Choosing credit card - Latitude 28 vs Westpac Altitude Black

quanticism on 25/12/2020 - 00:07

I've been using a debit card up until now but I'm curious about how a credit card "works" and the ecosystem around it so I figured I'd get one. Also read that it's more secure.

I'm currently looking at these two:

The Latitude 28 Degrees card has no annual fees and seems really good for travel. But the most attractive feature for my use case is its Shopper's Protection which lasts 12 months. The main con I'm reading is the 0.95 BPay fee and no altitude points on purchase.

The Westpac Altitude Black is only under consideration because I can get it without having to pay the annual fee. Its main perk to me seems to be gaining altitude points. I'm not a big spender so I doubt I can spend enough in the first 3 months to get those 120k-150k points. This card also has a price guarantee cover but it's way more strict that the Latitude's conditions:

  • 21 day limit vs 1 year
  • within 25km of the store you purchased from (lol)
  • price difference must be greater than $75

The Westpac Altitude Black also has a minimum credit limit of 15k but I'm not sure if there's any negative impacts to having too much access to credit when applying for a loan, etc in the future.

So I suppose I should go for the Latitude 28 card? While I don't spend much on everyday goods, I do move larger sums into stock brokers though. Is that eligible for gaining Altitude Points? If so, should I should get both cards and use the Latitude 28 for every day goods that might drop in price and the Westpac Altitude for other things?

Are there any other factors I should be considering?

Poll Options expired

  • 6
    Latitude 28 Degrees
  • 1
    Westpac Altitude Black
  • 2
    Both
  • 3
    None
Financial

Related Stores

Latitude Financial
Latitude Financial
Westpac
Westpac

Comments

  • MeesusEff on 25/12/2020 - 00:38
    +1

    Are you sure Shoppers Protection is still offered? AFAIK it has been grandfathered (the epic one anyway) and they are not offering to new or existing customers that didn't opt to have it activated.

    • quanticism on 25/12/2020 - 00:53

      I definitely don't see it on Latitude's main page. I do see it here though under "Product Disclosure Statements - Existing customers". It's optional now and costs a premium based on your monthly closing balance - so if everything is paid off, it's still free.

      • payton on 25/12/2020 - 01:11
        +6

        Existing customers

  • plmko on 25/12/2020 - 02:16

    Bit of fail reading the PDS there.

    • quanticism on 25/12/2020 - 02:29
      -2

      I was conscious of their usage of the term "existing" but I couldn't find how they defined it. Without a reference to a date, it's meaningless. If I get the card now, then I'm now an "existing" customer. Or am I missing something here?

      • MeesusEff on 25/12/2020 - 03:08
        +1

        Umm what? It means for people who had already opted in when it was available. Even the people who had the card for years but didn't activate Shoppers Protection at the time were unable to once the plan got grandfathered.

        Coles Mastercard used to have similar and that's gone too, but they have their own version now which is nowhere near as good.

        • quanticism on 25/12/2020 - 11:56
          -1

          I see. That makes sense but from a purely English perspective, that meaning was not immediately obvious to me from just the term "existing customer". Given how obvious it seems to other people, I suppose this type of usage must be common.

  • spal on 25/12/2020 - 08:37
    +1

    I have both. Use 28 degrees for international travel and overseas purchases. I have the shopper’s protection and pay it off before statement is generated. Use direct debit to pay off the balance, so no payment fees is paid. Never claimed shoppers protection, being OzBr, I don’t buy any big ticket items unless it is endorsed here as a good price.
    I have free Westpac Black card too. Use it for everything else. You make a good point about credit limit reducing your borrowing capacity. But you can always cancel it, and get it after your lending has settled. I did the same. They even transferred my points from the previous card to the new card.

    • quanticism on 25/12/2020 - 12:48
      +1

      Cool, I think I'll do the same. I'll start with the Westpac Black card and get the 28 degrees before international travel.

  • Ughhh on 25/12/2020 - 10:17

    While I don't spend much on everyday goods, I do move larger sums into stock brokers though. Is that eligible for gaining Altitude Points?

    Stock brokers as in Selfwealth, Nabtrade etc? Sounds like cash advance if so.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join