Should you ditch the Tesco Clubcard Mastercard for the IHG Rewards Club Premium Visa?

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• Guesswho2000 says:

  4 Dec4 December 05:38

  Is the Tesco CC not worth keeping for fuel only though (As a clubcard, not to pay with) for the 1 point/£1 rather than 1/£2? This hasn’t been changed afaik. Or does the CC benefit still work if the card is canx?

  • Rob says:

    4 Dec4 December 06:21

    Not clear to me if this benefit has remained?

    • harry says:

      4 Dec4 December 06:43

      I used my Tesco credit card as a clubcard for petrol a few days ago (naturally I paid with my Amex earning 2 points per £), and I only got 1 clubcard point per £.

    • Jason says:

      4 Dec4 December 07:14

      I used my tesco cc as a clubcard in an Exoress attached to an esso to buy some coffees yesterday and got 1pt/£.
      Previously when ive used my fob there ive received 1pt/£2.
      Passing again this morning and will use my key fob card to check.

      • harry says:

        4 Dec4 December 07:51

        Thinking about it, my 1 point per £1 is good, so the benefit remains. I was kind of expecting 2 points but that’s wrong lol

        • Craig says:

          4 Dec4 December 09:34

          But you don’t need the Credit Card, just a clubcard.

        • harry says:

          4 Dec4 December 09:37

          You earn more points by using a Tesco credit card as a clubcard then paying with Amex @ PFS

        • William Hughes says:

          4 Dec4 December 09:42

          The Clubcard only gives you 1pt per £2 spend. The Credit Card gives you 1pt per £1 spend. Double points.

          It still works and I still use mine as the clubcard. You can use it in the Pay@Pump too and get the same points.

        • JQ says:

          4 Dec4 December 20:08

          You can use a tesco debit card instead of the credit card.

  • Mrs tall trader says:

    4 Dec4 December 14:35

    Very clever!

• Caroline says:

  4 Dec4 December 05:47

  I already have the Hilton card and took a risk and applied for the IHG card – rejected straight away. A bit annoyed I did that now, an unnecessary mark on my credit file – damn me and my impulses!!!

  Going to cancel my Hilton card today, should have done it before now really. Hopefully in six months the IHG card may have a decent sign up bonus although as indicated in the article, the new EU rules may restrict this.

  • Jason says:

    4 Dec4 December 06:12

    I have this card and think I will cancel it today, as I want to get the Hilton credit card.
    Or should I call up and speak to someone and see if I can split the credit limit between both cards?

  • James67 says:

    4 Dec4 December 06:13

    Caroline, was this the black card or the free card? We were discussing in comments a few days ago whether best strategy might be HH card first followed by black card in the hope Barclays would not turn down annual fee. Rrports in past few months suggest it’s just pot luck whether you get two cards or not.

    • Caroline says:

      4 Dec4 December 06:20

      Hi I saw that post and that was the trigger for me taking the gamble but didn’t work out.

      It was the card with the £99 fee I applied for. I called Barclaycard and they said it was rejected because I already hold a card.

      I then told them this decision will force me to cancel the Hilton card and they would lose a customer, potentially forever. They transferred me to a customer relationship manager who tried to persuade me to stay but ultimately she said there was no way she could get around the two card rule. Thus, I said would cancel when after my next statement was issued which is today.

      In hindsight maybe I should have cancelled the Hilton card first and then gave it a go but hey it’s done now. I’m just going to wait the full six months now, don’t want another unnecessary mark on my file.

      • Jason says:

        4 Dec4 December 06:39

        That’s made my mind up, anyone any idea how long I should wait to apply? I need the card fir a Hilton voucher mid April.
        My wife’s voucher was in her account within 2 weeks of applying for the card last month.

        • James67 says:

          4 Dec4 December 07:31

          If you cancel it today you cannot reapply until 5 June according to the rules (unless 6 month rule just applies to the same card) which doesn’t help you. If you are going to take a chance anyway, I would be inclined to keep black card until early next year before cancelling to secure platinum through the end of 2018.

      • James67 says:

        4 Dec4 December 07:22

        Sorry to hear that Caroline particularly after you acting on our comments. My situatiin back in August was same but with cards in reverse. It’s just same old Barclays CS, not tge rule itself but the random way it is applied.

  • JQ says:

    4 Dec4 December 20:14

    It’s possible that there was no hit to credit file and they did just search their own system.

    So people who managed to get 2 cards may have not been identified as existing customers by their system.

    Now, is there a way to prevent the system matching your existing details while still being similar enough to accept you?

  • Nick M says:

    4 Dec4 December 21:38

    I was one of the people that tried (unsuccessfully) the other day… To be fair on the application page it does explicitly say that you cannot have more than one Barclaycard

  • Callum says:

    5 Dec5 December 07:59

    A “mark” means virtually nothing. Unless you already have multiple searches in the last 6 months it’s unlikely another lender will treat you any differently now.

• Stu R says:

  4 Dec4 December 05:48

  A small point Rob; you say the Tesco devaluation takes place this month, but it happened effective 1st November, certainly on my card and per the revised T&C’s sent to me.

  I had the exact scenario of spending £15.99 and earned 1 measly point – the sooner B&Q accept Amex, the better!

  • Jason says:

    4 Dec4 December 06:17

    I believe for new customers it was the 1st Nov, existing customers 1st Dec, although tesco clubcard was awarding the new rate, to old customers, through November.
    I called up clubcard and complained, the first agent took fright at the number of cc points that needed to be manually awarded, and said absolutely no way could she add them and I needed to call tesco bank about it, which I duly did and ended back at clubcard via the menu, the 2nd CS agent said no problem checked with technical team ( 2 mins) and added 2250 pts which appeared in my account the following day.

    • harry says:

      4 Dec4 December 06:47

      Can you explain your rationale for using the Tesco credit card pls Jason?

      Whilst I have one, for me it doesn’t stack up spending on it vs Amex. Whether old rate or new. So I don’t actually use it for spend any more.

      • Jason says:

        4 Dec4 December 07:26

        I had the old card so 1pt/£2 and I spent it somewhere they don’t take Amex.
        My next best card was an HSBC premier, which has a better rate until 21s Jan.
        You’re quite right I always use my Amex in tesco now.

      • Jason says:

        4 Dec4 December 07:29

        Ps it’s been resigned to use only as a clubcard and if that doesn’t work any more it won’t be in my wallet 🙁

        • harry says:

          4 Dec4 December 07:53

          Keep it! Still works.

          I guess you don’t get 800 Avios per 250 Tesco points?

        • Jason says:

          4 Dec4 December 09:49

          Unfortunately not, however, struggling to spend avios currently 🙁

  • Rob says:

    4 Dec4 December 06:19

    I think different cards had different dates, there was also a different date for the change for new customers.

    • Stu R says:

      4 Dec4 December 07:30

      Thinking about it, I have the legacy Tesco World MasterCard, so as that earned 1pt per £2 spend, they were probably desperate to cull that as soon as possible! Maybe they did those with earlier as you suggest.

      • Mark says:

        4 Dec4 December 08:21

        Mine is also the World MasterCard and stopped on 1st November. Not been used since except as a Clubcard for fuel.

        It expires in January – I’m wondering whether an expired/cancelled card would still work as a Clubcard….

  • Andrew says:

    4 Dec4 December 07:08

    B&Q ‘accepts’ Amex in the shape of gift cards bought from tesco with said credit card, you’ll get 150 pts for every £50 on gift cards and 100 pts per card > £25 if you can find the current tesco magazine anywhere… (as per Rob’s recent article)…

    • Stu R says:

      4 Dec4 December 07:32

      Good shout, never thought of that, thank you!

  • Brian says:

    4 Dec4 December 07:08

    Don’t Tesco sell B&Q gift cards? Surely you can buy those using Amex – and bank the bonus CC too!

  • Danksy says:

    4 Dec4 December 07:47

    StuR – Why not try homebase? Buy giftcards at Tesco get 150 cc for each 50 on your Amex… job done 😀

    • Danksy says:

      4 Dec4 December 07:48

      That will teach me not to read all the other replys before replying!

  • Grimz says:

    4 Dec4 December 08:52

    You should buy BQ gift vouchers from Tesco and receive CC points as well as your spend on your amex card.

  • Andy says:

    4 Dec4 December 09:50

    I but B&Q gift cards from Tesco with my IHG card. Goes toward my £10k spend and I get 150 extra cc points ( 100 more per card with the Christmas voucher) . I go through about £600 a month.

    • Andy says:

      4 Dec4 December 10:02

      I think everyone was typing their replies to this at the same time

  • CP says:

    4 Dec4 December 10:17

    If you’re going to spend money in B&Q and want to use your Amex then you can buy B&Q giftcards in Tesco. You can pay for them using Amex and buying £50 worth gets you 150 bonus clubcard points.

  • James says:

    4 Dec4 December 13:02

    Go to tesco, buy a B&Q gift card (ideally £50 worth to trigger the 150 CC points) and pay with an amex, voila!

    • James says:

      4 Dec4 December 13:03

      Argh same problem as everyone else, read all replies before replying myself! 🙂

• Caroline says:

  4 Dec4 December 06:21

  A bit OT but any indications yet if Tesco have any plans to do a clubcard sign up bonus on its current account?

  Thought it may have happened by now. I think maybe some people got targeted a few months back but not heard anything apart from that.

  • Rob says:

    4 Dec4 December 07:54

    There was a targetted 10k bonus. It must come to all because M&S and First Direct keep offering £100 cash.

• James67 says:

  4 Dec4 December 06:21

  Rob, what’s your take on the change of timing of the IHG card promotion this year; usually it’s January/February? And, given new EU rules, do you think 40k is now a likely ceiling for the black bonus? I’m torn between applying for HH card in January and trying my luck with the black card a few months later, or just taking advantage of the 40k on offer at the year end while it’s still available.

• oyster says:

  4 Dec4 December 07:01

  Would happily take this card if I had more sources of manufactured spend. But spending £10k on top of the 2x £10k for BA Amex and 4x £2k for Amex Plat each year will be tough.

• Charlie says:

  4 Dec4 December 07:05

  Does anyone know if Barclaycard will waive the fee for the second year? Has anyone had any luck asking?

  • Andy says:

    4 Dec4 December 09:53

    I complained to IHG Barclaycard about some points not posting properly and they added £50 to my account. Seems as though this is quite common. So I’ve already got half my first years fee back

  • Jumble Tales says:

    4 Dec4 December 10:21

    I’d like to ask the same question as Charlie. My £99 fee is due in a fortnight and I’m unsure of the value of retaining the card for the second year.

    • Rob says:

      4 Dec4 December 10:55

      If you spend £10k you would get 20,000 IHG points, worth £100, plus the free night. If you cannot hit £10k then there is no point renewing UNLESS you do a fair few IHG stays and value Platinum status.

      • Simmo says:

        9 Dec9 December 09:40

        Anybody have a reminder program from sign up/ renewal dates? Maybe i need to start putting them on a calendar! Doh!

        Forgot all about my IHG CC ; its renewed its self for another year not too worried as Platinum paid for itself across Asia last year, but was going to virgin convert for Spire this year, so pretty much a waste.

• Stephen F says:

  4 Dec4 December 07:09

  Can anyone help me with a quick question? I burnt my entire account 440k on a Club trip to USA including paying for hotels with Avios (Waldorf Astoria) this probably wasn’t a good use of Avios (the F flight internally with US Airways certainly wasn’t but that’s a different story).

  So…..my account is back up to 80k. I have 5 years to save for next trip. This time I want to box clever and save for hotels via hotel points rather than Avios. I have a handle on collecting BA miles, but which UK credit card is best for saving points for mid to good properties IHG or Hilton or somebody else?? Waldorf is good, haven’t tried Intercontinental etc

  Any tips on long term saving through daily spending appreciated

  • Danksy says:

    4 Dec4 December 07:50

    IHG – regular promos provide ways of netting huge points if you are fleixble in undertaking their challenges. also pointbreaks are good vfm providing you can find somewhere to stay. Consider IHG ambassador before you travel. All covered on here ! Sorry iPad typos!

  • Simmo says:

    9 Dec9 December 09:44

    Very good advice! Hotel points are great – But i’d be wary of saving for 5 years! their value could drop over night!

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