Is The Coles Rewards Master Card Good Value?

Mad Max on 02/03/2017 - 22:09
Last edited 02/03/2017 - 22:26 by 1 other user

I know there have been lots of posts about credit cards lately.
I would like to know what ozbargainers think of the Coles Rewards Master Card.
It offers 2 flybuys points for every $ spent. Currently 2000 fb points =$10 so it is a 1% return as cash/vouchers. Not a bad return.
It has a $89 annual fee that in the past I was able to get waived. No longer though. The customer service are uninterested, almost rude and quite happy for me to close the account rather than waive the fee even with a $40k/year spend on the card.
No use for airline tickets, so just after the best return in cash or giftcards/vouchers.
Thank you.
Edit: not too keen on continuous credit card churning.

Related Stores

Coles Financial Services

• 

  inherentchoice on 02/03/2017 - 22:15

  Not worth $89 just downgrade to the no annual fee card or churn through cards with no annual fee promotions.

  NAB has this good deal right now… https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/288837

  To break even on the $89 fee you would need to earn an extra 17,800 points more than you would have got with the no fee card. If my maths is right that means you need to spend about $12,000 to recoup your $89.

  So the NAB deal looks infinitely better I think.

• 

  Mad Max on 02/03/2017 - 22:24

  +1

  Coles Rewards Mastercard $40k/year spend = 80000fb points = $400 minus $89 fee = $311 gain
  Just checked the NAB one. 1 point for every $ spent. 2000 points = $10
  Annual fee after the first yer $195.
  Good for the 80000 bonus points though. But you have to cancel after 1 year and the points return is only 0.5%

  • 

    inherentchoice on 02/03/2017 - 22:41

    +1

    Ah my bad didn't notice you mentioned your annual spend.

    So in that case with the NAB card you can have 120,000 rewards points which is over $600 in gift cards with no fee. That's a return over 1.5%. It's only for one year but that's why I am saying you can churn through different cards to receive their bonuses.

    And even if churning/cancelling is a hassle, presumably NAB might be more conducive to waiving the fee for your second year and subsequent years given your 40k spending?

    Amex does have the platinum edge which returns about 1% (or 3% for groceries) and the $195 annual fee is kind of negated as you get a $200 travel credit. Have a look here for more details: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/290116

• 

  hashtagbargain on 02/03/2017 - 22:33

  Ok think of it this way - the card is free for you, but you do not earn the first 8900 points. If you are certain you'll do 40k on this card that still gets you ahead by 400-89= $311 dollar value.

  You said you have seen lacklustre service from them, I'd be moving on to better alternatives TBH. But if you like where you are, then the $89 is the entry price to this ride.

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  Mad Max on 02/03/2017 - 22:36

  Thanks hashtagbargain.
  Happy to change for better value but not keep churning all the time.
  Been there done that…too much trouble and ringing around.

• 

  psyren89 on 03/03/2017 - 00:05

  +1

  I've found the best use for the Coles MC is the price protection.

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  bluesky on 03/03/2017 - 02:28

  +3

  When ING 2% cashback was about to be discontinued back in Sep 2016, I was contemplating what best card to use going forward. This Coles Reward card sounded like a possible option (with 1% return) but so did the free Amex Essential, which returns 0.741% cashback generally. Here is my comment comparing the two, to see at what point one is better than the other.

  Turns out the break-even point is $34,363 per annum. For a spend of less than this, Essential card works out better, and for a spend beyond this, the Coles card is better. Clearly, there are other feature differences too, and different people may have different preferences for them. In case the Essential card may be suitable for you, my detailed post on the card is here. Other free Amex cards worth looking at are Qantas Discovery or Velocity Escape. I am also not that keen on card churn, so being fee-free is definitely an advantage.

• 

  Riczter on 03/03/2017 - 02:32

  +1

  I've got the coles MC, pretty happy with it, what with the points per dollar earning on everyday spending combined with the bonus flybuys points offers I seem to have $10 off every 2nd or third shop. If you can take advantage of some of the flybuys bonus points offers then you should be able to make the cashback above 1%, though recently the flybuys offers have been pretty poor…
  The annual fee cuts into it a little but as long as your yearly spend is reasonably high you definitely come out on top.

• 

  pantsparty on 03/03/2017 - 09:13

  +1

  If you are after the best cash return, I would apply for the ANZ Frequent Flyer black card. The current deal is 75,000 bonus Qantas points and no annual fee for the first year. On the Qantas online store as an example, you need 93,050 points for a $500 Woolworths gift card. 75k points is worth about $400 in gift cards. Add in the points you will earn on your $40k annual spend and you should net about 100k points (depends on how much you spend on the Visa card vs the Amex card they give you).

  I know your not interested in continuous card churning but you only need to make a quick phone call once a year to maximize the value you are getting back from your cards, it is not much work. Customer loyalty means nothing these days so it is in your best interest to make this single phone call per year to avoid paying the annual fee after 12 months.

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  Jaxx on 06/03/2017 - 11:41

  Annual fee on the Coles Rewards Mastercard was $49 when I signed up in 2014, it's now $89. When did it go up, I don't remember getting a notification about it.