Best earn rate for Visa or MasterCard for Velocity points

[kaz]

Hi
Husband has a Westpac Altitude Platnium Plus Amex/MasterCard, however the MasterCard earn rate is .5 points per $dollar spend, so I'm looking for a visa /MasterCard which has an earn of 1 / 1 per spend with a annual fee of under $150.00 that he can also apply for.
So far I can't find a 1 / 1 spend for a MasterCard/visa with any of the banks that transfers to Velocity.

I have come across the ANZ Rewards Gold card for $89 annual fee that has a Visa which earns 1.5 ANZ Rewards points per $ spend, and when I transfer the ANZ reward points to Velocity account the redemption rate is 2250 ANZ rewards = 1000 Velocity points, which if I have done my calculations correctly equates to .75 velocity points per $ spend. EG. Spend $1500 which equates to 2250 ANZ rewards and redeems to Vwlocity as 1000 points.
Please correct me if my workings are incorrect, I've even had the calculator out to try to work it out !!

So the ANZ Rewards Gold card Visa compenent will give me .25 Velocity points MORE than what I would get than using the Westpac Altitude MasterCard. Although I will still hand over the Westpac Altitude AMEX where ever it accepted to get more points.
I estimate I will spend Approx $2000 a month on MasterCard/Visa a month.

Before I apply for the ANZ Gold Rewards, Have I overlooked any other credit cards (Visa or MasterCard) that have a better earn to Velocity than what the ANZ Gold Rewards card does. ?

any advise or corrections to my calculations above are welcome

 

[Mackey]

Virgin Money and American Express both offer cards under $150/year with 1:1 points ratio.

The first is the Virgin Money Velocity Flyer. 1:1 points (capped at $1500), 4 two-for-one flights per year for $129. You said your spent would be $2000 per month, so that would be an effective ratio of 0.875 which is still pretty good.

The American Express Velocity Escape Card earns 1:1 points for no annual fee.

Both currently offer 7500 points sign on bonus (10000 for the Virgin Money if you find the link on the Virgin website)

 

[jneufeld]

There are two VA Velocity Visa Cards with Virgin Money, the basic one has a $1 to 1 point earn up to $1500 with a $129 annual fee. The best feature of these cards is you get 4 x 2 for 1 flights each year. Details at Virgin Credit Card | Velocity Frequent Flyer and Virgin Credit Cards | Virgin Money

 

[kaz]

O

Virgin Money and American Express both offer cards under $150/year with 1:1 points ratio.

The first is the Virgin Money Velocity Flyer. 1:1 points (capped at $1500), 4 two-for-one flights per year for $129. You said your spent would be $2000 per month, so that would be an effective ratio of 0.875 which is still pretty good.

The American Express Velocity Escape Card earns 1:1 points for no annual fee.

Both currently offer 7500 points sign on bonus (10000 for the Virgin Money if you find the link on the Virgin website)

Thanks for the info. We already have an Amex card through Westpac altitude at earn of 1.5 per $ spend, so just looking for a visa/MasterCard with a 1: 1 earn that we could use where our Amex is not accepted.

I did look at Virgin velocity flyer, but the $1500 cap monthly spend maybe a problem, but then again I will look at it again and do the sums.

I thought I read on this forum that the two for one flights on offer with Virgin money are a but hard to redeem, do you have any experience in redeeming these flights ?

 

[pangwen]

O


Thanks for the info. We already have an Amex card through Westpac altitude at earn of 1.5 per $ spend, so just looking for a visa/MasterCard with a 1: 1 earn that we could use where our Amex is not accepted.

I did look at Virgin velocity flyer, but the $1500 cap monthly spend maybe a problem, but then again I will look at it again and do the sums.

I thought I read on this forum that the two for one flights on offer with Virgin money are a but hard to redeem, do you have any experience in redeeming these flights ?

As another poster above stated, an average spend of $2k per month will give you 1750 velocity points, or approximately a 0.875 points/$ earn rate, which is pretty good compared to your other options. Flight availability with the 2-4-1 offer is very good these days, you can use it on any flight you see on the Virgin website as long as it isn't a 'sale saver' fare (and as long as you're booking over 21 days out).

Although not being able to book sale savers is a bummer, you'll find that you still save money. For example, on a recent BNE-SYD booking, the sale saver fare was $79, the non-sale saver was $109. Instead of paying $316 (2 x return sale savers using Poli), I paid $233.40 (1 x return non-sale saver using the 2-for-1, then I was forced to pay using credit card with associated fees of $7.70 per booking). The best value is if you use it to buy Business fares (I have also done this) - they can easily save you hundreds of $.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I thought I read on this forum that the two for one flights on offer with Virgin money are a but hard to redeem, do you have any experience in redeeming these flights ?

That used to be the case. Now it's been loosened up dramatically. I just booked 2 x 2 for 1 for March without any problem.

If you fly regularly, you may want to look at changing your AMEX to the Virgin one as it gives 3 points/$ (IIRC) when buying Virgin products + a free return flight (limits apply). The flights alone would come close to the card fee.

 

[Mackey]

O
I thought I read on this forum that the two for one flights on offer with Virgin money are a but hard to redeem, do you have any experience in redeeming these flights ?

No problem at all for me. I booked at peak Xmas period flights (on the 26th Dec and 3rd Jan) only 3 weeks in advance and they were happy to do the 2-4-1 deal.