Best pre-retirement cards

[Skyhawk]

An acquaintance will be retiring soon. Based on her expected drop in income, she may not be able to apply for future cards once she is actually retired. She would thus like to set herself up now with card/s that will allow her to accrue points, and flights, during retirement. She doesn't have a preference for any particular airline program.
She would like a card that accrues points, but without an annual fee. Preferably a card where the points don't expire, as her spending ability will be reduced and it could take some time to accumulate points.
Any suggestions for cards in retirement would be appreciated.

 

[Colin 2905]

Whilst there are Amex cards with no annual fee, I would suggest an Amex Platinum Edge and/or Amex Explorer card. They have annual fees, but you get them back in the form of a travel credit, and the points earns are higher.

A Visa or MasterMard for non-Amex spend is a little tougher. As we all know, the day to day point earns aren't as good as they used to be, and you need to spend a fair bit on most of them just to break even on the annual fee. Coles has a "No Annual Fee" MasterCard. The returns aren't great, but hey, what does she want for nothing?

I'd also suggest a BankWest Zero Platinum MasterCard. Sure, it doesn't earn any points, but assuming that she has overseas travel and/or purchases in mind, it'll save her the 3% or so that most cards charge.

 

[Skyhawk]

The Edge might work. I found with the Explorer that what was available with the travel credit often wasn't such good value. i.e. I could purchase the accommodation and flights elsewhere for a better price. I contacted Amex but they weren't interested. The Edge would have the same issue but not to the same degree.

 

[cove]

Most of our retired friends now use Citibank debit and some buy Avianca Life Miles or Alaskan when there is a promotion.

 

[Skyhawk]

Thanks, Cove. Shall have a look at them.

 

[Renato1]

To my mind, the Amex Platinum Edge is the best card - if she knows she can make use of the $200 Travel Credit every year (providing she joins the Ascent scheme that is, which means Velocity points for local travel) - and she will get 3 points a dollar at many Supermarkets, and their associated liquor shops (excluding Coles Liquorland), and 2 points a dollar for petrol. And, if she doesn't have too many serious pre-existing conditions, she can use this card to get complimentary worldwide travel insurance (but if she has too many pre-existing conditions, she won't be covered by this card).

If going the Velocity point route, the Velocity membership debit Mastercard costs nothing, but will then earn lots of half points a dollar - providing one remembers to keep topping it up. Same story for Qantas cash.

Otherwise, if she wants a credit card that earns points - knowing that bills will be paid for phone, water health insurance etc, and not having to worry about debit cards being topped up - then the Jetstar card is one of the cheapest at $69 a year, and earns half a point a dollar. Only problem is that it earns Qantas points, and the Amex Edge card earns Velocity points (if one wants the Travel Credit).

Of course, if she wants to travel, she has to now get the free 28 degree Mastercard for using credit when overseas, and the free Citibank Plus account with Debit card for getting money out of ATMs overseas, as both cards don't have foreign exchange fees.
Regards,
Renato

P.S. However, if she still has some time before retiring, she should be going for one of the two Amex cards with the 100,000 Qantas points on offer (one costs $395 with $400 travel credit, the other $450 with $450 Travel credit) and cancelling it before retiring and then switching to the Platinum Edge card. It's a shame those more expensive cards aren't as good point earners at supermarkets, as the Edge card.

 

[Skyhawk]

Thanks Renato. That's helpful. One last question: Which Amex card costs $450 with $450 Travel credit?

 

[Renato1]

Thanks Renato. That's helpful. One last question: Which Amex card costs $450 with $450 Travel credit?

The Qantas American Express Ultimate Card
The Qantas American Express Ultimate Card | Amex AU
Regards,
Renato