Best use of ANZ Breakfree package

[rumham]

We recently refinanced over to ANZ to take advantage of a lower rate plus the cash back bonus. We are on the breakfree package and can have the fee waived on several eligible cards. I have confirmed over the phone that we are still eligible for the bonus points even if we have the annual fee waived.

I'm just trying to figure out which card would be the best to take advantage of this? The Rewards Black or the Frequent Flyer Black, we would meet the minimum spend on either quite easily.

I'm also wondering whether i should just churn both each year and take the easy points and then maybe use another as my daily driver

We would travel overseas only once every 3 years or so and holiday once a year inside Australia.

I was thinking that at the very least, keep one card for rewards points would slightly offset the annual fee of the breakfree package.

 

[Mattg]

In general, the bonus points are better with the Frequent Flyer Black card. If you opt for ANZ Rewards points, these can be transferred to Velocity/KrisFlyer but only at a 2:1 rate, which dilutes the value of the points. The bonus Qantas status credits that you currently get with the Frequent Flyer Black card would also be handy.

If you holiday once per year within Australia, also have a look at the ANZ Rewards Travel Adventures card which comes with a free domestic return Virgin Australia flight every year (and 2 lounge passes). You also get no overseas transaction fees with that card, which could be handy for occasional overseas trips.

 

[NoName]

Interesting that they told you that you were still eligible for bonus points even if the annual fee was waived on the Breakfree package. I was told exactly the opposite of this - fee waiver OR bonus points. Can’t have both. You may want to get this in writing prior to applying.

 

[Happy Dude]

Interesting that they told you that you were still eligible for bonus points even if the annual fee was waived on the Breakfree package. I was told exactly the opposite of this - fee waiver OR bonus points. Can’t have both. You may want to get this in writing prior to applying.

I was told this - kinda. I was told that I would be able to get a free credit card with sign up points next year. Free credit card with no sign on this year.

 

[wxxnxs]

You still have to pay $55 rewards fee per card, the homeloan package only waives card annual fee but not rewards fee.

 

[Jack_OC]

Interesting that they told you that you were still eligible for bonus points even if the annual fee was waived on the Breakfree package. I was told exactly the opposite of this - fee waiver OR bonus points. Can’t have both. You may want to get this in writing prior to applying.

I was also told that I would get no bonus points. My situation is identical to the OP's - I recently switched to ANZ and took out the Breakfree package. I was very directly told on the phone that if I use the package to get a fee free card, I will not get bonus points. The person drew my attention to the fact that this is stated in the T&Cs, which I then discovered to be correct.

If I was the OP, I would call again to get this clarified (and please report back!). There will be a cost to take out an ANZ card even if it is fee free - there is the $55 reward fee, plus the fact that you will have to meet the minimum spend (e.g. $3k) on card that might not otherwise be the best one to use, plus the opportunity cost - i.e. for anyone there is going to be a limit to the number of cards you can apply for within a period of time and the number of minimum spend criteria that you can meet.

 

[kamchatsky]

I was also told that I would get no bonus points. My situation is identical to the OP's - I recently switched to ANZ and took out the Breakfree package. I was very directly told on the phone that if I use the package to get a fee free card, I will not get bonus points. The person drew my attention to the fact that this is stated in the T&Cs, which I then discovered to be correct.

If I was the OP, I would call again to get this clarified (and please report back!). There will be a cost to take out an ANZ card even if it is fee free - there is the $55 reward fee, plus the fact that you will have to meet the minimum spend (e.g. $3k) on card that might not otherwise be the best one to use, plus the opportunity cost - i.e. for anyone there is going to be a limit to the number of cards you can apply for within a period of time and the number of minimum spend criteria that you can meet.

In the past when I had ANZ breakfree package, I just sign up ANZ card with the excellent signup offer, get charged the annual fee and get the bonus points. Then I call ANZ to add the card to package and get the annual fee refunded. That worked for me.

 

[rumham]

I confirmed this with ANZ, it is either no fee or points, the person i spoke to the first time around had given me the wrong information.

Now i'm not sure what would be the best way to proceed. I could apply for the platinum card which has 75,000 qantas point and no annual fee through point hacks offer, and then move to the black card on the breakfree package for regular points earning afterwards perhaps

 

[Jack_OC]

I confirmed this with ANZ, it is either no fee or points, the person i spoke to the first time around had given me the wrong information.

Now i'm not sure what would be the best way to proceed. I could apply for the platinum card which has 75,000 qantas point and no annual fee through point hacks offer, and then move to the black card on the breakfree package for regular points earning afterwards perhaps

Thanks for clarifying. I wonder if the approach used by Kamchatsky above still works?

The current Points Hacks ANZ Platinum offer is good. However, worth bearing in mind that ANZ are sneaky and charge a separate $55 annual rewards fee, which I believe always applies, even if there is no annual fee. So if you go ahead and take out both of these cards as you suggest, it will cost you $110. That's not bad for 75,000 bonus points, and the ongoing earn rate with ANZ Black is good, but it drops to 0.5 pts/$ once you spend >$7,500 in a statement period.

As a point of comparison, the Qantas Premier Platinum Mastercard has a first year fee of $199, with 80k bonus points and 75 status credits, plus potentially a better earn rate than ANZ Black (e.g. 1.5 pts/$ overseas, 1 pt/$ up to $10k spend per month). If you're not interested in SCs, the 2 ANZ cards is probably a better plan, unless you envisage a high level of spend.

 

[NoName]

Interesting that they told you that you were still eligible for bonus points even if the annual fee was waived on the Breakfree package. I was told exactly the opposite of this - fee waiver OR bonus points. Can’t have both. You may want to get this in writing prior to applying.

Had forgotten about this thread or would have posted this a while ago.

MrsNoName took out the ANZ QF Black card maybe 9 months ago. Got the sign up bonus and paid the annual fee. I had been meaning to get her to call to have it added to our Breakfree package and get the fee refunded but for whatever reason never got around to it. Anyway, about 3 months ago we received a letter in the mail advising that their systems had detected (for want of a better word) that we had been charged annual fees for CCs we have held while holding the package. Not only did they refund the fee for MrsNoName’s Black card but also the black card and travel rewards card I had held over the previous year. Cash straight into our offset account.

So a tick to ANZ for this one.

 

[Quattro]

Had forgotten about this thread or would have posted this a while ago.

MrsNoName took out the ANZ QF Black card maybe 9 months ago. Got the sign up bonus and paid the annual fee. I had been meaning to get her to call to have it added to our Breakfree package and get the fee refunded but for whatever reason never got around to it. Anyway, about 3 months ago we received a letter in the mail advising that their systems had detected (for want of a better word) that we had been charged annual fees for CCs we have held while holding the package. Not only did they refund the fee for MrsNoName’s Black card but also the black card and travel rewards card I had held over the previous year. Cash straight into our offset account.

So a tick to ANZ for this one.

Nice!

Similar experience. I rang up to add the card to our break free package and thought best to ask "do I still get the bonus points". It was a simple no... followed by a "wait until they post" and call back to have it added to have the AF refunded.

Did so, without incident.

 

[Catweazle]

As a QFF, the Frequent Flyer card is better value.

That said, the Rewards Black card was useful when it came with 180,000 complimentary points on sign up. But I find it takes forever to build one's rewards balance again. QFF points are better value for me.

 

[ksthommo]

ANZ is ceasing Breakfree Package in September 2022

The ANZ Breakfree Package will be discontinued on or about 10 September 2022

From this date, your home loan(s) and accounts linked to your ANZ Breakfree Package will no longer be eligible for linkage to the ANZ Breakfree Package. Your home loans will move to a simple fee structure where you’ll only pay for the features you choose to use.

What happens to your linked credit card?

If you have a credit card linked to your ANZ Breakfree Package, you currently receive a waiver for the annual credit card account fee and any additional card holder fee on this card. Once the package is discontinued, these waivers will cease to apply. However, as a valued customer, we will waive your credit card annual account fee and any additional cardholder fees in respect of the credit card that is linked to your ANZ Breakfree Package if it falls due in the 12 month period following 10 September 2022. We’ll be in touch closer to the time to advise you of your annual credit card fee and any additional card holder fee (if applicable). If you would like to see our current annual credit

 

[daft009]

Yes $10/month now and no free credit card