Credit Card Offers CommBank Ultimate Awards Card – potentially fee free

[MG1]

There can’t be many card users who are spending $10k of non AUD on this card in a given month, let alone every month. My own spend profile seems to net me around 4000-5000 QF points a month.

I used $10k as an example as it was a nice round number to work with. I agree that most people, me included, likely wouldn't spend that much in non-AUD purchases per month.

 

[Thibault]

If I downgrade to Smart Awards, it would be fee free (we'll always spend $2k per month), but I would lose the two free DragonPass lounge passes - which isn't much of a loss.

Open a World Debit Mastercard shortly before travelling? - two Dragon Pass entries are issued instantly - then switch back to a normal debit card once back.
$10/month per card.

 

[BJReplay]

Open a World Debit Mastercard shortly before travelling? - two Dragon Pass entries are issued instantly - then switch back to a normal debit card once back.
$10/month per card.

Very cool find!

Having said that, Mrs BJReplay has decreed (and I can't say that I disagree) that future travel will be in J, after our last trip was in redemption Y, so the need for lounge access will decrease in any case.

Asiana Y was good (surprisingly decent legroom, good sliding seat-base recline), and ICN-NRT and return were A380s where we snaffled upper-deck A/B and J/K seats at T-80, so pleasant enough, but MEL-ICN and ICN-SYD were A350s, and 9 hours in Y was too much for either of us.

Free flights were fine, but SWMBO has spoken, and I agree with the sentiment.

 

[Cessna 180]

Is this (Ultimate/Smart) awards about the only card left that pays points on council rates and car rego etc?

I have been digging through a bit of fine print and this seems to be the latest exclusion on most cards. I am not interested in using those third party things that charge some sort of fee.
Just talking about paying direct with cards for points and or eligible spend to make the minimum on a new card.

 

[blacksultan]

Is this (Ultimate/Smart) awards about the only card left that pays points on council rates and car rego etc?

I have been digging through a bit of fine print and this seems to be the latest exclusion on most cards. I am not interested in using those third party things that charge some sort of fee.
Just talking about paying direct with cards for points and or eligible spend to make the minimum on a new card.

Pay with zip pay . Then pay latter with your card .

 

[QF_Flyer]

Is this (Ultimate/Smart) awards about the only card left that pays points on council rates and car rego etc?

I have been digging through a bit of fine print and this seems to be the latest exclusion on most cards. I am not interested in using those third party things that charge some sort of fee.
Just talking about paying direct with cards for points and or eligible spend to make the minimum on a new card.

Those exclusions have been there for a very long time now. ANZ used to award points on VicRoads, despite the T&Cs saying otherwise, but that's the only real change I've noticed (that they don't now). As blacksultan says, Zip is a way around it.

 

[Cessna 180]

Those exclusions have been there for a very long time now. ANZ used to award points on VicRoads, despite the T&Cs saying otherwise, but that's the only real change I've noticed (that they don't now). As blacksultan says, Zip is a way around it.

OK, yes I just meant that there does not seem to be any left. I know Citi (mycard?) and NAB had only stopped in the last year or so. WBC and ANZ a bit longer perhaps?
I was looking at Bankwest potentially and read that they do not give points on gov spend now either.

Anyway, ZIP pay is a new one for me! I just quickly looked it up and it sounds like if I pay straight away there are no fees? Although if I pay with CC is that a cash advance?

Just when I thought I was all over this stuff the good people of AFF can still teach me something!

 

[Viridis]

OK, yes I just meant that there does not seem to be any left. I know Citi (mycard?) and NAB had only stopped in the last year or so. WBC and ANZ a bit longer perhaps?
I was looking at Bankwest potentially and read that they do not give points on gov spend now either.

Anyway, ZIP pay is a new one for me! I just quickly looked it up and it sounds like if I pay straight away there are no fees? Although if I pay with CC is that a cash advance?

Just when I thought I was all over this stuff the good people of AFF can still teach me something!

It's new to me, but mostly because I never bothered to check before ....

But I have recently started paying my Sydney Water bills with Amex via Paypal because none of the Visa/MCs that i have pay any points. But Amex credited me with 2.25pts per dollar for the bill and there was no surcharge for the use of Paypal .

I'm sure this is common knowledge to most of you, but it was a revelation to me . Might have a look at the Council Rates next year and see how that goes

 

[QF_Flyer]

OK, yes I just meant that there does not seem to be any left. I know Citi (mycard?) and NAB had only stopped in the last year or so. WBC and ANZ a bit longer perhaps?
I was looking at Bankwest potentially and read that they do not give points on gov spend now either.

Anyway, ZIP pay is a new one for me! I just quickly looked it up and it sounds like if I pay straight away there are no fees? Although if I pay with CC is that a cash advance?

Just when I thought I was all over this stuff the good people of AFF can still teach me something!

Yeah, sadly it's slim pickings! BankWest I've found are particularly restrictive when it comes to the transactions they let through.

My experience with Zip, albeit limited, has been that payments to it from any CC are treated as a points earning purchase; YMMV of course, but hopefully something you've got will work. They haven't given me much of a useful limit (actually, it's P2's account, not mine), but it's something and enough for bills like that. For everything else, there's Sniip, but that's not free.

 

[QF_Flyer]

It's new to me, but mostly because I never bothered to check before ....

But I have recently started paying my Sydney Water bills with Amex via Paypal because none of the Visa/MCs that i have pay any points. But Amex credited me with 2.25pts per dollar for the bill and there was no surcharge for the use of Paypal .

I'm sure this is common knowledge to most of you, but it was a revelation to me . Might have a look at the Council Rates next year and see how that goes

Actually this is a good reminder - it doesn't work for all utilities, etc., but for those which do, great option. Also, worth finding out for sure if they accept PayPal and don't advertise it - my Water rates don't advertise that they accept PayPal, but they do (I have a bill from about a decade ago where Postbillpay is listed, and the details still work) - the $ hasn't gone missing yet

 

[blacksultan]

OK, yes I just meant that there does not seem to be any left. I know Citi (mycard?) and NAB had only stopped in the last year or so. WBC and ANZ a bit longer perhaps?
I was looking at Bankwest potentially and read that they do not give points on gov spend now either.

Anyway, ZIP pay is a new one for me! I just quickly looked it up and it sounds like if I pay straight away there are no fees? Although if I pay with CC is that a cash advance?

Just when I thought I was all over this stuff the good people of AFF can still teach me something!

Paying with cc normal purchase not cash advance . And yes no fees if you pay off balance in time .

 

[Lost Redditor]

Well this card just became useless. CommBank is ceasing their awards program and removing the spend-based waiver for the monthly fee

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Ceasing the rewards program is a convoluted way of having a different rewards program where they can sign up some of the partners that they cut ties with previously. Long story short, it'll be the same as CBA Awards on the frequent flyer front but with different conversion rates and fees, e.g. 2.5:1 to Velocity rather than 2:1 at present.

 

[MG1]

Sadly, once these changes come into effect in October, there won't be a lot of great options. I did lots of research before picking this card as my overseas card (and that was after Coles added there foreign transaction fee).

For points-earning credit cards, that don't have a foreign transaction fee, the possible options from October will be (I've listed effective earn rates below so that they can be more easily compared):

CBA Ultimate (Min. $6k)
$569 QF 0.67
$519 VA 0.8
$420 QR 0.8
$420 QF 0.67 (via Everyday Rewards)

NAB Signature Rewards (Min. $6k, AF $395)
VA [regular spend] 0.75 (first $10k), then 0.25, [bonus categories] 1.25 (first $10k), then 0.75
SQ [regular spend] 0.5 (first $10k), then 0.17, [bonus categories] 0.83 (first $10k), then 0.5
NZ [regular spend] 0.0075 (first $10k), then 0.0025, [bonus categories] 0.0125 (first $10k), then 0.0075

BankWest QF Platinum (Min. $3k, AF $199)
QF 0.6 (first $2.5k), then 0.3

BankWest QF World (Min. $12k, AF $320)
QF 1.0 (first $5k), then 0.5

I'm aware that there are vouchers to offset the CBA AF but they won't be overly useful for me.

Each one has their pros and cons.
I'm happy for others to add to the list if I've left any off.

 

[Jacques Vert]

NAB Signature Rewards (Min. $6k, AF $395)
VA [regular spend] 0.75 (first $10k), then 0.25, [bonus categories] 1.25 (first $10k), then 0.75
SQ [regular spend] 0.5 (first $10k), then 0.17, [bonus categories] 0.83 (first $10k),

The transfer rate to VA is changing from 2:1 to 3:1 on Oct 1, therefore VA will be 0.5 for the first $10k.

 

[Viridis]

Sadly, once these changes come into effect in October, there won't be a lot of great options. I did lots of research before picking this card as my overseas card (and that was after Coles added there foreign transaction fee).

For points-earning credit cards, that don't have a foreign transaction fee, the possible options from October will be (I've listed effective earn rates below so that they can be more easily compared):

CBA Ultimate (Min. $6k)
$569 QF 0.67
$519 VA 0.8
$420 QR 0.8
$420 QF 0.67 (via Everyday Rewards)

NAB Signature Rewards (Min. $6k, AF $395)
VA [regular spend] 0.75 (first $10k), then 0.25, [bonus categories] 1.25 (first $10k), then 0.75
SQ [regular spend] 0.5 (first $10k), then 0.17, [bonus categories] 0.83 (first $10k), then 0.5
NZ [regular spend] 0.0075 (first $10k), then 0.0025, [bonus categories] 0.0125 (first $10k), then 0.0075

BankWest QF Platinum (Min. $3k, AF $199)
QF 0.6 (first $2.5k), then 0.3

BankWest QF World (Min. $12k, AF $320)
QF 1.0 (first $5k), then 0.5

I'm aware that there are vouchers to offset the CBA AF but they won't be overly useful for me.

Each one has their pros and cons.
I'm happy for others to add to the list if I've left any off.

The Revolut credit card (I think from Metal Plan up) is forex free.

The Metal accrues at 1:1 and redeems at 1:1 Avios, and 2:1 with SQ & EK. The Card is free on the Plan but the Plan is about $300 if paid annually.

The Ultimate Plan earns at 1.3:1 but is in Amex Plat. Price territory.

If you’re wedded to the Qantas programme, it probably won’t work for you.