What Credit Cards Do You Use Year Round?

First post here - long time lurker first time poster. Please be nice!

So I've seen a lot of people post credit card bonus points deals on OzBargain and it got me thinking about what cards people use year round.

Obviously there are credit cards like ANZ Black that have 75K+ bonus points with no annual fee that everyone takes advantage every 12 months. Meaning they cannot use that card for the remainder of the year as they need to cancel. I am wondering if people have a staple Mastercard/Visa and an AMEX credit card that they use year round and then apply for additional credit cards when deals arise OR are you churning through credit cards every 3 months, taking on a new deal as they come along.

Therefore, my way of thinking is that you should use a low initial offer credit card that has a good reward point ratio per $1 that you use year round and then apply for the high-value deals as they come. Is this how other people do it? I currently have a Qantas Ultimate AMEX but am wondering which cards to get to use year round as I would like to cancel this card once I get the 100K points.

Would love to get everyone's feedback/opinion and if anyone wants to share how they structure their credit card usage that would be appreciated!

Cheers

Poll Options

  • 34
    I use 1 VISA/Mastercard and an AMEX year round
  • 5
    I apply and cancel cards every 3 months year round

Comments

  • cba platinum awards is my card when im not collecting points

    • Why CBA Platinum? Do you have a card you use continually that gets you Qantas/Velocity points year round outside of credit card deals?

  • 28degrees.

  • -2

    People who ticked apply and cancel every 3 months, how affected is your credit points?

  • ANZ Travel Adventure for foreign currencies + earns points + travel insurance
    St George Amplitude for Visa transactions (highest earning right now, cancel after 12 months)
    Westpac Amex (highest earning Amex, cancel after 12 months)
    Amex Platinum Edge for supermarkets (will probably cancel later and sit the Amex 18-month waiting period for signup points)

    • I recently had Westpac Amex too - has that not been cancelled for you? Or are you referring to the Amex issued Westpac altitude card they upgraded it with?

      Your current set up is interesting. I'll look into the St George amplitude.

      • new Amex issued Westpac card.. free annual fee offer plus bonus signup points.

        St George card, 90,000 bonus QF points and recently a half price annual fee offer (which I just missed out on)

    • Does the Westpac Amex affect your 18 month wait on the normal Amex??

    • What’s the earn rate on the St george Visa and Westpac Amex? Their earn rates don’t appear to be very high?

  • What I currently use;

    Latitude Infinity Rewards - 1 point per dollar, uncapped. 2000 points = $20 reward (gift card)
    These guys took over the previous Myer Visa I used for years. As i don't want to be limited to only Myer gift cards, this was a better choice.

    American Express Platinum Edge - signed up for the bonus deals, but cancelled recently as i'm cutting down on cards overall and the sign up bonuses offer much more than spend. I have to say their 'offers' are quite good and i'd consider getting another Amex in the future, I'm researching right now but i think if i can get a bank-issued Amex, it won't affect a sign up bonus offered through Amex directly.

    ANZ Travel rewards i intend on applying for at some stage, to replace my 28 degrees card which i currently use when traveling overseas.

  • Merged from What Credit Cards do you use and why?

    Going to be changing from my NAB Qantas signature visa as the annual fee is too expensive at $395 and I’m looking at the various options out there. Just wondering what cards everyone uses and there reasons why such as points earning, Insurance’s etc? I’m waiting for an AMEX Explorer 100k sign up offer, hoping there will be one by the end of the year. Also tempted by a the 28 degrees credit card now that the price protection is going to be extended to a year from October. Do many of you use this feature? Or is there better options out there for Visa/MC?

    • +1

      28 for online international.
      Shitybank day to day and booking flights for travel insurance
      ING debit/credit for savings earning interest buying 5 x $1 shoe laces from ebay each month and pulling cash out overseas

      • Lol, I call it Shittybank too

      • Or do a split card payment at a self checkout to get your $1 transactions…

    • -4

      None, ING debit card. Too many traps with CC IMO

      • Traps are people too.

      • You must be credit carding wrong

      • Only if used in the wrong way. Like cars.

    • Use ANZ frequent flyer as i have home loan with ANZ and offset account waives the annual fee, on top, i get 0.75 points per dollar spent.

      Its great.

    • BankWest Platinum. Have had it for 15 years.

      • Zero annual fee
      • Zero international transaction fee

      I don't care about the other stuff like free complimentary travel insurance etc.
      I use it to buy stuff from overseas and to pay for things online from the US and UK.

      • what do you get?

        • No other special perks like rewards points etc.

          The only three notable customer value propositions are Zero annual fee, Zero international transaction fee and free complimentary international travel insurance.

    • My post above in this thread is still current, however I've cancelled my Amex to wait for a bonus sign up offer.

      Latitude Infinity Visa for everyday spend - 1 point per dollar, uncapped earnings, once you have 2,000 points you can redeem a $20 gift card with various retailers.
      I find this redemption rate much better than most other cards, plus I'm not huge on frequent flyer rewards so don't look at those credit cards. The annual fee is $69 for new customers.
      Card info - https://www.latitudefinancial.com.au/credit-cards/latitude-i…
      Rewards info - https://www.infinityrewards.com.au/PostLogin.a2

      Coles No Annual Fee Mastercard - I only keep this for the 2 year price protection (2 year period no longer available to new sign ups - the protection period is now less than 2 years if you join). Earn rate isn't great, 1 point per $2, so this usually sits around until I need to purchase electrical items or if I remember, for clothing (have claimed price protection on a jacket and received $30 back)

      28 Degrees for international use - debating whether or not to cancel this in favour of ANZ travel rewards, as you don't earn points with 28 degrees. Worth mentioning they were a tremendous help with suspicious transactions whilst I was overseas - I got all my money back, can't fault them. Haven't used the price protection on it though.

      I have a Bankwest Qantas transaction account, as they offer 5 points per transaction. I use it for any purchase under $5. Note this is a debit card, not credit.
      There is a choice of 2 cards, the Platinum card comes with some additional features..the only pitfall is depositing $4k each month into the account if you choose the platinum card, to avoid account fee.
      Extra features on Platinum card;
      - Three months insurance for loss, theft or damage on certain purchases
      - Up to twelve months extended warranty insurance on certain purchases made in Australia
      More info via https://www.bankwest.com.au/content/dam/bankwest/documents/l…

      • I've been reading through the price protection info, the 28 degrees card covers a price drop at ANY Australian retailer. Maybe I'll keep the card after all…

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