My mate is thinking of getting the Qantas Cash Card. He flies regularly, doesn't particularly want a credit card, but still wants to earn points. He asked me to check out the fine print. I've got the 28°, citibank plus, and Woolies Qantas card for points, but he doesnt want 50 cards in his wallet like me so the Qantas Cash Card looks like a good option.
This is what I told him, let me know if I am correct, or add any info he should know below.
"You'll save 3% on you holiday if you get a citibank debit account instead of using the qantas cash card. Qantas Cash is one of the better travel cards available, but that is still a very low bar. As with most/all travel cards, unless you are a forex whiz and can time the forex market to lock in a good rate better than 3%, then you still cop a 3% foreign currency conversion fee." Is this correct??
"There are only 3 cards that have no forex fees, bankwest platinum, 28°, and citibank plus" is this correct?
"However the qantas cash card does have some perks. It looks easy to use with a polished online user interface and smartphone app, allows payments via BPAY and POLI, It is a prepaid cash card so no Credit Facility is involved, however it does have a 12 month inactivity fee which is annoying. Plus it is great for qantas members because it has an inbuilt Q-Tag, so you can use it as your boarding pass, and it earns qantas points, 1 per 2$ in AU and 1 per 1$ overseas."
"So strictly speaking, citibank is still the best cheapest option, especially since 28° started charging for cash advance ATM withdrawals, but the qantas cash card is still a good option for a regular qantas flyer who wants to earn points without getting a credit card"
Is that an accurate summary? Have I missed anything important? I gleaned most of my information from the qantas site and this whirlpool article: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2090620
Doing some more digging it looks like you don't get charged that 3% when loading currencies on your card, only when buying something with the card that you dont have the right currency for, however it looks like the exchange rates that qantas card uses when loading onto the card are nowhere near as good as the rates that mastercard uses when making a foreign currency transaction, in the range of 4% difference for the one value I checked… Is this how the qantas card makes their money?? Is this the key difference that makes 28° card or citibank card a better choice?