Latest Credit Card Posts...

How American Express have leapfrogged the competition – Part 2, Star Alliance, Etihad & Virgin Australia/Atlantic redemptions April 22, 2012

In part one, I outlined how a series of recent changes that American Express have made to Membership Rewards have significantly increased the value of Membership Rewards points, and why MR is now my primary way of earning points from Credit Card spend. That post focused on a comparison of oneworld carrier redemptions as a [...] Read more – ‘How American Express have leapfrogged the competition – Part 2, Star Alliance, Etihad & Virgin Australia/Atlantic redemptions’.

How American Express have leapfrogged the competition – Part 1, oneworld redemptions April 16, 2012

Over the last few months, a series of improvements have taken place to American Express Membership Rewards which have fundamentally changed the landscape for those primarily earning their points through credit card spend. Previously, I’d consider Virgin or Qantas direct earn cards, or Amex Membership Rewards, about equal when making a recommendation to somone about [...] Read more – ‘How American Express have leapfrogged the competition – Part 1, oneworld redemptions’.

Membership Rewards news – bonus partners, transfer rates and Platinum Edge changes April 1, 2012

Latest Membership Rewards bonus partners The second quarter bonus partners for 2012 have been released, and there’s nothing particularly notable to show. The ongoing 5x bonus points at BP have gone, which is a shame, but AAMI, APIA and GIO insurances all come back, also at 5x. They previously offered 10x points with these partners [...] Read more – ‘Membership Rewards news – bonus partners, transfer rates and Platinum Edge changes’.

Woolworths Everyday Rewards Mastercard – 20,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points, $89 annual fee March 26, 2012

The latest offer from Woolworths on their Everyday Rewards Mastercard is pretty good, coming in at 20,000 QFF points for an $89 annual fee. It’s a pretty straightforward card which earns Qantas points at $1:1QFF, which makes it a great non-Amex backup card – or even one to use for your primary spend if you [...] Read more – ‘Woolworths Everyday Rewards Mastercard – 20,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points, $89 annual fee’.

Membership Rewards transfer rate bonuses for March; and SPG goes 2MR:1SPG March 1, 2012

Amex have released improved transfer rates for Membership Rewards points over to: Velocity – 15% bonus, or 30% on transfers over 100,000 MR points with 100 bonus SC’s Etihad Guest (which I’ve previously written about) – 20% bonus Virgin Atlantic – 30% bonus Malaysia Airlines Enrich – 25% bonus Thai Airways – 10% bonus Singapore [...] Read more – ‘Membership Rewards transfer rate bonuses for March; and SPG goes 2MR:1SPG’.

Etihad join the ranks of Membership Rewards Australia transfer partners February 23, 2012

Etihad Guest recently became the latest airline program to partner with American Express Membership Rewards as a transfer partner. MR Points transfer over to Etihad Guest at 1 Mile : 1 Point, and there’s a 20% bonus promotion running on transfers until the end of March. Up until now, it’s been particularly tricky to earn [...] Read more – ‘Etihad join the ranks of Membership Rewards Australia transfer partners’.

Jetstar Platinum Mastercard – 30,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points, no annual fee February 21, 2012

This offer literally arrived in my inbox from Jetstar about 30 minutes ago, and it’s one of those you just can’t ignore. The Jetstar Platinum Mastercard (issued by Macquarie Bank) is offering 30,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points for new sign ups, with no annual fee ($149 in subsequent years). You can’t get much better than [...] Read more – ‘Jetstar Platinum Mastercard – 30,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points, no annual fee’.

Latest Membership Rewards Bonus Partners for January 2012 released January 10, 2012

Amex have got their act together and updated the Membership Rewards Bonus Partner microsite in the last couple of days with their bonus partners for the next few months. The 5 bonus points per $ at BP remains until March 31 at least, making it worth seeking out a BP specifically to fuel up. However [...] Read more – ‘Latest Membership Rewards Bonus Partners for January 2012 released’.

Citibank Skywards Visa – 25,000 Bonus Skywards Miles, $229 Annual Fee January 1, 2012

Citibank continue to hide their bonus point signup offer from the general public (god knows why), offering only 4 Skywards Miles per $ for ‘a limited time’ through the Citibank main website. Browsing around the Emirates site this morning, I came across a promotion for the card with a different offer for a more palatable [...] Read more – ‘Citibank Skywards Visa – 25,000 Bonus Skywards Miles, $229 Annual Fee’.

Earning ‘free’ Frequent Flyer points using just your time and some minimal risk December 28, 2011

One of the neatest (but more time consuming) ways to earn points (effectively for free) is to use your points earning credit card to purchase something at less than it’s resale value on eBay, and then sell it. This is most easily calculated and understood when considering gift voucher of fixed monetary value, which retailers [...] Read more – ‘Earning ‘free’ Frequent Flyer points using just your time and some minimal risk’.

Reminder – BP’s 5x Bonus offer for Membership Rewards spend ends December 31 December 20, 2011

It’s worth a quick post for Membership Rewards cardholders – don’t forget that the existing 5 bonus points/dollar at BP offer ends on December 31st. The promo was renewed when it was last up for expiry in September, but it’s worth considering pre-purchasing fuel by buying a BP gift card (which are sold as $200 [...] Read more – ‘Reminder – BP’s 5x Bonus offer for Membership Rewards spend ends December 31’.

Virgin Flyer Visa Cards – 50,000 bonus points plus some status credits November 29, 2011

You know how sometimes you say one thing, and then it’s inevitable that something comes along out of the blue and makes what you just said a bit redundant? Consider my post on Saturday on which cards I’d pick if I were in the market for a new a card. Via the AFF forum, Virgin [...] Read more – ‘Virgin Flyer Visa Cards – 50,000 bonus points plus some status credits’.

Recommend an American Express card; receive bonus points November 27, 2011

I stumbled across this ongoing promotion by American Express this morning, which allows a current Amex cardholder to recommend another card to someone else and receive 1/2 of the amount of their signup bonus in points back to your account. For example – recommend the 80,000 point Platinum Charge Card, and you receive 40,000 points [...] Read more – ‘Recommend an American Express card; receive bonus points’.

Emirates fan? Apply here… November 26, 2011

I received a promo today from Emirates in my inbox, which, for an Emirates Skywards diehard, would be pretty appealing. Right now the standard public offer on the Citibank Skywards card is $229 for no signup bonus, but 4 Skywards miles per dollar (compared to the usual 1.5:1), up to 25,000 miles. The offer that [...] Read more – ‘Emirates fan? Apply here…’.

Pick a (credit) card, any card…

Not too much has been going on in the world of points earning in Australia in the last couple of months, which is a bit of a bummer for those looking to bump up their point balances for travel in 2013. There are some pretty good credit card sign up offers in the market right [...] Read more – ‘Pick a (credit) card, any card…’.

David Jones American Express Card – 30,000 bonus Membership Rewards points October 15, 2011

UPDATE – Consider the whole post below somewhat redundant – as rightly pointed out in the comments, the DJ’s Amex is a significantly downgraded Membership Rewards scheme with 50% fewer points offered on points transferred to airline and hotel schemes… so why bother? American Express are running a David Jones Card promotion which nets 30,000 [...] Read more – ‘David Jones American Express Card – 30,000 bonus Membership Rewards points’.

Latest Membership Rewards bonus partners October 9, 2011

Membership Rewards added a few new bonus partner offers this month, and renewed some of the others due to expire at the end of September. Catching my eye from the new partners was BP – Amex is now offering a 5 points per $ bonus on spend at BP with registration, which when combined with [...] Read more – ‘Latest Membership Rewards bonus partners’.

Latest Westpac Earth signup bonuses – 16,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points, $75 annual fee October 7, 2011

I’ve been somewhat ignoring Westpac’s Earth card offerings in recent times, as I haven’t seen any worthwhile signup bonuses come through. I was digging around again this week however, and came across their latest offer for the Earth Classic card (16,000 point bonus, $75 annual fee) and for the Earth Platinum card (33,000 points, $250 [...] Read more – ‘Latest Westpac Earth signup bonuses – 16,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points, $75 annual fee’.

New, larger signup offers for the American Express Platinum Card Range, including 25,000 Membership Rewards points for the Platinum Edge October 2, 2011

Amex have bumped up the bonus Membership Rewards points available on sign-up for the Platinum Edge, Platinum Reserve, and original Platinum cards to 25,000, 35,000 and 80,000 points respectively. The best increase, proportionally, is on the Platinum Edge which gains 10,000 additional MR points – the Reserve and the Platinum increases by only 5,000. The [...] Read more – ‘New, larger signup offers for the American Express Platinum Card Range, including 25,000 Membership Rewards points for the Platinum Edge’.

Everyday Rewards offering free Qantas points if you threaten to close your Everyday Qantas credit card account August 31, 2011

I’m consolidating my various lines of credit at the minute, and unfortunately for Woolworths my Everyday Rewards Qantas Card didn’t make the cut. It’s a great value card with some good signup bonuses for new customers, but the annual fee was due soon and I’m concentrating my spending elsewhere. On calling and asking to close [...] Read more – ‘Everyday Rewards offering free Qantas points if you threaten to close your Everyday Qantas credit card account’.

Maximising your Membership Rewards haul & value from your Amex Platinum Edge August 25, 2011

It’s no secret around these parts – I’m a big fan of the Amex Platinum Edge Card for a few reasons. Good earn rate on everyday spend, bonus rate in supermarkets; free return domestic economy flight, decent signup bonuns, tolerable annual fee… it’s all pretty attractive. There are a few ways you can really get [...] Read more – ‘Maximising your Membership Rewards haul & value from your Amex Platinum Edge’.

20% bonus on Virgin Atlantic Flying Club transfers from Amex Membership Rewards August 18, 2011

Amex are currently offering a 20% sweetener on MR transfers to Virgin Atlantic Flying club – until the 9th October. A relatively unpublicised recent promotion, I can’t find an offer page outlining this yet, but was assured by Amex over the phone that it’s active until then. There’s a promo on the homepage of the [...] Read more – ‘20% bonus on Virgin Atlantic Flying Club transfers from Amex Membership Rewards’.

Citibank CitiRewards scheme – the card range; bonus & transfer partners; and is CitiRewards for you?

For the next post in the series, I’ll be taking a look at Citibank’s Citirewards (CR) credit card points scheme. In Australia, it’s the scheme with the most transfer and bonus partners after American Express’ Membership Rewards, and Citibank have been offering some pretty hefty signup bonuses recently. You’ll end up with a Citi card [...] Read more – ‘Citibank CitiRewards scheme – the card range; bonus & transfer partners; and is CitiRewards for you?’.

10,000 bonus Membership Rewards points with American Express foreign money transfer August 15, 2011

American Express FX International Payments are offering Amex Membership Rewards cardholders 10,000 bonus points with their first international money transfer, if made by August 31st. You’ll need a bank account overseas to send money to in order to take advantage. Their transaction and forex rates are actually quite good, so it’s worth considering the service [...] Read more – ‘10,000 bonus Membership Rewards points with American Express foreign money transfer’.

ANZ Platinum Amex/Visa – 32,000 point signup bonus, $295 annual fee

Now this offer personally doesn’t interest me as it’s a little below my value threshold for points. It’s a decent size signup bonus, but a hefty annual fee for the latest offer from ANZ – offering 32,000 bonus points off a $295 annual fee for their Platinum Qantas cards. The bonus is awarded on approval, [...] Read more – ‘ANZ Platinum Amex/Visa – 32,000 point signup bonus, $295 annual fee’.

CitiBusiness Gold Visa – massive 40,000 point signup bonus August 10, 2011

I was just digging around the Citibank website, and came across the following gem of an offer on the Citibusiness Gold Visa – 40,000 bonus Citirewards point for new signups for a $149 annual fee. Normally CitiRewards point aren’t transferable over to Qantas, but that’s not the case with the CitiBusiness card, which for some [...] Read more – ‘CitiBusiness Gold Visa – massive 40,000 point signup bonus’.

American Express Membership Rewards Scheme in Australia – the card range; bonus & transfer partners; and is Membership Rewards for you? August 3, 2011

I’ll start off with Membership Rewards (MR from here on out) as it’s the credit card points program by far with the highest earning potential and the most transfer partners, and therefore is probably the most work for me to summarise. I figured I’d better get it out the way early! Read more – ‘American Express Membership Rewards Scheme in Australia – the card range; bonus & transfer partners; and is Membership Rewards for you?’.

Introduction – Summarising Credit Card points earning & transfer options available in Australia July 27, 2011

I’m kicking off a new series outlining how you can earn points into the major loyalty programs in Australia. It seems the market here is cursed to never be offered the huge, lucrative signup bonuses that occur in the USA where the credit card market is much more competitive, and sign up bonuses are often [...] Read more – ‘Introduction – Summarising Credit Card points earning & transfer options available in Australia’.

Bankwest More Platinum MasterCard – 22,500 bonus Qantas points July 11, 2011

Bankwest recently updated their More Rewards scheme to include a direct sweep option to Qantas – for the usual additional extra fee, though at $30 this compares very favourably to other rewards schemes, usually around the $50 mark. Alongside, Bankwest are also offering triple signup points to new customers in their promotional period (until August [...] Read more – ‘Bankwest More Platinum MasterCard – 22,500 bonus Qantas points’.

Virgin Australia’s new Velocity American Express credit card offerings July 1, 2011

I haven’t covered the new Virgin Australia American Express card offering yet, and it’s probably about time I did. I’ll start at the top, so to speak, with their Velocity Platinum Card. I don’t have much traction in Velocity, having directed my efforts at Qantas earn and burn in recent years, so I haven’t calculated [...] Read more – ‘Virgin Australia’s new Velocity American Express credit card offerings’.

30,000 Bonus Qantas Points – Amex Ultimate Card May 30, 2011

I’ve been the owner of a negotiated no-fee Qantas Classic American Express for the past few years and while I’ve kept an eye on the various sign-up offers available, I’ve never been convinced to take the plunge. The Classic card has recently been replaced in favour of the new no-fee Discovery card; both have/had a [...] Read more – ‘30,000 Bonus Qantas Points – Amex Ultimate Card’.

Citibank Platinum – 60,000 (!) Bonus Points, 1/2 Annual Fee May 9, 2011

I’ve been keeping an eye on Citibank’s Platinum offers for a little while now – it’s not a cheap card at $249, but Citibank have been increasing their sign up bonuses and recently hit a 50k signup bonus. Not too bad for the annual fee, given that the card offers a bunch of benefits like [...] Read more – ‘Citibank Platinum – 60,000 (!) Bonus Points, 1/2 Annual Fee’.

16,000 Qantas Bonus Points – Woolworths Everyday Rewards Mastercard May 5, 2011

The Woolworths Qantas card is new-ish on the market – it’s been around about 6 months. Initially they offered it with a 16,000 Qantas point signup bonus (which I jumped on), but this was reduced to 10k and 12k in recent months. Still not bad for the $89 annual fee. The 16k bonus is back [...] Read more – ‘16,000 Qantas Bonus Points – Woolworths Everyday Rewards Mastercard’.

Highest Qantas Points earning Visa/Mastercard – Citibank Gold Business March 4, 2011

The CitiBank Gold Business Visa card is a bit of an unknown gem, earning 1.25 points per AU $ – more than any other non-expensive AMEX on the market. n addition, Citi also gives you 4 bonus points/$ at selected partners bringing in 5 points/$. Pretty enticing if you’re a regular shopper at any of [...] Read more – ‘Highest Qantas Points earning Visa/Mastercard – Citibank Gold Business’.

10,000 ‘Free’ Qantas Points with the Qantas American Express Discovery Card March 3, 2011

The Qantas Amex product range often has decent signup bonus offers in place that help offset the annual fee for the card. The newest Qantas Amex is a no frills card, and comes with no benefits other than 1 QFF point/$ spent – but also no annual fee, so effectively the current 10k Qantas signup [...] Read more – ‘10,000 ‘Free’ Qantas Points with the Qantas American Express Discovery Card’.