Best credit cards for international travel in Australia (2026)

The best credit cards for international travel in Australia do more than one thing well. They earn Qantas or Velocity Points on overseas spending. Ideally, they avoid or minimise foreign transaction fees. They include travel insurance you can rely on and, for frequent travellers, also offer some form of airport lounge access. 

Most travel credit card guides treat these as separate decisions. For a frequent flyer, there are four variables in a single product choice that deserve a single, honest answer. This guide covers all of them together. 

You can compare all current travel-friendly card offers at the Point Hacks credit card guide.

What to look for in a credit card before you travel internationally

The stakes are higher overseas than at home. A card that earns modest points on domestic grocery spend but charges 3.5% on every international transaction, carries no travel insurance, and locks you out of airport lounges is not a travel card. It’s a domestic card that happens to work abroad.

Before your next trip, check four things: whether the card earns points on overseas spend, whether it charges a foreign transaction fee, what travel insurance it includes and how to activate it, and whether you have any lounge access entitlements for your departure.

According to Roy Morgan, citing ABS data, Australians took 11.5 million overseas trips in calendar year 2024, exceeding pre-pandemic levels for the first time. With international travel at record volumes, the right card choice before you leave has never been more financially relevant.

Foreign transaction fees and why they matter more than most people realise

The typical overseas transaction fee for Australian credit cards runs between 2% and 4% of each transaction, applied to every purchase you make in a foreign currency, whether you’re physically overseas or shopping on an international website from home.

On an $8,000 international trip using a card with a 3.5% foreign transaction fee, that’s $280 in fees before you’ve paid for a single reward or benefit. That cost is invisible on most comparison tables because it doesn’t show up as an annual fee, but it’s real.

Cards that waive overseas transaction fees entirely represent the best starting position for international travel, and several of them still earn strong points. For a full list of cards with no overseas transaction fees, the Point Hacks guide to no-fee overseas transaction credit cards covers the current market in detail.

Top credit cards for earning bonus points on overseas spend

Here’s the angle that matters most for frequent flyers: many mid-tier rewards cards earn at an accelerated rate on international spend. A card that earns 0.75 Qantas Points per $1 domestically might earn 1.5 points per $1 on overseas transactions. That uplift can be substantial over an extended trip.

Cards worth looking for in this category include those earning 1.2 to 2 points per $1 on international spend. The Qantas Money Titanium Card earns 2 Qantas Points per $1 on international transactions. The Qantas Money Premier Platinum earns 1.5 Qantas Points per $1 overseas.

Several Westpac Altitude and St.George Amplify cards also earn at accelerated rates on international spend. Check the earn rate structure carefully, as some cards apply the bonus rate to all foreign currency transactions, including online purchases, which can add up significantly over the year.

However, be mindful of international transaction fees. All of the cards mentioned above will charge an extra fee for international transactions.

Top credit cards that earn points with no foreign transaction fees for travellers

A card that earns good points and charges no foreign transaction fee is the ideal combination. These cards exist, though they’re not always marketed prominently on their fee-waiver benefit. There aren’t many of them on the market and generally earn bank-specific points.

The NAB Rewards Signature Card earns 1.5 NAB Rewards Points per $1 on general spend (transferable to Velocity and other programs) and carries no international transaction fees.

The CommBank Ultimate Awards Card earns up to 3 Awards Points per $1 on overseas spend and waives international transaction fees, with the option to convert to Qantas Points.

The tradeoff on some no-fee overseas cards is a monthly fee structure rather than an annual fee. Verify the total annual cost before comparing against a card with a flat annual fee.

Top credit cards with travel insurance for international trips

Complimentary travel insurance from a credit card can replace a standalone policy that would otherwise cost $200 to $600 for a family. But travel insurance on a card comes with conditions, and understanding the activation requirements before you leave is essential.

Most cards require you to pay for your return overseas flights or a portion of your prepaid travel costs to activate the card’s insurance. Some require the full fare while others require only the taxes and surcharges. Some activate automatically. With others, you must register online before departure.

Cover limits matter as much as activation requirements. Look for policies covering medical evacuation, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars if you need emergency evacuation from a remote destination. Check the maximum trip duration too, as many policies cap cover at 30 to 45 days, which matters for longer sabbaticals or extended business trips.

Cards known for strong travel insurance include the American Express Platinum Card, which covers up to four additional card members on a single trip. It also includes a higher medical benefit than most bank-issued cards, alongside several Qantas and Velocity co-branded platinum cards.

The policy wording is more important than the marketing copy. Always read the Product Disclosure Statement before relying on card insurance.

Top credit cards with airport lounge access for frequent international travellers

Airport lounge access before a long-haul international flight is a different experience to accessing a domestic lounge for a one-hour connection. International lounges typically offer better meals, shower facilities, and considerably more space. Getting into one on a 14-hour day before boarding pays for itself in comfort.

For international travellers, Priority Pass is the most useful lounge network. It covers over 1,800 lounges across 141 countries, including most major international hubs Australians pass through regularly. Singapore Changi, Dubai International, London Heathrow, and Los Angeles LAX all have Priority Pass lounges.

Cards that include unlimited Priority Pass access include the American Express Platinum Card and American Express Platinum Business Card, both of which carry significant annual fees.

Cards with capped Priority Pass visits include various mid-tier bank rewards cards. For a guide to some of the best international Priority Pass experiences accessible to Australians, Point Hacks has covered 10 of the most interesting options across airports from Singapore to Dubai to Sapporo.

How to choose between a travel card and a credit card for overseas use

A travel money card (preloaded with foreign currency) and a rewards credit card are different tools that serve different purposes, and many experienced travellers carry both.

A travel money card lets you lock in an exchange rate before you travel and limits your exposure if the card is lost or compromised. It doesn’t earn points. A rewards credit card earns points on every transaction and may include travel insurance and lounge access, but it uses the bank’s exchange rate at the time of transaction, and you’re using credit rather than preloaded funds.

For large predictable expenses like accommodation and flights booked in advance, a rewards credit card is usually better. You earn points and activate travel insurance on eligible spend. For smaller daily transactions in high-risk destinations or when you want currency certainty, a preloaded travel card alongside your credit card is a sensible combination.

Just be mindful of the ‘gotchas’ for both. For reward credit cards, it is usually an international transaction fee. For preloaded travel cards, it often means the exchange rates on loading the currency will include commissions that are not clearly disclosed.

The Point Hacks Velocity credit card guide and Qantas earning guide cover the best current options for earning points on international travel spend.

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