HfP ‘Credit Cards’ page updated for January 2017 – what are the best deals this month?

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• Mikeact says:

  5 Jan5 January 09:58

  I’ve just received my ‘free’ Tesco Clubcard cc, with an introductory 17 months 0% on purchases. This seems to be the card to link to Supercard for my 3 month trip ‘down under’. I just need to work out whether to use my LloydsAmex overseas or this latest card.

  • mark2 says:

    5 Jan5 January 11:11

    It depends whether you need the loan. The Lloyds card will save you 2.99% FX charge and give you Avios.

    • Mikeact says:

      5 Jan5 January 11:39

      Loan ? It’s on everyday expenditure, which with Supercard compares very favourably with LloydsAmex for Avios overseas payments.

      • the real harry says:

        5 Jan5 January 12:10

        Loan – because you don’t pay any interest on the spend/ money you’ve borrowed for 17 months

        I got the 28 month Tesco Purchases card as IMV 28 is better than 17 regardless of any other benefits

      • mark2 says:

        5 Jan5 January 13:58

        So which non-Amex card have you got that gives you 1.25 Avios per £?
        Please refer me!

        • Genghis says:

          5 Jan5 January 14:25

          I think Mikeact means that he is happy to get interest free purchases (including overseas purchases) for 17 months (arguably saving a few percentage points re cost of capital – use mortgage interest rate as a proxy) than get 1.25 avios = 1.25%.

• Fred G says:

  5 Jan5 January 10:02

  (Very OT)

  I’m off to Cape Town in March – need a hotel for 4 nights there. I’ve got Amex Platinum so all of the statuses that go with it. The Amex “Fine Hotels” for CT are £450 per room per night, which is out of our budget.

  Does anybody have any recommendations for CT hotels generally and, ideally, for status benefit. Happy to spend £250 per night-ish.

  Thanks!

  • Clive says:

    5 Jan5 January 10:29

    If you have SPG Gold and MR points I would look at Kimpton Hotels which are bookable with MR points. Some exceptional value. Not sure what benefits you would receive as an MR Gold at Kimpton though.

  • Rob says:

    5 Jan5 January 11:18

    There is a Westin (Starwood) very close to the V&A Waterfront which could be done on points – albeit it is a 2 minute walk to the Waterfront and you are technically outside the ‘secure’ area for those 2 minutes, should you be paranoid about crime (I’m not).

    Marriott points are the best way to see Cape Town cheaply I think – see https://headforpoints.com/2016/10/19/protea-hotels-spg-and-marriott-points/

    • ambient says:

      5 Jan5 January 17:53

      Did a lovely stay at the Commodore on Portswood Road right near the Waterfront back in 2011, rooms, service, facilities and breakfast all great. Obviously can’t speak for if it has changed. I believe it’s Legacy hotels so it doesn’t exactly fit with major loyalty schemes.

      A few days ago I just completed a 5 day stay over new year at the Protea Waterfront Junction, which is Marriott. Whilst the stay overall was okay, I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it. The room was small, the bathroom sink kept blocking up, the shower facilities not brilliant and there was generally a degree of disorganisation about the place. On the plus side they run free shuttles to/from the Waterfront at 7, 8:30 and 10pm. Hope that helps.

    • Mikeact says:

      5 Jan5 January 17:56

      We walk quite happily between Camps Bay and the Waterfront….well lit, plenty of people around, and even more so, my wife is comfortable, else we would think twice. I wouldn’t believe everything you might read and hear about SA, but of course we don’t go looking for trouble. I would rate the Cape safer than many parts of Miami. Try a trip up to Prince Albert, our wonderful guest house didn’t ever bother to lock the front door..amazing. We would of course, be a little wary of some of the townships even though we met some incredibly friendly people, who basically didn’t have two pence to rub together. Most definitely our favourite hot spot over the years.

  • Mikeact says:

    5 Jan5 January 11:41

    The Mount ‘Nelly’ for their famous afternoon tea, before the evening flight home is definitely recommended. (Ask my wife !)

• JC says:

  5 Jan5 January 10:46

  Do you still get the Amex gold 20000 avios welcome bonus if you already have another Amex? in my case I already have the BA premium.
  Thanks

  • Lev441 says:

    5 Jan5 January 10:49

    Yes, you’d still get the bonus. The rule only applies to other having membership reward cards.

  • Rob says:

    5 Jan5 January 11:15

    Yes if BA, No if Platinum or Green

• Pete says:

  5 Jan5 January 11:50

  I am currently a BA Amex Premium holder and am looking at my best options for referring my other half who has never held an Amex card. My first thought was to refer her for the BA Premium, generating 39,500 points between us when accounting for my referral (9,000), her sign up bonus (26,000) and the points generated from her £3,000 spend to trigger the bonus (4,500). This would come at a cost of £195.

  I am now reconsidering though, and instead looking at the feasibility of getting a Gold card myself and then referring her (seeing as I can’t refer her for a Gold card as a BA cardholder). I held a Gold card over one year ago, so in theory I would expect to receive the sign up bonus (20,000) and generate additional points (2,000) from the £2,000 spend to trigger the bonus. I could then refer my other half generating the referral points for me (9,000) and the sign up bonus from the referral for her (22,000) plus the additional points (2,000) from the £2,000 spend to trigger her bonus. This equates to 55,000 points between us at a cost of £0 (we would both cancel within the year) compared with the 39,500 points at a cost of £195 for the BA premium referral. Following both cards triggering bonus points, they would be cancelled and I would continue spending with my BA premium card. There is of course the offsetting loss of the 1.5x (BA) relative to the 1x (Gold) during this process, though that would not be significant.

  Comments welcome. Thanks.

  • the real harry says:

    5 Jan5 January 12:26

    The 2 Gold cards (held in your own names) idea is perfectly feasible, with the referrals etc. Depending on how quickly you spend money, you can both cancel, rinse & repeat quite easily within 12 months for 4x bonus points, 3x referrals + spend MR points.

  • Genghis says:

    5 Jan5 January 12:34

    @Pete. You’re assuming the 39,500 points for the £3k spend would take the full year. If it takes 2 months, you can cancel the card and then get a 10/12 * 195 refund so the net cost is say just over 30 quid.

    The Amex Gold is also a good option if you don’t want to pay anything out. Also consider the Amex Platinum for 92k MR points in the cycle but that comes with a £450 fee, but with prorata refunds.

    Essentially it all depends how much and how quickly you spend and whether you want to spend any money on getting your points. Perhaps you could do both BAPP and the Amex Golds.

    To take my example, we did the Amex Platinum churn recently for 92k MR but it perhaps cost us around £100 in card fees (I’m happy to pay that for an extra 37k MR over the Amex Gold and to extend the hotel status). I’ll be hitting the £10k spend soon on the BAPP and will then refer wife (just before the current offer expires) but will then do what you described with the BAPP and just spend £3k. We do the same with the SPG card.

    • Pete says:

      5 Jan5 January 13:25

      Platinum does look a good option actually. Presumably hotel status is lost if you cancel the card?

      • Genghis says:

        5 Jan5 January 14:10

        No. You keep the hotel statuses until they expire (so you keep them for a year / 18 months until you do your next churn)

        • jamie says:

          5 Jan5 January 16:00

          i am in the genghis camp on this one, pete, definitely churn the platinum, not the gold.

          lots of discussion on hfp over the years over which is best to churn, but if you can spend the 2k quickly (bring forward some spending, I just buy 2k of Sainsbury vouchers immediately as that’s where I shop anyway), you are effectively buying 35k MR points for 75 pounds (2x 37.5).

          a no-brainer in my view, although I know there are those that disagree.

        • jamie says:

          5 Jan5 January 16:03

          actually rob,

          not sure you have ever waded into this debate, but if you were (I know you don’t) churning either the gold or the platinum which would you go for?

        • Rob says:

          5 Jan5 January 16:14

          Probably best to mix, because whilst you have Platinum you can sign up for the hotel status cards which last for a year or so. Whilst those are still valid Gold is easier.

          If you value an Avios at 1p the difference is marginal between 22k for £0 on Gold and 35k for £115 (3 months fee) on Plat.

        • Genghis says:

          5 Jan5 January 16:19

          If you’re not doing “his and hers” cards and just getting the Plat for yourself, I’d argue that you’re effectively buying 13k MRs (35k Plat – 22k Gold (which is free in first year) for the £75 (if it takes you two months to hit). Still decent though.

  • Polly says:

    5 Jan5 January 13:57

    Pete, def keep the gold churn going, every 8/12 or so…but also do the BAPP referral annually. But as soon as you get the bonus avios banked, apply on line to drop down to the free BACC. You will get a pro rata refund then. Hold the BACC as long as you need. If you Want the 241, and have spent 10k by month 11, then apply again online to upgrade back to the BAPP. The 241 will be granted almost immediately, as long as you are within 12 months from the original BAPP start date! Once the 241 is banked In your baec, refer your OH. Not for the faint hearted, and timing is important. Dairy it in bright RED marker! Good luck. At the most you might pay 3/12 of fees.

    • Genghis says:

      5 Jan5 January 14:13

      Do Amex not mind all this downgrading and upgrading?
      With this method you do lose 3,500 avios ((10k-3k)*0.5 delta) but depending on what time period over could be worth this downgrade and upgrade method. It’s not for us I don’t think.

      • Polly says:

        5 Jan5 January 14:33

        It’s only once a year actually. Mostly we would have already spent the 10k in those first 3 mths, so then we downgrade. Also we are referring the OH for a new card and a further 10k spend, so Amex definitely benefit. It’s tricky, but only if you don’t want to pay the high fee all year. We only refer each other once a year for 2 cards, others seem to do a lot more, which l would find tough to keep going. Still worth the effort, methinks…

  • TGLoyalty says:

    6 Jan6 January 01:15

    Would the route to go not be for you to refer your wife for a BAPP (26k for her and 9k for you) for £195 *6 months and you cancel yours and have your wife refer you in 6 months for possibly another 37k between you – 74k Avios (plus 9k for spending £6k) and possibly 2 x 2-4-1 + 21k in a year for £195 between you.

    Get Rob to refer you for a Gold (22k MR for £0) you hold this card for 6 months then refer your wife for a gold in 6 months for 22k+9k (option 1) or a platinum (option 2), so you can both get priority pass and status upgrades for 6 months, for 35k+9K (18k not so long ago but somethings changed @ AMEX, bizarre if you ask me as less incentive to choose Platinum) and then churn gold again or Option 3 start a Platinum churn 35k+18k every 6 months each.

    Option 1 – 53k points+4k spend in year 1 and 62k+4k spend in year 2+ for £0 per year for foreseeable
    Option 2 – 66k+5k spend points year 1 plus status upgrades, insurance, priority pass for 6 months of the year – £225 and 62k+4k spend in year 2+ for £0 per year unless you need platinum status’ again
    Option 3 – 66k+5k points year 1, 106k+6k spend for year 2+ for £450 a year and have all the platinum benefits for both of you all year round

    Doing both of these to the max means having to charge 26k between you a year to your cards but in year 2 you end up with £104k Avios and 2 x 2-4-1 for £195 and 112k MR and all the associated Platinum benefits for £450.

    Of course £645 is a lot to spend on fees a year but you end up with potentially 216k Avios and 2 x 2-4-1 every 12 months plus always holding 4 cards (with supps) for offers and small shop.

• Mark says:

  5 Jan5 January 13:55

  Sorry for the OT question. Does anyone know whether upgrading from the free BA Amex to the paid one resets the anniversary/collection year?

  When I downgraded last year after hitting the 10k on the paid card, I noticed that the counter said I needed to spend another 10k to hit the 20k target on the free card and was wondering if I could do the same the other way around and spend 9~k on the free card then upgrade and cross the 10k mark on the paid card?

  • Genghis says:

    5 Jan5 January 14:15

    Doesn’t reset anniversary year

• Polly says:

  5 Jan5 January 14:05

  Yes Mark, no reason why not, think the reason why people do the BAPP first, is the higher bonus available. No the anniversary is wig the original card year. So worth exploring. That way you get the 2 yr 241 voucher.

• James67 says:

  5 Jan5 January 15:04

  Oh 🙁 just had £95 waiting to transfer.

• Genghis says:

  5 Jan5 January 15:17

  Oh – I have loads at confirmed (just not yet payable). Annoying. I’ll revert back to cash I think…

  • Chris says:

    5 Jan5 January 21:17

    Blimey-I was lucky today then. Had £90 become payable and must have only cashed it in at about 11am!

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