Best Credit Card for Airline Miles or Rewards

• 

  evol on 09/12/2014 - 13:23

  +4

  The credit cards available here are pathetic compared to what is available in the US. We don't have insane signup bonuses or any cashback cards apart from redeeming points for gift cards (terrible redemption rate). Best credit card for airline rewards here would be the Amex Platinum Edge:

  3/2/1 earn rate, $195 annual fee (waived in first year) , free return domestic flight on Virgin every year (pays for the annual fee itself as you can redeem it in anyone's name), bunch of other goodies. The points earn rate coupled with the ability to transfer to 8 different airline programs makes it the best travel rewards card.

  Other than that you'd have to look at a Qantas FF card. The cheapest QFF card with a 1:1 earn rate is the $99 first year, $139 thereafter Woolworths Qantas Platinum card, which comes with a 16k QFF signup bonus. QF redemptions in Business or higher to the US are near impossible to snag though unless you book 330 days in advance. But QF points are great for Emirates redemptions.

  Hope that helps :)

  • 

    darren870 on 09/12/2014 - 13:49

    +1

    Thanks mate! That AMEX card sounds really good. I was a Virgin Card holder in the UK so have a bunch of points there. Even there it wasn't as good as the US though.

    The free domestic flight sounds good as the missus has family all around Aus. Since I am newer here it also encourages us to travel around more. My US card used to do this as well and it was a great get away.

    I'll look into those Q-FF cards also.

    Cheers! Really appreciate it!

    • 

      Holysmoke on 10/12/2014 - 11:58

      +1

      Apply for AMEX using referral links to get bonus points, see https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/american_express_referrals or PM me for other links.

• 

  Baghern on 10/12/2014 - 16:36

  +1

  Note a lot of places don't accept AMEX or they charge a surcharge ie 1.6%

  As stated above our CC awards are crap

  QFF points are difficult to use and the rate is plummeting

  • 

    darren870 on 11/12/2014 - 12:24

    Thanks, if you think the travel rewards aren't worth it, is there something else you would recommend?

    I have to furnish a new place and would like to try and get some rewards out of it! :D

    • 

      Baghern on 11/12/2014 - 15:10

      The Platinum/Diamond cards are all decent, just make sure you get the fee waived, most will do it if you call up. Normally $400-$500 annual fee.

      Otherwise the awards aren't worth thinking about.

      Awards items are pretty useless/more expensive if you know how to shop. I only get the mastercards/shopping cards, and use that to compare.

      Maybe in the meanwhile get a lowest credit you need credit card with awards, and wait for a promotional offer for a top tier awards credit card with no fee and bonuses.

      Travel awards like Qantas and Virgin Velocity, are a lot of effort to use with no promises.

      As an average person who does not want to get into the nitty gritty see the cost in time and effort not worth the it for a "maybe" good deal with flight points.

• 

  jlien on 11/12/2014 - 12:04

  +1

  Australian programs are pretty crappy compared to those abroad. If you're able to get yourself a US credit card that has no forex fees, you're almost certainly better off using that, of course this depends on whether you have an income stream in the USA to pay off your card.

  As you're from the USA, you may be constrained in terms of which cards you apply for, generally they all require permanent residency, or at least certain subclasses of visas (457, graduate, spouse should be ok)

  In terms of widest range of transfer partners, it pretty much goes like this

  Diners** (11 airline partners + i think 3 hotel partners)
  Amex Memebership rewards* (8 airlines + 2 hotels)
  Westpac Altitude (5 airlines)
  Citi (3 partners, 4 with the prestige)
  ANZ rewards (4 partners)

  Most of the rest will direct sweep into qantas & virgin, and/or allow for transfers to virgin.

  You'll always need at least a MC or Visa as they're generally accepted most places.
  *Amex is accepted at most large places, and IME maybe 20% of smaller places. So you cannot rely on it entirely.
  **Finding places that accept diners is like striking gold, some large chains accept it (supermarkets usually) but not too many places overall, to compensate it does come with an attached mastercard.

  As for which card(s) are best for you depends on your spend patterns, how much you spend, how much you earn, how much of a fee you're willing to swallow.

  • 

    darren870 on 11/12/2014 - 12:36

    Thanks jlien,

    I'm on a 457 but the missus is a born citizen. So we would just open an account for both of us, or just in her name if required. While my US credit cards don't have forex fees, and give good rates I don't have a reliable income stream in the US. I make all my money here so it doesn't make sense to send money back home just to pay a cc bill. I'd wind up losing the benefits with transfer fees and exchange rates. May change in the future, but for now I keep them dormant or when I am traveling and don't have a local card.

    I thought I read on ozbargain that AMEX now are providing users with attached Visa/MC cards for those shops? Or was I reading incorrectly? In the end though, If I can't use an AMEX I will just use my check/savings card.

    I will look into all of those though, maybe the diners too but it may seem like a hassle in the end.

    I guess I am used to cc rewards/travel hacking (whatever you want to call it) from the US that I was hoping to continue it here. I did have some cards in the UK but they too didn't provide the best reward options.

    Cheers though!

    • 

      jlien on 11/12/2014 - 13:10

      Things are a bit more stringent here. Whilst loopholes and hacks do exist they're rarer here and generally not discussed in public for obvious reasons.

      Amex issued amexes don't come with any attached visa/mc, however the big 4 banks will issue visa/mc accounts with free amexes attached.

      CC's can definitely be VERY rewarding, but of course it does depend on your spending patterns.
      What sort of spending are you expecting to do?

      There are a lot of good deals out there at the moment across the entire spectrum of cards but of course you should stick to what is most suitable to you.

      • 

        darren870 on 11/12/2014 - 16:27

        In the US I would put every expense on the CC and then pay it off monthly. I used to even put my rent on my cc. Basically I never used cash and would put $3-5k easily on the card. While I wont be able to do that much here I have no doubt in my mind I'll be putting over $1k a month on my card. Assuming I can get all my monthly bills on them without extra incurred fees, eg companies charging a surcharge for cc

        Otherwise, grocery, myki, entertainment, etc will all go on the card.

      • 

        jlien on 11/12/2014 - 17:27

        @darren870:

        Sounds like you wouldn't get as much value out of the ultra premium cards, as their annual fees will kill any value you'll squeeze out of it.

        You may be able to get a free card from a bank that you deal with if you have any other products with them (namely home loan)

        Aside from that, my recommendations would be of of the 'free for life' platinum offers that are currently floating around, main 2 that spring to mind are:

        suncorp
        http://www.suncorpbank.com.au/credit-cards/familyandfriends

        HSBC
        http://www.hsbc.com.au/1/2/personal/credit-cards/platinum?r=…

        Citi had an excellent free for life signature card offer the better part of the year, but unfortunately that's gone, but if you ask nicely you may be lucky.

        ANZ have a very good offer on both their qantas and rewards credit cards (at all levels, basic/platinum/black) where the first year is free and a 25,000 point signup bonus, but keep in mind that these will only be free in the first year. These come with both a visa and an amex.
        http://www.anz.com.au/personal/credit-cards/#rewards

        On the amex front, they've been quite brutal in the culling of a number of their cards and heavily promoting the platinum edge. Which to be fair is a very good card in terms of what it offers and the benefit, especially since it's currently free for the first year. It'll cost $195 after the first year however so you can sign up for it now and reevaluate in a year's time. It's not difficult to get value out of the card considering it comes with a free domestic flight, but its usefulness depends on your circumstances, e.g. if you were married with 3 kids, then a single ticket probably won't help you as much.

        If you decide to get an amex, then be sure to sign up via one of the referral links in the ozbargain referral wiki for extra points. NB the referrer will also get some points out of it.

        Diners is quite expensive @ $389, but comes with a few perks like overseas lounge access and an accompanying mastercard. At that price though I really wouldn't recommend it unless you had a plan to make full use of it.

        Finally, watch out for applying for too many credit cards in one go, i definitely wouldn't apply for more than 2 at once but it also depends on your credit rating. Personally I was quite a credit newbie until a couple of years ago and have since learned a lot about the 'points game' and have found it to be thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding :) happy banking.

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  rewardscompared on 15/12/2014 - 15:58

  Check out our site http://rewardscompared.com/cards
  You can compare what card best suits your spending habits (total amount and percentage spend on amex are the main variables).

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  Jumpingmanjim on 16/12/2014 - 22:04

  Is there anything to stop you from signing up to every card that comes out with free points and no annual fee, doing whatever you need to do to get the points and then cancelling them?

  • 

    jlien on 17/12/2014 - 09:49

    Just time really.

    Each application for credit results in a hit to your credit score and history, the more enquiries (and lower score) you have the lower your chances of being approved for an application.

    The only real way to improve your score is just to wait it out, as the score will improve itself over time.

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  teehee on 02/01/2015 - 01:47

  Could someone clarify with Amex and the referral links https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/american_express_referrals

  That page says you get 90, 000 bonus membership reward points by using one of those referral links? Elsewhere I've read 10,000. When I click on a link it doesn't link to a signup form anymore - is that offer no longer available?

  I fly from Darwin to Sydney to meet family about 3x a year but unfortunately Amex doesn't cover that. For a person who spends relatively just ~$700/month would it be worth looking towards a QFF card or just one of the annual fee free cards?

  • 

    Holysmoke on 02/01/2015 - 06:39

    The amount of bonus points differs based on the type of card being applied for ie. platinum, platinum edge, velocity etc.

    The referral system was in place but AMEX seems to be removing the links and is not currently available.