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Although we can’t compete with our friends in the USA, there are many excellent reward credit card options here in the UK. Whether you want cashback, airline miles, hotel points, or elite status benefits – Amex and others have you covered. We regularly sing their praises. In keeping with the current gloomy global mood though, I thought it would fun to take a quick look at what I consider to be the worst rewards credit card in the UK instead.
Now, you might (quite reasonably) assume that any card that offers some type of reward is better than one that offers nothing, but I’m not sure that’s actually entirely true. Allow me to present a card so bad that I would probably rather earn nothing:
The Maximiles Credit Card, issued by Creation (which also issues the very decent IHG Rewards Club cards), has no annual fee and allows you to earn 1 Maximiles Point per £1 spent. There is also a 5,000 point sign up bonus that sounds rather exciting!
There are two key problems though:
1. Maximiles aren’t worth very much
Amongst (many…) other delights, you could use the juicy sign up bonus to pick up in-demand items like an “On A Wick & A Prayer Pillar Candle”:
A “Bird Mug”:
Or, perhaps, a “Hand Trowel”:
For the big spenders (who manage to earn 6,500 points, in addition to the sign up bonus), there is even the opportunity to become the proud owner of a USB stick (available for ~£12 elsewhere): 
2. You have to deal with Creation…
If you are yet to experience Creation’s ‘Customer Service’, your life is more blessed than you know.
On paper, the benefits I get from my IHG Rewards Club Premium Mastercard (issued by Creation, though not currently accepting new applicants) are excellent. I come out about £250-300 to the good each year on average, even with the £99 annual fee. It’s almost certainly the best Mastercard offer in the UK.
Despite that, I hate using the card.
Seemingly entirely random fraud blocks mean you never know whether your card is going to work or not. Having to spend 30 minutes on the phone getting my card unblocked because I tried to pay £20 at Tesco (near where I live) was a particular highlight.
More generally, replies to simple queries often take months. Basic chargebacks, with all evidence supplied at the beginning, have taken me the best part of a year and numerous chase up communications.
I sometimes wonder whether the time I spend sorting out issues with Creation ‘costs’ me more than the benefits I get from the IHG card – and that’s with a market-leading card that provides genuine value. It’s fair to say that the Maximiles Credit Card is not quite a product of the same calibre…
Bottom line
I’m interested to hear whether any readers actually have a Maximiles Card. Are there any hidden gems I’m missing, or is it truly the worst rewards credit card in the UK?
What other contenders are there?
Not got the card, but do have IHG one…
I’m currently in a 6 month battle with the customer service, as I spotted some rogue interest charges on my statements, and I have been offered easily over 10 explanations for them, but when I have asked them to show me the working out (like in maths GCSE), they have never added up.
Just a warning to all card folders with creation to check your statements!
Ah yes, random interest charges! I’d forgotten about that one (Also happened to me despite paying off my full balance way in advance every month, but I let it slide as it wasn’t much and I’d already spent too much time dealing with Creation that month. Similarly, I don’t even bother checking whether I get the right amount of IHG Points these days – it’s just not worth the hassle.
Totally agree with you, Joe, about the woeful customer service for the Creation IHG card. The staff are generally polite and try to be helpful but the processes and rules seem to be created just to make their life (and the customer’s) difficult. My example was being issued with the £99 card with a £1k limit, despite my telling them via email that I only wanted it to be issued if they could give me a decent limit. Took several calls and a formal complaint to get it increased. Then, at the end of my first year it took several calls and nearly four months to get the free night certificate I’d earned by spending £10k on the card (try doing that with a limit of £1000!). You only get that certificate when you renew, rather than as soon as the £10k spending is earned, unlike Amex BA cards etc. It feels like they give those benefits grudgingly.
I can’t imagine anyone choosing the Maximiles card.
Yep – very fair point about the staff actually and something I should have mentioned. They are generally nice and try their best, but the systems are a horror show (which obviously is very frustrating for them too).
Haha – the £1k limit is hilarious, given the nature of the card. They cut mine down from about 9k to 6k last year I think “because you don’t make use of all your available credit”. Literally the same week, Amex doubled the (already decent) limit on my Gold… I didn’t ask for either, but when you need to hit 10k per year to get the main benefit, you want as much flexibility as possible.
Are you sure you can’t be tempted by a “bird mug” though?