Get up to 100,000 bonus points without paying massive annual fees.
Want a credit card that offers up to 100,000 bonus points without forking out a huge annual fee? Look no further than this month’s roundup of the best frequent flyer and rewards credit cards available through finder.
As there is no one best card for earning points, the line-up includes cards with big bonus points, low fees and competitive earn rates. To help narrow down your options, you can compare cards that earn Qantas Points, Velocity Points or points with a credit card rewards program.
All of the rates, fees and offers mentioned here are correct at the time of publication.
Qantas Frequent Flyer credit cards
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American Express Westpac Altitude Platinum – Qantas bundle (finder exclusive)
- Bonus points. Up to 90,000 Qantas Points.
- Earn rate. Up to 2 Qantas Points per $1 spent.
- Annual fee. $50 Qantas Rewards Fee in the first year (combined $249 p.a. annual fee thereafter)
When you apply for the Amex Westpac Altitude Platinum Qantas bundle through finder by 31 July 2018, you can score up to 90,000 bonus Qantas Points!
When you spend $3,000 on eligible purchases in the first 90 days of approval with your Visa, you’ll get 75,000 bonus points. If you spend $3,000 on eligible purchases in the first 90 days of approval with your Amex, you’ll earn another 15,000 bonus Qantas Points. That’s enough to fly from Melbourne to Shanghai in Business Class (72,000 points) or return from Sydney to LA in Economy (45,000 points each way).
If you apply anywhere but finder, you’ll only earn 75,000 bonus Qantas Points for meeting this same spend requirement. So this exclusive deal is an easy way to get extra bang for your buck!
The rewards don’t end here either, although the earning potential will vary depending on whether you’re spending with your Amex or Visa. You can earn 0.5 Qantas Points per $1 spent on your Visa. On the American Express, you’ll collect 1.5 Qantas Points per $1 spent on purchases in a foreign currency, 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent in Australia as well as 0.5 Qantas Points per $1 spent on government transactions (such as ATO bills).
You’ll get all of this for a reduced annual fee when you apply through finder. This bundle usually has a standard combined annual fee of $249 p.a. ($150 for the Visa, $49 for the American Express and a $50 Qantas fee). But when you apply through finder by 31 July 2018, you’ll only have to pay the $50 Qantas Rewards fee in the first year.
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Honourable mention: ANZ Frequent Flyer Black
The ANZ Frequent Flyer Black credit card currently boasts 75,000 bonus Qantas Points when you spend $2,500 in the first 3 months. It also has a competitive $0 annual fee in the first year (although you’ll pay $425 p.a. after that). You’ll also earn up to 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent up to $7,500 per statement period and 0.5 Qantas Points per $1 spent beyond that.
Plus, you can travel in style thanks to two complimentary Qantas Club Lounge invitations every year and unlimited complimentary access to Véloce Lounges around the world.
Want to compare more credit cards that earn Qantas Points? Check out our comparison of Qantas Frequent Flyer credit cards for more options.
Velocity Frequent Flyer credit cards
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Virgin Australia Velocity Flyer card
- Bonus points. Up to 60,000 Velocity Points.
- Earn rate. Up to 0.66 Velocity Points per $1.
- Annual fee. $64 p.a. for the first year ($129 p.a. after that).
If you apply for the Virgin Australia Velocity Flyer card by 30 June 2018, you can earn up to 60,000 bonus Velocity Points. You’ll collect 20,000 Velocity Points each month you spend $1,500 on eligible transactions for the first three months. This brings your total bonus points reward to 60,000 Velocity Points, which equals 13 Velocity Points per $1 spent to get the bonus. That’s more than enough to redeem a one way business class flight from Melbourne to Fiji (49,500 points) or a return economy flight from Sydney to Hong Kong (55,600 points).
You’ll also collect 0.66 points per $1 spent until you reach $1,500 each statement period. Then you’ll get 0.5 points per $1 after that. If you often spend more than $1,500 each statement period, you should consider how many points you could miss out on once the reduced earn rate applies before you get this card.
As well as points, this card also comes with a bunch of travel perks. You’ll receive a $129 p.a. Virgin Australia gift voucher each year, which can help offset the standard annual fee. Just make sure you use your card to make a retail purchase within two months of requesting the voucher to qualify. You can also travel with peace of mind thanks to complimentary transit accident insurance.
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Honourable mention: American Express Velocity Platinum
You can earn 50,000 bonus Velocity Points when you spend $3,000 in the first three months with the American Express Velocity Platinum card.
You’ll also benefit from a competitive earn rate of 1.5 Velocity Points per $1 spent on eligible purchases plus an additional Velocity Point per $1 spent on select Virgin Australia purchases. You can save on travel costs with a complimentary Virgin Australia domestic return flight each year, two single-entry passes to domestic Virgin Australia lounges annually and complimentary travel insurance.
Although it boasts tempting extras, this card has a much higher annual fee of $375 and has a purchase rate of 20.74% p.a.
You can find more Velocity Frequent Flyer credit cards on finder.
Rewards credit cards
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Citi Platinum credit card
- Bonus points. 100,000 Citi Rewards points.
- Earn rate. Up to 1 point per $1 spent.
- Annual fee. $49 p.a. in the first year ($149 p.a. thereafter).
When you apply by 30 June 2018 and spend $3,000 on eligible purchases in the first 90 days with Citi Platinum credit card, you’ll get 100,000 bonus Citi Rewards points.
You’ll also collect 1 Citi Rewards Point per $1 spent in Australia (up to $10,000 per statement period) and overseas (uncapped). If you prefer frequent flyer points, you can exchange your points to your accounts with Velocity, Emirates Skywards Miles and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. For example, you’ll earn 1 Velocity Point per 2.5 Citi Rewards, so you’d get 40,000 Velocity Points with the bonus points bounty.
You can also redeem your points to buy merchandise from the Citi Rewards store, to shop at Amazon.com or to get cashback on your credit card account. To give you an idea of the points potential, 100,000 points is more than enough to redeem $400 worth of David Jones gift cards ($200 David Jones card = 41,700 points).
You can save with complimentary travel insurance and access to the Citi Dining Program, so you can enjoy a free bottle of wine when you dine at participating restaurants.
It has a reduced annual fee of $49 in the first year (which reverts to $149 p.a. after that). However, it does have a 20.99% p.a. purchase rate. If you can pay your balance in full, you can save on future purchases with up to 55 interest-free days.
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Honourable mention: American Express Westpac Altitude Platinum Bundle
We mentioned the Qantas alternative earlier, but you can also earn up to 90,000 bonus Altitude Points with the American Express Westpac Altitude Platinum bundle.
When you apply through finder by 31 July 2018 and spend $3,000 on eligible purchases in the first 90 days of approval with your Visa, you’ll get 75,000 bonus Altitude Points. If you spend $3,000 on eligible purchases in the first 90 days of approval with your Amex, you’ll earn another 15,000 bonus Altitude Points. That’s more than enough points to redeem a $300 David Jones eGift Card from the Altitude Rewards store.
You can also exchange your Altitude Points for points with partnered frequent flyer programs including Velocity, Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer Asia Miles, Air New Zealand Airpoints, Malaysia Airlines Enrich. You can get 1 Velocity Point per 2 Altitude Points, so you could exchange your 90,000 Altitude Points from the bonus points and earn rate from the eligible spend to get 45,000 Velocity Points. That’s enough to fly one-way in economy from Sydney to Los Angeles 44,800 and almost enough to get from Sydney to Denpasar, Bali in business class (roughly 49,500 Velocity Points).
You can also earn 1 Altitude Point per $1 spent with your Visa card. With the American Express, you’ll earn 3 Altitude Points per $1 spent on purchases in a foreign currency, 2 Altitude Points per $1 spent in Australia as well as 1 Altitude Point per $1 spent on government transactions.
This all comes at the cost of a $0 annual fee for the first year which reverts to a combined fee of $199 p.a. after that.
Most banks offer their own rewards programs, so you can compare more rewards credit cards on finder.
Compare these points credit cards side by side
Rates last updated June 2nd, 2018
All of these cards come with competitive bonus points deals, but you should also choose the right card for you based on the earn rates, extra features as well as the rates and fees. If you want to compare even more options, you can check out our guide to frequent flyer credit cards and rewards credit cards.
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