My wife was recently targetted for the Priority Club Black Visa card. This was for the offer that I highlight on the ‘Credit Cards Update‘ page – 40,000 Priority Club points (good for 8,000 Avios or about £150 of free hotel stays) and no fee for the first year, plus another free hotel night (worth say £200 if used wisely) if we spend £10,000 on the card within the year. (This is the link to apply – even if not targetted you could still apply, you may or may not get this package.)
Slightly to my surprise, she was accepted.
This means that my wife now holds:
- Priority Club Black Visa (Barclays issued)
- House of Fraser Mastercard (Santander issued, 1% cashback paid in House of Fraser vouchers)
- NatWest Mastercard (NatWest issued, no idea why we still have this!)
- BA Premium Plus Amex (Amex issued)
- SPG Amex (Amex issued)
- Lloyds TSB Premier Duo Avios Amex & Mastercard (Lloyds TSB issued)
Now this seems like quite an aggressive list to me! Yes, she has a good job and her combined credit limits are still not huge, but I am surprised that Barclays was happy to give her the Priority Club card on top of all of the other cards!
Her credit report also, presumably, has a link to me and shows that I currently hold an American Express Platinum, a BA Premium Plus Amex and a BMI Mastercard. The report would also show that I cancelled an SPG Amex, Hilton Visa and Amex Gold card within the last 12 months.
I imagine the fact that the six cards are from five different issuers is part of the reason why we keep getting them. However, it is time to cull the list somewhat! We can say goodbye to the SPG Amex now that we have banked the 20,000 point sign-up bonus, and I really would like to talk her into killing the NatWest card! She never uses it, but it still shows on her credit report and the existence of that credit line should in theory count against getting more credit elsewhere.
Can anyone top six credit cards?
(To see our complete list of all current credit card bonuses, click here to visit our ‘Credit Cards Update’ page or use the link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)
About Head for Points
No, I don’t. If the card is a good points earner, I want to be earning points not clogging up my credit limit with a balance transfer. If the card is a poor earner, I want to cancel it ASAP after getting the bonus to reduce my outstanding credit. Any balance transfer that involves a fee to move a debt is a poor deal anyway in my book, although I agree that a deal whereby you pay 0% interest on new spending could be attractive.
I have six cards on the go currently for my grandfather who is retired. Most recently he was approved for the MBNA AA Amex with a £4,000 limit. In opening his account, they reduced the limit on his BMI Amex from £2,600 to £1,600.
MBNA
BMI Amex – £1,600
AA Amex – £4,000
American Express
BA PP Amex – £2,400
Preferred Rewards Gold – Chargecard
Halifax
Platinum Mastercard – £14,000
Lloyds TSB
Avios Duo – £1,000
I probably need to close some, but estimate I have about 25 that are live at the moment.