If you only had ONE Credit Card, What would it be?

[get me outta here]

I would not only have one card. I would have 2 as a base.
If cost is the issue, there are quite a few freebies that do not have forex fees and may even have a few points per spend.

 

[exceladdict]

The Bankwest range of cards with no Forex fees have been mentioned a few times. If you collect Qf, you may find the points income from your regular spend offsets the annual fee, especially if you got it back when it was lower. The two recent points nerfs have impacted this though

 

[Captain Halliday]

The Bankwest range of cards with no Forex fees have been mentioned a few times. If you collect Qf, you may find the points income from your regular spend offsets the annual fee, especially if you got it back when it was lower. The two recent points nerfs have impacted this though

The recent cut to its insurance coverage doesn’t help either.

 

[Bell21]

If I had to choose one, it's going to be the AMEX Plat card --- if I had to choose for everyone (since not everyone gets enough benefits from the AMEX Plat card), it's hard to go past the Coles reward mastercard, or one of the other forex free cards. There's been some plugs for best QF card - it's hard to go past the Dragon for VA/KF if the AMEX Plat isn't beneficial for personal circumstances.

 

[cove]

I would go via pointhacks and get the non Qantas St George Amplify card to get 200,000 Amplify points over 2 years.

 

[fwmonger]

Not sure if that advice is directed at me (I'm assuming it is given you've replied to my comment). That advice might apply to some circumstances. In mine I'm better off keeping the card, earning the points etc and getting retention points. My situation is much more complex than just this one card. So your advice would have me worse off.

How much retention bonus do you get usually? Just trying to figure out if i'll be better off keeping this card too.

 

[cqtiger]

+ Domestic rental car excess insurance for $5k, makes it my keeper.

so do you not bother getting rental car insurance and rely on the card? and have you ever made a claim

 

[Happy Dude]

so do you not bother getting rental car insurance and rely on the card? and have you ever made a claim

I'm in the process of making a claim now but not on the ANZ card. It was a work thing but it gave me cause to investigate coverage for personal use. With the ANZ card there would be no need to pay to reduce the rental car excess. None of the Amex cards or other vehicle insurance I hold would have any coverage.

 

[Daver6]

How much retention bonus do you get usually? Just trying to figure out if i'll be better off keeping this card too.

It has varied over the years. From as little as 5k to as much as 50k.

 

[samh004]

Hypothetical

Hypothetically, an AMEX card that comes with a second card that is accepted in more places, such as a Visa/MC combo. However, living in the real world I am happy with the AMEX Platinum and tend to avoid places that don't accept AMEX.

 

[QF_Flyer]

so do you not bother getting rental car insurance and rely on the card? and have you ever made a claim

I do, but with Amex Plat (ICC) - don't even have to pay with the card to be covered (before anyone says it, I know that's not the case with most Amex, even Plat, but it definitely is the case here, and with the UK card (ICC is issued by Amex UK, which explains that)); I have claimed, and it couldn't have been easier, huge thumbs up. However, I never use this card for anything (insurances and hotel statuses only).

So in response to OP's original question, having thought long and hard, would probably be Bankwest QF World Mastercard. No forex fees and, if I had to pick one FF prog, it'd be QF balancing ease of earn/redemption and Oneworld access. I agree with whoever wrote earlier about their painful additional cardholder process, however.

In reality it's not so simple, as I have to hold an ANZ card (Breakfree mortgage). I have recently swapped RTA for FF Black (they let you keep both in the year you swap the Breakfree fee-waiver over, it seems) which would be my goto domestically, but I wouldn't use overseas due to the forex fees. Let's not get started on Amex either...this is actually a pretty hard question (for me at least, as with only one card I'd have to sacrifice multiple points programmes), but has made me realise I hold far too many credit cards.

 

[TAK]

it totally depends on your spend, once Amex plat, hands down (points, perks, savings) but not any more. The fact that amex is not accepted universally leaves visa or mastercad. For the flyer, probably ANZ traveller or if you a Virgin everything (phone, insurance, Velocity ) Virgin Visa IMHO

 

[Bell21]

it totally depends on your spend, once Amex plat, hands down (points, perks, savings) but not any more. The fact that amex is not accepted universally leaves visa or mastercad. For the flyer, probably ANZ traveller or if you a Virgin everything (phone, insurance, Velocity ) Virgin Visa IMHO

I still think it's AMEX Plat hands-down, but it's very much YMMV in that regard - still one of the best points earner in the market and the perks / savings are good (for some of us)

 

[TAK]

I was about to bang on about not everywhere taking Amex, but I re read the OP, so it Amex Centurion; personal concierge, top status in nearly everything , hotels, rental cars, some airlines, upgrades everywhere, etc, etc and once your invited to have one it’s only a $7500 fee
Oh and the card is titanium so it sits well in the wallet and everybody says that’s a different card, I’ve never seen one of those before

 

[TAK]

So that ticks all the boxes, style, prestige, convenience, privilege, benefits, demonstrates you’re a massive knob and irrespective of all of that, some places still only take Vsa or MasterCard

 

[Tommo_Aus]

it's hard to go past the Dragon for VA/KF

This may be a stupid question but I've seen dragon mentioned several times before and haven't managed to find any info, what is it?

 

[QF_Flyer]

This may be a stupid question but I've seen dragon mentioned several times before and haven't managed to find any info, what is it?

Big 4 subsidiary/patron saint of England combo.

 

[theblank]

Hypothetical: Taking everything you know about credit cards, if you only had one, (which would make all our lives better) what would it be and why?

The one that you can get for free but pays out points at the normal rate.

I have 3, Citibank Signature (free for life) NAB Velocity (free for shareholder), Suncorp Platinum (free for life home loan package)
Of course there are other cards with higher points earn but with their annual fee I would probably have to be spending around 100k pa to break even

 

[Andz]

no retail card surcharge
100k sign on bonus 100k per year for loyalty
1 point for $1 spend per month unlimited
interest rate reduction per year to a reasonable rate
unlimited insurance (domestic and international with car hire excess)
unlimited lounge access world wide
discounted hotel rates
discounted car hire rates
loyalty discounts on shows, events and movies

 

[Brissy1]

so do you not bother getting rental car insurance and rely on the card? and have you ever made a claim

I presume your question relates to DOMESTIC car rental ins, but be aware that although this card, and many others, appear to cover international car rental ins, it is limited with this card (and Citi) to only when
"Cover is only provided under this section if your rental
vehicle agreement specifies an amount that is payable in the
event the rental vehicle is damaged or stolen while in your
custody" Section 5.1
In USA the basic rental agreements provide NO insurance, any ins is extra, so doesn't "specify an amount". Also, the "Liability Ins" is extra in the US ($US14/day with avis last week in LA) and this card's Personal Liability ins (Section 6.1) excludes cars.
I'm not a lawyer and would be happy to be corrected, but I do always read the policies