I looked at all the old threads that Westpac in them, but most are old, so decided to start a new thread.


I think I have found a good credit card scheme that allows me to earn a good amount of Air NZ Aussie Airbucks per dollar outlay.

First - I don't work for Westpac or associated with them. I just use their product.

If you apply for a new Altitude Gold card, you get 10,000 bonus points on first use. (Cost $150 for annual fee) (works out to be $62.5 Airbucks)

Then if you upgrade the card to the Platinum card, (cost $295 annual fee) you get 4 points per dollar until the end of September and then 3 points per dollar after that.

Until the end of September, ever $40 I spend gets me 1 aussie airbuck. After september its $53.33 gets me 1 airbuck.

The downside of all this, is they issue two cards. What they call a Platinum Amex and a Mastercard - the fast earning rates only apply to the Amex card. The normal mastercard only allows 1 airbuck per $160 spent. I am not sure if it is a true Platinum Amex (eg, gets you into Continental's Presidents clubs) but has access to Platinum rewards web sites.

They are also an Air NZ partner, so your get extra points per dollar spent with Air NZ.

Eg. A $1000 family holiday on Air NZ equals, 4000 standard + 1000 bonus / 160 = 31.25 Aussie Airpoints Dollars.

I also read on Air NZ web site that if you transfer in one transaction the equivilant of 50 airpoints dollars, you don't have to pay the annual fee.

While the card has a high annual fee, if you have a high monthly spend on a credit card and are looking for a way to earn Airpoints in Australia, this card appears to one of the better ones.

For me - I like the system of two cards. Not everyone takes Amex, so rather than have to have two different annual fees (eg. Amex or Dinners) + a Mastercard or Visa then this makes it easier.

Their conversion rate if you want to send points to the dark side is 2:1, so this still means that you get 1.5 Qantas points per dollar spent (after September 30 on the Amex card).

(It does sound like an advert doesn't it. I am only posting it as a way for Australian residents to increase their Airpoints balance.)