Velocity Platinum card vs. Platinum Reserve card

[notzac]

Hopefully I've got this thread in the right place. I'm currently an AmEx Qantas Ultimate cardholder, but have mostly sworn off flying QF and thus don't see much benefit in earning points with them any longer. The annual fee is due again next month and I don't fancy paying $400ish for the privilege of a return flight on an airline I don't really want to fly with.

So. Looking at the AmEx website, it looks like for similar money I could either have the Platinum Reserve credit card or the Velocity Platinum credit card. When looking at the features and benefits, they're mostly similar -- so needing some recommendations from AFF'ers as to which way I should go. Here's my analysis:

Annual Fee
Velocity Platinum: $349
Platinum Reserve: $395

Both have complimentary supplementary cards, which I wouldn't use anyway. The Velocity card is ~$50 a year cheaper, but that's not really much of a difference.

Regular Points
Velocity Platinum: 1.5 Velocity points per $
Platinum Reserve: 1.5 Membership Rewards points per $ (capped at $100k per annum)

I see this as being identical - MR points convert 1:1 to Velocity points, so the earn rate is the same .. and I don't spend anywhere near $100k on my card in a year, so the cap wouldn't make any difference whatsoever.

Bonus Points
Velocity Platinum: 3 points per $ spent on VA/DJ
Platinum Reserve: none?

3 points per dollar is pretty nice, I've gotta say.

Interest Rate
Velocity Platinum: 20.74%
Platinum Reserve: as above

I don't carry a balance, so it's a meaningless number either way.

Sign-on Bonus
Velocity Platinum: 30000 Velocity points
Platinum Reserve: 30000 Membership Rewards points

I've not really looked at what the value of a MR point is and whether it's necessarily of higher value than a Velocity point, but either way my intended use of the points would be for premium cabin travel. It seems I can transfer points to a bunch of different airlines with Membership Rewards (mostly airlines I don't have a membership with), but then there's also the pending relaunch of Velocity which we've been told will improve the program (I refuse to use the "e" word).. this one has me pretty confused.

Complimentary Flights
Velocity Platinum: return domestic flight (ex-MEL, I get to choose from ADL, CFS, OOL, MQL, CBR, HBA, LST, MCY, NTL and SYD)
Platinum Reserve: return domestic/international flight to one of 16 destinations ex-MEL, including AKL and CHC

Getting a free return flight to AKL sounds pretty neat, tbh. Annoyed that BNE is not a choice ex-MEL for the Velocity Platinum card (which is odd, seeing as MEL is a choice ex-BNE). This one has me leaning towards the Platinum Reserve card, but it's not entirely a dealbreaker..

Lounge Benefits
Velocity Platinum: 2 x lounge passes for Virgin Australia lounges
Platinum Reserve: Priority Pass with 2 x lounge entries gratis

Neither here nor there, but a Priority Pass would perhaps be marginally more useful. Are the VA lounge passes transferable to other Velocity members?

Travel Insurance
Velocity Platinum: Domestic/International travel insurance
Platinum Reserve: as above

Similarish; however the following points stood out when I was comparing the PDS':

• The Platinum Reserve will cover for longer periods
• The Velocity Platinum has higher payout figures for loss of life/limb/etc
• The Platinum Reserve has higher payout figures for travel inconvenience cover
• For emergency medical cover, the cover is the same (the Velocity Platinum has a higher excess)
• The Platinum Reserve has higher payout figures for Mobile Phones and Laptops
• The Platinum Reserve has higher payout figures for trip cancellation (loss of points through cancellation is covered -- nice!)

One other difference is that insurance is provided for trips purchased with Velocity points on the Velocity Platinum card, which could prove handy if I'm crediting to Velocity. Would have definitely been nice to see slightly higher limits for travel inconvenience cover and trip cancellation on the Velocity Platinum card. Does someone else want to check that I've not missed anything with the insurances?

Other Benefits
Velocity Platinum: Unlimited companion fares when purchasing VA flexi J fares
Platinum Reserve: none?

I travel alone 99.999% of the time, so this is of very little value to me.

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As you can see, for my needs - not really much difference between the two, all things considered. Not 100% sure that I've covered everything, but I think I've got all the big stuff. About the only thing I've not mentioned that I can think of is that the Velocity Platinum card is chipped, which could prove useful in Europe (I found that many shop assistants seem to believe non-chipped cards are immoral and possibly fattening).

Would love to hear peoples' opinions!

 

[lovetravellingoz]

As you can see, for my needs - not really much difference between the two, all things considered. Not 100% sure that I've covered everything, but I think I've got all the big stuff.

I like long -haul in J, and so for me the answer is a direct earn Amex to leverage off promos and bonus partners. Citibank FFL Hold when they do not take Amex.
Redeem mainly on *A via SQ.

This gives me the most amount of J travel per $ spent on CC, with some nice other benefits include (free flight and proper Insurance).


I think for you to work out what is best for youthat it is vital that you look at what points will get you in various FF programs as not all programs are equal.

Availibity is also a factor. I find SQ and Thai quite good with J availabilityfor when and where I wish to fly.

 

[docjames]

You need to factor in burn rates on the FF points. Perhaps on some "basic" routes / Classic awards:

SYD-MEL, CBR-PER, SYD-LHR, BNE-LAX (to mix it up a bit rather than all ex-SYD) would be a few suggestions. Perhaps in Y and J.

 

[notzac]

You need to factor in burn rates on the FF points. Perhaps on some "basic" routes / Classic awards:

SYD-MEL, CBR-PER, SYD-LHR, BNE-LAX (to mix it up a bit rather than all ex-SYD) would be a few suggestions. Perhaps in Y and J.

That's a really good point. My main aim for award travel would be to get my rear end planted in a J seat from MEL to places like SIN, HKG, FRA, SFO and NYC .. Asia will hopefully have coverage with Velocity via SQ, but maybe it will be easier to get rewards directly with SQ instead? My primary concern would be xferring miles and then losing them because the reward seat had vanished between starting and finishing the points transfer.

This is a difficult decision! :-/

 

[Keith009]

Generally I don't like to put all my eggs in one basket and prefer the Platinum Charge Card or Platinum Reserve Card for their wider choices of airline partners than the cards that are tied to one particular airline. None of the airline co-branded cards on the market are thus far offering any compelling reason for me to alter my line of thought.

Asia will hopefully have coverage with Velocity via SQ, but maybe it will be easier to get rewards directly with SQ instead?

I'd be interested to see what the deal is with Velocity and SQ. SQ isn't exactly known for being generous with premium awards. You can only redeem whY awards with VS Flying Club. Members of other *A FFPs can only redeem premium awards on regional aircraft or the older long haul products on B772ER/B744 aircraft - same deal with members of Krisflyer who are looking to redeem Saver awards. Glitches aside, you have to be a member of Krisflyer and redeem at Standard Award level for J/F awards on A380 and 77W aircraft.

With the Platinum Reserve at least you have a choice of transferring AMEX points to Krisflyer. Although Krisflyer Standard Awards are about as expensive as QFF Classic Awards, at least SQ Standard Awards book into revenue fare buckets (D or A for premium) and thus have far better availability than QF Classic Awards. But do note that Krisflyer miles expire after 3 years (you can pay to extend them for a maximum of 6 months IIRC) so do a thorough availability check prior to transferring.