The best credit cards for summer

Need a credit card for the summer months? You've come to the right place!

The summer is almost here and personally, I’m excited! But whether you’re planning to spend the summer months at home or you’re hoping to jet off somewhere for some sun, sea and sand, you might end up using a credit card to make the odd purchase or two at some stage.

So, without further ado, I’m going to take a closer look at some of the best credit cards on the market for the summer months.

Best for balance transfers

If you have a lot of debt on your existing credit card and it’s racking up a lot of interest, your best bet is to move that debt across to a 0% balance transfer credit card. That way you can enjoy a number of months interest-free!

The market-leading 0% balance transfer credit card is the Barclaycard Platinum with 20 Month BT Visa which offers a massive 20 months interest-free on all balance transfers. Note, however, it also comes with a 3.2% transfer fee.

Alternatively, the Barclaycard Platinum 18 Month BT Visa offers a slightly shorter interest-free period of 18 months, but comes with a 2.9% fee. Similarly, the MBNA Balance Transfer Credit Card and the Virgin Credit Card both offer 18 months interest-free on all balance transfers, and come with a 2.88% and 2.89% fee respectively.

You can find out more about these cards in The top balance transfer credit cards.

Be warned that you need to pay off your balance in full before the interest-free period comes to an end on these credit cards – otherwise, you’ll be charged interest in the region of 17-19%.

Best for purchases

If you’ve got some important spending coming up but you know you won’t be able to afford to pay for it in one go, a 0% on new purchases credit card might have the answer. These nifty pieces of plastic allow you to spend interest-free for a certain period.

The table below highlights four of the best 0% on new purchases credit cards on the market right now.

*Must already be a current account customer.

As you can see, the Marks & Spencer Credit Card knocks the socks off the competition, offering a fantastic 15 months interest-free on any spending you carry out.

That said, if you do most of your shopping in Tesco, the Tesco Clubcard Credit Card might be more up your street because you can earn Clubcard points as you shop. For every £4 you spend on the card anywhere in the world, you’ll collect one Clubcard point.

Your credit card also doubles as a standard Clubcard meaning you’ll also collect points that way on all of your Tesco purchases!

Again, remember to pay off your balance in full before the interest-free period comes to an end.

Best for lifetime low rates

As I have been stressing, the issue with promotional interest-free credit cards is that you need to clear your balance before the interest-free period comes to an end. Otherwise you’ll be charged interest at a high rate.

So if you’re concerned about this, you could use a lifetime balance transfer credit card instead. This means you can transfer a balance onto one of these credit cards and enjoy a low rate of interest until you’ve paid off your debt – there’s no promotional period, so you can take as long as you need to (although obviously the quicker you pay off your debt, the less interest you’ll need to pay).

For example, the MBNA Rate for Life Credit Card offers an interest rate of just 5.9% for the lifetime of the balance transfer! This comes with a 2% fee, providing you carry out the transfer within 60 days (otherwise it rises to 3%).

What’s more, you can also carry out money transfers with this card – so you can transfer money from your credit card into your current account and then use this to pay off a loan or overdraft and still enjoy the low interest rate. This also comes with a 2% fee if you carry out the transfer within 60 days – otherwise it jumps to 4%.

Alternatively, the Barclaycard Platinum Simplicity Visa offers a slightly higher rate of 7.9% on both balance transfers and purchases! So if you also have a bit of spending to do, this could be the card for you! And there’s no balance transfer fee!

Find out more in The longest low rate credit cards.

Best for cashback and rewards

Finally, if you religiously pay off your debt in full each month, why not get rewarded for your spending? There’s an array of cashback and reward credit cards out there that will help you to earn money back when you shop.

Just be warned that these cards shouldn’t encourage you to spend more than you normally do, and you do need to clear your balance in full every month, otherwise the amount of interest you pay will far outweigh any rewards received.

The American Express Platinum Cashback Credit Card is one of the most competitive cashback cards on the market and pays 5% cashback in the first three months, and up to 1.25% thereafter.

Alternatively, the MBNA Credit Card with Amex allows you to earn 1.5% on petrol and supermarket purchases and 0.75% on other spending.

Of course, the downside to both of these cards is that American Express isn’t accepted everywhere. So you might prefer the MBNA Credit Card with Cash Back Visa which offers slightly lower cashback rates. You can earn 1.25% cashback on all petrol and supermarket purchases and 0.5% cashback on everything else.

Find out more about these credit cards and more in The five top cashback credit cards.

Meanwhile, if it’s rewards you’re after, take a look at the Express Reward Credit Card (yes, again, it’s American Express) which allows you to build up points as you spend and get a variety of free goodies in return from places such as Marks & Spencer, iTunes, Boots and Amazon. Find out more in Get £180 by using this card.

And if you’re a keen jet-setter, you might prefer the Lloyds TSB Airmiles Duo Credit Card that allows you to collect airmiles as you spend which you can later redeem on free flights! You can find out more about this card and more in The best credit cards for free flights.

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