NAB unveils new Qantas, NAB Rewards Visa Signature credit cards

NAB’s line-up of frequent flyer credit cards continues to expand with two new high-end Visa Signature cards joining the ranks this week: marking the bank’s first Black-level plastic.

This includes both the NAB Qantas Rewards Signature Card – delivering Qantas Points – and the NAB Rewards Signature Card, on which the points you earn can be converted into Virgin Australia Velocity points, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles or Air New Zealand Airpoints Dollars.

Here’s what you need to know about each card.

NAB Qantas Rewards Signature Card

Swipe the NAB Qantas Rewards Visa Signature credit card to earn one Qantas Point per dollar spent up to $5,000 per monthly statement period and 0.5 Qantas Points per dollar on spends of $5,001-$20,000 each month, with no points awarded thereafter.

However, you’ll also earn one bonus Qantas Point for every dollar spent on Qantas flights and Qantas Club membership without limits, even if you’ve exceeded that monthly $20,000 threshold.

New cardholders can currently pick-up 75,000 bonus Qantas Points after spending at least $4,000 within 60 days of approval and paying a $395 annual fee, with no defined minimum income requirement – although you’ll need to qualify for a credit limit of at least $15,000.

NAB Rewards Signature Card

The NAB Rewards Signature Card instead earns frequent flyer points based on where you shop rather than how much you spend each month, with 3.75 NAB Rewards points earned per dollar spent on purchases made overseas and with Webjet in Australia.

That’s equal to 1.875 Velocity points, 1.248 Asia Miles or $0.01875 in AirNZ Airpoints Dollar value, and comes with no monthly or yearly capping – although NAB’s usual 3% international transaction fee still applies when shopping abroad.

At major department and hardware stores such as Myer, David Jones, Bunnings and Mitre 10, you’ll instead pocket 2.5 NAB Rewards points per dollar spent – on-par with 1.25 Velocity points, 0.832 Asia Miles and $0.0125 Airpoints Dollars, while everywhere else, you’ll fetch 1.25 NAB Rewards points.

This means you’ll be earning the equivalent of 0.625 Velocity points, 0.416 Asia Miles or $0.00625 Airpoints Dollars for every dollar you spend everywhere else, with the card carrying a $295 annual fee and a $15,000 minimum credit limit.

As a sweetener for new customers, 75,000 bonus NAB Rewards points are also on the table when you spend $4,000 on everyday purchases within 60 days of opening the account: those points equalling 37,500 Velocity points, 25,000 Asia Miles or $375 Airpoints Dollars.

Double points are also offered on everyday purchases for the first six months, up to 60,000 bonus NAB Rewards points in total – earned after a $48,000 card spend – giving you a total haul of 67,500 Velocity points, 45,000 Asia Miles or $675 Airpoints Dollars including the sign-up bonus.

NAB Rewards points can be converted into Velocity Frequent Flyer points on a 2:1 basis, into Cathay Pacific Asia Miles on a 3:1 basis or into Air New Zealand Airpoints Dollars on a 200:$1 basis (2 NAB = $0.01 Airpoints value).

The bank first debuted its line of NAB Rewards credit cards in January 2017, in the lead-up to the Reserve Bank of Australia's cap on credit card 'interchange fees' which are reshaping Australia's credit card landscape.

Chris C.

Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.