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When Amex is not accepted, which card do you usually reach for and why?
Virgin.
Curve backed by Barclaycard Avios
Either, Virgin Reward+, HSBC World Elite, Barclays Hilton or MBNA cashback. I typically use the latter two for small amounts to keep them active and ticking over and the first two largely depending on whether the Virgin card is in a drawer to time the voucher or if I’m on the hunt for SQ miles.
Once I accidentally used my HSBC debit card and was very annoyed at myself for the rest of the morning.
Curve backed by Barclaycard Avios
People still have their curve cards? 😱
Barclays Cashback (0% FX worldwide) or Virgin Debit (0% FX Worldwide) because if I’m reaching for a non-amex it’s typically because I’m outside the UK and want cash or don’t want Amex’s 3% charge.
Inside the UK usually the Barclays CB.
Curve backed by Barclaycard Avios
People still have their curve cards? 😱
I still have Metal and it’s how I use my Barclaycard when Amex directly or via Paypal fails.
It’s due for renewal next summer and I may renew at a different level as the insurance no longer has value to me; I need to decide whether £36k of Fronted p.a. is valuable enough for the fee. On the face of it, yes as £36k = 54,000 Avios = £540.
What’s the alternative?
I used to use Barclaycard Avios but they’re not budging from the £250 credit limit. What a joke, honestly.
Now, I use NatWest Reward Black and then just convert the cashback to Avios, and it’s a decent conversion rate. Also have no issues using it abroad and getting hit with no foreign transaction fees. It’s a decent way to pick up Avios for spending abroad but not sure why it’s never mentioned on here.
Curve backed by Barclaycard Avios
People still have their curve cards? 😱
I’m not sure what that emoji means, but obviously nothing good which is odd since for many people Curve Metal, even at £180 and with reduced fronted, will remain a good and very simple value proposition. The £36k fronted as above and now unlimited FX free, even at weekends are both very valuable. There is travel, car hire excess and gadget insurance as well. In many ways it’s a much clearer cash benefit calculation than Amex Plat where you have to attribute a theoretical cash amount to some rather nebulous benefits.
Avios Barclaycard for me. If I’m travelling then it normally goes via Curve.
I’ve booked a large family holiday for next summer and the agent does not accept Amex so am looking for a workaround and ideas. I did have a VA Reward+ but I closed it last year.
I’m not sure what that emoji means, but obviously nothing good which is odd since for many people Curve Metal, even at £180 and with reduced fronted, will remain a good and very simple value proposition. The £36k fronted as above and now unlimited FX free, even at weekends are both very valuable. There is travel, car hire excess and gadget insurance as well. In many ways it’s a much clearer cash benefit calculation than Amex Plat where you have to attribute a theoretical cash amount to some rather nebulous benefits.
It’s a shocked face emoji.
So you’re saying I’ll get better value with Curve metal? All I’d like to have is a card that allows a little more than £250/month in FX transactions, not necessarily cash withdrawals.I’ve booked a large family holiday for next summer and the agent does not accept Amex so am looking for a workaround and ideas. I did have a VA Reward+ but I closed it last year.
Whatever you do, just make sure to pay on a credit card for Section 75 protection. This is very important with smaller retailers, travel agents, etc.
There are many cards with travel rewards to choose from, but in this case I would go with a card that makes it easy to make a claim for when things go wrong.
Capital on Tap
I’ve booked a large family holiday for next summer and the agent does not accept Amex so am looking for a workaround and ideas. I did have a VA Reward+ but I closed it last year.
Whatever you do, just make sure to pay on a credit card for Section 75 protection. This is very important with smaller retailers, travel agents, etc.
There are many cards with travel rewards to choose from, but in this case I would go with a card that makes it easy to make a claim for when things go wrong.
+1 !! Use a card that you are the primary card holder of . Do not go via an intermediary e.g. curve or PayPal
I’d use my Avios Barclaycard for this.
Otherwise I use the barclaycard via Curve (for google pay) or if abroad and I’m going to get hit with fx fee or weekend loading I use my Santander Zero
Tesco Mastercard, which is a throwback to when Clubcard points were actually worth having.
Tesco Mastercard, which is a throwback to when Clubcard points were actually worth having.
I use Hilton Barclaycard in the UK when Amex is not accepted.
When abroad to avoid FX fees…Virgin Atlantic in Europe and Curve backed with Hilton Barclaycard or Barclaycard Rewards Cashback further afield.
Virgin paid card, followed by free BC avios. These are quite significant for us at the moment due to being accepted for school fees; from next summer most of our spend will once again be on Amex.
I’m not sure what that emoji means, but obviously nothing good which is odd since for many people Curve Metal, even at £180 and with reduced fronted, will remain a good and very simple value proposition. The £36k fronted as above and now unlimited FX free, even at weekends are both very valuable. There is travel, car hire excess and gadget insurance as well. In many ways it’s a much clearer cash benefit calculation than Amex Plat where you have to attribute a theoretical cash amount to some rather nebulous benefits.
It’s a shocked face emoji.
So you’re saying I’ll get better value with Curve metal? All I’d like to have is a card that allows a little more than £250/month in FX transactions, not necessarily cash withdrawals.Whether you will get better value depends on how and where you use the card + how much you spend. Curve just means that you can get the underlying points on eg Barclaycard without an FX fee. Some reward cards eg Virgin offer this but only in limited countries/currencies and there are cashback debit cards like Chase that offer no FX fees or simple credit cards with no rewards. Probably, without ‘fronted’ Curve makes less sense.
And, per your other comment, it’s a false economy to save FX fees when paying for any aspect of holidays up front where s75 can be very valuable so Curve is not suitable. Additionally, per @SamG avoid using supplementary cards or paying for non-dependant family or friends who won’t usually get s75 unless they use their own cards.
You’ll be surprised in how many European countries you can actually use your Virgin Atlantic/Money card FX free. Basically you will avoid FX fees in every EU country whether they use the Euro or not. Use the currency calculator below to check specific countries.
https://uk.virginmoney.com/service/currency-converter
I was in the Czech Republic over the weekend. They don’t use the Euro and I still benefited from FX free spending with my Virgin Atlantic credit card.
I’ve booked a large family holiday for next summer and the agent does not accept Amex so am looking for a workaround and ideas. I did have a VA Reward+ but I closed it last year.
Whatever you do, just make sure to pay on a credit card for Section 75 protection. This is very important with smaller retailers, travel agents, etc.
There are many cards with travel rewards to choose from, but in this case I would go with a card that makes it easy to make a claim for when things go wrong.
+1 !! Use a card that you are the primary card holder of . Do not go via an intermediary e.g. curve or PayPal
I’d use my Avios Barclaycard for this.
Otherwise I use the barclaycard via Curve (for google pay) or if abroad and I’m going to get hit with fx fee or weekend loading I use my Santander Zero
Thanks for the tips. I’m looking into applying for the Barclaycard Avios, although hope I receive more than the £250pm limit mentioned above!
I use my non-UK cards for many things, otherwise chase for small purchases. I only use Amex when there are offers now as I don’t want masses of avios.
It’s too complicated to define.
First of all it depends on the retailer. I have rebate offers on Barclaycard, Virgin Money, BoS, Halifax, MBNA and Lloyds. Along with Instore offers from BA, Virgin & Airtime.
Secondly it depends on where in the world, I’ve FX Free worldwide on First Direct Debit, Virgin Money Credit & Halifax Clarity.
Then to complicate things you have various special offers that come through from banks. The regular 0% on purchases finance offers on Barclaycard. I’ve had 10% back on Google Pay with Barclays offers, and currently working my way through the First Direct 30 times over 30 days for one of 1,000 £300 competition prizes on their Debit Card.
You’ll be surprised in how many European countries you can actually use your Virgin Atlantic/Money card FX free. Basically you will avoid FX fees in every EU country whether they use the Euro or not. Use the currency calculator below to check specific countries.
https://uk.virginmoney.com/service/currency-converter
I was in the Czech Republic over the weekend. They don’t use the Euro and I still benefited from FX free spending with my Virgin Atlantic credit card.
My VM Credit Card is also FX Free in the USA, Canada.
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