NEW CommBank Ultimate Awards credit card - No International Fee's + Rewards + Yearly Fee Waivers.

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Commonwealth Bank

• 

  JacobHarvey on 16/01/2020 - 23:12

  +8

  CBA has one of the worst conversion rates out there for their points program. Their awards points convert to qantas points at a rate of 2.5 awards points to 1 QFF point

  Most of their credit card products are seriously noncompetitive (i.e. complete garbage) compared to other banks and will only really make sense to those who have a mortgage package with them (e.g. Wealth package) that will remove the annual fee entirely

  You can read the full list of points conversion rates here: https://www.pointhacks.com.au/credit-cards/commonwealth-bank…

  Also if you want QF points at that terrible 2.5:1 conversion rate it seems you have to also pay them $30/year extra for the privilege https://www.commbank.com.au/credit-cards/awards-program.html…

  The $420 annual fee for the card if you don't spend $2500 every month is also absurd considering its terrible points earn rate. Also be aware that most 'black tier' cards from other banks (their VISA Signature or Mastercard World cards) come with Insurances, lounge access, better points rates and lower annual fees (and their annual fees are also waived if you have a mortgage package with them)

  • 

    E5TOQUE on 17/01/2020 - 07:09

    Thanks very much for this.

    I personally use Velocity over Qantas, but the conversion rate appears to be the same at 2.5 CommBank Awards to 1 Velocity Point.

    Some people don’t want to have multiple credit cards, as come the time to apply for loans like a mortgage having multiple cards with multiple credit limits is seen as a risk and you will be asked to trim it down.

    So if you are after a single point earning card with no international fee to my knowledge it’s only these ones?

    CommBank Ultimate Awards

    1 Commbank Awards Point = 0.4 Velocity Points
    $35 monthly fee ($420 total per year) (waived if you spend $2500 per statement period)

    • 3 CommBank Awards on international purchases
    • 2 CommBank Awards on groceries and fuel
    • 1 CommBank awards on everything else

    ANZ Rewards Adventures

    1 ANZ Rewards Point = 0.50 Velocity
    $225 annual fee + $65 additional card holder fee

    • 1.5 ANZ Rewards per $1 up to $2000
    • 0.5 ANZ Rewards per $1 over $2000
    • x2 Virgin Australia domestic lounge passes
    • x1 Virgin Australia domestic flight (60 days notice required)

    Coles Rewards MasterCard

    1 Flybuy Point = 0.435 Velocity Points
    $99 Annual Fee

    • 2 Flybuys Points per $1 spent
    • 1 Flybuy = 0.435 Velocity Points

    Macquarie Platinum

    $99 annual fee

    • 1 Qantas Point per $1 up to $1000 per statement period
    • 0.5 Qantas Points per $1 remainder of statement period
      Or
    • 1.25 Macquarie Points per $1 spent.
    • 

      E5TOQUE on 17/01/2020 - 07:29

      So assuming you have monthly expenses budget of $3000. Of which $1000 on groceries ($250 a week to cover breakfast, lunch and dinner)
      $280 on fuel ($80 a week)

      ---

      CommBank Ultimate

      • $0 Monthly Fee (due to meeting spend requirements)
      • 4280 CommBank Points = 1712 Velocity Points

      ANZ Rewards Adventures

      • $225 Annual Fee + $65 Additional Card Holder Fee
      • 3500 ANZ Points = 1750 Velocity Points

      Coles Rewards

      • $99 Annual Fee
      • 6000 Flybuys Points = 2610 Velocity Points

      ---

      So the Commbank Ultimate card seems to be very similar to the ANZ Rewards Adventures card:

      • The same points earning capacity
      • Travel Insurance
      • Price Guarantee
      • Purchase Security
      • Extended Warranty

      The differences occur where:

      • CommBank Ultimate has no monthly/yearly fee

      • Commbank Ultimate gives you access to international Loungekey lounges.

      • ANZ charge you $225 annual fee + $65 additional card holder fee

      • ANZ gives you x1 Virgin Australia domestic flight (60 days notice)
      • ANZ Gives you x2 Virgin Australia domestic lounge passes.

      You could argue that the annual fee and additional card holder fee are essentially paying for that flight and the lounge passes.

      So they are quite similar

      • 

        squarepants on 17/01/2020 - 08:00

        You're not really comparing apples with apples with the comparative credit cards you have provided above though. At a $420 AF range, the Commbank card should be regarded as a premium level / 'black tier' level as JacobHarvey has pointed out above.

        So really, you should be comparing it with cards such as the ANZ Frequent Flyer Black (https://www.anz.com.au/personal/credit-cards/frequent-flyer/…) / ANZ Rewards Black Card (https://www.anz.com.au/personal/credit-cards/rewards/black/). Both of which provide significantly higher return on points as compared to the Commbank card.

        ANZ FF Black: 1 QFF ppd up to $7,500
        ANZ Rewards Black: 2 ANZ ppd up to $5,000 or 1 Velocity ppd (potentially more with Velocity transfer bonuses throughout the year)

        • 

          E5TOQUE on 17/01/2020 - 08:24

          +1

          @squarepants: But that card doesn’t waive international fees.
          And I’m trying to compare with Velocity.

          So I’m comparing apples to apples in the sense that it’s a points earning (Velocity) no international fee card.

          The $420 annual fee only effects people who spend below $2500 a month on their cards. If you are over it’s a non issue.

          • 

            squarepants on 17/01/2020 - 08:29

            @E5TOQUE: Ah, my bad. Were you after a card without any international fees? Fair enough. The ANZ FF Black and ANZ Reward Black do have international fees, absolutely right.

            It is worth noting though that the ANZ Travel Ad card usually comes with a sign-up bonus chunk of velocity points. It varies between 60-80,000 i believe. that would require a large spend on the Commbank card to break even with the sign-up bonus.

• 

  JimmyF on 16/01/2020 - 23:30

  +3

  Do I have it right? Assuming you spend $2500 per 55 day statement period, you essentially have a zero fee, awards point earning credit card that has no international fees and travel insurance.

  No you don't, a statement period is a month, aka you get a statement each month. You do have a 55 day interest free period though. Not the same thing.

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 17/01/2020 - 04:02

    *Up to 55 days interest free. It can be much less, average is a little over 30 days, it just depends on when you buy things, can be 3 ish weeks at the worst.

    • 

      JimmyF on 17/01/2020 - 09:54

      True, but we're splitting hairs, in the case that the OP is referring to, the 55 day period is the interest free period, not the statement period.

• 

  melbourne guy on 16/01/2020 - 23:51

  +3

  "Not eligible for Wealth Package benefits". Grrrrr so looks like I can't get a free upgrade from Diamond :(

  Actually, upon looking at the card closer, I would prefer 1.25 awards points on everything rather than the varying points categorising on this card.

• 

  CyberMurning on 17/01/2020 - 08:51

  +4

  Doesn't looks good at all

• 

  Ryk on 18/01/2020 - 19:59

  If Commbank is the answer to your product or service, you're asking the wrong question.