Frequent Long Intl Flyer - Best Credit Card (Points+Insurance)?

Mulumulu on 29/04/2023 - 21:20

Hi Everyone,

Long story short, I will be flying from Sydney to South America for personal reasons at least twice a year.

The most convenient flight (cost v flight time) is one operated by Latam/Qantas, Qantas flies from Sydney to Auckland, and Latam takes charge after that.
Interestingly enough, you can book the same flight at substantial price difference depending on whether you do it on Latam or Qantas' website.

The question is:
-What credit card which includes travel insurance and has low/no fees (I solely use debit cards) would you recommend?

My initial thought was that I would be buying the tickets using this card on Latam's website, and whenever possible using my Qantas points to book a flight in Qantas'. Just thought I would double-check my reasoning before doing it.

Thanks everyone.

PS. Not keen on a CBA credit card, since I after applying for it late last year chasing the juicy cashback (https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/737001), my card was lost / delivered to an incorrect address, and a scammer managed to gain access to my account with very, very basic details. Currently operate with ING and feel much more confident, but I am happy exploring other banks as well.

Financial

Comments

  • Stewardo on 30/04/2023 - 01:17

    You will find plenty of resources for this online.

    https://www.pointhacks.com.au/credit-cards/qantas-frequent-f…

    https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/credit-cards/

    Bit hard for strangers to advise the best credit card for your needs.
    Isn’t Syd Santiago double the price of SYD LAX?
    Where are you flying to? Might better on two tickets. $1200+$600+

  • Mulumulu on 30/04/2023 - 02:35

    Hey there, thanks for the info.
    I understand it can be hard for stranger to give advice, I but I just wanted to get a couple of pointers, since only Qantas latam (sky team) miles would be useful.

    Flying to south America, Sydney lax is cheaper - wouldn't say half price, but cheaper nonetheless - the issue is that it turns a 28h flight into a 36h flight, and although i still travel on econony, consider prudent to spend a couple of extra bucks and lowering the travel time by 10h

  • MrHyde on 30/04/2023 - 09:22

    Since Qantas and LATAM are both on differing alliances. Qantas is OneWorld and LATAM is not sure what since leaving OneWorld; maybe a card that collects points in the card and can be transferred to any alliance would be better.

    I don't know if there is a SkyTeam earning card available here; but lots of Qantas earning ones.

  • TheMindsetTraveller on 30/04/2023 - 09:36

    1. Purchase a multi-trip annual travel insurance policy rather than rely on credit card insurance.

    2. Not sure if this is better value as idk / have not looked into south American tickets, but purchase a one-way ticket to South America, then purchase return flights from South America to Australia and repeat. There was a time I purchased several Singapore to Australia returns (which was like less than $700 vs $900 if I had bought Australia-Singapore returns)

  • Tech5 on 30/04/2023 - 11:44

    Amex platinum has one of the best travel insurances out there -better than many actual travel insurance companies. However, using it overseas is very costly due to the 3% surcharge.

    The westpac platinum is not so bad either. Just not as generous on how much they will give you vs. excess required

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