How could a credit card with no points/benefits be valuable? You can get just as much value with a Debit card, whilst keeping the extra funds in a interest bearing account and not cost a cent to transfer it. If you are counting the cents, it will work out better in the long run.
And if you are spending that much on a Credit card overseas, you could an ANZ Travel Adventure visa and get the FF points as well at 0.75 VFF per dollar. That alone will pay the annual fee
nothing is changed in that regard and you are in the same boat as self-employed small businesses.
Thanks for your input.
What you say about Debit cards is workable - though two factors have to also be considered.
Firstly, security. If your card is emptied by thieves, it is your money that has gone, not the financial institution's money. About eight years ago, I was rung up by CBA bank early in the morning and asked if I had just spent $10,000 using my Mastercard at a Texas casino (Answer was "NO", of course) - and there was no way they had my PIN number. So I always only keep a couple of thousand dollars in my Debit card overseas, and keep topping it up as I require more cash from an ATM - and only use it at ATMs to minimize risk.
Secondly, when car fines inevitably come in from overseas car hire companies - one has to keep money in that Debit card for quite a while afterwards for such instances or other residuals. Else one defaults, and pays penalty fees, or gets a bad credit record.
What you say about the ANZ Travel Adventure Visa card makes sense if I was taking the annual free plane trip with the card. But I have no interest in flying around Australia. When I had the same deal with Amex Platinum Edge, I had to give a flight away one year to an acquaintance, when nobody in my extended family wanted it either.
So, if I spend $10,000 overseas and earn 7500 Velocity points, that's worth about $75 to me, at a cost of $225 per year. That's a loss to me.
Self-employed small businesses pay tax, and have paperwork to prove it - be it at the personal indiviual tax rate of the owners. or tax rate on the business. Superannuants on Allocated Pensions or certain government super pension have significant tax credits which reduces their tax to little or nothing.
Regards,
Renato