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Australian’s Experience with Various Credit Cards

June 27th, 2008

* * * * 4 Stars

Instead of an article written from simply one persons perspective, you will be able to get a greater insight into the average Australian’s experience with their own credit cards. The following are samples taken from a credit card forum discussion:

“I have a Virgin Credit Card. 55 Days interest free purchases, 6% interest for the first 6 months, and then it increases to 12% after that. Not bad, I reckon.

The problem with it, is the rewards system. It doesn’t actually accrue ‘points’ like other credit cards can, it just means “If you have a virgin credit card, you can get discounts at
Good in theory, however not really for me.”

“So I’m shopping around for another credit card. What I really want is a credit card that I can transfer my balance to, that has interest free purchase time, a decent interest rate, and has a points system that I can put towards things like plane tickets etc (I’ve heard of people putting ALL of their purchases on their CC, and in return end up having enough points for a free airfare or something - that’s what I want, a *good* rewards point system, the Qantas American Express range seems to offer sweet flight rewards with no frustrating capping either.”

“A lot of the cards with more attractive programs generally have higher fees or less features. For example, I use the ANZ Frequent Flyer visa card as my main card, but the annual fee is about $95 (for the basic card) and the features like interest free days, etc aren’t as good as what you have. Plus, the interest rate is high (although I pay back the full amount every month so not too fussed).

So really its up to you to make the tradeoff between a better program or a cheaper card like the Virgin card. For me, I prefer the better program as I already accrue frequent flyer points due to work travel so the ones generated by the card help keep the points ticking over. I’ve already claimed one flight to Phillipines, and currently have 110,000 points (need 10k more for 2 return airfares to HK). Having said all that, if i didn’t travel for work, it would take ages to accrue enough points, in which case I would go with the cheapest card”

“I honestly wouldn’t have a problem paying a moderate yearly fee and 1-2% extra interest if it meant I could get a free flight every once in a while

$95 per year is a little steep though. But yeah, I do understand what you’re saying.”

“As I’ve touted before I think the NAB Visa Mini is the best value credit card for those spending less than about $20k a year on the card.

Annual fee is $19, free additional card holders, you get 1% of what you spend each month (capped at $1000 spend per month) back as cash. I have no idea what the interest rate is, since with (up to) 55 days interest free I’ve never paid any interest.”

“My other card is a CBA mastercard, which charges me $59 per year + additional cardholder fees and the rewards program pays up to 0.64% of what you spend back (claiming the points as fuel cards is the best value for money IMHO and virtually the same as cash, but I’ve never looked at frequent flyer points since I don’t ever fly), 0.5% if claiming it as cash.”

“The less money you spend on the card, the less likely a reward program will be worth it. As a very general ball park figure, you’ll want to spend at least $15k - 20k before you should start thinking about reward programs.

Of course, sometimes you get lucky. Some people have access to a no-fee Amex card with rewards, and I’m currently have a Gold Citibank Visa card with $119 annual fee waived for the life of the account.

I personally think rewards programs are not suitable for everyone, unless you run a household with the one credit card having all your bills, insurance, groceries, gifts all coming out of the same card.

Also take note that having too many Credit Checks on your name is also bad for your credit record… so don’t keep applying for credit cards thinking getting rejected doesn’t do anything!”