What card do you recommend?

[AnnaB]

Hello,

I am looking into getting myself a frequent flyer/altitude rewards credit card and to me it is a jungle out there. I was looking at one where I would get a decent amount of sign up points that can be used for flight redemption, preferably J or F class so I would like value for points but not have to pay a huge amount in annual fees.

I have been looking at Velocity but feel that every time I put in a class as above, I get such high rates (400,000 plus points) to get a long haul flight.
I was looking at Altitude, but if I want to transfer my points to Krisflyer or Velocity I only get half the points.

What do you find are the pros and cons? How would you go about it? Any ideas or feedback?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Hello,

I was looking at Altitude, but if I want to transfer my points to Krisflyer or Velocity I only get half the points.

Whenever you compare cards, just compare what points per $ spent will land at your preferred FF program. Whether they are halved etc prior is all pretty irrelevant.

For my I basically think in KF (my preferred FF program) points per $ spent. But I will not knock back free or cheap VA/ QFF points.


You do not have to restruct yourself to one card. I personally use several to supercharge my earn rate....plus grab others as they come along for attractive sign on bonii (ie have your cake and eat it too!!).

 

[thegeekinasuit]

There's a couple of cards I'd suggest with no annual fee for the first year.

ANZ Frequent Flyer Black
75,000 Qantas Points after $2,500 spend in the first three months
1.5 points per $ on AMEX
0.75 points per $ on VISA
2x Qantas Lounge Pass
$475 ongoing annual fee

AMEX Platinum Edge via Priceline: https://www.priceline.com.au/amex
13,500 Rewards Points after $500 spend in the first 90 days
3 points per $ at Supermarkets
2 points per $ at Petrol Stations
1 points per $ almost everywhere else
Free Return Flight per year
$195 ongoing annual fee

 

[blueythecat]

A lot depends on where you spend the greatest proportion of your money. For me I can't go past the AMEX platinum edge, mentioned previously. I spend a high proportion of my money at the supermarket and on petrol. With 3pts/$ and 2pts/$ respectively across these purchases it is hard to beat. I think the annual fee at $195 / year is quite reasonable given they chuck in a free flight.

The current ANZ Black offer, also previously mentioned, is attractive too - but probably only for the first year - given the annual fee cost after that.

From there you kind of go up in price and features (benefits). The Citibank prestige, seems like an OK card, but it costs a pretty penny and I like the AMEX Platinum Charge, but that costs more again.

Good luck in your hunt!

 

[AnnaB]

I have been looking through all of your tips and thank you, I did not know that there were so many perks when getting credit cards. I guess one has to offset the cost of the card for the value of a free flight.

Would I be eligible for two Amex cards? Like a Velocity Platinum and the Platinum Edge?
The Platinum Edge is free the first year and gives me a free flight but the points on the Velocity Platinum combined with the perks of cheaper J class flights, free flight and all is more tempting even though it has a higher annual fee of $349.
Also, the free flights offered on the two cards are different, where with Edge you can fly interstate from WA, but with VP I can merely fly within WA.

I did look at the ANZ Quantas FF but I havent flown Quantas in years. I usually end up with SiA or Virgin. Can the points be transferred or are they stuck at Quantas FF?

LOL, my wallet is going to be full of cards....

 

[thegeekinasuit]

The points would be stuck in Qantas. You can apply for the ANZ Rewards Black instead. This comes with 75,000 which converts to Velocity at 2:1.

 

[AnnaB]

The points would be stuck in Qantas. You can apply for the ANZ Rewards Black instead. This comes with 75,000 which converts to Velocity at 2:1.

Yes, I had a look at that instead. Quantas is not an option for me as of today so thank you for your feedback.

I would like to get both the Amex Velocity Platinum and the Amex Platinum Edge, but I dont know if I am able to. Not so much the bonus points but the perks.
If I can only have one I think I would just get the Edge as the free flight is worth quite a bit to me and it collects points fairly quickly.
Am I able to have two different Amex platinums?

 

[andye]

Yes, I had a look at that instead. Quantas is not an option for me as of today so thank you for your feedback.

I would like to get both the Amex Velocity Platinum and the Amex Platinum Edge, but I dont know if I am able to. Not so much the bonus points but the perks.
If I can only have one I think I would just get the Edge as the free flight is worth quite a bit to me and it collects points fairly quickly.
Am I able to have two different Amex platinums?

You can hold up to two Amex-issued credit cards and one charge card at a time.

According to the T&Cs you shouldn't get a sign-on bonus after the first card, but many people did when signing up to the Velocity Amex

 

[AnnaB]

You can hold up to two Amex-issued credit cards and one charge card at a time.

According to the T&Cs you shouldn't get a sign-on bonus after the first card, but many people did when signing up to the Velocity Amex

Works well for me... I will just get one and when the bonus comes through I will apply for the next one. Probably works better as I wont have any time doing extra flights this year

Thank you so much for your help and info.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

If I can only have one I think I would just get the Edge as the free flight is worth quite a bit to me and it collects points fairly quickly.

Both the Edge and Velocity come with one free flight each per year.

 

[thegeekinasuit]

Yeah obviously it would also depend on whether Amex will approve you giving your credit rating income etc. I currently have the Velocity Platinum and was just approved for the Platinum Edge

 

[AnnaB]

Both the Edge and Velocity come with one free flight each per year.

Yes, but the Velocity only gives you a flight within WA, but the Edge will get you interstate. And it is a great way to get two extra holidays a year Just what the doctor ordered

 

[AnnaB]

Yeah obviously it would also depend on whether Amex will approve you giving your credit rating income etc. I currently have the Velocity Platinum and was just approved for the Platinum Edge

Do you feel that you get value for money when it comes to the fees? Is the reduced rate J flight offers really good? Its just that you only get the information but not knowledge on how good it is. Kind of like waiving a carrot in front of us but not giving all the info. Lounge access is great but we can hardly use them in Perth, only when we fly interstate or overseas.

 

[Mattg]

I would start by looking at which frequent flyer program/s are most useful to you. Then, work out which card/s will earn points that can be transferred to said program/s at the highest overall rate.

One of my personal favourites is the Amex Platinum Edge card. For a $195 annual fee, it comes with the free annual Virgin Australia flight, and 1 point per dollar which can be transferred to Virgin Velocity, Singapore KrisFlyer and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - all 3 of which I would consider excellent programs. You also get bonus points when shopping at supermarkets and petrol stations.

Unless you're really keen on Qantas points, I do think it's a good idea to get a card with flexible transfer partners. That way you can use the program that best suits your needs at the time for a particular redemption. Your points are also at less risk of expiring.

 

[awkwardpaws]

RoseAnna - all the advise here are great, and it really depends on what you are looking to accumulate. A few things I would add:

- AMEX Platinum Edge gets an approval from me as well. You really cant be the 3x earn at supermarkets and 2x earn at petrol stations, especially if you are using it for your day-to-day card. In addition, if you are based in Perth, the free flight offered by Amex Platinum Edge is probably of max value - you can go all the way PER-SYD-PER or PER-MEL-PER - which actually doesn't work the other way for those living in Sydney or Melbourne. The free flight alone justifies the $195 annual fee, IMHO.

I would recommend looking through the AFF referral offers thread - you get more bonus points when you sign up, and the AFF referrer will get some points as well

In addition, there are threads about calling up close to your renewal date and saying "I'm going to cancel" and AMEX generally offers you some free points to incentivise you in order to 're-sign' with them.

- ANZ Black - this is a great card to supplement your AMEX platinum edge. It is a companion card - comes with VISA & AMEX, and there will be instances that either places don't take AMEX, or they have an AMEX surcharge, which is where the VISA comes in handy.

As pointed out by others, there is currently a 75k sign up bonus for this card, which I would recommend choosing the ANZ reward option (and not the QFF option), unless you have analysed that QFF is the best option for you.

If you choose the ANZ reward option, you have the ability to "warehouse" points in a program that has flexibility to transfer to a number of other frequent flyer programs, such as Velocity etc. This will allow you to be flexible when looking to book since you can go for a number of FF programs, rather than only being stuck to one such as QFF

 

[n7of9]

Is the reduced rate J flight offers really good?

It used to be purchase 1 full-fare J get 1 free, but that changed recently to the less descriptive "Discount Business Class Companion Fares" to (undisclosed) selected destinations. I've never looked into it myself nor read anyone on here talk of it, either way it would definitely require the purchase of a full-fare business seat plus taxes on the second seat. Full fare J is rarely worth the price, and the second ticket would net zero status credits (a.k.a. the worst thing the world!). You can't search for the flights or the price, you'd need to call AMEX with a date

 

[blueythecat]

You would indeed be eligible for both card assuming you met the Amex credit approval criteria.
As others have mentioned, Amex officially only give one sign-on bonus, but others on this forum have reported getting more than one bonus.
A wallet full of cards can be a nasty side effect of hanging out here; can be hard to treat ð

 

[AnnaB]

You would indeed be eligible for both card assuming you met the Amex credit approval criteria.
As others have mentioned, Amex officially only give one sign-on bonus, but others on this forum have reported getting more than one bonus.
A wallet full of cards can be a nasty side effect of hanging out here; can be hard to treat ð

Yeah... I need a bigger wallet *lol* But its going to be lovely with more holidays... especially with the free flights, that will add an additional two to the normal ones.

 

[Steady]

I think I need to look into getting an Edge


PS. I think you will find this is the case everywhere else as well :shock:

Lounge access is great but we can hardly use them in Perth, only when we fly interstate or overseas.

 

[ragingsheep]

Is there a good 1:1 Visa or MasterCard for earning Velocity points, without the high annual fee of the Virgin Money card?