Help: Current Credit Card Bonus Points Relativity?

[brad1549]

Hi all,


I am very new to the Bonus Points Credit Cards and was hoping for some insight into relativity. Essentially, I will be cancelling most of the credit cards once I've earned the bonus points. Additionally, I currently bank with only Commonwealth Bank.


1. Firstly, I can see that currently, the highest bonus points are ~100k including the Amex Ultimate Card and NAB Qantas Rewards Signature Card, followed by 90k from St. George Amplify Signature Card. In terms of relativity, are these 100k points very high? Or have there been much higher offers in the past? Would we expect even higher bonus points in the future?


2. Secondly, the NAB and St George cards both hold $395 and $279 annual fees respectively. Do you think the combined $674 amount is worth the 190k Qantas points?


3. Thirdly, are there currently any third-party websites which offer these cards but with better perks (i.e. Points Hack). I’ve seen talk that often going to third-party websites will yield higher bonus points, lower annual fees etc.

4. Finally, what are the best credit cards to currently sign up to? I've also just noticed the ANZ Frequent Flyer Black Card offers 75k bonus points with $0 annual fee.


Thanks for all the help.

 

[Kiwires]

Hi all,


I am very new to the Bonus Points Credit Cards and was hoping for some insight into relativity. Essentially, I will be cancelling most of the credit cards once I've earned the bonus points. Additionally, I currently bank with only Commonwealth Bank.


1. Firstly, I can see that currently, the highest bonus points are ~100k including the Amex Ultimate Card and NAB Qantas Rewards Signature Card, followed by 90k from St. George Amplify Signature Card. In terms of relativity, are these 100k points very high? Or have there been much higher offers in the past? Would we expect even higher bonus points in the future?


2. Secondly, the NAB and St George cards both hold $395 and $279 annual fees respectively. Do you think the combined $674 amount is worth the 190k Qantas points?


3. Thirdly, are there currently any third-party websites which offer these cards but with better perks (i.e. Points Hack). I’ve seen talk that often going to third-party websites will yield higher bonus points, lower annual fees etc.

4. Finally, what are the best credit cards to currently sign up to? I've also just noticed the ANZ Frequent Flyer Black Card offers 75k bonus points with $0 annual fee.


Thanks for all the help.

Hi Brad.
I'm kinda new to this as well and these are the lessons I've learnt.
1. Decide on a frequent flyer program first, e.g. Velocity or Qantas. I used to be with Qantas and redeemed all my points. Then switched to Velocity when NAB had a Mortgage signup for 300,000 Velocity points.
2. Check if the banks are offering Reward points or actual FF points. While Reward points can be transferred to different airline loyalty programs, their transfer rates can be 2 Reward points for 1 FF point. 1 bank can be offering 100,000 Reward Points and another 100,000 FF points.
3. Some banks offer either reduced or nil annual fee. I have signed up for 1 card, got the bonus points after stipulated spend over 3 months and then cancelled the card before the annual fee comes around and then sign up for another bonus offer. I've found that I don't need to carry 2 card fees unless the offer is really attractive. The fee is offset if it comes with free lounge access and/or free domestic travel.
4. I don't have substantial credit card spend, so it's too hard to commit to spending the stipulated amounts with both cards concurrently. Especially when it can be $2,000 or $3,000 per month per card to get the bonus points.
5. Yes, some websites do offer better signup bonus points than what you will find on the banks website. I just follow Point Hacks for the best offers. Sometimes, someone will post an offer on OzBargain where they get a referral bonus and you get additional points for using their link.
6. I've just signed up with VirginMoney for their Velocity High Flyer card with 40,000 Velocity Points for each month I spend $3,000 on eligible transactions in the first 3 months. Only as I've got some expenses coming up in the next few months which will get me over the line.
7. I've found that AMEX has the best points earn than either VISA or Mastercard, but tend to be accepted only by the major retailers.

Happy hunting!

 

[mviy]

1. ~100k is about as good as it gets except perhaps for cards with very steep annual fees.
2. Depends what you want to use them for and how badly you need the points
3. Sometimes there can be good deals
4. I would get that card possibly first. $0 annual fee for the first year is great. Once the sign up bonus hits your frequent flyer account you can cancel the card and wait out the exclusion period and then do it all again with the offer available at the time. The NAB card currently doesn’t have an exclusion period so all else being equal I’d focus on other cards first.

Commonwealth Bank doesn’t offer great deals for credit cards. You’re better off getting credit cards from different banks.

Always pay your credit card off on time. Do try to achieve sign up bonuses with spending you would have done anyway. So plan what you want to buy and time signing up for cards appropriately.

 

[Dr Ralph]

1) 100,000 points is quite high, but I have seen higher. Of course I've seen lower as well – sometimes much lower.

2) Yes to me. But you'll need to decide what value YOU place on points.

3) This is rare. Points hack is a good one to look at but they certainly don't have deals for every card. I would advise using a referral link (various threads on AFF for this) if signing up to an AMEX. That link will likely provide extra benefits.

4) Keep watching this thread where a list of current deals is discussed:


Current Credit Card Promotions