CC Rewards Advice

[cornflakes]

Hello,
First of all, great community you have here. Well done!
I am looking for alternatives to my current NAB Gold Qantas CC as the rewards program is lethargic (at best).
I am not overly concerned about interest rates (paid off monthly) etc. just about optimising the rewards : fees ratio.
My current strategy is to find a card that can pay bills, (non-surcharged) direct debits and everyday family expenses.
Any help is greatly appreciated

 

[markis10]

Your best card will depend on what sort of rewards you value in terms of your lifestyle, some cards now offer sign up status credit bonuses that help achieve a higher airline status, which may be of no use to an infrequent flyer versus a card that does not cap points earn!

 

[cornflakes]

I am more interested in FF miles and everyday rewards (gift vouchers) than status upgrades etc. The wife and i fly domestically a few times a year which would be the most obvious use of rewards

 

[Moopere]

Welcome to AFF Cornflakes.

Points reaping season is pretty much over for the year now, though it was all bit dismal this year in my opinion. Nevertheless, have a peek here: Current Credit Card Promotions to see if any of the currently running deals would be of interest.

Very few, maybe none, of the big four banks in Australia are running decent FF programs in my opinion. After soaking up some knowledge here one of the first things I did was to dump under performing bank issued cards.

A lot depends on your needs and your anticipated travel as Markis10 says above. For example:

If you generally fly on Qantas then you're probably going to be interested in Qantas Frequent Flyer points. Probably the easiest way to get into the goods there would be a Woolies EDR card in conjunction with a Woolies EDR Credit Card (HSBC backed). Its a no frills card to be sure, but earns QFF points at $1:1 and the additional Woolies EDR card will add a point a dollar (only over 30$ spent) if you shop at woolies... so, a big shop will earn you nearly 2 QFF points per dollar you spend

If you prefer to fly Virgin there is the Virgin Flyer Card (and High Flyer) with reasonably VFF points earn and a couple of other Virgin related perks, well worth a look.

My own preference is to look to Amex for primary points earn. There are relatively cheap and reasonably low entry condition cards available that will earn 1.5:1$ and will then allow you to transfer to Virgin or other (international) airlines. No QFF in general unless you get a fairly high end Amex card.

I like to carry 2 Amex cards and two VISA or Mastercards with me. I'll buy into, and then flip these cards as different deals pop up and as other cards benefits start to decline. Having 4 means I'm never inconvenienced as I "play the game"


Best of luck