Choosing a Rewards Credit Card in the UK

Rewards credit cards are the fastest growing segment of the credit card industry. Since everyone uses credit cards, it’s only natural to want the benefits of a rewards program from your everyday purchases. Rewards programs come in a variety of flavors; cash back rewards, shopping rewards, travel rewards, auto rewards, entertainment rewards are just a few of the rewards categories more prominent in the rewards program industry. Many of the major credit card companies in the UK offer rewards programs. Egg, Virgin, Sony, Barclaycard, American Express, Tesco, Sainsbury are just a few that offer reward programs that reward you for your everyday purchases.

Shopping Rewards – Many retailers offer discounts when you use selected credit cards to make your purchase. Rewards include instant cash back, discounted pricing, and additional merchandise savings. Shopping benefits including discounts are retailers like Sainsbury, Tesco, Marks & Spencer, lastminute.com, Virgin, iTunes, amazon.co.uk, Homebase, Molton Brown to name a few.

 

Travel Rewards – Credit cards that offer travel rewards programs are reasonably flexible and might provide airline miles, points that are redeemed for hotel accommodation, or both. You earn reward points or airline miles whenever the credit card is used for everyday purchases. Credit cards used for travel related spending such as purchasing airline tickets or hotel reservations, a greater number of reward points are usually awarded. Reward points can be redeemed for airline tickets, hotel accommodations, car rental, or special priority treatment or upgrades while traveling. To find out more about Travel Rewards Credit Cards

 

Air Miles Rewards – There are many credit cards that offer air miles points. These include bmi, Virgin Atlantic, and British Airways. You earn air miles with your everyday purchases. Most offer ‘sign up’ bonus air miles, and some offer companion tickets. The standard is 1 air mile reward point for every £1 spent. Yet there are cards that do offer more air miles per £1 spent, but you usually pay a higher annual fee. To find out more about Air Miles Rewards Credit Cards

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Hotel Rewards – Use your hotel rewards credit cards to earn discounts on hotel reservations and stays, vacation packages, car rentals, cruises, flights and other travel-related purchases. If you have a favorite hotel chain that you prefer to stay at when you travel, you can earn additional points toward free nights with your everyday purchases. Some cards let you earn points towards stays at specific hotel chains, such as Sheraton and Westin. Other cards let you redeem points for airline travel, hotel reservations, or vacation packages.

 

Choosing a rewards credit card that fits your desires is what we are all about. We provide the tools and information necessary to make an informed decision on not only the rewards credit card that best fits your goals, but also the credit card that fits your credit history. The first step in choosing a rewards credit card is to determine which rewards you want. Rewards credit cards in the UK are broken into four main categories, Shopping rewards, Travel rewards, Air Miles rewards, and Hotel accommodations rewards cards.

The advantages of rewards credit cards are obvious, cash back, shopping rewards, travel rewards all from using your credit card for everyday purchases. The more you spend, the more reward points you accumulate, and the more ‘free’ stuff you get. But lurking in the background is some ugly facts that must be evaluated before you make the plunge into the world of reward credit cards. First of all, most rewards credit cards come with an annual fee. This fee can be substantial, and over the course of a few years can eat into the benefits that you might achieve with a rewards credit card. Secondly, not all rewards are equal. Air miles points earned on the British Airways American Express card may be worth more in terms of real savings than the shopping benefits of the Egg card. You need to be aware of the value of points, and how they are earned. And finally, rewards credit cards usually have a higher annual interest rate (APR). If you plan on carrying a balance on the card, you need to be keenly aware of the interest rate(s), and how much this increased rate is going to cost you on a yearly bases. This can easily offset the advantage you can get with the rewards point you earn. Bottom line, you need to be aware of all the costs associated with rewards credit cards. These costs can very early offset the advantages of rewards you earn. If you take the time to understand all the costs associated with a rewards card, you can make an informed decisions and benefit from your spending

The UK-Credit-Card-Centre unleaches the world of Rewards Credit Cards.

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How to Apply for a Credit Card in the UK

The first step in applying for a credit card is gaining access to your credit score. Once you know your credit score and how your score rates, you can then make the appreciate decision on the type of credit card you can qualify for. In the UK, there are two major credit scoring companies, Experian and Equifax. You can obtain your credit report and corresponding credit score from these two companies. The UK Credit-Card Centre provides access to your credit report through both Experian and Equifax. CreditExpert helps you to challenge anything with which you disagree; helping you to manage your credit rating. You also have the option to order your Experian credit score. This information will give you further guidance and an indication of how your Experian credit check may influence a lending decision. CreditExpert also saves you time and trouble if you become a victim of ID fraud. A recent report from CIFAS has found that, on average, it takes victims more than 15 months to discover their identity has been stolen and over 300 hours to clear their name. CreditExpert’s weekly alerts mean that you quickly learn about any changes to your Experian credit report. Experian’s Victims of Fraud team will help you to resolve any problems.

 

Once you understand your credit score, you can then decide on what card you can qualify for. There are a number of card types; low rate cards, cards that come with reward programs, cash back cards, and cards for people with less than ideal or “bad” credit.

 

Choosing a card that fits your needs is what we are all about. We provide the tools and information necessary to make an informed decision on not only the card that best fits your desires, but also the credit card that fits your credit history.

 

The next step in choosing a card is to figure out what type of card you want. Cards within the UK are divided into five main categories:

 

Balance Transfer

Balance transfer cards allow you to consolidate credit-card debt onto one card, allowing you to shed yourself of high interest rates. And therefore saving you money. But initiating a balance transfer from a high interest rate card to a card with a lower interest rate is not void of pitfalls. You need to understand how a balance transfer works. And more importantly you need to understand the fees associated with the transfer. Many times there is fine print attached to the transfer that includes hidden charges. Some cards may charge a transfer fee that can be a percentage of the balance transferred. Be sure that there is a cap on the amount, or else a balance transfer in the thousands may end up costing you hundreds of pounds. Also, be sure the bank doesn’t charge a high annual fee, or joining fee. Barclaycard, Virgin, and Capital One all offer cards with balance transfer benefits.

 

Low Interest

Low Interest Rate cards offer introductory rates of up to 0% APR for anywhere between 3 to 18 months for when the credit-card account is opened. This rate can, depending on the credit card company can apply to new purchases, cash advances, and balance transfers from other credit accounts. Barclaycard and MBNA both offer low rate cards.

 

Rewards/Loyalty

Rewards cards are the fastest growing segment of the credit-card industry. Since everyone uses credit cards, it’s only natural to want the benefits of a rewards program from your everyday purchases. Rewards programs come in a variety of flavors; cash back rewards, shopping rewards, travel rewards, entertainment rewards are just a few of the rewards program available. If you use these cards in the way they are intended, they can prove to be very beneficial to your credit card purchasing. MBNA, Sainsbury, American Express and MBNA offer rewards program connected with your spending.

 

Travel

Cards that offer travel rewards programs are reasonably flexible and might provide airline miles, points that are redeemed for hotel accommodation, or both. You earn reward points or airline miles whenever the credit-card is used for everyday purchases. Cards used for travel related spending such as purchasing airline tickets or hotel reservations, a greater number of reward points are usually awarded. Reward points can be redeemed for airline tickets, hotel accommodations, car rental, or special priority treatment or upgrades while traveling. Bmi, Lloyds, American Express, and Virgin all offer travel related cards.

 

Bad Credit

Worrying about your credit problems is not going to solve them. We promote credit cards for individuals with bad credit or simply put, less than perfect credit. Simply qualifying for a card will not help you build, re-build or re-establish your credit. The key to improving your credit rating and subsequent credit history is making on-time payments with all of your creditors and maintaining your account balances well below the credit limits. This is the key to changing your financial future, and fixing your credit history. Capital One, aqua, and Vanquis all offer cards dedicated to restoring and helping you with your credit problems.

 

So applying for a credit-card should not be a dreadful experience. At the UK-Credit-Card-Centre we provide the tools and information that allows you to make informed decision on your credit future. So take the time to understand the process of applying for a card and you will make the correct decision. So visit the UK-Credit-Card-Centre and start your credit-card search.

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