Thomas Cook credit card is like a lot of other decent credit cards with a couple of extras that make the difference. I originally applied for it when I was booking a holiday at Going Places the travel agents. They are part of the Thomas Cook group and I always book with them. There was an advert for the card in the shop and what attracted me was that if you book a holiday with any Thomas Cook outlet then you get an extra couple of month's interest free credit and also you earn travel miles from Thomas Cook. These can be exchanged for money off a holiday or foreign currency.

I received the card and on top of what I've mentioned I also got an interest free period on balance transfers which I think was 6 months. They gave me a decent credit limit and I was all set to go. However this is the only negative side. My first card was faulty and it took about 2 weeks for a new one to arrive which was a bit annoying. This is the only trouble I've had with them. They have a 24 hour help desk and when you get through it is a UK call centre and the staff are always very helpful and have a good knowledge. I do most of my dealings with them on line. The website is very useful and tells you all your current transactions, payments due and all the usual stuff. You can pay on line ask for a credit limit increase, send a customer query and check you travel pounds to see how much you have to claim. The only difference I would like to see is that instead of claiming the travel miles I would rather have them deducted from my balance.

A bit more about the card: It comes in different designs surprisingly all travel orientated. I picked an African scene with an elephant in front of a setting sun. There is also a beach scene and a skiing scene. All look good but aren't really that important. More importantly is the dreaded APR and I have just checked and it's currently at 19.9%. A bit higher than some cards out there but not to bad. The minimum payment each month is 3% or £5.00 whichever is higher. And one of the things I really like about this card is that if you pay the card online the payment is usually clear the next day. I've never known a card to clear a payment as fast as that which is always good.

I should also mention how the travel points system works. You get one travel pound for every £100 you spend at Thomas Cook or Going Places and you get £1 for every £200 you spend elsewhere. A travel pond is equal to the good old normal British pound and as I said earlier can be used against a holiday or changed into currency. I ended up with about £70 when I went to Portugal at Easter time. Well worth it. I haven't been using the card as much since Easter but I already have a balance of £7.35 worth of travel pounds. I'll just let it build up slowly. All in all it's a good card with excellent back up service and I can't really say anything bad about it.