Which credit cards to go for?

giovannip on 23/07/2019 - 22:47
Last edited 24/07/2019 - 00:18

Hi everyone,

so I have just started my first corporate job and I have decided to start looking at CCs. I would love for some of you experts to chime in on this.

My situation:

I will be earning north of 100K

From what I have been told, I will be averaging about 3K a month on work expenses so I want to take advantage of that to accumulate points. I may be able to get another 1k a month of personal expenses on there, so that will be about 4k a month to spend.

I will do some occasional flying through work for which I will received QFF points, however they will be nowhere near the amount I will accumulate with card spends.

I am going to get married in November 2020 and looking to go on my honeymoon sometime in 2021. Hence my interest in points.

I was looking to get both amex and a mastercard/visa and I am happy to pay higher annual fees if they are offset by the amount of points I am able to accumulate with my monthly spend.

Might be interested to do some churning down the track if it does not impact my credit rating, I am looking to buy a property next year.

My rationale:

I just have no idea as to which reward system I should go with, I figured that if I use the Amex rewards I can choose down the track, however I would still have to choose QFF or VFF for the other card (my understanding is that direct earn is better on these cards as bank rewards have been nerfed as of late - please correct me if I am wrong). If I then chose to earn points directly on one of these visa/mastercard, I might as well jump on the corresponding membership for Amex. Am I looking at this the wrong way?

The big question is, what card combo and rewards program is going to get me the best chance at earning a significant amount of points for my honeymoon (have not decided where I am going, either Europe or US). Also is it possible to churn cards if I have to use a card everyday in order to get more sign up bonuses?

Let me know if I have missed anything.

Thanks,

Gio

Financial Credit Card

Comments

  • StonedWizard on 23/07/2019 - 23:15
    +1

    How much do you earn? can't recommend a card without knowing your annual income.

    • giovannip on 23/07/2019 - 23:17

      Thanks, I knew I missed something, about 105K + comms (but I guess those do not count as I have just started) + I have kept my old job on the weekend for now so that another 50K (but this is casual employment)

  • p1 ama on 24/07/2019 - 01:24
    +1

    You've asked a few questions, so I'm going to try to answer them best I can as somewhat of a CC enthusiast.

    I just have no idea as to which reward system I should go with, I figured that if I use the Amex rewards I can choose down the track

    This is a bad idea because AMEX can determine the rate at which your AMEX points are converted to VFF or QFF points. The only real rewards system in Australia is VFF and QFF, all the others usually involve some form of conversion to either of these systems anyway. I would suggest you get a direct earn card. Either the AMEX Velocity Platinum (or whatever it's called) or the AMEX Ultimate Qantas.

    I personally would only look at direct earn cards.

    What card combo and rewards program is going to get me the best chance at earning a significant amount of points for my honeymoon

    Virgin overall is cheaper, but harder to find reward availability and also less options in terms of international travel. If you're saving up for a big trip, the OneWorld Round the World award fare is the best way to go. Basically, you can travel around the world for just 260,000 points in business class (I think that's the number, but I might be off).

    You'll get a 100,000 point bonus with AMEX Ultimate Qantas card. You can easily find another two cards which give you large bonuses (Qantas Premier Platinum card giving 120,000 points bonus).

    If both you and your wife get onto the game, you'll both have 260,000 points by the time of your honeymoon easily, so both of you can go round the world.

    • giovannip on 24/07/2019 - 18:17

      Thanks for your detailed response. From what you are saying, I might just go to direct earn. Still tossing up now between QFF and VFF.

      I should be able to get 260000 points in 2 years no problem,she will be jumping on board eventually but at this stage it will be just me earning the points. This actually bring up another consideration, it's quite possible that I will have more points than her. I know that points can be shared across VFF, but I am not sure about QFF, would it make more sense for me to jump on VFF because of this?

      • p1 ama on 24/07/2019 - 18:32
        +1

        You can transfer points on QFF as well. If you're tossing up between VFF and QFF, my suggestion is to go with VFF if you fly almost exclusively domestic and the only international locations you go to are basically Singapore, Hong Kong and the US. For more flexibility, definitely QFF.

        • giovannip on 24/07/2019 - 21:57

          You have now got me excited at the RTW possibility. So it looks .like VFF does not have an award for RTW but Qanatas does. If I go with VFF then I would have to transfer to Krisflyer first at 1.55 -> 1. Some of the examples I saw on pointhacks needed 375000 points for a RTW.

          Arghhh so much to consider. Maybe VFF would be good to just fly business class return to one location?

          • p1 ama on 24/07/2019 - 23:53
            +1

            @giovannip: No, VFF doesn't have any option for a RTW trip. If you're happy to fly in Premium rather than Business, RTW is only 210,000 points each. That's a viable option too.

            Maybe VFF would be good to just fly business class return to one location?

            Availability with VFF is already poor for long haul international. It's even worse with partners (e.g. Singapore, Etihad…etc.). That's why I was saying that VFF is only really good for domestic flights or if you go to the destinations that Virgin flies to directly, e.g. HK, LA.

            If you're undecisive, I would go with Qantas, I have both Qantas and Virgin points and Qantas is much more flexible. The cheaper redemptions on Virgin are not enough to offset the increased flexibility of Qantas unless you only fly to those destinations.

  • kolorijo on 24/07/2019 - 09:34

    Have a look at cc wiki here https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/credit_card_guide

    • giovannip on 24/07/2019 - 18:18

      Thank you, I somehow missed this initially. It is a great guide, however I have found some of the information to be a little outdated, especially in regards to current offerings.

  • Gelato on 24/07/2019 - 23:03

    so I have just started my first corporate job

    how long has it been? Just to be a bit cautious as new to employment may result in a rejected application
    have heard a couple times from friends and on OzB too

    i've been trying to find out the magic number as to after how many months is safe to apply for credit but no luck yet

    • giovannip on 24/07/2019 - 23:05

      literally just started this week. That being said, I do have some established credit, had a line of credit for many years. I was approved for a novated lease as well just 3 weeks ago.

      • Gelato on 24/07/2019 - 23:28

        then all your existing credits were approved based off your previous pay. my point is that even though your pay is higher now, banks may think your income is unstable given you're new to your role (possibly relates to probation period)

        anyway good luck!

        • giovannip on 24/07/2019 - 23:29

          I hope it all goes well :)

    • giovannip on 27/07/2019 - 00:14
      +1

      So, Amex was approved, still waiting to hear back from Qantas money (citibank)

      • Gelato on 27/07/2019 - 01:06

        woohoo good news. Though does it mean you applied 2 cards this week?

        • giovannip on 27/07/2019 - 01:46

          Yep, was that a no-no?

          • StonedWizard on 28/07/2019 - 10:03

            @giovannip: @giovannip - Did you have to supply pay slips with Amex?

            • giovannip on 28/07/2019 - 20:07

              @StonedWizard: ys, but I ended up providing my PAYG for the past financial year with my old Job

          • Gelato on 28/07/2019 - 14:26

            @giovannip: Well it's not ideal, it suggested that you need additional credits for potential cash flow problem. Lets see, fingers crossed!

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