Long term card strategy

[Ranga]

Hey all, just wondering if you’re planning to hold the barclays plus permanently and how this fits into your current cards?

I’m thinking of keeping a single barclays and bapp as a family long term, to avoid the admin of card churn, plus can target spending to earn both vouchers?

Thanks!

[Andrew.]

Same as it’s always been really.

Keep my Credit Cards, that are not registered with any Credit Agency, for large purchases. Keep my oldest remaining Credit Cards for long term account history.

Churn the the rest every few years.

[chelynnah]

BAPP for most spend as we’ve been doing for the past several years, Barclays Avios Plus for any non Amex spend.

We did close down our 2nd BAPP to start the 2 year clock. We’ll see how it goes over the next couple years, and if the upgrade voucher holds any value or if 2x 2-4-1 is better. Currently we’re sitting on a few that won’t get used so seemed the right time.

Aside from the teething issues we’re actually really pleased with the equal opportunity earnings rate that we can now get on non-Amex spend. That’s really the value for us.

[ed_fly]

chelynnah wrote:

BAPP for most spend as we’ve been doing for the past several years, Barclays Avios Plus for any non Amex spend.

We did close down our 2nd BAPP to start the 2 year clock. We’ll see how it goes over the next couple years, and if the upgrade voucher holds any value or if 2x 2-4-1 is better. Currently we’re sitting on a few that won’t get used so seemed the right time.

Aside from the teething issues we’re actually really pleased with the equal opportunity earnings rate that we can now get on non-Amex spend. That’s really the value for us.

I would suggest you do the maths on which barclaycard to have in addition to the BAPP of holding both long term. Putting aside the sign up bonus, the Avios plus card only makes sense if you need the lower voucher threshold or if your annual spend on it is very large (~50k+) Otherwise the free barclaycard is the better option to hold long term with a bapp.

[Ranga]

that’s very helpful, i may downgrade to the free after the bonus!

[Tom2]

Andrew. wrote:

Same as it’s always been really.

Keep my Credit Cards, that are not registered with any Credit Agency, for large purchases. Keep my oldest remaining Credit Cards for long term account history.

Churn the the rest every few years.

I am intrigued what credit cards you have that don’t show on your credit file?

[Youllnever]

Tom2 wrote:

Andrew. wrote:

Same as it’s always been really.

Keep my Credit Cards, that are not registered with any Credit Agency, for large purchases. Keep my oldest remaining Credit Cards for long term account history.

Churn the the rest every few years.

I am intrigued what credit cards you have that don’t show on your credit file?

Probably a foreign credit card. Although I don’t see what the problem is putting large purchases on one – just pay it off immediately once it shows on the account if you really don’t want the amount being reported.

[DJP31]

Both my wife and I have the Amex PP and the Barclays Plus, so are spending £1k PA for the privilage of 1.5 Avios per £, lower spend for upgrade voucher and 2-4-1 with 24 month shelf life. It is very handy to the same “earning power” the Bcycard brings as Amex isn’t universal whereas the Bcycard is.

We split our spend between the cards to spread out the awarding of the vouchers during the year. We will be retiring in a few years and want as big an Avios warchest as possible. We put a fair bit of business spend through our cards, which will obviously stop one day, so in the interim I don’t mind the annual fee to get the 1.5 per £.

[ed_fly]

DJP31 wrote:

Both my wife and I have the Amex PP and the Barclays Plus, so are spending £1k PA for the privilage of 1.5 Avios per £, lower spend for upgrade voucher and 2-4-1 with 24 month shelf life. It is very handy to the same “earning power” the Bcycard brings as Amex isn’t universal whereas the Bcycard is.

We split our spend between the cards to spread out the awarding of the vouchers during the year. We will be retiring in a few years and want as big an Avios warchest as possible. We put a fair bit of business spend through our cards, which will obviously stop one day, so in the interim I don’t mind the annual fee to get the 1.5 per £.

if you put £30k spend on the Avios plus card you’ll get 45k avios. If you spend 30k on the free card you get 30k avios. 15k Avios for £240 is not good – probably be able to buy the Avios for cash at a better rate. At £50k spend you’ll get an additional 25k Avios for your £240 fee. Which starts to make sense. The Avios plus card makes sense if you need the lower voucher trigger point or are spending significant sums. The difference in the Amex 241’s makes the BAPP earning rate (generally) less relevant.

[DJP31]

ed_fly wrote:

DJP31 wrote:

Both my wife and I have the Amex PP and the Barclays Plus, so are spending £1k PA for the privilage of 1.5 Avios per £, lower spend for upgrade voucher and 2-4-1 with 24 month shelf life. It is very handy to the same “earning power” the Bcycard brings as Amex isn’t universal whereas the Bcycard is.

We split our spend between the cards to spread out the awarding of the vouchers during the year. We will be retiring in a few years and want as big an Avios warchest as possible. We put a fair bit of business spend through our cards, which will obviously stop one day, so in the interim I don’t mind the annual fee to get the 1.5 per £.

if you put £30k spend on the Avios plus card you’ll get 45k avios. If you spend 30k on the free card you get 30k avios. 15k Avios for £240 is not good – probably be able to buy the Avios for cash at a better rate. At £50k spend you’ll get an additional 25k Avios for your £240 fee. Which starts to make sense. The Avios plus card makes sense if you need the lower voucher trigger point or are spending significant sums. The difference in the Amex 241’s makes the BAPP earning rate (generally) less relevant.

Good points made, thanks. One other factor was spending £10k to get the upgrade voucher is probably more achievable than spending the £20k required with the free card. The Avios saved by getting a long haul flight in business for economy Avios could be very advantageous. That said, I admit I haven’t quite got my head round how the upgrade viucher works in practise, so it’s perfectly possible my understanding is wrong.

[Andrew.]

Tom2 wrote:

Andrew. wrote:

Same as it’s always been really.

Keep my Credit Cards, that are not registered with any Credit Agency, for large purchases. Keep my oldest remaining Credit Cards for long term account history.

Churn the the rest every few years.

I am intrigued what credit cards you have that don’t show on your credit file?

Ah, it’s a historic anomaly.

Back in the olden days, bank staff were required to hold a “staff account” into which their salary was paid with their employer. As we didn’t actually apply for one, our accounts were flagged as “do not report”. When we opened a Credit Card (signed off by our branch manager), it was also flagged as a “staff account” – DNR.

Despite leaving banking more than a decade ago, I still retain my “staff accounts” and “staff” credit card – none of which are reported to any agencies.

In addition, in the early 1990s, I opened an account with a different bank to keep transactions private. In those days the branch manager reviewed staff statements and the original cheques written monthly – it was really annoying. When I opened the account with the competitor, they also processed me as “bank staff” – DNR and 30 years later neither my current account nor my Credit Car with them are reported either.

[chelynnah]

ed_fly wrote:

chelynnah wrote:

BAPP for most spend as we’ve been doing for the past several years, Barclays Avios Plus for any non Amex spend.

We did close down our 2nd BAPP to start the 2 year clock. We’ll see how it goes over the next couple years, and if the upgrade voucher holds any value or if 2x 2-4-1 is better. Currently we’re sitting on a few that won’t get used so seemed the right time.

Aside from the teething issues we’re actually really pleased with the equal opportunity earnings rate that we can now get on non-Amex spend. That’s really the value for us.

I would suggest you do the maths on which barclaycard to have in addition to the BAPP of holding both long term. Putting aside the sign up bonus, the Avios plus card only makes sense if you need the lower voucher threshold or if your annual spend on it is very large (~50k+) Otherwise the free barclaycard is the better option to hold long term with a bapp.

Thanks, we will be doing that too, later this year we’ll make the final decision. We’ll likely hit the 10k trigger through the summer due to some expenses coming up that I don’t think will take Amex. We usually only just get to around 10k on our non Amex spend through the year so we’re trying to decide how much value the voucher has for us. However as we’ve always held 2 BAPPs, with now dropping one, the card isn’t costing us extra for the moment. I appreciate the suggestion.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 12 months ago by .

[Graham-Walsh]

As I head to LHR in a taxi, I’m thinking the exact same. What is best to hold? Currently have BAPP, Amex Plat, Virgin+ and now Barclaycard Plus. The Virgin card replaced my IHG Premium card. Player 2 has BAPP and Virgin standard.

Have already hit my BAPP spend for the 241. Not far off the Barclaycard upgrade voucher, should probably hit that next month. Will most probably cancel Amex Plat and get separate insurance as I use the BA lounge as Gold.

Maybe move all spend to Virgin as that has no refund available until November? Then apply for Barclaycard again?

I guess the question is, what do I want out of this game/hobby? Good seats on a flight when it’s the 2 of us or the family of 4.

[Aston100]

As someone who always travels with one other, the upgrade voucher from the Barclaycard is fairly worthless.
The companion voucher from Amex is more useful.
I view the Barclaycard as something to use in between Amex SUBs for specific cards (and also where Amex isn’t accepted).
Once both of us have received our 5k bonuses, I’ll be downgrading mine and closing player two’s card to start their 2 year clock ticking.

I’m genuinely not impressed with the Barclaycard, especially with all the issues from day one, some of which are unresolved.

[BuildBackBetter]

Graham-Walsh wrote:

Then apply for Barclaycard again?

No signup bonus if you reapply within 2 years.