FAB GEMS World Credit Card

This card is aimed at parents paying GEMS school fees, pairing tiered FAB Rewards with a GEMS tuition advance-payment discount, global airport lounge access and discounted cinema tickets. You need a minimum salary of AED 8,000, and it carries an AED 399 annual fee with a free joining fee. Rewards run at three rates: 33.5 points per AED 1 on school-related spend, 6.5 on international spend, and 3.5 on everything else in AED.

You earn 33.5 FAB Rewards for every AED 1 spent on school bus transport, canteen, uniform and extracurricular activities. This school-spend rate is capped at roughly 83,500 FAB Rewards per month, well above the 3.5 points per AED 1 you'd earn on ordinary domestic purchases. It's the card's headline earn rate, built specifically around GEMS-related family spending.

Outside school-related categories, the card pays 3.5 FAB Rewards per AED 1 on domestic spending in AED and 6.5 FAB Rewards per AED 1 on international purchases made in a non-AED currency. Spending abroad earns almost double the rate of spending at home in the UAE. These are separate, lower tiers than the 33.5 rate reserved for school-related purchases.

Cardholders can save up to 3% on GEMS school fees when paying tuition in advance on the card. There's also a 0% Easy Payment Plan of up to 12 months, available on both GEMS and non-GEMS transactions, with a minimum transaction amount of AED 1,000. That lets you spread a large school-fee payment over a year with no instalment interest.

The joining fee is free and the annual fee is AED 399. The monthly interest rate is 3.99% (47.88% per annum), late payment is charged at AED 241.50, and exceeding your credit limit costs AED 303.18. Cash advances cost 3.15% of the amount or AED 157.50, whichever is higher, and international or foreign-currency transactions carry a 2.61% fee.

You get complimentary access to more than 1,000 airport lounges worldwide, up to 8 times a year, plus one guest per visit. The card also gives 2 discounted cinema tickets a month at AED 20 each at Reel Cinemas, Cine Royal and Star Cinemas, plus 40% off deluxe tickets at Cinepolis. An optional Education Protection Plan underwritten by ADNIC is also available from AED 28 per month per child, covering up to AED 500,000.