Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

IHG has withdrawn the IHG Rewards Club Premium credit card, the UK’s best Mastercard

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

On Monday, IHG and Creation Financial Services withdrew the IHG Rewards Club Premium Mastercard from the market.

You would imagine that the credit card industry would be in a better place than most at the moment.  Compared to owning an airline, hotel, restaurant or retail chain, the credit card space seems very attractive.

Consumer spending may be reduced due to lockdown, but most people are still getting paid.  Those on 80% salary via furlough are probably no worse off after saving on commuting, will be spending far less on discretionary items and may even be able to pay down some existing debt.  People are at home and actually have time on their hands to deal with projects they normally put off, like tweaking their card portfolio.

It doesn’t seem to be the case, however.

IHG withdraws the IHG Rewards Club Premium Mastercard credit card

The IHG Rewards Club Premium credit card still shows on the main landing page here but if you click through you get a message saying:

Unfortunately, we are no longer accepting applications for this card and we apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause.

Is this a one-off?

No.  This isn’t the only card that Creation has pulled.  If you visit their home page you will see that they are only currently taking applications for two credit cards.

One of these is the free IHG Reward Club credit card which remains open to new applicants.

All of their other cards have disappeared.

I also know of some other cards – not ones we feature – which are about to be pulled by another issuer.

Why are credit cards being removed from the market now?

It is an old cliche that banks are happy to lend you money when you don’t need it, but won’t lend you any when you do.  The fact that it’s a cliche doesn’t stop it being true, however …..

The reality is more complicated.

As you may have read, the Government, via the Financial Conduct Authority, has instructed credit card companies to allow cardholders to miss up to three monthly payments without it impacting their credit report.  The same applies to personal loans.  This rule kicks in from tomorrow – note that you need to ask permission from your lender before you stop paying.

This is a problem for card companies because it means defaults will not be reported.  No card company would give a new credit card to someone who was three months in arrears on their existing cards, but it is now impossible to know if a new applicant is already in arrears or not.  Taking on new customers has become very risky.

Another issue is that customer acquisition is labour intensive.  As well as all the background checks – parts of which often need to be done manually – you will have customers who may need to call up to activate cards or set up direct debits.  Much of this cannot be done by home-based workers due to the necessary IT security required.

New lending also needs to be funded.  Card companies which are growing need to continually raise new money, from their shareholders or the debt markets, to fund purchases being made by their new cardholders.  There will also be a squeeze on funding as existing cardholders take advantage of the three month payment holiday.  Raising extra money is difficult at the moment.

IHG withdraws the IHG Rewards Club Premium Mastercard credit card

We loved the IHG Rewards Club Premium Mastercard ….

It is very sad to see this card go, if only because I now have to rewrite huge numbers of HfP evergreen articles which discuss our favourite credit cards ….

We liked the card so much that we gave it an ‘Editor’s Choice’ award in the Head for Points 2019 Travel & Loyalty Awards.  Above is a photo of the IHG and Creation team collecting it at our winner’s dinner.

The headline features of this card were:

£99 annual fee

20,000 IHG Rewards Club points for joining and spending £200 in the first three months – these were worth about £80 of free hotel rooms or transferable to 4,000 Avios points or other airline miles

Platinum Elite status in IHG Rewards Club for as long as you hold the card

2 IHG Rewards Club point per £1 spent.  I value IHG points at 0.4p so this is a 0.8% return.

4 IHG Rewards Club points per £1 when you pay at IHG hotels.  This would be roughly a 1.6% return which is very good.

4 IHG Rewards Club points per £1 when you use the card abroad

A free night voucher for any IHG hotel for spending £10,000.  Use it at the InterContinental Paris, London, New York etc and you could be looking at £250 of value.

It is important to note that points from day-to-day spend counted towards elite status.  A heavy spender could get Spire Elite status – requiring 75,000 points – simply by putting £37,500 of spending through this card.

IHG withdraws the IHG Rewards Club Premium Mastercard credit card

This is what the IHG Rewards Club Premium Mastercard could get you

For long term spending IHG Rewards Club Premium was a very good card.  Imagine spending £10,000 on the card in a year.  You would get:

20,000 IHG Rewards Club points, worth £80 or so, assuming all spend is in the UK and not at IHG hotels

Those points count towards status, which could be important if you are pushing for Spire Elite

Your free night voucher, worth say £250 if used at an expensive InterContinental

You were getting £330 of benefits for an annual fee of £99.  That was a gain of £231 or 2.31% of a £10,000 spend, which was excellent.

You also need to add in whatever value you ascribe to getting free Platinum Elite status in IHG Rewards Club.

To my mind, there was no better Visa or Mastercard available in the travel rewards sector.  I will do a piece over the next week or so on what I now recommend.

For clarity, if you currently have the IHG Rewards Club Premium Mastercard then I wouldn’t worry.  Creation has confirmed to me that nothing will change for existing cardholders and that the free version of the card will continue to be available.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.

Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card

1% cashback uncapped* on all your business spending (T&C apply) Read our full review

Category

IHG One Rewards

Comments (197)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Alex W says:
    8 Apr8 April 07:44

    So annoying they didn’t allow re-applications! At least Mrs W still has hers.

  • Crumbs says:
    8 Apr8 April 07:49

    Any hints for cards about to be pulled?

    • guesswho2000 says:
      8 Apr8 April 08:56

      +1 I’d like to know this. Rob is prob sworn to secrecy though 😉

    • james says:
      8 Apr8 April 10:07

      Presumably the Virgin Money cards are independent of Virgin atlantic in terms of survival

      • Andrew says:
        8 Apr8 April 10:40

        Yes and no. If Virgin Atlantic disappear then what would be the point in a credit card earning their miles?
        Similarly if BA go under then Amex would clearly withdraw their BA credit cards even though Amex as a whole would continue.

      • Paul Pogba says:
        8 Apr8 April 11:06

        Its interesting that in the Virgin Red app there is no prize for Virgin Flying Club miles this month; it looks like Virgin loyalty don’t want to offer a prize that might/could be worthless imminently.

    • New Card says:
      8 Apr8 April 10:50

      Rob has alluded before to the HH card being pulled soon.

      • guesswho2000 says:
        8 Apr8 April 12:49

        Has he, when?

        • Rob says:
          8 Apr8 April 12:54

          Things have moved on a bit at Hilton so the old Barclaycard may have some life left in it yet. Nothing more to add.

      • guesswho2000 says:
        8 Apr8 April 12:50

        I mean, it wouldn’t surprise me (the Aussie one was killed to new and existing customers in quick succession, the UK one has survived an extra what, 2 years maybe to existing customers?). But I’ll be gutted when that one’s canned!

  • Micky says:
    8 Apr8 April 08:10

    I used 3 of my free nights last year in Hollywood when the cost per night for a basic room was over £300. 2 card nights and 1 promo night from the principal offer, so was a good deal for me

  • Freddy says:
    8 Apr8 April 08:12

    With virgin having a financial wobble and creation pulling this card where’s the next best place to put non-amex spend? There’s not many options really is there?!

    • memesweeper says:
      8 Apr8 April 08:52

      I’ve got the HSBC WE, Tesco CC, IHG Black and Hilton … nonetheless I’ve just applied for, and got, the John Lewis Partnership card. Nice to have some choices on where to put my spend. My top priorities in the past have always been the IHG and Hilton cards, but an unsexy John Lewis voucher is easier to spend right now than travel points.

    • Andrew says:
      8 Apr8 April 09:38

      Down to personal preference, but MBNA’s (closed to new customers) Horizon card if you are fortunate to have one.

  • Alan says:
    8 Apr8 April 08:20

    Really hope this card stays around for a long time for existing card holders (just like Hilton Barclaycard and Creation Marriott have done), it’s an amazing card!

  • Rich says:
    8 Apr8 April 08:40

    Those on 80% salary via furlough are probably no worse off after saving on commuting.
    Max of £2500 pm.
    Do you really use 20% of your salary, in London, commuting?

    • Mr(s) Entitled says:
      8 Apr8 April 08:46

      Are all those in London that are furloughed getting 80% of their wage? The comment in the article isn’t going to age well as this virus continues to bite. For some this is creating a real hardship above and beyond what to do with their Virgin miles.

      • ken says:
        8 Apr8 April 09:26

        “The comment in the article isn’t going to age well….”

        Its only a fortnight ago that Rob said that there was more risk of dying driving to the supermarket than dying of Covid-19.

        • Rob says:
          8 Apr8 April 09:42

          My original point remains. 800 dead yesterday of which only 29 had no medical problems (and many of those were over 70). I have no medical problems (and am not overweight and have never smoked) and am under 50. If you still want to compare with car accidents, 70 people per day in the UK are killed or suffer severe injuries in car accidents.

          I am not playing down the severity at all, for clarity – a friend of mine had it last week (his wife is still ill) and someone else I know in his 50’s is on a ventilator.

          • D says:
            8 Apr8 April 09:48

            How can you be sure you don’t have any hidden health problem.Only Covid will let you know.

          • David the 1st says:
            8 Apr8 April 09:50

            Stick to deaths Rob – it’s about four per day.

          • ken says:
            8 Apr8 April 10:22

            So we are expanding it to serious injuries as well now ?

            While the 70 number is roughly correct, more than 60% of them are not in a car.
            They are pedestrians, cyclists or motor cyclists.

            There are more like 2 people killed per day while driving (or a passenger). The majority of deaths are on rural roads.

            In light of this, how many people do you really think are “killed driving to the shops” each year.

            Surprised anyone is even arguing this now.

          • memesweeper says:
            8 Apr8 April 11:04

            The *overall* death rate in the UK is currently running circa. 50% above average. That’s a lot of surplus deaths caused by Covid-19 — way more than car accidents (the KSI for which are significantly down of course).

          • Mr Benn says:
            8 Apr8 April 14:52

            Do you want to include those left with serious lung damage in those statistics ?

            Stop this absolute nonsense and stick to things you know Rob

        • Waribai says:
          8 Apr8 April 22:42

          TBH, I think Rob talks some sense here. One of my colleagues has died (underlying health issues). My friend’s brother in law is on a ventilator and dialysis ( a paramedic). In no way is the tragedy lessened by the following, but the fact is that in both cases, they were much more at risk than an average adult under 50. I think today the statistic still remains that 90% of deaths have been in the over 60s………

          • Rob says:
            8 Apr8 April 22:48

            There are 41 million people in the UK under 50. Let’s assume 30 million have no underlying health problems. Based on where we are now, it seems that around 250 of those 30 million will die of coronavirus. (This is based on the current 25-40 healthy people per day passing away, and guessing 10-15 max are under 50.)

            Even if ‘obese’ counts as an ‘underlying health problem’ (not sure if it does, unless it has caused medical issues in the past) we’re looking at 250 deaths from the 20 million non-obese under 50’s with no underlying health problems.

            This is not for a second to play down the importance of all this – I also have an acquaintance on a ventilator, an elderly mother and a friend who was ill for a week with it – but the original issue was about my own personal risk and the numbers above are accurate.

    • guesswho2000 says:
      8 Apr8 April 08:48

      Good pickup. My commute is 85 miles each way (I usually go to the office 3/5 days) in normal times, and the costs are nowhere near that, even when adjusting (doubling) the price of petrol to match the UK 😂

      • Rob says:
        8 Apr8 April 10:05

        You are not factoring in the marginal savings of wear and tear on your car. Why not take it off the road for 3 months and save on the insurance and car tax? The numbers would then work on a proper 5-day working week. The comment was originally aimed at London readers who take the train anyway.

        • Genghis says:
          8 Apr8 April 10:12

          If you read some of the financial independence books, e.g. Your Money or Your Life, you’ll see how for the average person much expenditure is actually related to work, e.g. travel, work clothes, lunches, lattes, after work drinks, though of course in the current situation, not all are fully variable.

          • The Savage Squirrel says:
            8 Apr8 April 12:52

            I still eat lunch whether I’m at work or not ;).

          • Doug M says:
            8 Apr8 April 12:55

            What I eat at home is a lot cheaper than Pret

          • Lady London says:
            8 Apr8 April 13:31

            my coffee habit was my ruination when I was commuting daily. When I had a horrible commute from Zone 6 it was off the charts. Zone 4 commute reduced consumption a lot but still coffee and lunch were even. Zone 1 was weird as when I lived there I had proper coffee at home on weekdays but my leisure coffee spend locally went up.

            I now view Pret as a treat mostly in airports where I think their prices are very appropriate and their quality notably better than most.

          • Harry T says:
            8 Apr8 April 13:39

            Good points, @Genghis. Thankfully the food and drink options at my hospital are so dire, I am forced to bring my own food and caffeinated beverages, which saves me plenty of money.

          • Genghis says:
            8 Apr8 April 14:52

            What I eat at home is more expensive and nowhere near as good as what I get at work.

        • guesswho2000 says:
          8 Apr8 April 10:39

          Fair point, particularly re those who could use public transport. Not being able to use the car (garaging for x months) isn’t an option for me, but yes that’s a good consideration for those who could do without.

          Don’t get me wrong, I’d love the ability to live without a car – much as I love them, I do appreciate the not-insignificant cost of owning them over time.

          • mvcvz says:
            8 Apr8 April 14:48

            I bought a new car on 10 March. In last two weeks I’ve driven it less than 25 miles. I would usually cover at least 1500 in that timeframe. There are some upsides to all this 🙂

    • Erico1875 says:
      8 Apr8 April 08:51

      I will probably be a grand + a month down. The £2.5K furlough payment is taxable etc so probably only about £1.7K in the hand

      • Rob says:
        8 Apr8 April 09:57

        You were paying tax anyway! If you are on the average wage of £27,500 then you are down less than £500 per month, which after tax means – what? – £300 down? In London you’re looking at £150+ for commuting (it costs me £100+ per month to go 5 stops on the tube plus run around during the day to meetings) and probably £10 per day on coffees and lunch. You’re spending nothing on clothes or going out.

        Of course, if you’re on £75,000 and you’ve been furloughed on £2,500 per month then you’ve got problems unless your employer makes up the difference.

        • Andrew says:
          8 Apr8 April 10:49

          Spending nothing on clothes? Not all of us just stay in our pyjamas all day when working from home 😉

        • mvcvz says:
          8 Apr8 April 14:54

          How would anyone live in London on a UK average wage? Genuine question. I wouldn’t like to attempt it in the wilds of Cheshire.

          • Lady London says:
            8 Apr8 April 14:58

            It’s impossible I’ve done it (if that makes sense) 🙂

          • Rhys says:
            8 Apr8 April 15:16

            Pretty sure my housemate (an NHS nurse at a London hospital) earns around 27k a year. It’s doable but they definitely deserve to be paid better.

          • Rob Walker says:
            9 Apr9 April 16:45

            How much do you think the people serving you in Pret, or cleaning tube stations earn?

          • Rob says:
            9 Apr9 April 18:34

            Pret pays the London living wage, I think, so £10.75 per hour.

    • memesweeper says:
      8 Apr8 April 08:53

      I don’t commute daily but I’m entirely remote working now. I’m saving a fortune, mainly on lunches 🙂

      • guesswho2000 says:
        8 Apr8 April 10:42

        Same but not sure about costs…coffee is free in my office, but now I’m using heaps of Nespresso capsules and eating everything in the fridge!

        • memesweeper says:
          8 Apr8 April 11:05

          I’ve significantly raised our household shopping costs, but still, definitely many quids in.

          • Anna says:
            8 Apr8 April 12:05

            +1, we are going to have some serious re-adjusting from premium brands once this is over!

        • Craig says:
          8 Apr8 April 15:59

          haha same i can’t stop eating!!!

        • Chrisasaurus says:
          8 Apr8 April 18:18

          I’m…. gonna have to question how free the mountain of capsules really is!

    • Mac D says:
      8 Apr8 April 09:12

      Those on furlough should be grateful as company directors who don’t pay by PAYE are getting shafted and before someone says it the small saving on tax does not help anyones situation, directors will just close their companies and make the staff permanently redundant

      • Mr(s) Entitled says:
        8 Apr8 April 09:16

        I’m a sole director of my company and I am always looking to learn. What was it exactly that precluded you paying yourself via PAYE?

        • ken says:
          8 Apr8 April 09:22

          ha ha

          • Pedantic Pete says:
            8 Apr8 April 09:38

            That’s a key point. All those self-employed directors who for the last 20 years have thought “Aha, I can pay 10% less tax than everyone else because of my clever company set-up” are now seeing it come back to bite them in the arse…

        • Rob says:
          8 Apr8 April 09:49

          A desire to save tax by using dividends!

          • ken says:
            8 Apr8 April 10:36

            pretty sure Mr(s) E was being sarcastic.

            I think there will be huge increased clamp down on sham self-employment after we get back to normal. Probably put the delayed IR35 rules on steroids in a dash to expand the tax base.

            Ridiculous how it spread to the likes of HGV drivers working for 1 employer, or stylists renting a chair in a hairdressers.

          • Rob says:
            8 Apr8 April 10:57

            Hairdresser chair rental makes sense, though. Trickier to justify tax-wise if you are always in the same salon but if you work across 3-4 different ones in a week then it is a sensible business model. As always, the small print is key – can the salon insist you work on certain days? can they restrict who else you work for? etc

          • Mr(s) Entitled says:
            8 Apr8 April 10:52

            I was truthful about the Director part but sarcastic on the PAYE part. Some people do have an amazing sense of entitlement. Hence my name. Which I also deem to be sarcastic although others may differ.

          • Lady London says:
            8 Apr8 April 11:19

            That’s very close to being worth very much less than it was. Still worth it for very high earners.
            Overall not really for many. The risks we take and the lack of employment protection is also significant unless in top ranges of earnings. However for a number of years now what I do is mostly offered only as Ltd – that’s the market.

          • ken says:
            8 Apr8 April 11:46

            I’d say 95% (at least) of hairdresser chair rentals are a sham.
            Very few will work across more than 2 salons (and the majority are only 1).

            If they can’t send a substitute (almost all can’t) and have to work Royal Ascot week (or your local big event) then they should be classed as employee.

        • Lady London says:
          8 Apr8 April 11:42

          As a Ltd, I genuinely furloughed myself the week before the provisions were announced. Brexit and IR35 being incorrectly applied by scared large companies seems to have killed the market for me since November. I got sick of seeing the same fake jobs found by my searches every day. And tired of being contacted with nonexistent roles by random recruiters with a target to make noise to large clients that actually had no roles. The recruiters I know who I chatted with admitted the market’s been dead.

          When CV got bad in Italy I realised there’s no point stressing myself as events must run awhile during which no new business will happen till we reach some kind of equilibrium with CV. So I shut up shop for three months, ordered a 7hp lawnmower from Germany and decided to do the garden instead. Then along came Coronavirus isolation etc.

          I’m claiming furlough as sole employee because I’m on furlough anyway and the cost of it for us all is sure as h*** going to be on my tax bill next year. The amount in I will receive on PAYE gives me very little but that’s how my business works. I’m happy with that.

          What I will be upset with is if salesmen can get more based on comission. I know for some that’s a large part of their earnings. But they take the same risk as Ltd’s. When it’s good it can be very good but it’s not guaranteed and based on core PAYE/base earnings it’s very bad. We have to take our lumps as the Americans say.

          • ken says:
            8 Apr8 April 11:51

            The difference is a salesman (and employer) will normally pay NI contributions on bonuses.

            It’s a conventional employment situation just with variable pay.

          • Lady London says:
            8 Apr8 April 12:28

            Not really. NI is not why I’m a Ltd. By the time you’ve paid your accountant and extra costs and insurances like P.I. that outweighs quite
            a lot. Then add in business risk and the other things I mentioned and you’re not ahead until you’re making a lot. No sympathy with sales commissions – they should take the rules about being based on previously recorded earnings same as I do – some win, some lose, some fall through the cracks (those who fall through I feel sorry for but I’ve been there too myself).

            It’s just the way it falls.

          • Mr(s) Entitled says:
            8 Apr8 April 13:17

            On this topic, but off the article topic….

            Can you genuinely furlough yourself as a Ltd? Reading between the lines of what you say it sounds like you may be a Sole Director. If so, how do your legal responsibilities cease during this time when you aren’t allowed to work?

            I’ve seen lots of opinion on this but no answers. Devil will be in the detail as the Gov scheme gets up and running.

          • Lady London says:
            8 Apr8 April 13:49

            Answers are on MSE @Mr(s) Entitled. Yes, and yes you can. You can still perform statutory duties as a Director (I have those outsourced to my accountant). However you cannot, say, check your company’s email as Rob said, and you cannot do any work for your company including business development.

            The best source on this is MSE. They have a page on Coronavirus government provisions that links to the various situations people might fall under. They are keeping it constantly updated, they have links to the government so they dont mislead anybody, and they are campaigning for those that fall within the cracks.

            Even someone as exalted as you, @Mr(s) Entitled, should be signing up to receive MSE each week. Or is your real name Mrs Merton? Your question to the other poster about why..PAYE did so remind me of Mrs Merton’s syrup-ly cooed question to Debbie M. ‘so what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul D.?” !!

            Martin Lewis that founded, sold and still leads MSE, deserves a Knighthood for the finance help he gives consumers in the UK. Oh wait….he’s got a Knighthood. Someone make him a CBE or a Knight Commander !!

          • Mr(s) Entitled says:
            8 Apr8 April 14:48

            Thanks for the information Lady London. I will check it out.

            There are two great interviews of our time:

            Frost/Nixon
            Merton/Daniels

            Both exceptional in their own right.

      • TGLoyalty says:
        8 Apr8 April 09:43

        It’s a choice you made to save yourself tax.

        Also don’t say that’s what your accountant told you to do, as that’s advice.

        Either way if your thought not taking some PAYE income was a wise move I think you’ve been badly advised.

        • ken says:
          8 Apr8 April 14:09

          Indeed but the most tax efficient amount normally is £8.8k (20/21) so not a massive help to most people.

          I’d struggle to believe that a sole person trading as a limited company and ‘furloughing’ themselves could genuinely do zero work.

          A customer (past) rings or e-mail about a possible future job ? What do you do just ignore them ?.
          Are people really not doing any marketing or attempting business development.

          • Lady London says:
            8 Apr8 April 14:50

            I’m truly not. I have closed up shop.

            Yesterday I had an email from an agency that likes to keep in touch. Luckily to my personal email about a standard paye consultancy role – i.e. not a contract but perm. So nothing to do with my Ltd.

            I replied stating I am on furlough from Ltd co till mid June however for employed opportunities such as permanent or fixed term they are welcome to contact me on my personal email and dealt with it as a personal enquiry. I’m thinking of putting an autoanswer saying this on my company email address. However mistakenly I’ve kept using a yahoo email for the business and it’s pants for things like autoanswer.

            I’m playing it straight as to truly being on furlough from my Ltd. Why not, as I had already made the decision to pause the business activity due to CV effects prior to the govt announcing provisions. MSE has provided some very useful clarifications added to their dynamic page this week on this if anyone wants to take a look.

          • Lady London says:
            8 Apr8 April 14:54

            PS I take a lot more PAYE than the sum you mention @ken because I have a good accountant and you can’t take the p. Govt support will amount to very little but since I’m going to be taxed heavily for all this support being handed out and as I do qualify of course I’ll claim the little I can. You take your lumps according to your previous choices.

          • Genghis says:
            8 Apr8 April 15:24

            If you crunch the numbers, taking PAYE up to the personal allowance amount will be better, just.

            The cash taken within the personal allowance is just a bit bigger than the cost of Er NI on the difference between the PA and the NI Er threshold, the Ee NI on the excess over the Ee threshold and the tax paid on the dividends, also taking into account the lower CT paid as a result of the lower trading profits in the Ltd Co due to the increased salary and paid out Ers NI.

      • Craig says:
        8 Apr8 April 15:50

        this is an absolutely brilliant comment. Your accountants have set it up so you can reduce the amount of tax you pay – so people aren’t going to now feel sorry for you.

        If you didn’t understand the risks/ANY potential downsides to this arrangement then you should sack your accountants for not advising you properly

    • Rob says:
      8 Apr8 April 10:11

      If you’re on the sort of money covered by the furlough (ie £30,000 salary and under) then you will, yes, when you throw in coffee and lunch and adust for tax, since you are buying these things from post-tax salary.

    • Andrew says:
      8 Apr8 April 10:17

      People who live in London – probably not.

      People who commute into London – well it’s an expensive business.

      Oxford to London is now £6288 per annum (including Travelcard). Add parking and you’ve got £7,500 a year. So someone on around £40,000 would be paying approx 20% of their take home pay to get to and from work.

      And that’s before the Pret A Manger on way to office and a trip to M&S at lunchtime.

      • ken says:
        8 Apr8 April 10:42

        I’ve honestly no idea as I live 200 miles from London, but do people really commute that distance on £40k a year ?

        Seems a pretty grim life assuming as best it would be 1 hr 40 (guess) door to door.

        • Rob says:
          8 Apr8 April 10:53

          It takes me 40 minutes door to door on public transport and I’m so close that I walked it in three times recently (68 minutes best time) ….

          • The Original David says:
            8 Apr8 April 15:36

            Would you like to borrow a bicycle? Sounds perfect for your commute!

          • Rob says:
            8 Apr8 April 15:46

            Two people were killed outside my old office inside a six month period on bikes. Put me off a bit, surprisingly.

        • Doug M says:
          8 Apr8 April 11:43

          I’m semi-retired, and currently working from home. Normally I do 2 days/week in the office. That journey of around 11 miles (one way) will take a minimum of 75 minutes in a car or public transport, or around an hour on a bike. No commute in London is quick.

        • Lady London says:
          8 Apr8 April 11:46

          They commute these days for a lot less @ken.

          • ken says:
            8 Apr8 April 12:03

            Blimey.

            I get that commute times in London are slow – they were slow when I last did it 30 years ago, but world of difference doing it in your early 20’s and living near a tube line, and obviously not needing a car.

            Those commute costs from Oxford (not a cheap place to live), housing costs, student loan costs, running a car, it can’t leave much left at the end of a month on £40k.

          • Lady London says:
            8 Apr8 April 14:04

            @ken have met quite a few young people or early-ish career people commuting into London from Oxford specifically. They say financially it doesn’t make sense but they have to work in London for career development. They plan not to be in London anymore once they get to a certain level in their careers.

            Funnily enough they all seemed to take the “Oxford Tube” bus and since the advent of portable internet lots of them make the commute part of their working day and I gather
            a lot of the buses are set up for it. Not so different to working on a plane.

          • Mikeact says:
            8 Apr8 April 20:51

            And the numerous commuters all along the S E Coast……cost is one thing, but would you really want to commute on Southern, Southwest or Southeast trains…not knowing if your train will be cancelled and probably have to stand the whole way. It’s not all fun and games living, working, in the S East.

  • Chopin says:
    8 Apr8 April 08:41

    I applied for this card last month and did not hear anything back(accept or rejection), I did suspect something might happen…

    • Vit says:
      8 Apr8 April 09:49

      How late last month did you apply? I applied for the free (white) card on the 28th March and the card was approved on the 4th April (based on the letter sent to my address). So I guess if you have not received within this week — maybe worth give creation a call if you have saved the application number?

    • Lucy says:
      8 Apr8 April 10:58

      I applied for the IHG Premium card on Sunday 5th April and was approved immediately- email arrived within about 15 minutes of completing the online application and says that the card will be sent out in the next 3-6 working days. Not heard anything to say this has changed so hoping that everything still stands, as I’ve transferred all my VA flying club miles out and was planing to use this instead of my VA credit card going forwards.

  • Rum says:
    8 Apr8 April 09:01

    I last had it 2018-early 2019. Applied again in January 2020 and got declined. Got a little annoyed so moved to HSBC and have just taken hold of the World Elite. Put my council tax on that and already got my initial 20,000 bonus points.
    It was a good product I agree, but not sure I could cope with Creation’s incompetent customer services, so good riddance.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

New to Head for Points?

Welcome!  We’re the UK’s most-read source of business travel, Avios, frequent flyer and hotel loyalty news. Let us improve how you travel. Got any questions? Ask them in our forums.

Latest Forum Posts

Get 40,000 bonus points (worth 40,000 Avios) and £300 dining credit with The Platinum Card

Check reward flight availability instantly for free!

See a whole year of reward seat availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Get £10 when you spend £150 on your free Currensea card

Booking a luxury hotel?

Our luxury hotel booking service offers you GUARANTEED extra benefits over booking direct. Works with Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, The Ritz Carlton, St Regis and more. We've booked £1.7 million of rooms to date. Click for details.

SME? SPECIAL OFFER TO 12TH MAY EARN POINTS WORTH 30,000 AVIOS WITH CAPITAL ON TAP

Get 20,000 bonus points, four airport lounge passes and your first year free with American Express Gold

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.

Got it!