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Commbank Ultimate Awards Card: Bonus 100K Awards Pts / 70K Qantas Pts ($60) ($6000 Spend in 90 Days, $0 Fee with $2500 Spend)

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Previous Deal extended to 30 September 2023 - although min spend has increased

100,000 bonus CommBank Awards points or 70,000 Qantas Points when you apply for a new CommBank Ultimate Awards credit card by 30 September 2023 and spend $6,000 on eligible purchases using your new card within 90 days of activation.

They have added 2 complimentary lounges this round - Enjoy two complimentary airport lounge passes each calendar year with Mastercard Travel Pass provided by DragonPass to over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide and up to date travel information

Also worth noting the monthly spend to waive the monthly goes up in August - No monthly fee* if you spend at least $2,500 on your Ultimate Awards credit card in your statement period (From 25 August 2023, you’ll need to spend at least $4,000 in your statement period to qualify for no monthly fee for that month)

What you’ll get

  • Choose to earn CommBank Awards or opt-in to earn Qantas Points1 for $30 per year (increasing to $60 per year from 25 August 2023).2
  • Earn up to 3 Awards points or 1.2 Qantas Points for every $1 spent using your Mastercard on eligible purchases, up to $10,000 in a statement period
  • Earn unlimited Awards points or Qantas Points each year
  • Cashback benefits for eligible cardholders through CommBank Rewards in the CommBank app
  • No monthly fee* if you spend at least $2,500 on your Ultimate Awards credit card in your statement period (From 25 August 2023, you’ll need to spend at least $4,000 in your statement period to qualify for no monthly fee for that month)
  • Pay no international transaction fees for purchases you make overseas or online
  • Included international travel insurance, simply activate before you travel
  • Enjoy two complimentary airport lounge passes each calendar year with Mastercard Travel Pass provided by DragonPass to over 1,300 airport lounges worldwide and up to date travel information
  • No additional cardholder fee to share your card with someone else
  • Up to 55 days interest-free on purchases
  • Priceless.com offers and experiences

Related Stores

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closed Comments

        • Looks like the perfect site for me. Thanks heaps. Funnily enough they rate this CommBank card as the best one for Qantas rewards at the moment.

      • there's close to zero chance of you turning it around within 1 statement period and FYI the fee is still charged in cancellation period if the spend requirement is not met

        • +1

          Yep, got my bonus points on 2nd statement. I'm already in my 3rd month.

        • CBA told me fee is not charged if your card is canceled before the next statement period. I might have to rush/spend 4K this period as I have forgot to cancel the card and statement up in 2 days. Assume I can cancel in the next few weeks before next statement period and no fee…. Well that’s What they said.

  • +2

    I agree with the above. No offence to OP but this is isnt the best deal compared to others. 6k spend for 70k bonus isnt that great and commbank have been stingy with their offers in the past

    • What are the others that you mention? Im looking for a card to start my churning journey on and this one looks like the best sign up bonus and cheap fee.

  • Wow lucky I got this card last to be able to do the min spends per month and hopefully get the 70k bonus points credited before late August. I scrape in over the min now, no way I'm doing $4k lol.

    • +4

      $2.5k to $4k is such a huge jump. I can understand maybe $3k but I don't think $4k is reasonable.

  • +18

    For existing holders you can sign up for the 2 free lounge passes at: https://mastercardtravelpass.dragonpass.com

    Worked for me, got the two free. Plus the $32USD access via Lounge Key.

    Got this card to go overseas at the end of the month so happy days.

    • Free travel insurance.
    • 70,000 Qantas points
    • 2 lounge passes ($100 worth)
    • No currency conversion
    • No annual free

    Only outgoing is the $30 Qantas Points fee. If that isn't good value I don't know what is. I'll cancel it when I get back.

    • +2

      you deserve an internet point for this! it worked for me.
      sorry to need to be spoonfed info, but is it 2 free passes per year, or just 2 total?

      • sorry to need to be spoonfed info, but is it 2 free passes per year, or just 2 total?

        Don't want to spoofed you but you can see that information in OP's lengthy description. Hint, it's in bold.

      • Open wide! Here comes the airplane……

        It is per year.

        To gain access to participating airport lounges, you must register your Ultimate card on the Mastercard Travel Pass app or mastercardtravelpass.dragonpass.com, generate a membership QR code and present this along with your boarding pass for validation. You will have two complimentary lounge visits every year, each visit can be used by either the primary cardholder or guest. Guest must always be accompanied by the primary cardholder and cannot use the access on their own.

    • +1

      Nice. Now I can test out the Plaza Premium lounge at Syd International airport on my next fly. I have the unlimited Priority Pass from Citi Prestige, but the available lounge in Sydney (The House) is pretty meh.

    • Can you sell the Lounge passes, or do they last after you cancelled the card?

      Already got Business lounge access, as I booked flights through my Krisflyer points.

      • No. It's staying with your account, non-transferable.

    • Anyone cancel recently and still able to sign up for the free lounge passes?

      • Doubt if you can. You must signup with an valid active MC

        • +1

          Worked for the recent Amazon Mastercard offer so thought it was worth a try

      • I am wondering the reverse, if i cancel the card, is the dragonpass membership immediately void? Does it have to link with the existing saved card?

    • Are we also able to claim 2 lounge passes if we signed up for the credit card months earlier? I haven't been able to claim it today. I imagine it would be available for everyone given that the fees will be increased for everyone.

  • Signed up last month. $4k a month is prohibitive.
    If it applies to existing customers, which I would be surprised if they could do that, cancellation swiftly incoming (after bonus points arrive obvs).

    • +1

      I spoke to someone about it already. It's going to apply to all customers.

      • Gives me an easy excuse to cancel now 😁

  • Spoke to someone at CBA branch yesterday and they mentioned there are new CC products being announced next week, one with 4K min credit limit that also has Qantas points. Not sure if they confused it with this new 4K min spending limit, but worth waiting to see if there are announcements imo

    • probably talking about this one https://www.commbank.com.au/credit-cards/smart-awards.html?e…

      it's already in their website.

      • yup i just noticed this too as I was browsing around today wondering if there are any other products available on their site that have similar free international transaction fees

      • Thanks i may consider applying this as lower requirements, wish they put in qantas website sooner so i can get another extra 15k pts

  • do buying gift cards go towards the $6000 spend?

    • Yes

  • +6

    Over 1 year I would probably spend an average of 50K total for the entire family, but there are some months in the year where my spending is much below 4K. Whichever dirt-bag at CBA thought this one up should give themselves a real pat on the back for making their 'premium card' much more painful to use. Applying this to previous customers is another scummy move

    Do these geniuses understand the change actually further encourages people to churn and burn this one ASAP then reapply every 12 months for the 70K points (costing CBA more $$$) rather than even consider keeping it for its benefits long term?

    These scumbag organisations have to keep applying these 'enhancements' to their offerings while they continue to post record breaking profits
    https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/cba-posts-r…

    Well at least they've made the correct strategy very clear to me with this card after I use the benefits when visiting family overseas (churn & burn this card ASAP every time)

    • +3

      I'm not sure why you are so mad? They've just given you the catalyst to start really maximising your credit card spend. No point complaining about "loyalty tax", just move around and milk these bastards for as much as possible.

      • After getting the signup offer for a second time, I was planning to use this as my continuous card for a while with effectively no annual fee while churning through other cards due to its travel benefits and extended warranty.

        The increase in the requirement from 2.5K (leaving 20K spending during the year for multiple other signup bonuses) to now 4K spend every month now has completely ruined this plan and I will need to add additional credit card accounts to achieve such benefits (which will still be somewhat inferior to this card)

  • Offer not available on all other card types, existing cards, and switches from other card types and is not available to customers who currently hold, or have held, any activated Awards card types in the 12 months prior as a primary cardholder.

    Asking just incase someone knows. I have a Mastercard Gold with CBA but it does not have any "Awards" as it's a $0 fee Credit Card, would I be eligible for the Qantas Points if I apply for this credit card?

    • +1

      Not by experience but i asked this question via netbank and the answer is yes you are eligible, i applied but got rejected so couldnt tell you real experience

      • Thank you good sir, appreciate it!

    • The Low Fee/Rate Gold cards are a separate promo—at least, that’s my reading of it, and I’m currently churning a Low Fee Gold after churning this Ultimate Awards.

    • I have a low fee/low rate (can never remember which) gold card, applied for this one and got it. The gold card doesn't give award points so it's in a different category

  • is there a way to stop auto renew of Qantas annual fees ? i paid for first year but i want to turn off auto renewal with CBA so that after 1 year they don't automatically renew my Qantas point system.. !

    • Sorry what, Qantas has annual fees?
      Are you referring to Qantas Frequent Flyer or something else?

      • To signup for Qantas frequent flyer there is no fees if you have Woolworths rewards membership but to convert your CommBank points into Qantas frequent flyer point you need to pay annual fees which CommBank deduct from your credit card annually. So my question was how to turn auto-renewal off ?

        • You have to opt-out of Qantas rewards back to CommBank Rewards program.

  • +1

    $6k spend. Yikes!!!

  • -1

    Let's release a card called keeping up with the Joneses

    Wow, crazy conditions on this one.

  • OP please add that normal local purchases are only $1 = 0.8 Qantas Points. The $1 = 1.2 Qantas points is only for international spend (including online).

    • +1

      It's actually 0.4.

      You get 0.8 Qantas Points per $1 spent at major Australian supermarkets, department stores, petrol stations, dining (cafes, restaurants & fast food) and utilities (electricity, gas & water).

      This seems to have been widened since the last deal.

  • I have 28 Degrees card just for international travels and online shopping for OS sellers. Can I get rid of that one and get this card instead to use it both as everyday card and for international travels? Is the exchange rate similar with 28 Degrees card?

    • I'm keen to know too

    • Like many mentioned, this one will have 4000 spend monthly to get fee waived, otherwise it is $35/month. i was planning the same with the card, but now they lifted the min spend, i might churn out.

    • Why would you get rid of 28 degrees? Just keep it open.

  • +1

    Lmao, 4k/month is nasty. I was struggled to count my expenses towards 2.5k. not every payment by card unfortunately

  • I'm pretty sure they designed this card for me and my wife, we use it as a our daily and love it:

    1. We bank with CBA so it's easier to manage
    2. We spend $4-6K / month on it so we can avoid the monthly fee fairly easily
    3. My wife is terrible with managing multiple cards so having one with all the things we need makes things a lot easier (Qantas points, no international transaction fees, travel insurance)
    4. I have a big enough tax bill each year to churn through other credit cards
    • +8

      I still think the jump from $2500 to $4000 is outrageous.

    • +1

      The 0.4 points on normal spend is atrociously bad.

    • re: #4 (your tax bill). can you elaborate if you have a process if you are able to earn Awards points on this in some roundabout way?
      My tax bill is going to be HUUUGGE this year (thanks to high interest rates/tax on interest).
      the T&C's say that payments to the ATO are excluded, so im looking for ways to benefit from paying them…

      • +1

        Buy mastercard gift cards with your rewards CC and use those GC to pay the ATO.

        • interesting take. thanks for the tip.
          have you had any first hand experience in doing this?

          i have 2 main concerns:
          1.) the amount im estimating i'll need to pay the ATO is ~50k… is there a limit on MC gift card amount I can load on one card / how to purchase without looking like a criminal who just 'obtained' someones CC?
          2.) i tried looking for the above answer online and came across this: https://www.coles.com.au/help/account-and-payments/prohibite…
          Namely point #2 - Transactions or transfers to financial institutions.
          Would the ATO be considered a financial institution, therefore prohibited ?

          i used the Coles PP Mastercard GC as an example, hopefully i can purchase it from Coles thus being able to earn 2points per $1 spent

          • +1

            @pizzin: Yes, but my PAYG installment is only around a thousand, so it's achievable.
            Paying off $50K using at least 200x prepaid GC would be a huge chore!
            Even ignoring the number of cards, you are limited as to how many you can find in store, how many you can purchase and get 10% off (when there's a promo), and then you can only make 10 payments per day on ATO.

            • @coxymla: thanks for your reply. very insightful.
              i'll keep looking into it, but i have a strong feeling I will end up with a massive case of CBF and just wimp out and pay as per normal.
              thanks again!

          • @pizzin: Gift cards purchases are treated differently i am sure. I suspect you should do a test purchase of a gift card and see what the outcome is. Dunno how they know, but i suspect its in the way Coles processes the transaction

  • They removed their Diamond Rewards card with this being the only flagship remaining and the Wealth Package still does not apply to this card. Pretty poor.

    • Where does it says wealth package doesn't apply to this one,?

      • Look under the trade off section of this card.

        • That was the case for previous ultimate card but if you check now then that term is not there… Worth a call to bank before applying if you want to add to wealth package.. !

          • @SydBoy: I can confirm the Ultimate Awards fee is waived under the Wealth Package. Smart Awards is not.

            • @shaun-o: i currently hold previous platinum card so i guess i can't change until i complete 1 year get the Qantas bonus points and then may be go for different product…as i don't think they will give me bonus if i change product in few months

    • I'm sure mine is Diamond Rewards.

    • https://www.commbank.com.au/credit-cards/credit-cards-offers…

      Under trade-offs for the Ultimate card it says:

      Not eligible for Wealth Package benefits (coming soon on Wealth Package – watch this space)

      • Great news

        • I can confirm the Ultimate Awards fee is waived under the Wealth Package. Smart Awards is not.

  • +2

    This card is great for churning. Takes a bit of planning to line up the minimum spend, but once you do, you can get 70k Qantas points for only the $30 Qantas fee. (You might get stung for an extra $35 in monthly fees while you wait for the 70k points to be awarded.)

    The killer feature is that the card fee is monthly, not annual like other cards, meaning it’s effectively pro-rata’d. Your goal should be to smash the spend and cancel it ASAP.

  • Poor experience here - I applied for this about a week ago and was conditionally approved straight away. Uploaded payslips etc as requested… heard nothing… now I log in and it says application was not approved. Didn't receive any communication whatsoever so who knows what the problem was. Previously had cards with bigger limits from other banks so not sure.

  • -1

    CommBank not just charge high fees but their reward program is out of touch because if you have 5000 flybuys points then you get $25 off but you need 5700 points on CommBank card to get $25 worth Coles digital gift cards… LoL … someone in CBA is completely out of touch… !

  • Interesting to see the annual QF Points opt-in fee
    Rates & fees is increasing to $60 per year from 25 August 2023 (from $30 per year)

    • They'll see a lot of cancellation in Aug and no much take up the offer after that.

      • Qantas FF scheme is nothing but rip off … unfortunate to signed-up as someone said QFF is worth buying but it isn't unless you are flying off peak and on the rout which doesn't have much passenger .. !

  • Thanks for posting OP, it is good to keep track of what the offers are, sadly CommBank has gone backwards badly on this card. It's becoming substantially less appealing and I will cancel it after my upcoming holiday as the benefit of earning points on international spend with no conversion fees does not offset the ongoing pain of maintaining the card at $4,000 spend per month (at a paltry earn rate).

    Does anyone know of any other card that earns points with no currency conversion fee?

    • The recently announced Smart Awards Card that's been mentioned earlier on this thread is the only other card in the market at this point in time that hits the trifactor: (a) earns points (regardless of how good/crappy the earn rate is); (b) has no international transaction free; and (c) is fee free (assuming you meet the minimum monthly $2k spend).
      https://www.commbank.com.au/credit-cards/smart-awards.html?e…

      • Well 0.4 is a lot lower than 1.2. A big step down and approaching the ‘can’t be bothered’ mark.

        • Thats true but most points cards in the Australian market have relative garbage earn rates now ever since the RBA made those fee changes a few years back. Like I said, the Ultimate and Smart cards from Commbank are the only two cards at the point in time in the entire Australian market that satisfies all three criteria: (a) earns points; (b) no forex fees; (c) fee free (assuming you meet min monthly spend). I can guarantee you that every other card that currently exists only satisfies two of the three criteria so having a card that does all three is actually pretty good. Putting aside sign up bonuses, any fee free card that earns points will 99% of the time be better than cards with an annual fee given the continual devaluing of points. Chuck in no forex fees and the Smart and Ultimate cards are arguably one of the best long-term cards for people who can meet the min monthly spend and dont care about churning sign up bonuses.

          • +1

            @MrGarciaA:

            Putting aside sign up bonuses

            Any OZBer worth their salt should ABC — always be churning.

  • It's funny that this "deal" is probably going to drive more applications for the Coles Rewards Mastercard, as well as cancellations for those currently holding this card.

  • It’s worth noting in addition to the comments made by others on this thread that the earn rate of this card is not good for regular transactions. 0.4 points per dollar, there’s definitely better out there

  • Anyone know the travel insurance excess?

    My phone fell out of my pocket hiking and cracked the screen. Google Pixel 7 Pro, $450+ to repair a screen…I paid $590 through a HN deal last year. Freaking ridiculous!

    • Yes.. everyone that reads the PDS knows what the excess is. Its on the website, download it its also written on the claim form from memory.

      Hint, it is much less than $450

      • -3

        It would of been quicker to just write the amount than the story you wrote.

        People on here really are different.

        Thanks for your help.

      • +1

        $250. Listed on my travel insurance certificate. Issued last month.

        • Thank you.

  • +1

    Still the best Premium card out there because no annual fee. All of the others require you to spend >30k pa just to break even.

    And the best news is, The Smart card still gets the Premium level travel insurance, by far the best, and better than most paid for policies.

    • +1

      I agree - the Smart and Ultimate cards are the only cards out there at the time of posting that hit the trifactor: (1) earns points, (2) no forex fee, (3) is free (assuming you meet monthly spend requirements). No other card offers this combo. Sure the earn rates arent the best, but the fact that you have one of the best complimentary travel insurances in the market plus no forex plus no annual fee imo would outweigh the lower earn rates for a lot of people. Having churned through a lot of cards in my lifetime it's nice to have a single card I can use on a daily basis for all my expenditure and not have to worry about spending $30k> just to make the annual fee worth it

  • +1

    I filed an official complaint regarding the increase to the minimum spend requirement. Here is part of their response:

    Thank you for taking your time to raise this information to us. Customer feedback is critical as it assists us in our endeavour to improve our processes and services.

    From 25 August 2023 we will be making changes to credit card pricing. As part of this change, we have considered a number of factors including the broader economic environment and our increasing costs.

    We regularly review our credit card fee waiver on a regular basis along with the great benefits and features.

    We've decided to simplify the fee waiver criteria from 2 requirements to 1. Where you previously have to meet a spend criteria as well as sign up to e-statements to qualify for the monthly fee waiver, we've reduced this to 1 to make things simple

    We've also improved the benefits you get with Ultimate Awards in line with customer feedback, this includes:

    • Higher Points Earn: You now earn 2 points for every dollar spent when dining out or paying your utility bills.
    • Free airport lounge passes: You will also get 2 complimentary airport lounge passes form 3 June and thereafter each calendar year. (e.g. you get 2 free passes from 3 June to 31 December, and 2 more free lounge passes form 1 January and thereafter each year from 1 January).

    We do have other credit card products with lower spend fee waiver requirements which may be more suitable: https://www.commbank.com.au/digital/credit-cards/tools/credi….

    Your feedback is important to us and has been formally lodged and recorded within your complaint.

    • they say that you can earn points by paying your utility bills but they exclude BPAY… like how is that not confusing?

      • What about if it's direct debit? That's how I pay my electricity. Wonder if it is included or not.

        • yeah Direct Debit might work but some billers are just terrible when setting up Direct Debit…

          I have had a biller that still required a form to be filled out or an email/phone call to request Direct Debit… Whereas BPAY is standardised which is why its better. No clunky form on the billers' website, just use the built-in BPAY access from your individual banks.

    • you can always downgrade to the Smart Awards card which has a lower spend limit of $2k, yet retains the 3 most important benefits IMO. no International fee, no annual fee, and Premium travel insurance.

      The travel insurance is a deal breaker, thats worth at least $400pa to me.

      • We'll see how we go. I won't go into all the details but I may not be able to get a good credit card by going through the regular application process. We managed to get this credit card through upgrading.

  • Applied on 4/6, approved on 8/6 and received card on 9/6. Didn't expect the card to arrive that quickly.

    • Yes, same with me. But i think they approved a day or two before they sent you the email to let you know your application was approved. I've account with CB so i can check my status daily and notice the card is available in app but no acknowledgement from them. Only 2 days later i got the congratulations email.

      • I applied for the Ultimate card and never even got any form on email telling me of my approval - I just noticed my card appear in the app. Three months on, still no congratulations email lol. Have also just switched my card to the Smart card and again, no news from Commbank but obviously my cards coming because I noticed that my new card has appeared in the app again.

  • Has anyone had experience claiming on the included travel insurance? (Covermore)
    How does it compare with Allianz offered most of the other credit cards?

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