Lots of Credit Card Questions!

letsplayludo on 16/07/2016 - 14:49

Hi All

I'm looking for a credit card for myself, or maybe two credit cards if needed. I currently have a Platinum from Bankwest for the last few years but I want to get some benefits now. As you know, loyalty does not pay in this world. The bank will happily let me cancel even though I have been with them for a decade.

Ideally, I do not want to pay annual fees. I am happy even as long as there is no annual fees just for the first year - I will deal with the bank after a year.

Question 1: I know almost all credit cards worth getting have international travel insurance built in. However, what I do not know is if any of these have domestic travel insurance as part of the deal. Can you tell me which ones have that feature?

Question 2: I usually travel interstate but my employer uses their own payment structure to pay for the flights etc. At the moment, I only know CBA Platinum/Diamond cards offer insurance where you do not need to book any travel using the card. Are there any more like that?

Question 3: I see a lot of AMEX statement credit deals all the time and they seem like a good way to save some money. However, I am not sure if they only apply to AMEX issued cards. Would bank-issued AMEX cards get the same benefits? I just cannot find the answer to this.

Question 4: In my Bankwest platinum card, when Zurich was the insurer, there was no excess for purchase protection insurance and the like (correct me if I'm wrong though). However, with Allianz, it seems the excess is $250, so for most purchases (e.g. upto $250), there is no protection. Is there any card which offers a No Excess insurance? Would love to know that. I recently lost my newish sunnies within a month but as they were $200, I'm out of pocket.

Now, pending your views on the questions above, I am also deciding between the NAB 75k Velocity point card and the CBA Diamond card. The Westpac 50k point deal is also an outside chance. Hope I can get some clarity and get the best deal possible.

Thank you for your help.

Financial Credit Card

Comments

  • bluesky on 16/07/2016 - 17:12
    +6

    Sorry, unable to help with the others, but as to Question 3, bank-issued cards also get cashback offers. However, some offers may appear on some cards, but not others. (More info here). For those of us who like cashback offers, we consider having more than one amex cards.

    You mentioned you might get two cards. If amex-issued is being considered, plenty of good info/deals by OzB members, some with first year fee-free, travel insurance etc.

    I can only speak about the totally fee-free cards, in particular Essential and Qantas Discovery cards, since I have them and have analysed them thoroughly. They do not provide travel insurance. But if some other card is doing that, they may be suitable as part of a suite, esp. for cashback offers. Since no need to worry about attractive cashback offers appearing just as 1 year is up and card due for cancelling.

    I have also worked out the cash-equivalent rewards for Amex fee-free cards for redeeming $ or supermarket vouchers (naturally, you might prefer to redeem flights instead):

    Velocity: 0.556%
    Qantas Discovery: 0.569%
    (If you join Qantas AutoRewards, you will get $20 for 3000 points - which is 0.667%)
    Amex Essential: 0.741% (simply use points as cash against card, 1000pt=$7.41, redeem rewards, or transfer to one of 8 airline partners)

    If they happen to suit you, currently with referral:

    • Essential : You get $75 ($50 without referral) if you apply online and spend $500 in the first 2 months.

    • Qantas Discovery: You receive 12,500 Qantas Points when you spend $300 in the first 3 months of Card Membership and an additional 2,500 Qantas Points when you first spend on selected Qantas
      products and services in Australia.

    And other amex cards too, the referral details in referral list - here.

    • letsplayludo on 21/07/2016 - 21:47
      +1

      Thanks for the detailed reply. You seem to be an expert on this!
      You answered what I wanted to know in the first sentence - i.e. bank issued cards also get the cashback offers.
      But thank you for the other detailed info which will be useful to me if I am going to go more towards that path.

      • bluesky on 21/07/2016 - 22:00

        You are most welcome :-)

    • Elwes on 22/07/2016 - 08:09

      Thanks for your analysis and for drawing everyone's attention to the AmEx Essential. I agree that it's better to be able to use points to pay off the card balance.
      It might be worth mentioning that the point accumulation is different - '0.5 points per $1 spent on eligible Card purchases at utilities, insurances (excluding those offered by American Express), telecommunication providers and government bodies in Australia' and 1 point/$ for everything else. So your 0.741% is really the max and the actual return will depend on what you use the card for.

      • Elwes on 22/07/2016 - 08:12

        I'm planning to use my next card mainly for utilities, telecommunication and insurance. (Most of my in person purchases are under $100 and earn 2% cash back on my ING.) I think for me it'll be worth getting a Discovery and just signing up for Qantas AutoRewards.

        • bluesky on 22/07/2016 - 13:23
          +1

          Oh yes, definitely use the ING for 2% cashback whenever you can - it is way higher reward rate than any of these free cards.

          One more thing, Elwes, just in case you are not aware of. With AutoRewards, there is a maximum of $20 you are allowed to redeem each quarter. So if you earn a lot of points, the rest will still have to be redeemed via vouchers (which give the lower rate 0.569% instead of 0.667%) - if you are not using them for flights. However, if your main mode of payment is ING, then this may not be an issue.

        • bluesky on 22/07/2016 - 21:27

          @bluesky: Just saw this post about ING ditching the 2% cashback. A bit disappointing if true!

      • bluesky on 22/07/2016 - 13:06
        +1

        Hi, thanks for mentioning above. I have not emphasized this because in my experience so far, I have been getting 1pt/$ for all my telecom provider and utility bills. In fact, I have yet to have any transactions that earn less than 1pt/$ so far. Perhaps it is another one of those Amex rules that is not strictly enforced. (Sure, there is also a probability that I am just lucky. But I doubt it. Because my telecom and utility providers aren't exactly the small ones :-) ).

        Having said that, since they state it, they can enforce it anytime they like. When they do, I will re-assess the card I use. Meanwhile, I am happy with the 0.741%.

        Hey, why not apply for both? It is free after all :-)

    • skywalka on 24/07/2016 - 11:43
      +1

      So to come out ahead you wouldn't use the Amex Essential card anywhere that charges you a processing fee of more than 0.741%. Is that correct?

      • bluesky on 24/07/2016 - 14:35
        +2

        Yes. Otherwise you are worse off. Sometimes, there are ways to avoid processing fees.
        E.g. Telstra bills, payment by paypal is free, yet, they charge fees for direct credit card payments.
        So, link the card to paypal and pay.

        As an aside, some OzB members also pointed out that where Amex is not accepted, perhaps AustPost BillPay is, and the Amex card can be used. However, I am still learning about this, and being cautious in a case-by-case, whether processing fees are levied and how much. Otherwise, being able to use the Amex alone is irrelevant, if ending up worse off in monetary terms.

  • boomramada on 18/07/2016 - 10:00

    Q1 and Q2, I haven't seen any cards offer domestic travel insurance. CBA credit card, you no longer need to purchase anything to get international travel insurance.

  • ilikeradiohead on 18/07/2016 - 16:36
    +2

    Had a quick look at the CCs that I currently have.
    Q1+2: Not sure on those ones, sorry.
    Q3: In most instances you can get it through AMEX connect, you just have to register your bank issued card. When the next offer comes out there will probably be a link in the Ozbargain description.
    Q4: Commbank has $100 purchase security excess, AMEX Plat Edge and Bankwest have $250, all three have $250 for lost baggage. Underwriter for AMEX is ACE Insurance, for Commbank and Bankwest it's Allianz.

    As to which card to get, why not just get all 3?

    • letsplayludo on 21/07/2016 - 21:48

      Thanks for the answer - I'm happy to hear Commbank has $100 excess.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join