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View Full Version : Cutting down the cost


philltowns
24th Sep 2007, 13:25
For those who are just about to spend a lot of money on training, just thought I'd impart a teeny bit of wisdom.

Before I started my training, I looked around and found a credit card which provides cashback on all spending. The one I used was Egg Money which gives 1% back. They cap their cashback at £200, but having just spent over £20,000 in 4 months, I got up to that limit quite quickly. Admittedly, in the grand scheme of things, it isnt much. But still.... its £200 that I wouldn't have had otherwise.

It only works if you pay off in full monthly (i.e. if you already have the money ready) otherwise the interest charged dwarves the cashback earned. I found that Egg dont give a very high credit limit, so had to max out the card and pay it off a couple of times a month, but it only took 10 minutes to do so every couple of weeks. And it hasn't cost me a penny.

There are other cards which pay upto 4% cashback, but some of them have certain requirements (mostly income based).

This webpage detailing the best cards is quite useful and updated weekly:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/cashback-credit-cards

Before you take out any card, make sure the flight school accept that type of card (I'm thinking AmEx in particular).

Any other tips on keeping the cost down, without cutting corners, are welcome.

sketchy
24th Sep 2007, 15:02
Personally, I'd rather eat a beaver :ok:

smith
24th Sep 2007, 17:48
nice one sketchy, reminds me of the scene from naked gun when prescila pressley is up the ladder.

Back to the topic, If you phone up your CC company and tell them you want to cancel they generally give you 6-9months interest free credit on cash purchases.

You only have to pay back the minimum every month leaving your cash in the bank to make interest, probably better than 1% cashback.

I had a BA Amex card, yes it is not widely accepted at UK flying schools but generally well tolerated in the US.

Managed to get myself a business flight to MCO, flat bed an' all with the points I save d for the price of the taxes £153, the list price of the flight one way was £2,900. Wel chuffed with that.