Recommend Me a Credit Card

StonedWizard on 03/03/2016 - 06:26
Last edited 03/03/2016 - 17:53

Hello all,

I currently have an Amex/Mastercard Platinum card issued via Commonwealth bank but i'm finding it to be not great value. The generation of points is good but i'm paying $250 a year for it and don't use any feature of it as I find theres too many hidden T&C's.

e.g. I would rather spend $200 on travel insurance and have a 0 excess policy compared with commonwealth where you have to pay $100 excess each claim.

Can anyone recommend me a good value credit card, preferably something which has an awards component? I spend around $1500 a month on the card and pay it off in full.

I earn about 40k a year if that helps.

Thank you.

Financial

Comments

  • wako on 03/03/2016 - 08:15

    take your pick

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/cat/financial

    • wako on 03/03/2016 - 08:16

      anz black is my favourite card.

      Ill be sad to cancel it before I have to pay the $299 hopefully they waive it

      I enjoy the free international Lounges with just showing your card.. So good..

      • StonedWizard on 03/03/2016 - 18:28

        Sadly I don't meet the income requirements for the ANZ Black.

  • tomleonhart on 03/03/2016 - 08:22
    +1

    Go with the ANZ black. Then cancel it.

    • StonedWizard on 03/03/2016 - 18:28

      Sadly I don't meet the income requirements for the ANZ Black.

  • pantsparty on 03/03/2016 - 09:11
    -1

    Agreed with others. This is the best deal at the moment. Just cancel it before the first year is up to avoid paying annual fee:

    https://www.anz.com.au/personal/credit-cards/rewards/black/

    Or if you accumulate Qantas points: https://www.anz.com.au/personal/credit-cards/frequent-flyer/…

    • StonedWizard on 03/03/2016 - 18:29

      Sadly I don't meet the income requirements for the ANZ Black.

  • aurotaro on 03/03/2016 - 10:34
    +1

    Call Citibank and see if you can get on their signature credit card annual fee waived for life?

    Correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think I've seen better deals than that… been on it for about 2 years now, haven't paid a cent in fees and received almost $1000-1200 worth of gift cards in that period along with 55 days interest free and a bunch of 6 other insurances inc travel. Also manage to score some nice wines in upscale restaurants using the credit card….

    FYI, for all international travel, I use 28 degrees for credit and citibank plus debit.

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/153092
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/175099

    • minty on 03/03/2016 - 16:33

      I've got it ages ago and only used it once or twice to try it.
      Does it still take forever for the spending to appear on online statement? It's one reason I'm still with Westpac as any debt shows immediately under "Pending" and once identified it'll update to reflect it.

      • aurotaro on 04/03/2016 - 07:38

        About 2-4 working days usually. I don't see too much of a problem with that. I get text messages and email alerts for any transaction over $100 immediately so it keeps me secure in that way.

      • rickb on 06/03/2016 - 20:51

        Transactions on the Citibank cards now appear immediately.

  • chumlee on 03/03/2016 - 18:48
    +1

    www.priceline.com.au/amex

    • ocoolio on 06/03/2016 - 08:59

      Thanks, I didn't know about this. Applied :)

    • StonedWizard on 04/03/2016 - 05:55

      Oh damn I forgot to use the referral. I wonder if I can cancel and reapply or get them to add on the referral.

      • Holysmoke on 04/03/2016 - 07:27

        I suggest calling them immediately to check.

      • illumination on 04/03/2016 - 12:08

        You probably can. Which card did you sign up for? But yes call up immediately to "withdraw" then quickly re-apply - not sure whether this will be considered an additional enquiry on your credit file though.

  • illumination on 04/03/2016 - 12:26
    +2

    Sure.

    It depends on what you're after. I'm not a credit card travel insurance expert but I'm probably a general credit card expert, so I can't really advise/recommend a card specifically for travel insurance (that has a $0 excess). What you have to keep in mind though is that travel insurance may have a $0 excess for one "category" of claims but not for another. For example, $0 excess if you're claiming for a delayed flight, but $100 excess for a medical claim.

    You need to make a decision as how proactive you are going to be with credit cards. If you're going to be 10/10 proactive, this means you'll be regularly changing cards to take advantage of promotional deals that you see appear, like the ANZ Black everyone has been recommending above. I understand you've said you don't qualify for that, and technically you don't qualify for the ANZ Platinum either, but you're not far off and you might get approved for it. I believe the income requirement is 50k for the ANZ Platinum. If you have any other income generating assets such as stocks (dividends), property (rental income), significant interest from savings, then this might get you "close enough" to the 50k.

    If you want a long-term card, I highly recommend the AMEX Platinum Edge (the one chumlee posted above). If I could recommend only one card to have in Australia, it would definitely be this card.

    • $195 Annual Fee
    • Free Domestic flight every card anniversary year (this offsets/is greater value than the annual fee alone)
    • 3pts/$ at major supermarkets (Coles/Woolies)
    • 2pts/$ at petrol stations
    • 1pt/$ everywhere else
    • Rewards points never expire as long as your account stays active
    • Rewards points can be transferred to Frequent Flyer programs like KrisFlyer (Singapore Airlines), Enrich Miles (Malaysia Airlines), Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific), Air New Zealand, Virgin Velocity, Emirates Skywards, Thai Airways - which means you can redeem flights on these airlines + any of their partners
    • Travel Insurance (which you said you were looking for!)
    • Extended Warranty

    The Priceline AMEX offer is the best offer for that card, followed by a referral link, but I would recommend signing up for it via Priceline (first year annual fee waived).

    The biggest problem though is I think you're still under the required income for this card, which I believe is also around 50k.

    Given your income limitation, to be honest you're quite limited with the kinds of cards you can apply for. The best you can do for now is probably ANZ Rewards/ANZ Frequent Flyer which has the first year annual fee waived and 25k bonus points upon reaching the minimum spend criteria. The only other cards I can think of that gives you rewards points without an annual fee is Coles Mastercard/HSBC, and I think you qualify for both. You won't qualify for the Citibank Signature minimum income requirements, but that would be another alternative (only if you can get it for no annual fee).

  • Helmutson on 06/03/2016 - 14:18

    Not sure if the OP belongs to any professional bodies but some of them offer the AMEX platinum edge at a discounted rate of $149 ongoing with the first year waved also. Just for.your information.

    • illumination on 06/03/2016 - 20:17

      Yes true, but I would say the Priceline offer is better. Then maybe you could transfer it after a year? Not sure what the process is.

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