Bank Australia cuts credit card Qantas frequent flyer points

By Chris C., August 31 2017
Bank Australia cuts credit card Qantas frequent flyer points
Disclaimer

Executive Traveller may receive a commission when you apply for these credit cards via our links.

The information provided on this page is purely factual and general in nature. You should seek independent advice and consider your own personal circumstances before applying for any financial product.

Bank Australia is finally showing its hand following the RBA’s cuts to credit card interchange fees, with the bank's Qantas Platinum Rewards Visa credit card users to earn fewer Qantas Points as of October.

Currently, the card provides one Qantas Point per dollar spent, uncapped: but as of October 1 2017, that’s slashed by 25% to 0.75 Qantas Points for every one dollar spent.

There’s also a new earning cap to contend with from the same date, being 20,000 Qantas Points per month – reached after spending $26,667 – after which, no points will be earned on any further transactions.

For most cardholders, particularly those who use a Visa or Mastercard as a back-up to their higher-earning American Express card, other products in the market may prove more rewarding, such as the Qantas Premier Mastercard and the ANZ Frequent Flyer Black Visa.

On a monthly spend of $8,000 within Australia, Qantas Premier cardholders would fetch 8,000 Qantas Points at an earn rate of one Qantas Point per dollar spent (up to $10,000 per month, lowering to 0.5 Qantas Points per dollar spent thereafter, uncapped).

ANZ Frequent Flyer Black Visa users would instead collect 7,750 Qantas Points on the same spend – being one Qantas Point per dollar spent up to $7,500 per month and 0.5 Qantas Points per dollar spent thereafter, compared to a reduced 6,000 Qantas Points under the Bank Australia card’s new earning rates.

Of course, if you shop where American Express cards are accepted, spending $8,000 per month can yield a higher 12,000 Qantas Points via the Qantas American Express Ultimate credit card, reeling in 1.5 Qantas Points per dollar spent on most charges, uncapped.

Bank Australia is one of the last credit card issuers to update its products in light of the RBA changes which came into effect from July 1, with ANZ, Citibank, Commonwealth Bank, NAB, St. George, Westpac and most other providers having announced or implemented changes prior to that date.

Disclaimer

Executive Traveller may receive a commission when you apply for these credit cards via our links.

The information provided on this page is purely factual and general in nature. You should seek independent advice and consider your own personal circumstances before applying for any financial product.

Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

13 Jan 2015

Total posts 580

lol my first response to this was who is Bank Australia

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

09 May 2013

Total posts 144

Hi Chris,


Would it be possible to have a table comparing these cards (all cards) with annual fees and earning rate for qantas vs virgin? 

24 Apr 2012

Total posts 2424

Hi mspcooper, sorry, but you'll need to compile your own research.

20 Feb 2012

Total posts 67

@ChrisCh is there a way to share a table?

24 Apr 2012

Total posts 2424

romaau: Suggest you post this in the Community area, as this article is specifically about the Bank Australia changes. You could try posting it as an image, but our security software may 'break' the table if you try posting it as HTML. :)

20 Feb 2012

Total posts 67

I have one and am happy to share.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

18 Oct 2013

Total posts 14

how can we see it romaau? Thank you! 

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

18 Oct 2013

Total posts 14

Very nice of you! 


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