Frequent Flyer Credit Card Analysis: Commonwealth Bank Diamond Awards
Posted January 12th, 2012 and last modified September 26th, 2012If you are a frequent traveller, the idea of signing up for a frequent flyer program must have crossed your mind already; or you might already have quite a number of frequent flyer cards in your wallet.
The frequent flyer program is a reward system which airlines offer their loyal customers to earn points which translate into rewards through their flights and spending. In this way the airlines are able to offer you priority service and rewards whenever you choose to spend with them.
The idea was started in 1981 by American Airlines to promote customer loyalty, when they introduced their frequent flyer program which was aptly called AAdvantage. In the coming years, a number of other airlines and industries followed suit. Today airlines are partnered with hotels, rental car companies, department stores and credit card companies to help you get the most value out of your loyalty program, earn maximum points and give you the widest range of rewards to choose from.
Every frequent flyer point you earn is put into your account which works almost like your bank account. These points are then kept to be redeemed at a later date. All airlines have different policies concerning the redemption of points, so be sure that you read the terms and conditions stated to make sure you’re earning points for rewards you really want.
CBA have a range of Frequent Flyer credit cards ranging from the Commonwealth Bank Awards Credit Card through to the Gold Awards Option and then the Platinum Awards Credit Card.
Commonwealth Bank Diamond Awards Frequent Flyer Credit Card
As the battle for market dominance rages on, airline and credit card companies continue to forge alliances to offer more to their customers. With these offers come bigger and more extravagant perks that are sure to make you feel pampered. One of the credit cards which offers great rewards is the Commonwealth Diamond Awards. The Diamond Card is a bigger and grander addition to the Awards card family. It includes both the Diamond Awards Master Card and the Diamond Awards American Express. Imagine earning points which are not capped until you hit 1 million on Commonwealth Awards and 500,000 Qantas Flyer points.
The Commonwealth Diamond Awards gives 3 points to every $1 you spend for purchases using the American Express card and 1.25 points for every $1 spent on the Master Card. Having these two credit cards in one account gives you all the convenience you need. However, before you get so overly excited about the Diamond card, make sure you consider advantages against the costs of the card to make sure you’ll be able to see real value in your situation.
The Benefits of the Commonwealth Diamond Awards Card
- Freedom and flexibility. With the Diamond card, you don’t have to worry when and how to redeem your points. You are given absolute freedom to redeem on almost anything you like – think of travel, shopping, or merchandise for as little as $15 or an equivalent of 2,500 points.
- 55 days of free interest. With this period of time, you won’t be in a hurry to pay what you spent right away. Plus, during the interest free period your money can be sitting in a high interest savings account while you use the bank’s money for free.
- Safe online shopping. Your card is monitored, so if there are fraudulent or unauthorised purchases, you will be informed immediately. Aside from this, the Master Card has a security chip protection and a state of the art fraud protection which ensures safety for your account and money.
- MasterCard PayPass. This perk gives you a contactless payment scheme for purchases made under $100.
- A range of complimentary insurance. There are a number of insurances bundled into your Commonwealth Diamond Awards credit card for free. Therefore, there is no reason to be worried about your family, your belongings or your safety when you travel as one of these types of insurance is the international travel insurance which not only covers you, but your whole family as well. Next is the Purchase Protection Insurance which covers any purchases made with your Diamond Awards against theft, loss, and damage. In addition, the Extended Warranty Insurance gives you an extended warranty on top of the manufacturer’s warranty. By having all these covers, you can be assured that the perfect vacation you have planned for a long time will really be perfect no matter what happens.
Annual fee. You do have to weigh the benefits of the Commonwealth Bank Diamond Awards credit card with the $425 p.a. ($395 for qualifying customer) annual fee. This means you need to work out how much you will use your card in a year, how many points you’ll earn and the value of the rewards those points equate to, to make sure that you are getting more benefits from the card, than the fees are costing you.
With the Commonwealth Bank frequent flyer rewards credit card you can be rewarded for fuelling up your car, paying your bills, buying the groceries and more, and you can then use those rewards points for flights to take you somewhere you can escape those everyday chores for awhile.
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