What Card next

[Clive005]

So with our new obsession and great information from this great resource, I received my Velocity Amex and my wife is awaiting her's. It seem there are a lot of bills that I can't pay with American Express and I believe there can be some charges involved when using it. Anyways I was planning on getting another card what would the good people here advise as the best card to get for another points bonus and best point conversion rate

Thanks for the feedback

 

[vetrade]

Depends on whether you want to stick to Velocity or whether Qantas FF points are also on your radar, Clive. Suggest you check out the major bank's websites for their current bonus offers - ANZ have one for 50K points ATM, I think and their Platinum Cards allow you to convert to points/miles for several airline FF programs. Plus you should read up on the various threads on here at AFF.

 

[ozpom]

Which bank are you with? Westpac offer an card branded Altitude - you get a VISA and Amex card which offers flexibility of using either or.

 

[burmans]

Depends on whether you want to stick to Velocity or whether Qantas FF points are also on your radar, Clive. Suggest you check out the major bank's websites for their current bonus offers - ANZ have one for 50K points ATM, I think and their Platinum Cards allow you to convert to points/miles for several airline FF programs. Plus you should read up on the various threads on here at AFF.

Suggest you check the current promotions form here. It's not really quite as simple as whats the best card as a number of factors apply
- Which FF progrems you belong to
- Size of your spend (i.e. low its hard to justify a high fee card even with a better earn rate)
- Profile of your spend (different cards have perks but this value differs)
- Whether you have ATO bills

For a straight Visa I think Citibank Signature is a good card, high earn rate but not a huge fee (in fact can sometimes be got with no fee) and a decent signon bonus. But you should check the promos thread as this changes month by month!

 

[Jack_OC]

Often the cards with the best intro bonus point offers are not the best to use on an ongoing basis. There are of course exceptions, but for the most part when I've taken out a card for bonus points, I've rarely used it and cancelled before the first anniversary. Be warned that you don't want to do this too often though, as it will affect your credit score.

For ongoing usage, I have the following:

AmEx Platinum Edge - $195 per year but includes a free domestic rtn flight with VA each year (to selected destinations), which is almost always worth more than the annual fee. Earns 3 pts per $ at supermarkets, 2 at petrol stations and 1 everywhere else. Importantly, these points transfer 1:1 to about 7 different FF programs (including VA and SQ). I only use this card for supermarkets and petrol. IMHO, everyone interested in earning non-QF points should have this card!

Westpac Altitude Black - this package comes with an Amex and a MasterCard. I pay $150 per year, but I think the standard price is $395. The Amex earns 3 pts per dollar everywhere it's accepted, but the transfer rate to FF programs is 2:1 (ie effective FF earn rate is 1.5pt per $). I try to use this for all domestic spend other than supermarkets and petrol. Not everywhere accepts Amex though, and the MasterCard only earns 0.625 FF pts per $, so I never use the MasterCard. If you have to pay the full fee for this card, it's probably only worth it if you have a high spend on Amex.

Citibank Signature Visa - I have it fee free for life, but not sure if that offer is still available. Earns an effective 1 pt per $ domestically, so I use it everywhere Amex is not accepted. It's also great for overseas spend, as it earns an effective 2.66 FF pts per $. Again a highly recommended card, especially if you can get it for a low or zero fee.

 

[burmans]

Often the cards with the best intro bonus point offers are not the best to use on an ongoing basis. There are of course exceptions, but for the most part when I've taken out a card for bonus points, I've rarely used it and cancelled before the first anniversary. Be warned that you don't want to do this too often though, as it will affect your credit score.

For ongoing usage, I have the following:

AmEx Platinum Edge - $195 per year but includes a free domestic rtn flight with VA each year (to selected destinations), which is almost always worth more than the annual fee. Earns 3 pts per $ at supermarkets, 2 at petrol stations and 1 everywhere else. Importantly, these points transfer 1:1 to about 7 different FF programs (including VA and SQ). I only use this card for supermarkets and petrol. IMHO, everyone interested in earning non-QF points should have this card!

Westpac Altitude Black - this package comes with an Amex and a MasterCard. I pay $150 per year, but I think the standard price is $395. The Amex earns 3 pts per dollar everywhere it's accepted, but the transfer rate to FF programs is 2:1 (ie effective FF earn rate is 1.5pt per $). I try to use this for all domestic spend other than supermarkets and petrol. Not everywhere accepts Amex though, and the MasterCard only earns 0.625 FF pts per $, so I never use the MasterCard. If you have to pay the full fee for this card, it's probably only worth it if you have a high spend on Amex.

Citibank Signature Visa - I have it fee free for life, but not sure if that offer is still available. Earns an effective 1 pt per $ domestically, so I use it everywhere Amex is not accepted. It's also great for overseas spend, as it earns an effective 2.66 FF pts per $. Again a highly recommended card, especially if you can get it for a low or zero fee.

+1 for all of these cards, plus the WBC Krisflyer card for me (no longer available). As it happens I got all of these when they had good signon offers. I also have the Cit Sig as fee free (it wasnt originally but when they were giving out fee free to everyone I threatened to leave).

I agree on the Black, I got fee free first year, when it comes to renew I'll probably walk unless they offer fee discount (I got 50% off the the Krysflyer when I tried this last time).

 

[Clive005]

Thanks all for the replies the platinum edge looks like the go for earn rate, since I have just taken out a Amex velocity I may have to wait for this one, I think the Virgin high flyer is the pick atm

 

[AviationNZ]

AmEx Platinum Edge - $195 per year but includes a free domestic rtn flight with VA each year (to selected destinations), which is almost always worth more than the annual fee. Earns 3 pts per $ at supermarkets, 2 at petrol stations and 1 everywhere else. Importantly, these points transfer 1:1 to about 7 different FF programs (including VA and SQ). I only use this card for supermarkets and petrol. IMHO, everyone interested in earning non-QF points should have this card!

+1

Find this an excellent everyday card with great rewards and the annual cost is covered in the free flight.

 

[burmans]

+1

Find this an excellent everyday card with great rewards and the annual cost is covered in the free flight.

Would like to comment on the I only use for supermarket spend bit though. At supermarkets or via the Entertainment Book you can then buy gift cards for petrol, movies, Myers, DJs, JB Hi Fi, Bunnings etc, meaning you 3ppd for quite a few places more than just supermarkets.

 

[Jack_OC]

Thanks all for the replies the platinum edge looks like the go for earn rate, since I have just taken out a Amex velocity I may have to wait for this one, I think the Virgin high flyer is the pick atm

I don't think you necessarily do have to wait. Myself and my wife recently got the Velocity Amex despite already having Platinum Edge. The general consensus is that Amex aren't exactly choosy about handing out cards!

Would like to comment on the I only use for supermarket spend bit though. At supermarkets or via the Entertainment Book you can then buy gift cards for petrol, movies, Myers, DJs, JB Hi Fi, Bunnings etc, meaning you 3ppd for quite a few places more than just supermarkets.

That's true. Personally, I only bother with Wish gift cards through the entertainment book, which I use mostly in Woolies. My motivation for that is to get the 5% discount, as obviously I'd earn 3 pts per $ in Woolies anyway, but a knock on benefit is getting 3 pts per $ in Dan Murphy's too. I don't shop enough in the other places to make it worthwhile to get gift cards for them, but obviously others might.