I remember when the first card I got from Everyday Money was a great card for $49pa. When they signed me up, it gave me 12 cents off a litre of petrol for about a year, till they changed it back to just 4 cents. But I still kept the card because it was handy - I didn't have to go into the counter to pay, I'd just use the card at the Woolworths/Caltex bowser and get my 4cents a litre off.
But then that stopped too, so I got rid of the card.
The current deal on the more expensive card strikes me as pretty good actually. One gets 30,000 bonus points for the first year fee of $99.
I value Qantas FF points at a cent per point (though others value them higher). So that's $300 worth of points for $99.
Then, they pay one point a dollar for the first $2500 statement spend, and half a point thereafter.
If instead of buying groceries with the card, one put all those services that currently only earn half a point on most cards onto the Everyday card - e.g. health insurance, water rates, electricity and gas bills, council rates - then one would double the points one is currently getting. It is pretty easy to smooth payments to utilities and health funds, so that one doesn't go over the $2500, just by prepaying in the months when nothing is due. For me, I spend about $12,000 a year on those, so I'd be getting an extra 6000 points more than what I currently get using my Amex and ANZ FF Visa card on them.
So that's 30000 bonus points plus 6000 additional points, which equates to about $360 for $99 the first year.
If one didn't have an Amex Platinum Edge card (the best one for buying groceries), then one should be able to use the Everyday Visa card and easily earn the full 2500 points per month (at a point a dollar), or 30,000 points a year - which equates to $300 for the ongoing card fee of $139 per annum. Which is not too bad a deal in my opinion, especially for people who know nothing about the Platinum Edge card - which is most everybody.
I might apply for it when I return from overseas.
Regards,
Renato
