Credit Cards

Totally agree, I spent several years only using my points to upgrade to business class when flying back and forth to the US. You just have to make sure you get the right class ticket when booking economy, I think from memory it was 'J' but now it might be different. A good booking agent can sort that out for people.

 

yeah i just got an upgrade for my wife SYD to Abu Dhabi with Virgin. Its quite a convoluted process, well with Virgin anyways. Not only did I have to have the right class ticket (Flexi fare) but i had to have the right plane (777) on the right day (Thursdays and Saturdays)

 

Currently, the best bang for the buck credit card is current offer of Virgin Australia Platinum American Express card. You get a bonus of MASSIVE 110000 Velocity points if you apply and is approved by 30 September 2015, and spend $1000AUD within first 3 months of Card Membership.

You also get a free Virgin Australia domestic flight as well annually on selected locations, not to mention 2 free Virgin Australia Lounge passes annually as well.

It is a really good deal. The 110K bonus point bonus is only available via referral though.

You can apply it through the link HERE


Highlights

-110,000 extra Velocity Points when you apply by 30 September 2015, are approved and spend $1000 on your new1 Card in the first 3 months of Card Membership

You can earn up to 3 Velocity Points per $1 spent on eligible purchases:

3 Velocity Points per dollar spent at
- Virgin Australia
- Tens of thousands of restaurants in Australia

2 Velocity Points per dollar spent at
- Airlines, accommodation, major cruise and tour operators paid directly or through travel agencies
- Spend in foreign currency when overseas and online

1 Velocity Point per dollar spent
- All other providers, excluding those below
- Insurances offered by American Express

0.5 Velocity Points per dollar spent
- Utilities which are gas, water and electricity providers
- Insurance offered by companies other than American Express
- Telecommunication providers which includes goods and services purchased from phone, mobile and internet service providers
- Government bodies including the Australian Taxation Office, Australia Post, federal/state and local government bodies

Enjoy a complimentary Virgin Australia return domestic flight every anniversary year after your first Card spend in that year

Enjoy 2 complimentary single entry passes to the domestic Virgin Australia lounge each anniversary year at selected airports

Complimentary Domestic & International Travel Insurance

Card Type:Credit Card

Annual Fee:$349AUD p.a.

Supplementary Cards:You're entitled to add Supplementary Cards to your account with no annual fee6 so you can build your Points balance faster

NOTE: I do get 20K bonus for every successful applicant via this link.

 

Guy's what about a good interest free period credit card that I could use while depositing all income to offset

 

That Amex card looks pretty good. Problem is most of the places i spend either dont take amex or charge 3% surcharge. A heap of the others are in the 0.5 point category Maybe worth getting just for the 110k free points and the annual flight (depending where u live, for me this flight is worth more than the annual fee)

 

My research into this has found some rather disturbing things. Points not being paid (or reduced points) from some cards for a variety of things like shire rates, insurance, telecommunications, payments to the government. ie a lot of the things property investors may pay for

 

Well the card doesn't earn the most points for government charges, telco payments etc but you do get 110K upfront which is a lot of points. I guess you need to weigh between the benefits and costs.

 

So the card is basically pointless.

( sorry - never miss an opportunity for a good pun )

 

Thats rather a stretch for use of the word disturbing. Of course you need to read the T&C's for each card. With amex, you often get 0.5 point per dollar paid to the ATO. You may get the fee paid to amex tax deductible. Whether this is worth it or not, depends on how you redeem the points.

 

A once off 110k points is bugger all. I clocked up 720,000 points last FY.

 

What is 110k points worth? What does it get you?

 

We use the Commonwealth Platinum awards credit card that we get with out homeloan package. We get two cards one Mastercard and one Amex, both linked to the same account.
I like it because we get 2.5 awards points using the Amex card. However if a retailer does not accept Amex I just use the Mastercard. We get free Travel insurance with the card.

When we have enough points I usually get a Coles gift card and use it on groceries.
Commbank also have a Diamond card, but the limit has to be around $12k, which I don't want.
https://www.commbank.com.au/personal/credit-cards/awards/platinum.html

 

The really disturbing part was looking at the Virgin High Flyer card. Looks great until you read the T&C. So vague what you actually get points for, including the ''áll other transactions'' part! Also insurance?

7. Uncapped Velocity Points offer is for Eligible Transactions only. Eligible Transaction means any Retail Purchase which is made by the use of a Card or any other means permitted by us, excluding (but not limited to) Transactions by way of Cash Advances, Balance Transfers, Special Promotions, fees, purchases of foreign currency and travellers cheques, foreign exchange and ATM/Bank charges, interest charges, finance charges, government charges, payments to the Australian Taxation Office, insurance charges, payments to loan accounts (mortgage etc), purchases in excess of limits on the Account, transactions made in operating a business and if the Account is more than $10,000 in credit only, all other transactions

 

2 business class seats from perth to bali return.

 

I like the mozo.com.au site to compare cards for ff points.

 

Fine print of cards seems to be the issue these days. This purchase = cash advance, this one =no points!!

 

You either must be spending a lot of money, or pay your BAS bill via credit card etc.

 

Using Sydney as a reference:

110K Velocity points could get you:

- 1 return economy ticket from Sydney - Los Angeles/Abu Dhabi, or
- 1 way Business Sydney - Los Angeles/Abu Dhabi ticket.

or you can convert 110K Velocity Points to 81481 Singapore Krisflyer miles, which would get you on Singapore Airlines:
- 1-way A380 Suites Class Sydney - Singapore - Hong Kong / Tokyo
- 1-way A380 Business Class Sydney - Singapore - European Cities (eg London, Paris, Frankfurt, Barcelona, etc)

There are a lot more combinations but you would need to check the airlines website for this.

 

The "all other transaction" exception only applies if you put your credit card account to more than $10000 in credit. You did not spend on credit card but somehow put $10000 in cash into the account. This is very unlikely for any personal spend.

 

Just to give you an idea. I got the card 2 weeks ago. I spend $1000 on it and I already saw 110K points being transferred to my account .....