mdj1

Applied last week and got my PIN number today so will probably get the card/s in the next day or two.

When a institution does a credit check they can't see if you pay your balance in full each month all they see is if you paid on time, they can't tell how much.

They also score you on how much credit you have access to. If you've got several cards with 6 or 7k limits on each then this means you could potentially have access to 40 - 50k in credit. It might not mean that you have borrowed that much but you could, instantly..

They will look at this and your income and this will give them a % age if it's too high then they will reject you.

I got quite a nice starting balance on mine which means I wont have to be paying it off every week to keep using it.

On a side note, how many avios do you get on the Mastercard?

stifle

A fifth of whatever you would get for the corresponding Amex transaction.

smashie

After my rejection i got my wife to apply when she got home from work tonight but when she clicks on the apply button it just loads up the same page again??? Does anyone else have this problem?

PanGalactic

Mrs P will apply on 25/02/12, cutting it fine but fingers crossed

Exactly 3 calendar months will have passed since their letter says her Aviosless Lloyds mastercard has been cancelled from and 3 days before the Avios offer runs out.

If they reject her, I will plague our personal/business manager until he gets me what I want. It works 97% of the time.

Disco Volante

Get both. The Lloyds Premier Duo 12.5 Avios per £ is a good deal, but only earns at this rate for 3 months. Thereafter it falls to 1.25 per £. You can them use the BA Amex Premium Plus, which earns 1.5 Avios per £ (and 3 Avios per £ on BA fares) and a 2-4-1 voucher if you spend £10000 in a year which gives you a free seat when you use Avios to buy a seat. This works in any class. The Lloyds card gives you a voucher but only in economy IIRC. If you get the Amex, then you might as well dump the Lloyds card after the first three months.

And Amex will give you a free supplementary card in the same account if you would like to keep your business expenses separate.

PanGalactic

That does suck, but it would be a reasonably worthwhile thing to do for those on the 10X avios deal.

250 avios per £1.40 surcharge is not bad.

Olly-

I'm pretty sure that you only get the 10x Avios bonus on the Amex.

SteveF

Correct.

SteveF

I think everyone does. They were supposed to fix it today, but didn't.

Perimeter Road North

Thanks for the advice but I don't want to overdo the card applications and damage my credit rating.

I received my referral email for Amex Platinum card with 42,000 MR points bonus (=42,000 avios) which costs £300. But if I spend £1,500 and receive the bonus points, I can then choose to cancel the card and receive a pro-rata refund of the card fee (i.e. £225 back).

Pretty good deal. I am waiting to hear by post if I have been approved - they couldnt give me an instant online decision (doesnt bode amazingly well!)

Thanks for advice though

PanGalactic

Dont worry about that, it happens all the time, the next thing you hear from them will probably be by post.

If you are impatient, it wont do any harm to call them to check they got the application through OK and whether they require any further info.

larryflyer

Can anyone confirm/shed more light on the 3 month requirement?

I'm kicking myself for getting a Lloyds Duo Airmiles account (the basic one) just before Avios-day in November. No introductory bonus whatsoever [hangs head in shame!], but I wanted to get an Airmiles account up and running asap in case I needed to move fast to take full advantage of any "combine my Avios" loopholes in the early days.

I called Lloyds yesterday to cancel the Duo account, and plan to apply for the Duo Premier (with £50 fee) via the Avios site. Am hoping that the fact I am upgrading (cancelled standard card, issued with no joining incentive from Avios, and replacing with Duo Premier card) will ensure I'm eligible for the 3-month 10xAvios offer. The small print on the website says (with my underlining):

Customers will only be eligible for one joining bonus from Avios, In the event that a customer re-applies for the Lloyds TSB Premier Duo Avios Credit Card Account, Lloyds TSB may process an application and issue the Lloyds TSB Premier Duo cards but Avios will not award further bonus offers.

I really can't see any reason I should need to wait 3 months, but (to be on the safe side) will wait at least until I get the letter confirming closure of my original Duo account.

Then I just need to negotiate the non-functioning web-form, and the apparent refusals to many of us who clear our balance each month . As a long-standing (too long!) customer of Lloyds TSB, it will be an interesting conversation if they suddenly decline to issue me this card.

moomintroll

Some lenders do actually now provide additional information to the credit reference agencies, and this does include the amount paid off the account that month. Also displayed is the total statement balance for that month, a marker if there was a promotional rate applied to your account, and a marker if you only paid the minimum payment.

So it's entirely conceivable that Lloyds are declining low-risk customers simply because they're unlikely to yield a sufficient return to the bank in terms of interest or balance transfer fees charged.

SteveF

You may be out of luck when upgrading. Amex do not pay new account bonuses when upgrading from the BA Blue to the PP and I suspect that may be standard practice.

stifle

With respect, what Amex does on upgrades is of no relevance to what Lloyds TSB will do with upgrades. I agree with your answer, but not your reason