Non-Churning Credit Card Recommendations

Hi Guys,

Most credit card posts on here are focused on churning to get the most value but I was wondering if anyone has recommendations on one card that I can put all my purchases through and forget about anything else.

I am looking for a singular credit card that I can keep indefinitely that meets the as many of the following criteria as possible:

  • earns points
  • no international transaction fee
  • complimentary travel insurance
  • other complimentary insurances such as purchase protection and extended warranty
  • annual fee pays itself off each year (via points or spending targets)
  • good user experience in app

Obviously the perfect credit card doesn’t exist so not all criteria need to be met.

I will pay off the credit card in full every month so I don’t care too much about balance transfers and interest rates and that kind of thing.

I currently have a CBA Low Fee Gold that I keep for the travel insurance, a Citibank premier for the recent signup offer, and all of my savings in a ubank account. I spend about $3000 a month (including rent) on an $80k salary.

Thanks for the help!

Comments

  • +2

    Hmmm you should consider the Bankwest More Platinum CC or Macquarie Platinum CC. They have the lowest annual fees while still offering points programs and no int'l transaction fees (plus others features you listed).

    If you wanted a simple no annual fee, no int'l transaction fee card (but with no points program) - most peeps have the Latitude 28 Global or Bankwest Zero Platinum.

    • +1

      Press F for the newer ozbargainers who missed out on the 28degrees or Cole’s price’s protection cards.

  • -6

    $120k below average. That's a shame

  • +1

    Good Question! I've been wanting to know this as well.

    My research has found a few cards that have no foreign exchange fee and earn points that are worthwhile. (and also looking here https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/cards_with_no_overseas_tra…)

    When I say worthwhile, I consider it a minimum 1% return on their preferred redemption method. By that, I mean if you redeem Qantas points to buy Colesworth gift cards, that's plain dumb and not the preferred way to redeem points. In that metric, CBA points, BW more points, and Macquarie points have very bad returns.

    I currently have a Bankwest Qantas world MasterCard (AF $270), and about $3000 avg monthly spending earns me 36k Qantas points with free insurance and warranties.
    The best part is I can earn 1 point per dollar up to $5k each month. This is important because I use the Card through Beemit to pay my Strata & Council fees every quarter. My usual monthly spend is about $2000, and the quarters with those fees go up to more than that.

    But the AF is a bit steep, so I might switch to a Coles Platinum Master card if they start supporting Google Pay.

    • Yeah I’ve been using my CBA card for the travel insurance while gaining points with my Citi card but I was looking to change things up after I get my sign up bonus.

      Might get Coles card for rewards and keep the CBA low fee gold for no international transaction fees plus travel insurance.

      The CBA ultimate rewards card looks promising because it is free with a 2k spend per month. However it seems CBA rewards are among the worst.

      • Yes, the CBA Ultimate Qantas card only gets .4pt per dollar on domestic spending which is quite bad for a Qantas earning card.

        • Oh ok thanks for pointing that out, I was getting ready to pull the trigger on the CBA one but I didn’t realise it was only 0.4 points/$ for most transactions.

          • @Toblerone: What did you end up getting?

            • @FirstWizard: I still haven’t applied but I’ve been leaning towards the coles mastercard for everyday purchases and just keeping my cba low fee gold just for the travelling benefits.

  • +1

    Honestly earning points through credit cards is a bit of a waste of time if you're not going for the churn.
    If you're looking to get cheap international transactions something like the Coles rewards mastercard has $0 transaction fees and is only $99

  • -4

    HSBC debit card

  • +1

    CBA Ultimate looks like it hits all of those criteria if you can definitely hit the $2.5k per month to avoid the monthly fee (although TBH not sure what if any extra insurances it has).

  • Bendigo Ready - check this one, I'm thinking to get it myself, so can't say about "user experience" from your list. No points, but a very low credit limit for a Platinum card, and no fee ever with no hoops to jump through each month/year.

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