American Express & Diners Club

Although the American Express card comes with a wide range of travel benefits, its acceptance varies between different countries, and not all travel booking systems will take it. For example, you can use your American Express card to buy UK train tickets, but not to buy underground passes. You can book flights with EasyJet using your Amex Blue credit card (for a fee, as with all card transactions with EasyJet), but not with Ryanair.

The classic American Express card is actually a charge card and not a credit card. This means that Amex card balances are expected to be paid in full each month; there is no credit available after the month's end, unlike with a normal credit card. However, Amex cards have high spending limits and quite frequently there is unlimited spending allowed on a card in any given month.

In a nutshell, Amex are the strongest player in the business credit cards (and charge cards) field, with offerings ranging from the Corporate business card through to the Amex Small Business Gold card.

The customer service of Amex is of a high standard, with a branch network of American Express exchange bureaus spanning the country. Many other financial and travel products in the American Express range are market leaders, such as travellers cheques, and an Amex card benefits those purchasing other products from the company.

Diners Club International is the oldest charge card in existence, having started out in 1950. There are approximately 8 million Diners Club cards in circulation, and the cardholders receive what is generally accepted as the best (and most prestigious) rewards scheme in the card market.

Both American Express and Diners Club offer reward schemes, with points earned as purchases are made on the respective card. These cards are obviously geared to the more affluent consumer that clears their credit card balance each month and executives using their business credit card or charge card. Combined with the reward schemes, this results in these cards having higher than average interest rates.