Help selecting a credit card for QFF points

[Diving Falcon]

Greetings,

I have recently come across the Australian Frequent Flyer forum, and having read a number of posts, I have come to realise that you can get a lot out of frequent flyer programs.

I was hoping to ask some advice on selecting a personal credit card that will maximise my frequent flyer benefits.

Some background:
I make ~50-60 QF domestic flights in a year (for work)
I would spend ~$35K on a Corporate Green AMEX card in a year
I would spend ~$25K on a personal credit card in a year, and pay in full each month

I have not yet joined a rewards scheme for my Corporate AMEX. So far I have been using Westpac Earth credit cards (for points - 1pt/$1 spent on AMEX, 1pt/$2 spent on MC) and Wizard Clear Advantage Mastercard (for my last O/S trip)

Last week I called to cancel my Westpac Earth card, and they offered me a fee waiver and suggested that I could move to Earth Gold. This has made me think about whether Earth (Gold) is best for me, or if there are better cards/programs.

I had a few questions:
1. I have been thinking that I would prefer free flights out of a loyalty program, ideally RTW, rather than upgrades or vouchers. Does this sound reasonable, given my spend, or would I have to settle for retail vouchers?

2. Since I fly with QF for work, I guess it is best for me to go all-in with QFF (i.e. joining Spirit program with Corporate AMEX, getting QFF personal credit card, and directing any hotel rewards points to QFF). On a spend base similar to mine, would anyone play it the other way (i.e. go into an Ascent program for Corporate AMEX, and equivalent for personal cards)?

3. What card would you recommend for $2K per month spend? My thoughts are:
- A lot of places where I shop do not accept AMEX, so I am thinking of getting just a Visa/MC or else getting Visa/MC + AMEX
- BPay would ideally earn points (unlike Westpac), as I like to schedule bill payments in advance
- Customer service that would not be infuriating
- Have reasonably low annual fees (or even better, fees they are willing to waive)

I have been thinking about the CitiBusiness Gold card, which is VISA, and earns 1.25pts/$1 spent, and 1pt converts to 1 QFF point. However, I don't know whether I would qualify since I don't own/run a business. I believe there is also a $49 fee to get QFF points credited?

Other options were Card Services Gold Mastercard (1pt/$1 spent, $118 annual fee, but I don't know what their customer service is like), NAB Qantas Gold Card, or upgrading my card to Westpac Earth Gold (or even Platinum???).

Thank you for all your advice!

 

[newformula]

On the personal card front...

I was with Earth for ages, but recently cancelled. The 0.5 pts/dollar wasn't doing it for me, and I hated getting Amex rejected say 50% of the time. Carrying two cards was just getting annoying. So I looked for an alternative, and came across Citi's offerings.

Now I'm loving the CitiBank Business Gold Visa for my own use. I put about 2-3k/month through it. As it's a Visa there's no issues with it being accepted anywhere, AND it's 1.25 points/$ on all transactions. Annual fee is about $100, and (so far) I haven't had any issues with Customer Service. Extra card holders are about $15-$20ish. There's also a range of bonus partners, the best being JB Hifi where you get 4pts/$ all up.

The card is not direct sweep to QFF - you collect CitiRewards points (1.25 pts / $) which build up over time. Once you hit 10k CitiRewards you can transfer them to QFF in blocks of 10,000 points only. it's a 10k minimum and also a set block size, so I think you can only ever transfer 10k, 20k etc. Points take 2 days to hit my QF account.

AFAIK it's the best non-Amex earn rate around, or at least for that level of Annual Fee.

Can't help much with corporate card, sorry - others would have more knowledge in that area.

I also have a backup QF Classic Amex (free for life, thankfully) for personal QF transactions at 2pts/$.

And... welcome to AFF.