What’s the best credit card to buy £10,000 of furniture for my new home?

I’ve recently moved house and am about to spend quite a lot of money on household items such as beds and a sofa, which I estimate will come to £10,000. 

What is the best card I can get to maximise rewards on spending this amount?

I’m happy to put it on a credit card as I have the ability to pay it off within the month to avoid any fees.  

Taking the credit: Our reader is buying £10,000 worth of furniture for a new home and wants the best credit card for rewards

Helen Kirrane of This is Money replies: Furnishing a new home can be a daunting task, not least because it requires dropping a large amount of cash.

You can lessen the sting by making your furniture purchases with credit cards which offer attractive rewards, zero interest on purchases for a period or a large spending limit.

The best way to cash in on this would be to get a credit card with a good sign-up bonus which can be triggered using the spend. 

Here, credit card experts give some of their top picks for you. 

Rob Burgess, of credit card and travel rewards website Head for Points replies: For smaller purchases, the Chase debit card is still interesting. It offers 1 per cent cashback for the first year, but this is limited to £15 per month. 

This means you won’t earn on spending over £1,500, so it may not work for you as you are looking to spend more. 

There are two decent Amex options you could try instead. 

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is probably the best bet for you, especially as Amex does give good credit limits. This assumes that you are buying from companies that take Amex.

The sign-up bonus is worth 20,000 American Express Membership Rewards points, which will get you a £100 high street shopping voucher or £90 of statement credit.

The four airport lounge passes and £120 of Deliveroo credit.

The bonus needs £3,000 of spending in three months to trigger it. The earn rate is one point per £1 so you get 0.5p per £1 back.

You should ensure you cancel within 12 months to avoid paying the £195 fee for subsequent years.

Plan B, which might be better if you place no value on the airport lounge passes and Deliveroo credit, is the Amex Nectar credit card.

The bonus is 20,000 Nectar points, worth £100 to spend at retailers like Sainsburys, Ebay, Argos and more, which could be useful for your household purchases. You need to spend £2,000 in three months to get this.

The earn rate is 2 Nectar points (1p) per £1 so it’s twice as good as Amex Gold for day-to-day earning.

Again, this card is free for the first year and you need to cancel within 12 months to avoid being charged £30 per year going forward.

Experts’ pick: The American Express Platinum Cashback Card lets shoppers earn up to 5% cashback for the first three months

Andrew Hagger, founder of personal finance website Money Comms replies: There are a couple of cards worth considering for you. 

Firstly, the American Express Platinum Everyday credit card which gives you 5 per cent cashback in the first 3 months. 

This initial promotional cashback is capped at £100 – anything after this earns at 0.5 per cent up to £10,000 of spend, and once you exceed £10,000 the cashback rate increases to 1 per cent.

Alternatively, it might be worth considering the Santander All in One credit card which gives you 0.5 per cent cashback – up to a maximum of £10 per month – although it does come with a £3 monthly fee.

A big plus point is that the card charges zero interest on purchases (and balance transfers) for the first 15 months, so as long as you make the minimum monthly repayment each month, you can keep the bulk of your £10,000 in a savings account.

With some of the best easy access accounts you can earn 5 per cent or just over, so definitely worth considering – plus you can get at your cash immediately as and when you need it.

Emily Herring, credit publisher at comparison website Finder replies: There are some great ‘no-fee’ cards available. For example, the American Express Platinum Cashback Everyday Credit Card is a consistent pick for cashback on Finder. 

The card has a generous sign-up bonus of 5 per cent cashback on your purchases (up to £100 total cashback), plus an additional £10 cashback in your first 3 months.

This card’s sister, the American Express Platinum Credit Card, ups this reward to 5 per cent cashback on your purchases up to £125 and £25 in bonus cashback. But it comes with an annual fee of £25.

If Amex isn’t your thing, the Santander All-in-one credit card offers 0.5 per cent on all purchases and, if you’re eligible, 0 per cent interest on purchases for 15 months. 

This is an added advantage if you know you have a few big ticket items, like furniture, on your shopping list. 

But it’s important to borrow only as much as you can afford to pay back in a 0 per cent period, and make sure you repay your balance in full before the introductory  period ends, otherwise you could get stung by the ‘revert’ rate, which will typically be high. 

This card has an annual fee of £3 and you’re limited to earning £10 cashback per month.

Helpful: A 0% interest card can be useful if you have big ticket items such as furniture on your shopping list, as this will allow you to spread the cost 

Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts Compare replies: Shoppers could earn up to 5 per cent cashback with the American Express Platinum Cashback Card for the first three months, but the cashback is capped at £125. 

The card does charge a yearly fee of £25, but its fee-free alternative, the Everyday version, caps cashback at £100. 

Even with these caps, consumers spending a significant sum can earn more than alternative credit cards within a couple of months, which pay cashback of around 0.5 per cent or 0.25 per cent.

It is also worth keeping in mind that any new credit card debt incurs interest every month unless the purchase has been made under a 0 per cent introductory purchase offer. 

Interest over time can erode any cashback gained, so borrowers could be better off using an interest-free offer versus the most lucrative cashback deal.

Santander offers an All in One Credit Card Mastercard that pays 0.5 per cent cashback on any spending and includes a 0 per cent introductory purchase offer of 15 months. 

However, the top 0 per cent purchase card offers 21 months, from Barclaycard on its Platinum All-Rounder Visa. 

The best 0 per cent deal for any individual will come down to how much they can afford to repay each month to avoid incurring interest before any offer expires.