Very helpful guide. Sticking with my Clarity card, for fee-free use overseas, and Avios-earning BA Amex and BA Mastercard for use here. Bronze-star strategy, I know. Flying with Tui on Saturday. I like the airline.
You didn't mention that Amex Gold gets double points on non-GBP transactions and also on air fare purchases (directly with the airline, not travel agents). So if you buy an air fare in non-GBP you'll get 4 points per £1. Probably worth the FX conversion charges.
I wasn’t actually aware that those offers could stack! Makes sense then, specifically for non-sterling airfare spending if that’s the case. For other overseas spending it could be worthwhile so long as you can ensure a really high redemption value for your points, but a lot of people will be better off with a non-FX card to use as well.
Most airlines will let you pay in gbp so you may as well just take 2 points per £ rather than 4 and suffer 3% fee. The extra points are basically 1.5p each which is poor value
@@GeorgeBot7 most UK cashback credit cards offer 1% on most transactions, whilst some few transactions qualify for higher %. My personal first priority is to rack up the points for award flights anyway, as it sometimes works out better value in comparison with the cash price ticket. So, personally I wouldn't overthink it. But I agree that for high value purchases, the sight of FX fees is shocking.
These offers do indeed stack but they don't multiply, e.g. purchasing airfare in USD yields up to 3.5 points / £: 1 "base", 1 for airfare, 1 for foreign transaction and the other 0.5 later as part of "earn as you go" bonus. But I do agree with Charles here that majority of people would still be better off with a no fx fee card. Even at 3.5 points/£ it can be hard to beat e.g. Chase or Barclycard+Curve with their lack of 3% fee and the 1% cashback/1 Avios on top.
I just wish my curve would actually work with my Barclaycard! Easily 8/10 transactions started to get declined for me since about 18 months ago, and I ended up abandoning curve after using it for years.
I think thee most important benefit of Revolut is that they have 'Rev Points'. These can be converted on 1:1 basis ( mostly) and these include a lot of airlines and hotels. I convert mine into Avios and on the 2 occasions I've converted them they have done so instantaneously. I have the Metal version which is £195 pa but I got it for £95 for the 1st year and I'm under the impression that this is a blanket conversion offer given to anyone with any Rev' card who upgrades to Metal. I personally wasn't offered any 1st year discount for Ultra which is why I didn't bother but others experience may differ.
The issue with rev points is that unless you have the ultra, the earning rate is a lot less than the other cards available, so unless you’re getting other benefits from it, it doesn’t seem worthwhile to me. For example, on the metal version that you’re on, you only earn half a rev point per £ spent. You’d get double the amount of points on an Amex gold or platinum, and those points can also be used on a lot of different airlines or hotel chains. If you’re converting them to avios, you’d get 2x the points on the free versions of the BA Amex or Barclaycard BA card, or 3x the points on the paid BA Amex or Barclaycard compared to what you’re earning on Revolut metal.
Hey mate, new subscriber here. I’ve just qualified for Barclays premier avios, so I’ll get the voucher in a years time. Could I request a vid on how to use this properly? I have no idea! I have the free ba Amex card (well 2, my wife also has one. With work expenses, we get 2 241 vouchers per year) we would love to try a business or first class flight one day. How best (cheapest) to achieve this with these ‘upgrade’ vouchers for a long haul flight? Thanks very much
Thanks for subscribing! I do have a video about how to find and book avios reward flights that covers using the vouchers. Could be worth a watch if you’ve not seen it yet!
Could you explain if you need to book flights/ accommodation etc through certain and/or each card to get any of the benefits. e.g. travel insurance, room upgrades, breakfasts, hotel spends. Thanks
For the Amex Platinum travel insurance I believe you need to pay for the trip with an Amex but it doesn’t necessarily need to be the platinum card if you have another Amex you’d rather use. For the hotel benefits that come from the status that you gain from the card, you don’t need to have paid for the hotel using your Amex. However, for fine hotels and resorts, you need to book this via the Amex travel portal using the platinum card, and will need to show the hotel your card when you arrive as well. For using priority pass for flights, there’s no need to have used your Amex to pay for the flights or anything.
Nice video Charles - I did open a Chase debit account for abroad spending as didn’t find alternative options out there for credit cards, is Yonder fairly new? Would you recommend this ultimately over Chase now?
Thanks! Yes, it’s a relatively new one that I only learned about mid-2024. It’s not a one size fits all but definitely makes the most sense for me given the level on overseas spending I’ll be doing this year. The value of the points is generally going to be greater than the 1% cashback on the chase card, but it’s only worth paying the fee if you’ll be spending enough on it to earn enough points to offset the cost, or if the other benefits such as the annual travel insurance would give you good value.
Thanks for the great video, Charles. What’s your advice on downgrading the American Express premium plus to the normal card bearing in mind the possible depreciation of avios points in the future? They are no longer granting Jersey residents UK credit cards and as a result if I decide to downgrade my existing BA PLUS Amex, I need to be careful that I may not be able to upgrade again in the future. Is it really worth the £300 a year subscription fee-I earned over 40,000 Avios last year. Also being based in Jersey British Airways is a vital link for us and Heathrow a huge hub for us visiting Europe and abroad your thoughts appreciated. Thank you.
Thank you! For me it is well worth the fee and I wouldn’t consider downgrading, but that’s only because I am able to use the voucher every year to book long haul return business class for two, so I’m usually saving around 180k avios per booking. The value of that is worth thousands. But, if you’re struggling to earn enough avios to book those kind of flights it’s less worthwhile. 40k avios would be enough to book a redemption in Europe somewhere though, and depending when/where you’re going that could be worth a few hundred. Less obvious value from it though if you’re not doing the long haul flights with the voucher.
@@jamespaul4421 If you value the companion voucher and can spend £15,000 per year then 100% it’s worth it. If you don’t have the card specifically with the use of the companion voucher in mind, it may be worth considering the downgrade.
3 HSBC points convert to 1.5 avios or other airline points, so it’s the same earning rate but with more flexibility. The downside is that much fewer people will be eligible for the HSBC card.
Very helpful guide.
Sticking with my Clarity card, for fee-free use overseas, and Avios-earning BA Amex and BA Mastercard for use here. Bronze-star strategy, I know.
Flying with Tui on Saturday. I like the airline.
Nice overview sir!
Thanks!
Thanks for Vid!! Would you suggest doing the premier Barclays switch?
You didn't mention that Amex Gold gets double points on non-GBP transactions and also on air fare purchases (directly with the airline, not travel agents). So if you buy an air fare in non-GBP you'll get 4 points per £1. Probably worth the FX conversion charges.
I wasn’t actually aware that those offers could stack! Makes sense then, specifically for non-sterling airfare spending if that’s the case. For other overseas spending it could be worthwhile so long as you can ensure a really high redemption value for your points, but a lot of people will be better off with a non-FX card to use as well.
Most airlines will let you pay in gbp so you may as well just take 2 points per £ rather than 4 and suffer 3% fee. The extra points are basically 1.5p each which is poor value
@@GeorgeBot7 most UK cashback credit cards offer 1% on most transactions, whilst some few transactions qualify for higher %.
My personal first priority is to rack up the points for award flights anyway, as it sometimes works out better value in comparison with the cash price ticket. So, personally I wouldn't overthink it. But I agree that for high value purchases, the sight of FX fees is shocking.
These offers do indeed stack but they don't multiply, e.g. purchasing airfare in USD yields up to 3.5 points / £: 1 "base", 1 for airfare, 1 for foreign transaction and the other 0.5 later as part of "earn as you go" bonus.
But I do agree with Charles here that majority of people would still be better off with a no fx fee card. Even at 3.5 points/£ it can be hard to beat e.g. Chase or Barclycard+Curve with their lack of 3% fee and the 1% cashback/1 Avios on top.
I just wish my curve would actually work with my Barclaycard! Easily 8/10 transactions started to get declined for me since about 18 months ago, and I ended up abandoning curve after using it for years.
I think thee most important benefit of Revolut is that they have 'Rev Points'. These can be converted on 1:1 basis ( mostly) and these include a lot of airlines and hotels. I convert mine into Avios and on the 2 occasions I've converted them they have done so instantaneously. I have the Metal version which is £195 pa but I got it for £95 for the 1st year and I'm under the impression that this is a blanket conversion offer given to anyone with any Rev' card who upgrades to Metal. I personally wasn't offered any 1st year discount for Ultra which is why I didn't bother but others experience may differ.
The issue with rev points is that unless you have the ultra, the earning rate is a lot less than the other cards available, so unless you’re getting other benefits from it, it doesn’t seem worthwhile to me. For example, on the metal version that you’re on, you only earn half a rev point per £ spent. You’d get double the amount of points on an Amex gold or platinum, and those points can also be used on a lot of different airlines or hotel chains. If you’re converting them to avios, you’d get 2x the points on the free versions of the BA Amex or Barclaycard BA card, or 3x the points on the paid BA Amex or Barclaycard compared to what you’re earning on Revolut metal.
Worth mentioning Barclaycard Rewards with no transaction fees abroad, no anual fee, but only 0.25% cashback
Yeah I think for me the cashback rate is just a bit too low on that one, especially when you can get 1% with chase.
Hey mate, new subscriber here. I’ve just qualified for Barclays premier avios, so I’ll get the voucher in a years time. Could I request a vid on how to use this properly? I have no idea! I have the free ba Amex card (well 2, my wife also has one. With work expenses, we get 2 241 vouchers per year)
we would love to try a business or first class flight one day. How best (cheapest) to achieve this with these ‘upgrade’ vouchers for a long haul flight? Thanks very much
Thanks for subscribing! I do have a video about how to find and book avios reward flights that covers using the vouchers. Could be worth a watch if you’ve not seen it yet!
Could you explain if you need to book flights/ accommodation etc through certain and/or each card to get any of the benefits. e.g. travel insurance, room upgrades, breakfasts, hotel spends. Thanks
For the Amex Platinum travel insurance I believe you need to pay for the trip with an Amex but it doesn’t necessarily need to be the platinum card if you have another Amex you’d rather use. For the hotel benefits that come from the status that you gain from the card, you don’t need to have paid for the hotel using your Amex. However, for fine hotels and resorts, you need to book this via the Amex travel portal using the platinum card, and will need to show the hotel your card when you arrive as well. For using priority pass for flights, there’s no need to have used your Amex to pay for the flights or anything.
Nice video Charles - I did open a Chase debit account for abroad spending as didn’t find alternative options out there for credit cards, is Yonder fairly new? Would you recommend this ultimately over Chase now?
Thanks! Yes, it’s a relatively new one that I only learned about mid-2024. It’s not a one size fits all but definitely makes the most sense for me given the level on overseas spending I’ll be doing this year. The value of the points is generally going to be greater than the 1% cashback on the chase card, but it’s only worth paying the fee if you’ll be spending enough on it to earn enough points to offset the cost, or if the other benefits such as the annual travel insurance would give you good value.
Thanks for the great video, Charles. What’s your advice on downgrading the American Express premium plus to the normal card bearing in mind the possible depreciation of avios points in the future? They are no longer granting Jersey residents UK credit cards and as a result if I decide to downgrade my existing BA PLUS Amex, I need to be careful that I may not be able to upgrade again in the future. Is it really worth the £300 a year subscription fee-I earned over 40,000 Avios last year. Also being based in Jersey British Airways is a vital link for us and Heathrow a huge hub for us visiting Europe and abroad your thoughts appreciated. Thank you.
Thank you! For me it is well worth the fee and I wouldn’t consider downgrading, but that’s only because I am able to use the voucher every year to book long haul return business class for two, so I’m usually saving around 180k avios per booking. The value of that is worth thousands. But, if you’re struggling to earn enough avios to book those kind of flights it’s less worthwhile. 40k avios would be enough to book a redemption in Europe somewhere though, and depending when/where you’re going that could be worth a few hundred. Less obvious value from it though if you’re not doing the long haul flights with the voucher.
@@jamespaul4421 If you value the companion voucher and can spend £15,000 per year then 100% it’s worth it. If you don’t have the card specifically with the use of the companion voucher in mind, it may be worth considering the downgrade.
@ thanks Charles I’ll hand tight for the mo-great advice
HSBC premier credit card is £1 - 3 points, is this not better than the £1 - 1.5 avios conversion rate?
3 HSBC points convert to 1.5 avios or other airline points, so it’s the same earning rate but with more flexibility. The downside is that much fewer people will be eligible for the HSBC card.
I use a Starling Bank card for overseas transactions
Do you get any benefits/rewards for the spending with Starling?