Originally Posted by 84fiero

I'm sorry that the UK doesn't have travel rewards CC offers as generous as in the US...but the above isn't true at all. Decent rewards cards certainly require a good credit profile. Even basic, non-rewards cards can be difficult to get with a lower score and/or any significant negative marks. Just peruse creditboards.com or the FICO forums, etc.

For example in this article with 2012 data, the overall approval rate for general CC applications was about 39%, with sub-primes at 17% to those in the prime range at 58%, and super-primes at 85%. Those rates have probably improved a bit since then but doubtful they have changed drastically to the point you're portraying. I'd guess that the rates for top rewards cards will be lower.
http://www.creditcards.com/credit-ca...roval-1267.php