well, got husband in weak moment tonight and he agreed i could apply for some cards for him.  did 3 online applications halifax all in one - thought i'd try that as he has account at bank of scotland and has a halifax card with 9350 cl already.  they came back with 5050
tried virgin card they came back with a message asking him to phone 0800 number and if they didn't hear from him they'd be in touch in 7-10 days.  no chance of getting him to phone them so need to wait for that one.  might be something to do with me saying he had 1 credit card already and they might still have him down as having the mbna platinum plus card, the one he has has 10/07 expiry date, but can't get him to phone and sort that one out.
third application was mint and they came back with 4150cl.

hi newstu, yes i did consider fee free ones, but thought i'd be pushing my luck trying to get him to check credit rating.  because he always pays cards off and avoids credit cards and credit wasn't sure if it would be excellent.  thought i'd open an account at either britannia or n&p and apply for one of their cards next time round.  which of these would you recommend.

oh right,  with only a small amount required might open accounts at both so i'm set up to try for the credit cards later on.  thanks

i did try an online application with britannia this morning for the direct saver using the link on the site, filled in all the details including amount to transfer and account details, was reading though the terms and conditions before i ticked the box at the end then lost internet connection.  not sure if details went through or not and could not get back to the application details.  emailed them but email reply says someone will be in touch within 48 hours.  may have to start again.