Travel Credit Cards

The staple features of prestige cards and reward programs often consist of luxurious and convenient travelling benefits.

Many travel credit cards are available in Australia, ones which not only offer Frequent Flyer reward points, but offer complimentary international travel insurance and personal concierge services among other benefits.

When it comes to a travel credit card, there are two sides you need to analyse and be on the lookout for.

The Reward Point Side:

Before you actually redeem your points for a flight/holiday, make sure that you’re aware of your cards policy on:

Point Capping

Don’t get too excited on your travel credit cards ’3 points for every 1 dollar spent’ offer. Features such as these which sound absurdly appealing are typically only introductory promotions which last for the first ‘$xxxx’ spent. After the said amount has been spent, the point conversion rate will revert to something much lower (i.e 1 point for every dollar spent).

Point Expiry

Planning that vacation a year ahead? Planning to redeem your points for it? Well, although it’s becoming a less common addition to reward programs as of late, point expiry still exists. The term is fairly self explanatory – your points have the ability to expire after a set period of time. Be on the lookout for any sneaky fine-print mention of point expiry in your card’s Terms & Conditions.

The Travel Benefits Side

Listed below are the features which grace travel credit cards, along with which credit cards have them. While many claim to be ‘free’, they’re practically covered by the cost of your annual fee. Think of it as a service payment to the bank managing your insurance and benefits, instead of yourself managing it all.

Complimentary Travel Insurance

Undeniably a massive safety-net and piece of mind for frequent travellers. However, be wary of how flexible and far your insurance will reach. Some cards won’t cover insurance for more than yourself, while some won’t cover holidays such as extreme sports (skiing, snowboarding, rock climbing).
A couple of credit card’s available which feature complimentary international travel insurance are:

• Citibank Platinum: “Medical, Unexpected expenses, Trip Cancellation, and Personal Loss/Liability.”
• Commonwealth Gold: ” Yourself, your spouse and your dependent children are covered for overseas return trips of up to 3 months.”

Commission-Free Traveller Cheques

While becoming consistently more and more outdated by the usage of credit cards, commission-free cheques are still an added bonus for travel reward credit cards. They’re still useful as if your payment merchant is rejected (e.g Visa of MasterCard), you can turn to a travellers cheque. See here for more information on traveller’s cheques.

Extended Warranty Cover/Purchase Security

When you make a purchase with your credit card on a product which comes with a warranty, some travel credit cards will extend the warranty on it for up to a year.

Purchase security can be a lifesaver too: If your card is stolen, you won’t be held liable for unauthorised purchases made on your card if you claim it within the ‘xx’ day period.

The ANZ Gold Card features both extended warranty cover and 90 day purchase security.

Personal Concierge Service

Sleep easy at night – the bulk of travel credit cards come with a 24/7 personal concierge service which you can contact via phone or online to sort out any issues with your card.

If you’re keen on a credit card that comes with plenty of reward earning potential, travel benefits and prestige, compare the gold and platinum credit cards on offer to Australian’s here.

Check out today's featured offers:

Westpac Low Rate	Citibank Clear Platinum	Qantas AMEX Discovery	ANZ Platinum
0% p.a. for 6 months on purchases & balance transfers	2.9% p.a. for 12 months on balance transfers	$0 annual fee Up to 10,000 Bonus QFF Points	0% p.a. for 6 months on purchases & balance transfers

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Popular Credit Card Offers

			Interest Rate (p.a.)	Balance Transfer Rate (p.a.)	Annual fee	Cash Advance Rate (p.a.)
	Westpac Low Rate Card - 0% Offer	A credit card with a low rate offer on both balance transfers and purchases, plus a low annual fee.	0% for 6 months (reverts to 13.49% )	0% for 6 months	$45	21.49%
	Citibank Clear Platinum Card	Competitive interest rate on purchases and balance transfers offer.	11.99%	2.9% for 12 months	$99	21.74%
	St George Vertigo	Take advantage of this great offer from St.George with a low rate on purchases and a low balance transfer offer.	13.24%	0.99% for 12 months	$55	21.49%
	ANZ Platinum Credit Card	An introductory interest rate offer on balance transfers and purchases, plus a $0 first year annual fee.	0% for 6 months (reverts to 19.24% )	0% for 6 months	$0 annual fee for the first year( $87 thereafter)	20.99%