Advice for Credit Card - Velocity Gold Flyer

[Tim Nitschke]

Hey guys...

Hoping someone can offer me advice on the best kind of credit card to get - currently velocity gold member.

Info / Requirements
- Pre-Tax salary of over $120k
- No current credit card
- Will be used for paying usual household bills such as utilities and groceries, about $1.5k a month.
- Travel insurance?
- Card to maximise Velocity points / benefits
- Bonus Status Credits and/or points on sign up
- Free flights or upgrades per year.
- Low as possible annual fee

Im not too concerned about a credit limit - i don't have a credit card now so not fusses, just want to maximise my benefits and maybe get some free flights every now and then..

cheers

 

[sjtaylor]

I'm a fan of the Amex Velocity Escape card; You won't get free flights, but 7500 points at sign-on, 2 points per $ on Virgin Australia spend (including in the air), otherwise 1:1, and no annual fee.

 

[notzac]

The AmEx Velocity Platinum card should meet your needs nicely - I think there's a fairly decent sign-on bonus going at the moment, and I see the annual fee as basically pre-payment of the "complimentary" return flight you get. Utilities earn a fairly ungenerous 0.5:1, but everything else should be 1:1 or better.

The Virgin Money Flyer / High Flyer cards are best avoided IMHO.

 

[DeKa]

I think it would be hard to pass up the Citibank Signature Fee Free For Life offer .. this produces 1 Velocity point per dollar spent.
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....-promotions/0-annual-fee-life-citi-55605.html
The offer has been extended until the end of January 2014...

Info / Requirements
- Pre-Tax salary of over $120k (covered)
- No current credit card
- Will be used for paying usual household bills such as utilities and groceries, about $1.5k a month.
- Travel insurance? (Citi provides this)
- Card to maximise Velocity points / benefits (earns 1.5 Citi points, which confer to 1 Velocity point per dollar)
- Bonus Status Credits and/or points on sign up (None)
- Free flights or upgrades per year. (If you're earning lots of points, who cares - just use points for upgrades .. Velocity points upgrades are cheap points wise)
- Low as possible annual fee (Can't beat free)

 

[Tim Nitschke]

Thanks all for your suggestions.. I got the email offer for a Velocity Gold Amex
15,000 points and 100 SCs

How does this stack up?

 

[sjtaylor]

A no-brainer I should think...$99 for 100 SCs!

 

[Tim Nitschke]

Does anyone think there is any harm in applying for both the Gold Amex offer plus also the citibank offer??

I like the Gold Amex for obvious reasons but i like the citibank offer listed above for the simple reason that a restaurant at the end of our street that we go to every week or two for dinner is listed in the free bottle of wine restaurants for that card! plus also lifetime free annual fee, you never know when it will come in handy.

i just dont want to apply for two at the same time if it will make each application frowned upon or do damage to my credit file.

 

[Demonoid]

Hey guys...

Hoping someone can offer me advice on the best kind of credit card to get - currently velocity gold member.

Info / Requirements
- Pre-Tax salary of over $120k
- No current credit card
- Will be used for paying usual household bills such as utilities and groceries, about $1.5k a month.
- Travel insurance?
- Card to maximise Velocity points / benefits
- Bonus Status Credits and/or points on sign up
- Free flights or upgrades per year.
- Low as possible annual fee

Im not too concerned about a credit limit - i don't have a credit card now so not fusses, just want to maximise my benefits and maybe get some free flights every now and then..

cheers

I know others don't like it since the last changes were made, but i still like (and have) a Virgin Money Flyer Credit Card, PROVIDED you travel with a partner. If you travel solo, then ignore the below.

- Pre-Tax salary of over $120k (no problem)
- No current credit card (no problem)
- Will be used for paying usual household bills such as utilities and groceries, about $1.5k a month.($1 to 1 point up to $1500 a month so no problems there)
- Travel insurance? (Not unless you shell out for the high flyer card - but I never bother with Travel insurance for Domestic flights)
- Card to maximise Velocity points / benefits (1 to 1 on a Visa is pretty good going)
- Bonus Status Credits and/or points on sign up (about 20,000 sign on bonus)
- Free flights or upgrades per year. (cheap flights when you fly with a partner - I will admit the major benefit of this card is when you are travelling with someone - not solo. You get 4 of these cheap flights a year.)
- Low as possible annual fee ($129 is pretty good when you factor in the savings above)

Personally, I team this Visa Card up with a NAB Velocity Platinum AMEX - it gives you a generous 1.5 points to dollar across just about everything, plus there is a 20,000 bonus points offer on now. As a NAB Choice customer, this card is free for me, but otherwise its still a reasonable $150 annual fee. I use this for overseas travel thereby getting the free travel insurance the Virgin Money Flyer visa cars I described above does not offer.

 

[LonePine]

I'm with demonoid on the virgin money card. It has worked well for our family, despite the changes

 

[mark4217]

There are 3 cards I use for VFF points.
1st - AMEX Platinum Edge card. $195.00 annual fee but you get 3 points per $1 spend at supermarkets and 2 points for petrol. Then you transfer to VFF from Amex when Virgin offer 15% bonus for points transfers, so effectively you are getting up to 3.3 points per $1 spend.
2nd - Virgin Money premium (now Signature) VISA . $395.00 annual fee (bit expensive) but you get 1.25 points per $1 spend. Best Visa rate on the market.
Lastly
NAB Premium Velocity. $150.00 annual fee but you get 1.5 points per $1 spend on the AMEX card. I put the Visa half of the package in the drawer as it only offers .5 points per $1 spend. That's where the Virgin card fits in... as not all places cater for Amex.
This is the best scenario if you are a big spender...

 

[mark4217]

Sorry, the Platinum Edge offers 1 free flight per year, full travel insurance. Supermarkets and petrol are a big expense so 3 points ads up quick. If you wait for virgin offer 15% bonus it's even better. Prob my best pick based on your needs.

 

[Demonoid]

There are 3 cards I use for VFF points.
1st - AMEX Platinum Edge card. $195.00 annual fee but you get 3 points per $1 spend at supermarkets and 2 points for petrol. Then you transfer to VFF from Amex when Virgin offer 15% bonus for points transfers, so effectively you are getting up to 3.3 points per $1 spend.
2nd - Virgin Money premium (now Signature) VISA . $395.00 annual fee (bit expensive) but you get 1.25 points per $1 spend. Best Visa rate on the market.
Lastly
NAB Premium Velocity. $150.00 annual fee but you get 1.5 points per $1 spend on the AMEX card. I put the Visa half of the package in the drawer as it only offers .5 points per $1 spend. That's where the Virgin card fits in... as not all places cater for Amex.
This is the best scenario if you are a big spender...

Not quite the best VISA rate on the market. Best Visa rate is the Citibank Select Card. Equivalent to 1.33 points per dollar (and 3.33 overseas). At a hefty $700 annual fee, I signed up for the bonus points and am planning on canning it on renewal, unless they discount the annual fee.
The other card for the big spenders (as mentioned above) is the Amex Velocity Platinum = 3 points for restaurants and Virgin spend. Still a good signup bonus at the moment.