What credit card to use when Amex not accepted?

[pottsy]

I have an Amex Qantas Ultimate card and also a Citibank Premier credit card (for when Amex is not accepted). The Citibank annual fee has increased over the last year and I feel is no longer worth it. SO looking for a replacement. I am considering the:

Qudos Bank Visa platinum Credit Card - $189

Qantas Everyday Money Card - $99

BOQ Specialist Platinum Card - $0

Bendigo Bank Qantas Platinum Card - $14

Obviously all have greater or lesser points per dollar spend. I wondered however, if anyone else had faced similar decision recently and the choice they made? Also, be grateful to hear any and all thoughts/wisdom re: this issue please?

 

[kileskus]

My Amex is my main card and the other card I use when Amex not accepted was the Velocity flyer card for a while (since the $149 annual fee is nearly offset by the $129 flight credit) but since I cancelled the Velocity card I've been cycling my second card for bonus points.

The annual fees of cards are usually worth it if you take sign up bonuses and then keep the card for a couple of months to earn some points from spend while you re-build your credit to then cancel it and take out a new card. E.g. Qantas Platinum and Westpac Altitude Platinum have been my most recent second cards, got the sign up points and then cancelled right before the second annual fee hits. If you already have a checking/savings/mortgage account with a bank(s) they might offer you a discounted annual fee on their credit cards which makes those sign up bonuses even more worth it.

I think churning your second card is a good strategy because if you're only using it when Amex isn't accepted then you're not spending enough on it to make the points earn rate useful. The BOQ specialist platinum card has a very poor points earn rate and no sign-up bonus so I would only use that if anticipating a period between being able to get new sign-up offers, or if your income/credit rating is high enough you can keep that as your 'third' card and churn the 'second'.

 

[burneracc]

I think churning your second card is a good strategy because if you're only using it when Amex isn't accepted then you're not spending enough on it to make the points earn rate useful.

+1 on this, there’s also not much point holding 2 expensive cards with a lot of overlap if not churning, as it’s essentially doubling annual fees for not much tangible benefit if you rarely use the second card.

The alternative to churning backup cards is to have a 0 annual fee, low-to-none point earning backup. Bonus points for no foreign transaction costs too, although that’s hard to find nowadays.

There is of course also always debit although that’s no fun.