Ok, last up in our review of Travel Credit Cards in the UK – Hotel Credit Cards.
And I’ll be blunt – this is not a competitive sector at all. There are 3 (yes, THREE) Hotel Credit Cards we’re going to look at, issued by two issuers. The big thing with all these cards is this: you’ll only extract best value from them if you’re brand loyal only to that hotel. Those of us who prefer other brands or mixing our brands may be very disappointed with these cards, and you’d probably be better off with either Cashback Credit Cards or Airline Affinity Cards.
Please note, this information does not constitute financial advice and you should always do your own research on top to ensure it’s right for your specific circumstances, and may impact on your credit score. So don’t blame me if you overspend on a card and they come hounding after you.
Those who are considering applying should bear in mind you’ll need to be resident in the UK to get one, and probably have reasonable banking references. So don’t moan at me if you’re in the USA wanting to apply for a UK Starwood Credit Card. Because the answer will be no ;).
If you’ve got comments, fill them in down below, and I’ll try and answer them!
Hilton HHonors Credit Card – Barclays. This credit card has an 18.9% APR on the card, with no fee, with the offer a free night certificate valid during a weekend if you spend £750 in the first 90 days of having the card. You’ll get HHonors Silver Elite thrown in, and if you spend £10,000 a year on the card – Gold Elite. There’s also an extra 2,500 points if you make 4 Hilton Group stays in the first 12 months of owning a card. The earn rate is respectable too, with 3 points per £ if you’re staying at a Hilton property, 2 points per £ if you spend.
Combine this with the Hilton Double Dip, and this isn’t a bad card. Not a great card, but not a bad one. If you’re Hilton brand loyal, then this isn’t a bad “second card”
Priority Club Credit Card – Barclays. A much simpler beast than the Hilton Credit Card, (although the same APR of 18.9%), it’s a simple 10,000 Priority Club bonus points upon completing your first purchase within 90 days of account opening, and the earning is is a simpler 2 points per £ at Priority Club properties, 1 point per £ elsewhere.
Not an exciting card, but simple enough to understand and gain the benefit from. The question is when to apply for this card – as we know, all points count to status (for what it’s worth) in Priority Club. If you’ve made Platinum for the year, it’s honestly not worth it. Something to consider in January if you know you’re going to have a lean year (or if there is no promotion like Crack the Case)
The Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card – American Express. On the first £1,000 spend, you’ll get 10,000 bonus Starpoints with an earn rate of 1 Starpoint per £. It’s a high APR of 34.5%, with adjusted for the £75 membership fee. Shove £15,000 per year through the card, and you’ll get an automatic upgrade to Starwood Gold Preferred Guest membership. Earn up to 20,000 starpoints, and you you’ll get a 5,000 starpoint bonus when you transfer them out to an airline programme.
If you’re Starwood loyal, this is your card. Bear in mind you need to pull in £30,000 a year to apply for it.
As I stated, these aren’t exactly going to set the world alight, but these cards are very niche.
And that is it for this week’s Travel Credit Card review. Next week, I’m going to quickly revisit Airline cards issued by MBNA as they’ve all changed since I last looked at them.
I’m not going into CashBack Credit Cards, or any other sort as it’s a big market – and that’s why we have sites like MoneySavingExpert.com to help us out. As I tend to do with most of my content, I’ll be reviewing this in a year. You never know – by then a brand new card might be out to smite all of the current ones…..
