Qantas Frequent Flyer - QF Credit cards

I have never had a credit card (I don’t really like the idea of spending money I don’t have). The only card I have is a Visa Debit attached to my savings account. In the past 8 years of travelling, I’ve never had a problem with just having the one card (including having a large transaction approved out of an ATM in Atlanta followed by a local having their own transaction denied – seemed a bit funny at the time)
However, last week, an ATM ate my card for the first time. Lucky I was at home and immediately went to the nearest bank branch and got a new one.
3 days before, an ATM ate my parents card – the night before they went overseas.

Now I’m thinking I should get a credit card, if only for a backup. Are there any low interest, low fee Qantas branded credit cards you can recommend?

Search is your friend;)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/qantas-frequent-flyer/1296738-frequent-flyer-program-credit-card.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/qantas-frequent-flyer/1207528-what-best-credit-card-australia-0-5-points-per.html

and from the Qantas web site
http://www.qantas.com.au/fflyer/dyn/partners/card/american-express-discovery-card?int_cam=ff:promo:amexDiscovery:lang:en

If you are looking for a card for overseas use, maybe a Bank West Platinum card may be useful. No points, but then again, no overseas transaction fees which will save around 3% per transactioon ; this card is also free ( no annual fee )

I have never had a credit card (I don’t really like the idea of spending money I don’t have).

Who says you would spend money you don't have. All of my credit card are auto linked to my savings/checking/whatever accounts and are paid in full each month.
As a matter of fact, all the high level Amex cards aren't even credit cards. A Centurion card for example doesn't have a credit facility and you need to pay the balance in full every month.

So definitely get a "credit" card.

If I were the OP, I would get an Amex to clock up the points and a Visa or MasterCard for those places which don't accept Amex.

I personally have the NAB combo, but I don't think it is necessarily good or bad.

I have never had a credit card (I don’t really like the idea of spending money I don’t have).I know what you mean, but you can put yourself into a mindset that means that you aren't really borrowing money: whether by direct debit or manually, always make sure that you pay off the entire balance before you incur any interest changes; and if you want to be very particular about it, immediately transfer money from your current account or whatever to a savings pot whenever you make a charge to the card. Whether you do one or both of these, the "credit" card simply becomes a payment card.

I don't like borrowing money, and I don't like the interest rates on credit cards, so I usually don't keep any borrowed balance on any cards. But I can still make use of all the benefits that come with credit cards, which in most cases effectively come with no extra cost to me. Primarily, that means that I earn a lot of frequent flyer miles at no extra cost. But you do need to have the self-discipline to make sure that you always pay off the balance in full.

(My only exception to this approach is if there's a deal that means that my borrowing is at 0% with no fees to pay. If they want to lend me money for free, then I keep the balance somewhere where I can earn and keep the interest until the deal comes to an end.)

But I can still make use of all the benefits that come with credit cards, which in most cases effectively come with no extra cost to me. Primarily, that means that I earn a lot of frequent flyer miles at no extra cost. But you do need to have the self-discipline to make sure that you always pay off the balance in full.


There are few ( if any ) cards in Australia which award points which have no annual fee so there is generally an extra cost; plus of course there are those merchants which surcharge card usage

Having a 2nd card to deal with situations where a card gets eaten by a machine ( or similar ) is a good idea , but whether its worth paying the annual fees depends on the spend; if using it for overseas activities , a card with no foreign fees may be better value than points earning

There are few ( if any ) cards in Australia which award points which have no annual fee so there is generally an extra cost; plus of course there are those merchants which surcharge card usageIndeed: If you do have to pay extra, then you need to balance the costs against the benefits.

I convinced my partner to build her new house using her credit card. Most folks would baulk at spending a few thousand dollars to do this, but the huge advantage was that she was able to "purchase" a $12.7 k Circle Pacific Business Class fare using Classic Award points.
I don't know why folks don't cycle their money through a credit card for these extra points - as long as you top-up your credit card before you are hit for fees, there's no problem.

There are few ( if any ) cards in Australia which award points which have no annual fee so there is generally an extra cost; plus of course there are those merchants which surcharge card usage

Even the basic Qantas Amex which is fee free (http://www.americanexpress.com/australia/frequent-flyer-cards/qantas-discovery-card) still incurs the credit card surcharge Qantas charges to make a credit card booking!

Even the basic Qantas Amex which is fee free (http://www.americanexpress.com/australia/frequent-flyer-cards/qantas-discovery-card) still incurs the credit card surcharge Qantas charges to make a credit card booking!

That was my point; using a credit card to pay for things can be more expensive than not

Even the basic Qantas Amex which is fee free (http://www.americanexpress.com/australia/frequent-flyer-cards/qantas-discovery-card) still incurs the credit card surcharge Qantas charges to make a credit card booking!

If you are willing to take the extra step, a gift voucher will sort that issue!

I notice that some cards, albeit the ones with higher fees, include travel insurance. How does this insurance compare to getting it separately? For the last few years, I've gotten travel insurance from Travel Insurance Direct at a cost of ~$170-$360 depending on the type of insurance.
If they are comparable, it might be easier to view the credit cards annual fee as what I'd be spending on travel insurance anyway.

I notice that some cards, albeit the ones with higher fees, include travel insurance. How does this insurance compare to getting it separately? ...
Like legal contracts, it's not what written that's important - it's what is not there. e.g. you may not be fully covered if you plan to hire a car while overseas. And I wouldn't be prepared to gamble on full coverage of medical costs in the U.S. using the card's travel insurance.

I have 2 suggestions. 1. If you want travel insurance, get one of the amex/visa or amex/MasterCard combos from the Big 4 banks. The best is probably CBA Diamond but I have ANZ Private which is about as good. Fees are steep ($250-$300 pa) but the insurance product is good enough almost all the time. I've used Travel Insurance Direct and they are good but the only benefit over the cc Insurance that I've found is for a ski holiday where TID cover a few things that the cc product does not. Option 2 would be the Woolworths MasterCard which costs $79 pa and provides 1 point per dollar with no cap. I think there is no insurance but the fee is relatively low for that earn rate.

If you are not concerned about earning points or inbuilts such as insurance, the are two low cost products I know of that are readily available to most Australians.

These are the "28° Mastercard" and the "Citibank Plus" debit card.

Both have use Forex exchange rates that very close to the prevailing cross rate at the time.

Many other 'fee free' products have an inbuilt 'arbitrage' of over 1%.