Travel rewards cards

Cillian0

Hello,
Looking to sign up to some credit cards that offer good travel points and lounge access such as the American express platinum International card. I was wondering if any Irish banks also offer good travel credit cards all I can find is the aib platinum and aer lingus credit cards which are both pretty disappointing compared to the cards available in America such as the American express platinum, Capital One Venture® Rewards Credit Card, Chase Sapphire Preferred Card etc.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

endofrainbow

our selection is abysmal.

jahalpin

The banks here can't really offer rewards as the interchange rates on personal cards are so low in the EU that they would actually lose money on the schemes

There would be more scope to offer rewards on business cards as the interchange rates on these are higher

L1011

Mr.S wrote: »

Why anyone would pay for the Aer Lingus x BOI card is beyond me!

I spend enough (min 2k, maybe max 5k; average is over 3k) each month that it is just about worth it in Avios alone. I have to use my own card for work expenses and some purchasing, weekly expense run means I don't get hit with interest.

The basic rewards just barely cover the costs if you actually use them - the travel insurance is poor; Vodafone give the fast track out like smarties and the lounge isn't fantastic either. The "free" flights are almost impossible to use.

L1011

Monthly fee probably, but plenty of other cards have annual fees (edit: I don't just mean the stamp duty, it's the Gold/Platinums that often have 40-60 quid a year fees)

L1011

BOI Platinum is definitely not free

SB Morer

Mr.S wrote: »

Which? AIB and BOI platinum are free, with all the ****e rewards they offer they'd be mad to charge.

The Bank of Ireland Platinum Card has an annual fee of €76.18 - it is not free. it comes with the same travel insurance as the Aer Credit Card without the opportunity to earn any Avios. Nor the 'free' flights, lounge passes etc.
https://personalbanking.bankofireland.com/borrow/credit-cards/platinum-advantage-card/fees/

The AIB Platinum Card has no annual fee, but doesn't provide insurance or any travel benefits. It does offer 0.5% cash back on expenditure up to a max of €225 each year once you spend over €5,000.
https://aib.ie/our-products/credit-cards/platinum-visa-card

SB Morer

Cillian0 wrote: »

Hello,
Looking to sign up to some credit cards that offer good travel points and lounge access such as the American express platinum International card. I was wondering if any Irish banks also offer good travel credit cards all I can find is the aib platinum and aer lingus credit cards which are both pretty disappointing compared to the cards available in America such as the American express platinum, Capital One Venture® Rewards Credit Card, Chase Sapphire Preferred Card etc.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Bank of Ireland's Aer Credit Card is as good as it gets I'm afraid. Because of the capped interchange fees in Europe (capped at 0.3% here, while it's 2% in the USA) no credit cards offer the rewards that American cards offer. There are some credit cards in the UK and mainland Europe that offer airmiles at c.1 per €1/£1 spent they are not available to Irish customers. Iberia's ICON card in Spain is probably one of the best around, but only available to Spanish residents. British Airways offers credit cards to French and Italian customers which earn Avios and discounts on BA flights too - but all those cards come with an annual fee of between €25-€95.

Irish banks (except BOI) have decided that customers do NOT want to pay an annual fee, so none of them charge one and consequently offer nothing except very small cash back. Avantcard has the best cash back rate at 1.25% on 'retail and entertainment' expenditure (not sure exactly what that excludes). Other cards offer cash back only on grocery and online shopping, while I think AIB offer it on all expenditure once it's over €5,000 but only at a rate of 0.5% capped at €225 annually.

AMEX do not offer cards to Irish customers.

https://www.headforpoints.com/2017/10/26/iberia-icon-credit-card-review/
https://www.headforpoints.com/2018/12/10/british-airways-new-credit-cards-france-italy/

SB Morer

https://www.headforpoints.com/2020/07/23/review-bank-of-ireland-avios-credit-card-for-aer-lingus-aerclub/