they don't accept Amex.
I don't think of Avios as a way of getting free or cheaper flights - more as a way of getting nicer ones. I'm flying business/first for all my hols this year - something I couldn't really justify paying for, but very welcome nonetheless.
Now, hotel points ARE worth having - I got $800 worth of free stay in New York last weekend on the back of some Hyatt points.
this is what i'm talking about BA Amex Premium card: First£10,000 of spend per year (to get the companion voucher) then stop using it
Amex Platinum Cashback: Use after I've got the companion voucher. 1.25% cashback, plus 2.5% for one month when you spend over £10k in the year.
Santander World Card: 3% cashback first £150 per month of spend on petrol, trains, and London transport; also for use in places where they don't accept Amex.
I don't think of Avios as a way of getting free or cheaper flights - more as a way of getting nicer ones. I'm flying business/first for all my hols this year - something I couldn't really justify paying for, but very welcome nonetheless.
Now, hotel points ARE worth having - I got $800 worth of free stay in New York last weekend on the back of some Hyatt points.
Jockman - I always manage to spend 100K miles or more per year, but accumulate another 100-200k. When I first started collecting them about 14 years ago It was easier to use them for upgrades. In recent years it seems to have got less easy to use them to go somewhere you want when you want.
Actually now ive thought about it, I might be better off swapping the Black Virgin Amex with £140 fee (that picks up airmiles at high rate) for the Amex PLatinum cash back.
Actually now ive thought about it, I might be better off swapping the Black Virgin Amex with £140 fee (that picks up airmiles at high rate) for the Amex PLatinum cash back.
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