Your favourite credit/charge card rewards program

[Sim]

What is your favourite credit card or charge card rewards program ?

If you have multiples, please nominate your most favourite.

If I haven't included your favourite in the list, please let me know and I'll add it.

Notes:

* - "Qantas ANZ VISA" Card is about to be renamed "ANZ Frequent Flyer VISA" as of 31 October.

 

[MarkB]

SIM

Where was the option for?

"They are all shonky and cost most customers more than anything they will ever get out of them, by virtue of the fact they they encourage credit card use and 99% of people use their CC in a manner that benefits the bank, not them".

And btw. I do not participate in any reward programs

MB

 

[Sim]

Ahh yes, well I tend to take a non-interventionist approach.

It's not the credit cards that are the problem, it's the people. Credit cards are simply a useful tool when used correctly.

If people let their greed get in the way of common sense and buy things they can't afford then that is their problem.

Paul Clitheroe has explained it often enough to the general public how it works with credit cards - if they are still not listening, then there's no help for them.

I wouldn't have a problem with banks being forced to set a simple quiz for people who apply for a credit card. But then people would just learn the answers that the banks need to hear and then would still go and abuse the tool.

Am I being cynical again ? Sorry.

 

[Sim]

Then again, I think the hey-day of loyalty programs are over, with most of the programs now charging so much and offering less and less value, that most people will actually spend more on the program than they will ever get back in rewards.

Cost benefit analysis is extremely important with these things - which is one of the reasons why I'm about to ditch my Qantas ANZ VISA - the benefits have diminished to the point where the costs are simply no longer worth it.

If I have to replace it and I find a card with a rewards program that makes sense, then great. Otherwise, it may be time to just ditch the rewards programs all together and go for the good old cheapest card and start using those nifty bank account features called direct-debit again !

 

[D.T.]

Hi Sim,

You think people in that catergory even watch Paul Clitheroe's show?

Personally I dont use a credit card. And I know heaps of people who dont. I dont think the potential rewards are worth the potential costs. Its just as simple to use an eftpos card in my opinion, or do transfers via internet.

-Regards

Dave

 

[abcdiamond]

Cedit cards can be very useful for the people who are able to use them correctly as SIM says.

I learned my credit card lessons when I was 18 !

I still use them but don't pay interest anymore, just pay the full balance by auto transfer every month. Much more convenient than carrying cash, and i get 44 days free credit where my money can be offset against the mortgages.

Reward points are a by-product these days. the card fee for that is $22, but we get more than $100 per year back in vouchers, so its worth it. Sometimes we offer to pay cash for larger things, and get a discount rather than them taking the card, so thats good too.

 

[Sim]

Originally posted by abcdiamond
Sometimes we offer to pay cash for larger things, and get a discount rather than them taking the card, so thats good too.

And that's the key really - when you take into account the charges added to cover credit card costs for the retailer - especially for larger ticket items - plus the costs of maintaining the rewards program, and the hidden costs in redeeming some of these rewards, it's often better to just negotiate a cash discount - you can come out significantly better off. Again, it all comes down to cost-benefit analysis.

It's interesting - now there are 3 camps of rewards programs users.

There are the frequent flyers (like me) who will actually make use of frequent flyer miles and so just want a simple rewards program which maximises the number of miles you can earn (Qantas ANZ VISA was good in that it automatically transferred points to your FF account at the end of each month - no effort on your part). Some of the people in this category will sometimes spend large amounts of money on their credit cards just to try and maximise their points for their next flight - not really taking into account the cost of doing so - especially if there are discount tickets to be had if you are a little more organised (but less organised than you need to be to get the FF flights that you want - it's an artform !!)

Then there are those who don't fly much or don't think they will ever get enough points for a flight, who go for the small ticket rewards - the vouchers and cheap digital cameras and such. These people can sometimes fail to do their cost-benefit analysis on things such as the rewards program fees, and may find that they actually spend more on fees and loss of discounts that they may have been better off without the rewards - especially if they had a no-frills credit card without the higher interest rates.

Finally there are those who just think the whole rewards thing is a load of baloney and you are much better off shopping around, and negotiating a better price to pay cash. These bargain hunters are most likely going to be the best off financially in general I suspect.

My spending patterns are still such that I think I can actually get something out of a frequent flyer linked credit or charge card, so I'm still intending to go that way - but I really think I will have to start looking at the cash option for those larger items - especially where more and more retailers are charging 2% or so extra for accepting credit cards.

 

[paulzag]

whoever voted for the National program hasn't checked their fine print in a while. National were one of the first to butcher their rewards program. But I have a free Gold card there so I don't really use their rewards program.

Now it could also be true that I am confused and inaccurate. NAB may have responded to the backlash. But I don't recall any mail about it.

Regards

Paulzag
Dreamspinner

 

[Kevmeister]

Hmmm. "Favorite" rewards program? I voted for the ones I have, which is not necessarily my "favorite". I haven't been so anal as to investigate every one of them.

Suffice to say, the Westpac Altitude Rewards program effectively gives me something for nothing. The card is free with my home loan, I pay off the balance each month, which lets me keep money in my offset account for longer, and over the course of a couple of years I'll probably earn enough points to get a DVD player or small TV or something.

The one thing I do like about Altitude is that all of the redemptions are based on a strict points-per-dollar formula. $100 is 12,500 points. Doesn't matter if you are redeeming points for a hotel stay, a DVD player, a TV, if the cost is the same the points will be the same. I contrast this with Flybuys where, for a while (not sure about these days), some redemptions were "better value" than others.

Having said that, I agree that it's a tool be used judiciously. I BPAY pretty much everything I can (gas, electric, phone, council rates, water rates etc) through my credit card. My wife puts all our groceries on it. We put petrol on it. My Citylink Toll Account direct-debits from it. My Health Fund direct-debits from it. My internet provider direct-debits from it. etc etc.

All of the above are run-of-the-mill day-to-day expenses that are effectively non-negotiable anyway. There is no "discount" for cash etc available.

When it comes to other major purchases (like I bought a new mountain-bike a few months ago), I will negotiate the price and see if they'll then accept the credit card at that price. If not, I weigh up the benefits of the interest free period and the reward points versus the additional savings I might make paying cash.

 

[Sim]

*bump*

Anyone else care to vote ?

 

[rickmick]

Nobody has mentioned the take the cash option.
We use a credit card for basic household purchases and bills, eg groceries, electricity and the like. We automatically pay the full balance every month so we only incur the anual fee.
Every couple of years we take the available rewards as $100 vouches which are credited to the current card balance.
We are a good $800 ahead over about the last 7 years.
So we get the convenience and a proper reward, cash!

 

[lizzie]

westpac altitude rewards with a amex/visa ... get 2 points for every dollar spent. 55 days interest free. pay everything with the card to get the points. pay off at the end of each month so pay no interest.

get at least one overseas return trip a year free - have also bought numerous christmas presents with the rewards over the years.

 

[abcdiamond]

An old thread But still interesting.

I use the ANZ rewards card, with an annual fee of $48, ($26 card fee & $22 rewards fee)

Our Total Card Spending for 24 months was $68,140

Cash Rewards paid to us, as direct cash offset to our Credit card, was $350.
and Voucher Rewards, taken as KMart vouchers, has been $150.
These reward payments are equal to about 0.75% of our spending.

Our Card fees for the Two years were $96, leaving a net result of us being paid, by ANZ, $404 to use our ANZ card for the last two years.

 

[ChrisOs]

Cash Rewards paid to us .....

Hi abc,
i use the same credit card and have cashed in my points on a few occasions usually for Myer or Bunnings vouchers.
How do I get a cash reward?

Regards,
Chris.

 

[abcdiamond]

Hi abc,
How do I get a cash reward?

Regards,
Chris.

This option comes under the "Financial Services" section on the rewards page, and is called "$100 ANZ Reward Certificate Cashback' for 13,750 points. It is credited to your ANZ card account.

They used to be 12,500 points for $100 and 6,250 for $50, but it seems they now only do the one option.

https://arv.rewardscard.com.au/

Most other $100 store vouchers are now 13,320 points.

 

[ChrisOs]

Thanks for that abc

Chris.

 

[kissfan]

westpac altitude rewards with a amex/visa ... get 2 points for every dollar spent. 55 days interest free. pay everything with the card to get the points. pay off at the end of each month so pay no interest.

get at least one overseas return trip a year free - have also bought numerous christmas presents with the rewards over the years.

Hi Lizzie.

My understanding of this card is that you gain more points when using the amex part of it (as opposed to Mastercard), but what is the conversion rate when transferring your altitude points over to frequent flyers points. Are the points halved?

Or, when you mentioned that you get the annual o/s trip, do you go through someone else, i.e not frequent flyers.

Regards
Marty

 

[wylie]

I have Westpac Altitude card and normal spend on mastercard is 1 point per dollar. It is only when I use the Amex card that I get double. I use it where I can, but some places don't take the Amex card, and if they do, they charge a surcharge.

Points do add up quickly though.

Wylie

 

[lizzie]

My understanding of this card is that you gain more points when using the amex part of it (as opposed to Mastercard), but what is the conversion rate when transferring your altitude points over to frequent flyers points. Are the points halved?

Or, when you mentioned that you get the annual o/s trip, do you go through someone else, i.e not frequent flyers.

i think it's something like - 1.5 points on mastercard, 2 points on amex. i've rarely had a problem using amex as most places take it without a surcharge - at this stage - but if not i just whip out the mastercard. and at around $6k a month, they add up real quick. takes me 5 months to earn a return trip to nz - another couple of months for junior to come with me.

the conversion rate is the same - not halved. i transfer them over to qantas frequent flyers when i feel like visiting mum in the old country.

 

[sue78]

Btw, I read here that the Westpac Altitude is free with the professional package but that's not true. It's only the normal gold mastercard that is free and I don't think you get rewards with that one.

I managed to get a refund still on my annual fee.

I got 30,000 points from the first bill! it's really good but the rewards are not as good as Citibank and the website isn't as good either. With Citibank, it's brilliant. You can set up direct debits, pay via bpay etc and you can get rewards for target! well much better than westpac.