Overseas strategy

[settlement]

Hi,

Going overseas for possibly up to a year soon. I need a strategy to either earn qantas/velocity points with my expenditure abroad or else minimise transaction fees, or ideally both. I already have a citibank debit card but want a credit card.

What are your recommendation for a card? Has anyone done similar?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Hi,

Going overseas for possibly up to a year soon.


What are your recommendation for a card? Has anyone done similar?

Before anyone can answer your questions, or supply advice, you really need to provide some more details.

Are you going for work, or just on holidays?
Will you have a fixed address, or will you be moving around?
Which country, or countries, are involved.

 

[cove]

Bankwest World has good exchange rates and earns 0.66 points per $AUD. The big 4 banks could take about 3 or 4% of your money with cough exchange rates. If you cannot qualify for World the Platinum CC does the same favourable exchange rates and earns 0.5 QF points per $AUD.

 

[cove]

Yes more info would be helpful.

 

[settlement]

Thanks for responses.

Will be in europe one year. Am an Irish citizen also so can use irish debit cards fee free but opting to use citibank and keep money in higher interest aus banks. Will be travelling only, and not working. Will be travelling france, italy, spain, germany, eastern europe for a total of 2-3 months, then settling down somewhere in france/italy for the remainder of the year but not planning to work. It's possible I may come back to australia over december for a couple of months to work but may not

I likely wont have a fixed address in europe for the first few months. After I will have a fixed address but it will likely be air bnb so won't be putting it as my actual address

 

[scwappy]

Coles MasterCard worth checking out

 

[settlement]

Bankwest World has good exchange rates and earns 0.66 points per $AUD. The big 4 banks could take about 3 or 4% of your money with cough exchange rates. If you cannot qualify for World the Platinum CC does the same favourable exchange rates and earns 0.5 QF points per $AUD.

What are the eligibility criteria for platinum and black?

 

[cove]

A good income at the time you apply and it gets assessed from there. Not having large credit limits on other CCs seems to be quite helpful. I know two who gave up on getting World.

 

[Renato1]

The Bankwest cards currently have no sign-on bonuses, which is a shame, because if they had those sign-on bonuses it would be a no-brainer to get one of these cards.

Assuming the valuation of a cent per Qantas FF point, you would have to spend over $41,000 in Europe to earn the points to make up the $275 annual fee on the Bankwest Qantas World card. Or you'd have to spend $32,000 on the Qantas Platinum card to cover the $160 annual fee. Of course, others value the Qantas points as worth far more when used for flight upgrades, versus straight redemptions on economy flights, which would lower the spend required to cover the annual fee.

To my mind, unless you are a big spender, point gains from using the card would be marginal at best. The 28 Degree Mastercard coupled with direct debit to your account is still a good card for avoiding international foreign exchange fees, though no points are earned.

If I was you, however, I'd also be looking for a card that would give you 12 months travel insurance for your trip, more economically than buying the insurance outright. Some cards limit the coverage to three months or six months of travel while, from memory, the CBA Diamond card gives you the full 12 months. You'd have to read a lot of Travel Insurance PDFs for each of the various cards you are considering to ensure that you are covered. I suspect savings on travel insurance relative to purchasing it outright, would be more significant than any savings that accrue from accumulating points.
Regards,
Renato

 

[cove]

Good pick up Renato1 to do with the 80,000 sign on for World having ceased together with an annual fee hike to $270. Mine just renewed at $220 in the past month so I was surprised to see the double whammy.

 

[settlement]

Great post Renato. I'll look into cba diamond. Bankwest world won't offer me a black or platinum card at the moment, and bankwest zero won't offer me platinum either. Another option is to go for anz travel rewards. It's not the best card but I think I can get it. The fee is 220 but it has a free domestic flight which takes the edge off slighty. If I can't get one of the free cards I might go for this one

 

[Strategic Aviation]

To my mind, unless you are a big spender, point gains from using the card would be marginal at best.

Agree. Though an alternative for which the break-even spend requirement isn't so challenging is the Coles Rewards MasterCard.

The 28 Degree Mastercard coupled with direct debit to your account is still a good card for avoiding international foreign exchange fees, though no points are earned.

The Bankwest Zero Platinum is preferable as it includes complimentary travel insurance and has none of the 28D's payment shenanigans.

Bankwest world won't offer me a black or platinum card at the moment, and bankwest zero won't offer me platinum either.

That's unfortunate. Anecdotally the Zero Platinum does seem to be more difficult to get than it should be.

 

[travelislife]

The new ANZ travel rewards would be a good card.

 

[Renato1]

Agree. Though an alternative for which the break-even spend requirement isn't so challenging is the Coles Rewards MasterCard.



The Bankwest Zero Platinum is preferable as it includes complimentary travel insurance and has none of the 28D's payment shenanigans.

The Coles card looks decent value with the $89 fee , though I can't remember or locate in my account the Flybuy points/Qantas FF points equivalency.

Yes, the 28 Degree card isn't as good as it was, but as most credit cards have the similar cash advance fee, I don't think that aspect can be counted as a negative against it when comparing like and like. Though the changes to payments is annoying, simply going to direct debit gets around the Bpay fee/on-line payment annoyance issues.

But still, the card costs nothing to hold - doesn't hurt to have it either for primary use or as a back-up.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

Great post Renato. I'll look into cba diamond. Bankwest world won't offer me a black or platinum card at the moment, and bankwest zero won't offer me platinum either. Another option is to go for anz travel rewards. It's not the best card but I think I can get it. The fee is 220 but it has a free domestic flight which takes the edge off slighty. If I can't get one of the free cards I might go for this one

Thanks. You may want to post either here with its own heading or in the Travel Insurance section, which cards give the full year's travel insurance coverage - as people would know what their individual cards do, and save you the hassle of going through numerous policies.

The other sort of "insurance" I take out when I go Europe is to always hire premium cars with automatic transmission (I used to go for Audi, BMW or Volvo sedans, but recently went for SUVs instead). I figure that if I am going to have an accident, it is more likely to be when I'm over there, and what's the point of saving a $1000 on car hire if we wind up dead in a cheap car?
Regards,
Renato

 

[Strategic Aviation]

The Coles card looks decent value with the $89 fee , though I can't remember or locate in my account the Flybuy points/Qantas FF points equivalency.

It's still a fair bit of spend before you effectively start to earn the first point, but it wouldn't be too difficult for many travellers.

You can convert 1000 Flybuys into 870 Velocity points, with Velocity hopefully continuing to have two +15% points transfer bonuses (each May and November?).

Yes, the 28 Degree card isn't as good as it was, but as most credit cards have the similar cash advance fee, I don't think that aspect can be counted as a negative against it when comparing like and like. Though the changes to payments is annoying, simply going to direct debit gets around the Bpay fee/on-line payment annoyance issues.

No issue with cash advance fee, just the negative customer service changes on a card that definitely shouldn't be called platinum.

But still, the card costs nothing to hold - doesn't hurt to have it either for primary use or as a back-up.

Agree. I do recommend it to those that can't get the Bankwest Zero Platinum.

 

[Renato1]

No issue with cash advance fee, just the negative customer service changes on a card that definitely shouldn't be called platinum.

On the other hand most Platinum Cards charge a 3% fee on overseas transactions. Or even 3.4% with Citibank Signature.
That's $30 of fees for every $1000 spent.

Should those Platinum cards with that fee really be called Platinum cards? I never use them overseas.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Strategic Aviation]

Should those Platinum cards with that fee really be called Platinum cards?

Going OT here, but platinum cards have never been judged in relation to forex fees, though credit to you if you wish to challenge the industry on that count

28D was arbitrarily declared platinum some time after a significant downgrade of its usefulness (loss of the fee-free foreign cash withdrawal benefit), without gaining a rewards program or complimentary travel insurance, and with a subsequent further downgrade in the form of the payment shenanigans introduced last year.

It's platinum grade nonsense but not much else

 

[Renato1]

Going OT here, but platinum cards have never been judged in relation to forex fees, though credit to you if you wish to challenge the industry on that count

Never been judged on Forex fees?
I just did above.

I typically spend $17,000 on European trips - that's $510 in fees on Platinum and regular cards, versus zero fees on the 28 Degree card plus Citibank Transaction card. A rewards program at half a point a dollar, would deliver me $85 in value on that trip - which is totally swamped by the forex fees. Complimentary travel insurance (relative to straight purchase of the travel insurance) is handy and can cover those fees if the trip is long enough (but not if it is too short).

Then add the Platinum Card's annual fee (say $150) to the cost-benefit analysis, versus the zero annual fee for the 28 Degree card, and the difference in benefits between these two Platinum cards start to look marginal.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Strategic Aviation]

Lol, great post.